1 Samuel: Outline

History of last judge Samuel, first king Saul, and Saul's persecution of next king David

Apr 20, 2023

The book of 1 Samuel is a bridge between the time of the Judges and the time of the Kings of Israel. Samuel is dedicated by his mother to serve the LORD under Eli the priest. Eli judges Israel for 40 years and, after his death, Samuel, prophet and priest, judges Israel for the rest of his life. Samuel is unique amongst all the judges of Israel in that he counseled repentance and a return to the LORD. The other judges delivered Israel from enemies when they cried out to Him, but Samuel counseled faith in God’s deliverance. But when he is old, and his sons do not walk in his ways, the nation of Israel asks for king over them, rejecting God as King. God allows Samuel to anoint Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, as king, but Saul transitions quickly from humility to pride and disobedience. Though he is told early in his reign that he will lose the kingdom (meaning his sons will not succeed him) because of his disobedience, he rules for 42 years. David is anointed by Samuel as Saul’s successor early in Saul’s reign, but endures Saul’s jealousy and attempts to kill him throughout the rest of Saul’s life. Psalms of David are interspersed through this story, giving context to when and why they were written.

Chapter Themes:

1 Samuel 1: barren Hannah prays for and bears Samuel, and dedicates him to serve the Lord with the priest Eli at Shiloh

1 Samuel 2: a man of God speaks for the LORD that Eli’s evil sons Hophni and Phinehas will die on the same day and all Ei’s descendants will die young, but He will raise up a faithful priest who will have an enduring house

1 Samuel 3: Samuel is confirmed as a prophet of the LORD when He speaks to him, confirming the words the man of God spoke to Eli

1 Samuel 4: Eli’s sons take the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh into battle: 30,000 Israelite soldiers die, the ark is taken, and Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas die, as does Eli, when he hears the news, and Phinehas’ wife, after giving birth to her son Ichabod

1 Samuel 6: the Philistines send the ark back on a cart with two cows pulling it with a guilt offering of five golden tumors and five golden mice; the people of Beth-shemesh split the cart and offer the cows as burnt offering, but 50,070 die when some men look into the ark, and they send messengers to Kiriath-jearim to take it

1 Samuel 7: the ark is taken to Kiriath-jearim, to the house of Abinadab, where his son Eleazar is consecrated to keep it and it remains for 20 years; Samuel gathers Israel at Mizpah for repentance, prayer, and fasting; the Philistines gather to attack, but are confused and routed as Samuel calls on the Lord who thunders; there is peace between Israel and the Philistines all the days of Samuel’s life

1 Samuel 8: Samuel appoints his sons to judge Israel when he is old, but they are dishonest and the people ask him to appoint a king instead; God tells him they are rejecting Him, and not Samuel, and to warn them about having a king; when they do not heed the warning, the Lord tells Samuel to appoint a king

1 Samuel 10: Samuel anoints Saul as king, and gives him three signs to observe to confirm the LORD’s word; Samuel calls the people together at Mizpah, and Saul is chosen by lot, confirming the Lord’s choice of him as king

1 Samuel 11: Nahash the Ammonite beseiges and threatens Jabesh-gilead, but the Spirit of God comes upon Saul mightily and he leads Israel in striking down the Ammonites; Samuel calls the nation to Gilgal, where they make Saul king

1 Samuel 12: Samuel gives the people a short summary of their history, telling them they sinned by asking for a king, but instructs them to fear the Lord and follow Him, warning that if they do wickedly, both they and their king will be swept away

1 Samuel 13: Saul’s son Jonathan strikes a Philistine garrison, so the mighty army of the Philistines gathers; Saul waits for 7 days at Gilgal as Samuel had instructed him, but offers the burnt offering when the people begin scattering; for this, Samuel declares Saul’s kingdom will not endure

1 Samuel 14: Jonathan and his armor bearer go up to the Philistine’s garrison and accomplish a slaughter, inspiring the Israelites to join the battle, so the Lord delivers them; Saul must keep the people from sinning by eating meat with blood, after he had foolishly declared a curse that had kept them from eating, and the people must save Jonathan from death at the hands of Saul for unknowingly defying the curse

1 Samuel 15: God tells Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites for their attacking Israel when they journeyed from the Promised Land (Exodus 17:8), but Saul spares the king and the choice animals; for this, Samuel delivers the message from the Lord that He will tear the kingdom from Saul and give it to another better than him

1 Samuel 16: God directs Samuel to anoint David king over Israel and the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him mightily, while leaving Saul, who is terrorized by an evil spirit from the Lord; David is recruited to play the harp for him to soothe him when this happens

1 Samuel 17: David kills the Philistine giant Goliath, and the Philistines are defeated

1 Samuel 18: David is placed over the men of war; Saul’s son Jonathan, and the people of Israel, love David, while Saul then has suspicion; Saul tries to pin David to the wall with a spear while he’s playing the harp, and then tries to use his daughters against David, offering them in marriage if he will fight in battle; David declines the first marriage offer to Merab, but accepts the second to Michal, who loves him

1 Samuel 19: Jonathan talks his father out of putting David to death, but, after David has military success again, Saul tries to pin David to the wall with a spear again, so David escapes; he goes to his house and his wife Michal helps him escape from there; David goes to Samuel at Ramah and everyone who Saul sends there to get him begins to prophesy, including Saul himself

1 Samuel 20: David goes back to Jonathan and tells him his father wants to kill him; Jonathan tries to reassure David and they come up with a plan for Jonathan to find out and share Saul’s plan with David; they also enter into a covenant to protect one another and their descendants; Jonathan verifies that Saul desires to kill David, so David flees from Saul’s household

Psalms 11 & 59

1 Samuel 21: David goes to Ahimelech the priest in Nob, telling him he is on the king’s business; Ahimelech gives him consecrated bread and the sword he had used to kill Goliath; Doeg the Edomite, chief of Saul’s shepherds is there that day; David then goes to King Achish of Gath, a Philistine, but his servants are suspicious of David, so David acts insane and escapes

1 Samuel 22: David escapes to the cave of Adullam, and 400 of his family and those in distress gather to him; he takes his parents for protection to the king of Moab and then goes to the forest of Hereth; Doeg the Edomite tells Saul about Ahimelech the priest helping David; Saul summons Ahimelech and his family, and Doeg the Edomite kills them (including 85 priests) and then goes to Nob and kills all the people and animals; Abiathar, son of Abimelech, escapes to David’s protection

1 Samuel 23: the Philistines attack Keilah, David seeks the Lord, and the Lord tells him to attack them; Saul then plots to attack David at Keilah and the Lord confirms to David that the people of Keilah, who he had just saved, would give him up, so David and his men escape; David goes to the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh; Jonathan comes to encourage him there; the Ziphites give David up and Saul pursues him, until a messenger sends for him to meet the Philistines, allowing David to escape and stay in the strongholds of Engedi

1 Samuel 24: Saul takes 300 men to pursue David in Engedi, and while he is relieving himself in a cave David is hiding in, David cuts off the edge of Saul’s robe, convicted that he should not harm the Lord’s anointed; when he reveals to Saul that he had spared his life, Saul realizes David will be king, and asks him not to cut off his descendants

Psalms 7, 27, 31, 34, 52

Psalms 56, 120, 140-142

1 Samuel 25: Samuel dies and all Israel mourns; the rich man Nabal the Carmelite, whose shepherds David and his men have protected, rebuffs David when he asks to be included in his sheep shearing festival feast; Nabal’s wife Abigail intervenes with a feast when David is on his way to take revenge on Nabal; Abigail tells Nabal what she prevented, his heart dies within him and, 10 days later, the Lord strikes him and he dies; David takes Nabal’s widow Abigail as his wife; he had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel as a wife (his first wife Michal was given to another after he fled)

1 Samuel 26: the Ziphites again give David’s position up to Saul; David enters Saul’s camp at night and again does not kill him, but lets him know what has done (proving his opportunity by taking the king’s spear and jug of water); Saul repents

1 Samuel 27: David again escapes to Achish, the king of Gath, and lives in Ziklag (of the Philistines); he attacks and raids enemy peoples, but he leaves no one alive; he tells Achish he conducts raids in Israel so Achish thinks David is odious to the Israelites and therefore will be his servant forever

Psalms 17, 35, 54, 63

1 Samuel 28: the Philistines gather to fight against Israel; since Samuel is dead and God will not answer him, Saul seeks a spiritist to call up Samuel, who tells him Israel will be defeated and Saul and his sons will die

1 Samuel 29: David appears to plan to fight with Achish against Israel, but the lords of the Philistines are suspicious, so Achish sends him away back to the land of the Philistines

1 Samuel 30: David returns to Ziklag, where the Amalekites have raided and taken all the wives and children captive; David seeks the Lord through Abiathar the priest’s ephod and God confirms that David will overtake the Amalekites and rescue all, which he does; David establishes that those who stayed with the baggage share in the spoil with those who went to battle; he sends spoil to his friends and allies

1 Samuel 31: the Philistines conquer Israel and kill Saul and his sons; the Philistines find Saul and his sons slain at Mount Gilboa, so they cut off his head, send his weapons throughout the land, and fasten his body to the wall of Beth-shan; the men of Jabesh-Gilead hear, walk all night to rescue the bodies of Saul and his sons, and fast seven days

Psalm 18

Psalms 121, 123-125, 128-130

Chapter Summaries:

1 Samuel 1: Eli the priest prays for barren Hannah during the annual sacrifice at Shiloh; she conceives and bears Samuel and, when he is weaned, she brings him to serve the Lord with Eli at Shiloh

1 Samuel 2: Eli prays for Hannah and she has five other children; meanwhile, Eli’s own sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are evil, taking for themselves unauthorized portions of meat sacrificed to the Lord and laying with women at the doorway to the tent of meeting; a man of God speaks for the LORD that Hophni and Phinehas will die on the same day and all the increase of Ei’s house will die in the prime of life, but that He will raise up a faithful priest who will have an enduring house [see 1 Samuel 14:3, 1 Samuel 22:20, and 1 King 2:27 to see the end of the line of priesthood of the sons of Eli through Phinehas’ son Ahitub to his son Ahijah to his son Ahimelech to his son Abiathar, who escaped when his father was killed under Saul by Doeg the Edomite but was finally released from the priesthood by David’s son Solomon]

1 Samuel 3: the Lord speaks to Samuel, confirming the prophecy of the man of God that “the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever”; “word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent….the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD,” and “All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD”

1 Samuel 4: Israel is defeated in a battle with the Philistines, so they decide to take the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh into battle: 30,000 Israelite soldiers die, the ark is taken, and Eli’s son’s Hophni and Phinehas die; Eli dies when he hears the news, and so does Phinehas’ wife, while giving birth to her son Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken”

1 Samuel 5: the ark of God is taken to Ashdod, to the house of the Philistines’ god Dagon, who falls on its face before it twice, breaking off head and limbs on the second fall; God ravages the Philistines in Ashdod and its territories with tumors, so they send the ark on to Gath, where the hand of the Lord causes confusion and He smites the residents with tumors, and finally to Ekron, where the hand of God is heavy, there is deadly confusion, and “the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven”

1 Samuel 6: the Philistines send the ark back on a cart with two cows pulling it with a guilt offering of five golden tumors and five golden mice; the cows take it to Beth-shemesh, in the territory of Judah; the people there split the cart and offer the cows as burnt offering, but the men of Beth-shemesh also look into the cart and over 50,070 die; they send messengers to Kiriath-jearim asking them to take it

1 Samuel 7: the ark is taken to Kiriath-jearim, to the house of Abinadab, where his son Eleazar is consecrated to keep it and it remains for 20 years [until David eventually takes it to Jerusalem, via the house of Obed-edom, 1 Chronicles 13,15]; Samuel calls Israel to repentance; he calls them to gather with him at Mizpah for repentance, prayer, and fasting; the Philistines gather to attack, but Samuel offers a sacrifice and calls on the Lord who thunders, confusing the Philistines so they are routed; Samuel places a memorial stone called “Ebenezer”; there is peace between Israel and the Philistines all the days of Samuel’s life [after his death, the Philistines attack Israel (1 Samuel 28:1-3), ultimately killing Saul]; Samuel builds an altar to the Lord at Ramah, where he lives, and he goes on an annual circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah

1 Samuel 8: when Samuel id old, he appoints his sons to judge Israel, but they are dishonest, so the elders of Israel ask him to “appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations”; God tells him they are rejecting Him, and not Samuel, and to warn them a king would take from them to support himself, his servants, and his wars, and that they would then cry out to the LORD and He would not answer them, but they do not heed the warning, so the Lord tells him to appoint for them a king

1 Samuel 9: the LORD tells Samuel, “I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have regarded My people, because their cry has come to Me.” Saul, son of Kish of the smallest tribe of Benjamin comes to him with his servant, looking for his father’s lost donkeys. Samuel is able to tell him the donkeys were found, and invites him to stay to with him and eat of a sacrificial meal on the high place, waiting until morning to proclaim the word of God to him

1 Samuel 10: Samuel anoints Saul as king, and gives him three signs which he then observes to confirm Samuel’s word from the LORD; Samuel calls the people together at Mizpah, and Saul is chosen by lot, with Samuel confirming the Lord’s choice of him as king; some valiant men follow him to his home, but some despise him

1 Samuel 11: Nahash the Ammonite beseiges and threatens Jabesh-gilead, but they send messengers to Gibeah of Saul; the Spirit of God comes upon him mightily and he gathers all Israel and they strike down the Ammonites [Jabesh-Gilead, obviously remembering this, honor Saul after his death, 1 Samuel 31:11-13]; Samuel calls the nation to Gilgal, where they make Saul king

1 Samuel 12: Samuel gives the people a short summary of their history, and tells them they sinned by asking for a king; they repent, and he confirms his word by asking the Lord for thunder and rain, which He sends; Samuel then tells them to fear the Lord and follow Him, warning that if they do wickedly, both they and their king will be swept away

1 Samuel 13: Saul is 30 when he begins to reign and he reigns 42 years; he chooses 3,000 men for himself, but 1,000 are with his son Jonathan, who strikes a Philistine garrison; all Israel hears that this has made them odious to the Philistines, so Saul summons them to Gilgal; the Philistines assemble with 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people too numerous to count; Saul waits at Gilgal for the 7 days that Samuel had instructed him, but the people are scattering, so he offers the burnt offering, just as Samuel arrives; Samuel declares, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you”

1 Samuel 14: Saul has 600 men with him, and Ahijah (the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli) with the ark of God; unknown to Saul, Jonathan takes his armor bearer and goes up to the Philistine’s garrison, declaring, “perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few”; they accomplish a slaughter, and Saul and his men join the battle; Hebrews who had been with the Philistines turn on them, and men who had been in hiding join the battle, so the Lord delivers Israel; Saul had places a curse on anyone who eats that day, but Jonathan does not know it and eats honey; he criticizes Saul when he hears about it, and the people rush upon the animal spoil, sinning by eating them with the blood; Saul intervenes, building an altar for sacrifice; Saul inquires of the Lord to see if he should go after the Philistines, but he does not answer; he has his son Jonathan chosen by lot, who confesses to eating honey; Saul wants to kill him, and Jonathan agrees, but the people rescue Jonathan; sons of Saul: Jonathan, Ishvi, Malchi-shua; daughters: Merab, Michal; wife: Ahinoam; captain of his army: his uncle Abner, the son of Ner, the son of Abiel; “the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff”

1 Samuel 15: God tells Saul through Samuel to strike and utterly destroy Amalek [the Amalekites, descendants of Esau, had attacked Israel when they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land—this earned them the same lack of mercy that Canaanite nations faced, requiring all living beings to be killed]; Saul is disobedient to God’s command, sparing the king and the best of the animals, making the excuse that he was going to use the animals for sacrifice to God; God tells Samuel that He regrets making Saul king; Samuel delivers this message to Saul, reminding him that God cares more about obedience than sacrifice and that rebellion is like the sin of divination and insubordination like idolatry, and telling him the kingdom will be torn from him and given to another better than him; Samuel also kills the Amalekite king Agag; he returns to his home and does not see Saul again

1 Samuel 16: God sends Samuel to anoint David, the youngest of eight sons of Jesse, a shepherd, as king over Israel; the Spirit of the Lord comes over David, but leaves Saul; Saul is tormented by an evil spirit from the Lord, so David is recruited to play the harp for him when he is tormented; Saul loves David, and he becomes his armor bearer

1 Samuel 17: the Philistines gather for battle and the giant Goliath taunts the army of Israel for 40 days, saying if a man can kill him, the Philistines will become the servants of Israel, but, if not, Israel will become servants of the Philistines; David is sent by his father to bring food and check on the welfare of his brothers at the battle line, he hears Goliath’s taunt, and he says he will fight him “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom [Goliath has] taunted”; David fells Goliath with a stone from his sling and then takes Goliath’s sword and chops off his head; the Philistines withdraw and Israel pursues, and then returns to plunder their camps

1 Samuel 18: David is placed over the men of war; Saul’s son Jonathan, and the people of Israel, have immediate affection for David, while Saul has immediate suspicion; Saul tries to pin David to the wall with a spear while David is playing the harp in his house; Saul tries to use his daughters against David, offering them in marriage if he will fight in battle; David declines the first marriage offer to Merab, but accepts the second to Michal, who loves David, when Saul asks him for 100 foreskins of the Philistines—David gives him 200

1 Samuel 19: Jonathan talks his father out of putting David to death, but, after David has military success again, Saul tries to pin David to the wall with a spear again, so David escapes; he goes to his house and his wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, helps him escape from there; David goes to Samuel at Ramah and everyone who Saul sends there to get him begins to prophesy, including Saul himself

Psalm 11: “If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” Trust, “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”

Psalm 59, “when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him”: “Fierce men launch an attack against me, Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O LORD, For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.” But he resolves, “I will watch for You, For God is my stronghold. My God in His lovingkindness will meet me….Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.”

1 Samuel 21: David goes to Ahimelech the priest in Nob; he tells him he is on the king’s business; Ahimelech gives him consecrated bread and the sword he had used to kill Goliath; Doeg the Edomite, chief of Saul’s shepherds is there that day; David then goes to Achish of Gath, a Philistine, but his servants are suspicious of David, so David acts insane and escapes

1 Samuel 22: David escapes to the cave of Adullam; his family and all in distress gather to him, 400 in all; David then goes to Mizpah of Moab and asks the king to let his parents stay with him; David then goes to the forest of Hereth; Saul is with his servants in Gibeah, complaining about disloyalty, so Doeg the Edomite tells him about the day that David went to Ahimelech the priest; Saul summons Ahimelech and all his family and Doeg the Edomite kills them (including 85 priests) and then goes to Nob and kills all the people and animals; Abiathar, son of Abimelech, escapes to David’s protection

Psalm 7, a song which David “sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite,”: “O LORD my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust.” “O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me.” “Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword.”

Psalm 27: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?…Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident….For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock….When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.’…You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!…I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”

Psalm 31: “In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed…For You are my rock and my fortress; For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth….
I trust in the LORD. I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, Because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul….Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress….But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand….Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your lovingkindness. Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I call upon You….How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men! You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues….O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful And fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.”

Psalm 34, “when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed”: “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want….they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry….The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all….The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”

Psalm 52, “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech [the priest]’”: “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?…God will break you down forever…But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever. I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”

Psalm 56, “when the Philistines seized [David] in Gath”: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?…You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?…This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?…I will render thank offerings to You. For You have delivered my soul from death.”

Psalm 120, “A Song of Ascents”: “In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.”

Psalm 140: “I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted And justice for the poor. Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence.”

Psalm 141: “May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering….Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is oil upon the head; Do not let my head refuse it.”

Psalm 142, “when he was in the cave”: “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path….I cried out to You, O LORD.”

1 Samuel 25: Samuel dies and all Israel mourns; David asks Nabal the Carmelite, whose shepherds he and his men have protected, to include his men in his sheep shearing festival feast and Nabal rebuffs him; Nabal’s wife Abigail greets him with a feast when David is on his way to take revenge on Nabal; when Abigail tells Nabal what she prevented, his heart dies within him and, 10 days later, the Lord strikes him and he dies; David takes Nabal’s widow Abigail as his wife; he had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel as a wife (his first wife Michal had been given to another after he fled)

Psalm 17, A Prayer of David: “Hear a just cause, O LORD, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. Let my judgment come forth from Your presence; Let Your eyes look with equity. You have tried my heart….As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.”

Psalm 35, A Psalm of David: “Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me….Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’….‘LORD, who is like You, Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?’…I humbled my soul with fasting….You have seen it, O LORD, do not keep silent; O Lord, do not be far from me. Stir up Yourself, and awake to my right And to my cause, my God and my Lord….‘The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.’…my tongue shall declare Your righteousness And Your praise all day long.”

Psalm 54, “For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil [poem] of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, ‘Is not David hiding himself among us?’”: “Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul….I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.”

Psalm 63, “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah”: “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me….Everyone who swears by Him will glory, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.”

1 Samuel 29: David appears to plan to fight with Achish against Israel, but the lords of the Philistines are suspicious of David, so Achish sends him away, back to the land of the Philistines

1 Samuel 30: while David was gone from Ziklag, the Amalekites raided, burned the city, and taken all the wives and children captive; David seeks the Lord through Abiathar the priest’s ephod and God confirms that David will overtake the Amalekites and rescue all, which he does, slaughtering most of the Amalekites; David establishes that those who stayed with the baggage share in the spoil with those who went to battle; he sends spoil to his friends and allies in all the places that he and his men were accustomed to going

Psalm 18, “For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said, ‘I love You, O LORD, my strength.’ The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies….For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase….As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him….You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me….The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation….I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD, And I will sing praises to Your name.”

Psalm 121, “A Song of Ascents”: “My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth….He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep….The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.”

Psalm 123, “A Song of Ascents”: “our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He is gracious to us.”

Psalm 124, “A Song of Ascents, of David”: “Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 125, “A Song of Ascents”: “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.”

Psalm 128, “A Song of Ascents”: “How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.”

Psalm 129, “A Song of Ascents”: “‘Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;
Yet they have not prevailed against me’….The LORD is righteous.”

Psalm 130, “A Song of Ascents”: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.”

Detailed Outline:

1 Samuel 1 (Day 98)

Elkanah, from Ephraim, had two wives: Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children (1 Samuel 1:1-2)
- “this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD there” (1 Samuel 1:3)
Hannah prays before the Lord after the feast during the annual sacrifice at Shiloh
- “She made a vow and said, ‘O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head’” (1 Samuel 1:11).
Eli the priest thinks Hannah is drunk but she explains her distress and he answers, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.” (1 Samuel 1:11-17)
“the LORD remembered [Hannal]. It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I have asked him of the LORD’.” (1 Samuel 1:19-20)
at the time of the yearly sacrifice, Hannah tells Elkanah, “‘I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD and stay there forever.’ Elkanah her husband said to her, ‘Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word.’” (1 Samuel 1:21-23a)
When Samuel was weaned, Hannah “brought the boy to Eli. She said, ‘Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD. For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.’ And he worshiped the LORD there.” (1 Samuel 1:24-28).

1 Samuel 2 (Day 98)

Hannah’s prayer (1 Samuel 2:1-10)
- My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,
  Because I rejoice in Your salvation….
  Boast no more so very proudly,
  Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;
  For the LORD is a God of knowledge,
  And with Him actions are weighed….
  He keeps the feet of His godly ones….
  Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered (1 Samuel 2:1b,3,9a,10a)
“the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest” (1 Samuel 2:11b)
“the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD and the custom of the priests with the people” (1 Samuel 2:12-13a)
they took for themselves unauthorized portions of meat sacrificed to the Lord
- “Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:17).
Hannah brought Samuel a new robe each year at the annual sacrifice, and Eli would bless her and Elkanah, saying, “May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” (1 Samuel 2:19-21)
- “The LORD visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:21).
Eli heard all that his sons were doing, and “how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.” Eli asked why they did such things, warning, “‘If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?’ But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death. (1 Samuel 2:22-25)
a man of God speaks to Eli for the LORD, saying, “those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house. You will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever. Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life. This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die. But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always” (1 Samuel 2:30b-35)

1 Samuel 3 (Day 98)

“word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent” (1 Samuel 3:1b)
the LORD called to Samuel, Samuel thought it was Eli calling him, and then “Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy,” telling him, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening,’” which Samuel did. The LORD confirmed the prophecy of the man of God spoken to Eli, “I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” When Samuel revealed the LORD’s words at Eli’s request, Eli said, “It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.” (1 Samuel 2:2-18)
“Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fail. All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD” (2 Samuel 2:19-21).

1 Samuel 4 (Day 99)

Israel is defeated in a battle with the Philistines, so they decide to take the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh into battle: 30,000 Israelite soldiers die, the ark is taken, and Eli’s son’s Hophni and Phinehas die
when Eli hears this news, he dies, having judged Israel 40 years
Phinehas’ wife gives birth and dies also, naming her son Ichabod and saying, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken”

1 Samuel 5 (Day 99)

the ark is taken to Ashdod, to the house of the Philistines’ god Dagon, who falls on its face before it twice, breaking off head and limbs on the second fall
- God ravages the Philistines in Ashdod and its territories with tumors
  - so they send it on to Gath, where the hand of the Lord causes confusion and He smites the residents with tumors
    - so they send it on to Ekron, where the hand of God is heavy, there is deadly confusion, and “the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven” (1 Samuel 5:12).

1 Samuel 6 (Day 99)

after the ark of the LORD is in the country of the Philistines for seven months, they seek advice from the priests and diviners, who advise, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering” (1 Samuel 6:3a)
- “you shall make [golden] likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land” (1 Samuel 6:4-5)
  - “Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow the people to go, and they departed?” (1 Samuel 6:6)
- “take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. Take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh [town in Judah bordering Philistine territory], then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance” (1 Samuel 6:7-9)
  - “the cows took the straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left” (1 Samuel 6:12a)
    - “The cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the LORD….The large stone on which they set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite” (1 Samuel 6:14-15,18b)
      - because some of the men of Beth-shemesh looked into the ark, the LORD struck down 50,070 men
        “The men of Beth-shemesh said, ‘Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?’ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim [also in Judah, on the border with Benjamin], saying, ‘The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up to you” (1 Samuel 6:20-21).

1 Samuel 7 (Day 99)

“the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the LORD and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD” (1 Samuel 7:1-2)
“Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, ‘If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.’ So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the LORD alone” (1 Samuel 7:3-4).
“Then Samuel said, ‘Gather all Israel to Mizpah [a sacred place in Benjamin] and I will pray to the LORD for you.’ They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day and said there, ‘We have sinned against the LORD.’ And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah” (1 Samuel 7:5-6).
the Philistines gather to attack the sons of Israel at Mizpah. “Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried to the LORD for Israel and the LORD answered him….the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel” (1 Samuel 7:7-11)
- “Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us’” (1 Samuel 7:12)
- “the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and the Amorites” (1 Samuel 7:13-14)
“Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He used to go annually on circuit to Bethel and Gilgal [where the Israelites first camped, and were circumcised, when they crossed the Jordan] and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. Then his return was to Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he built there an altar to the LORD” (1 Samuel 7:15-17)

1 Samuel 8 (Day 99)

When Samuel was old, he appointed his sons Joel and Abijah judges over Israel, but they “did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice” (1 Samuel 8:1-2)
“all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah…‘Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations’” (1 Samuel 8:4-5)
- this displeased Samuel so he prayed to LORD, who said, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:6-9)
“Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king,” warning he would take their sons for his army, his farming, and his making of equipment for war; their daughters as perfumers, cooks, and bakers; the best of their fields, vineyards, and olive groves; a tenth of their produce and flocks; and the best of their servants and animals. “‘Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day’” (1 Samuel 8:10-18)
the people refused to listen and said, “‘No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.’…The LORD said to Samuel, ‘Listen to their voice and appoint them a king’” (1 Samuel 8:19-22)

1 Samuel 9 (Day 100)

Kish, of Benjamin, had a son “Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:1-2)
- he sent Saul, and one of his servants, to look for his lost donkeys; not finding them, Saul suggested they return home, but they had come to the city where the servant knew Samuel, the prophet or seer, was, so the servant suggested they go inquire of him about their journey (1 Samuel 8:3-10)
  - consistent with directions they asked for, they found Samuel coming out of the city to go up to the high place to bless a sacrifice before the people eat it (1 Samuel 9:11-14)
- “a day before Saul’s coming, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel saying, ‘About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have regarded My people, because their cry has come to Me’” (1 Samuel 9:15-16)
  - Samuel invited Saul with him to the sacrifice and to stay with him that night, saying his father’s donkeys had been found and “‘for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?’ Saul replied, ‘Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel [recall how most of this tribe had been killed after the killing of the Levite’s harlot in Judges 18-21], and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?’” (1 Samuel 9:19-21)
  - in the morning as he was sending him away, “Samuel said to Saul, ‘Say to the servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on, but you remain standing now, that I may proclaim the word of God to you’” (1 Samuel 9:22-27)

1 Samuel 10 (Day 100)

“Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him and said, ‘Has not the LORD anointed you a ruler over His inheritance? (1 Samuel 10:1)
- Samuel then gave Saul three signs to observe as he travels home: as he passes near Rachel’s tomb, two men will tell him his father’s donkeys have been found and his father is anxious for him; three men going up to God at Bethel will be carrying three goats, three loaves of bread, and a jug of wine, and they will give him two loaves of bread; and then prophets coming down from the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is will come down from the high place prophesying, and “the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.” He told him to go ahead of him to Gilgal, where he would come in seven days to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings, and to tell him what to do (1 Samuel 10:2-8)
  - when Saul left Samuel, “God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day” (1 Samuel 10:9)
    - when he prophesied, the people asked, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 10:10-13)
“Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah; and he said to the sons of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.” But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have said, “No, but set a king over us!”” (1 Samuel 10:17-19)
- Samuel told them, “present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your clans.” The tribe of Benjamin was taken by Lot, and then Saul’s family, and then Saul, but Saul was hiding among the baggage. When he stood among the people, “he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. Samuel said to all the people, ‘Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.’ So all the people shouted and said, ‘Long live the king!’” (1 Samuel 10:20-24)
- “Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the LORD….Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. But certain worthless men said, ‘How can this one deliver us?’ And they despised him and did not bring him any present. But he kept silent” (1 Samuel 10:25-27)

1 Samuel 11 (Day 100)

“Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead [remember the men of this city were killed because they did not support the nation of Israel when they went up against Benjamin after the killing of the Levite’s harlot in Judges 18-21]; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, ‘Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.’ But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, ‘I will make it with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it a reproach on all Israel.’ The elders of Jabesh said to him, ‘Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you’” (1 Samuel 11:1-4).
- “the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and….they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh. Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, ‘Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen’” (1 Samuel 11:4-7)
  - “the sons of Israel [came out and] were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000” (1 Samuel 11:8)
  - “The next morning Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together” (1 Samuel 11:11).
  - the people threatened to kill the men who had rejected Saul, but “Saul said, ‘Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has accomplished deliverance in Israel’” (1 Samuel 11:12-13)
“Samuel said to the people, ‘Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.’ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal [where the Israelites first camped, and were circumcised, when they crossed the Jordan]

1 Samuel 12 (Day 100)

Samuel gives the people a short summary of their history, and tells them they sinned by asking for a king. They repent, and he tells them to fear the Lord and follow Him, warning that if they do wickedly, both they are their king will be swept away:
- “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. So now, take your stand, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did for you and your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the LORD their God, so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. They cried out to the LORD and said, “We have sinned because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.” Then the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security. When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, “No, but a king shall reign over us,” although the LORD your God was your king.” (1 Samuel 12:6-12)
- ‘Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you. If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. (1 Samuel 12:13-15)
- ‘Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king.’ So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.” (1 Samuel 12:16-18)
“Then all the people said to Samuel, ‘Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.’ (1 Samuel 12:19)
- Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. (1 Samuel 12:20-21)
- ‘For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. (1 Samuel 12:22)
- ‘Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.’” (1 Samuel 12:23-25)

1 Samuel 13 (Day 101)

“Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel” (1 Samuel 13:1).
“Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel”
- 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin.
  - “Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it.
  - “Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, ‘Let the Hebrews hear.’ All Israel heard the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned to Saul at Gilgal.”
“the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance”
- “as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.”
- “he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him”
  - “And he offered the burnt offering.”
  - “As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came
    - “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
- “Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.”

1 Samuel 14 (Day 101)

“the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, ‘Come and let us cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.’”
- “But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about six hundred men, and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the LORD at Shiloh, was wearing an ephod.”
- “Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, ‘Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few.’”
  - He tells his armor bearer that if the Philistines called them up to them, then that would be the sign the LORD had given them into their hands. That happens, and “That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land. And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling.”
- “Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, even they also pursued them closely in the battle. So the LORD delivered Israel that day,”
  - “Saul had put the people under oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and until I have avenged myself on my enemies.’
    - “But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under oath; therefore, he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.”
      - “Then one of the people said, ‘Your father strictly put the people under oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food today.”’ And the people were weary.”
        “Then Jonathan said, ‘My father has troubled the land.’”
    - “They struck among the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very weary. The people rushed greedily upon the spoil, and took sheep and oxen and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.”
      - “"Saul said, ‘Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, “Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and slaughter it here and eat; and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.”’ So all the people that night brought each one his ox with him and slaughtered it there. And Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD.”
- “Saul inquired of God, ‘Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?’ But He did not answer him on that day.”
  - Jonathan was chosen by lot. “Then Saul said to Jonathan, ‘Tell me what you have done.’ So Jonathan told him and said, ‘I indeed tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!’ Saul said, ‘May God do this to me and more also, for you shall surely die, Jonathan.’ But the people said to Saul, ‘Must Jonathan die, who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.’ So the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die.”
“Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, the sons of Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment. He acted valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.”
“Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab and the name of the younger Michal. The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.”
“Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff.”

1 Samuel 15 (Day 102)

Samuel tells Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey’”
Saul summons 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah
- “Saul said to the Kenites, ‘Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.’ So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.”
- “Saul defeated the Amalekites….He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.”
  - “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.”
“the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, ‘I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.’”
- “Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, ‘Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.’”
- “Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ‘Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD.’”
  - But Samuel said, ‘What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?’”
    - Saul said, ‘They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.’”
- “Samuel said, ‘Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel, and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, “Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.” Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?’”
  - “Saul said to Samuel, ‘I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.’”
  - “Samuel said,
    ‘Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
    Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
    And to heed than the fat of rams.
    For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
    And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.
    Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
    He has also rejected you from being king.’”
  - “Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.”
  - “As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, ‘The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.’”
“Samuel said, ‘Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.’ And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, ‘Surely the bitterness of death is past.’ But Samuel said, ‘As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.’ And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.”
“Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.”

1 Samuel 16 (Day 102)

“the LORD said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.’”
- “Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, ‘Do you come in peace?’ He said, ‘In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.”
  - “When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him.' But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’…Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The LORD has not chosen these.’”
  - When Samuel learned there was a youngest son who was tending sheep, “he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is he.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.”
“the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him. Saul’s servants then said to him, ‘…seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.’…one of the young men said, ‘Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the LORD is with him.’…Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. Saul sent to Jesse, saying, ‘Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.’ So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.”

1 Samuel 17 (Day 102)

“the Philistines gathered their armies for battle….Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath….’Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.’ Again the Philistine said, ‘I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.’ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”
“the three oldest [of Jesse’s sons] followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem. The Philistine came forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.”
- “David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army. Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers. As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.”
  - “David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, ‘What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?’”The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, ‘Thus it will be done for the man who kills him.’”
  - “When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine…..Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.’ And David said, ‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’”
  - “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.’”
    - “David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him…Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.”
    - “When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued….The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.”

1 Samuel 18 (Day 103)

“the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.”
“Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father’s house.”
“Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.”
“when David returned from killing the Philistine…the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. The women sang as they played, and said,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.’”
“Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, ‘They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?’ Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.”
“the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul’s hand. Saul hurled the spear for he thought, ‘I will pin David to the wall.’ But David escaped from his presence twice.”
“Saul was afraid of David, for the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. David was prospering in all his ways for the LORD was with him. When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, and he went out and came in before them.”
“Saul said to David, ‘Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the LORD’S battles.’ For Saul thought, ‘My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.’ But David said to Saul, ‘Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?’ So it came about at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.”
“Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable to him. Saul thought, ‘I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.’ Therefore Saul said to David, ‘For a second time you may be my son-in-law today.’ Then Saul commanded his servants, ‘Speak to David secretly, saying, “Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.”’ So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David. But David said, ‘Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?’ The servants of Saul reported to him according to these words which David spoke. Saul then said, ‘Thus you shall say to David, “The king does not desire any dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.”’ Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. When his servants told David these words, it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the days had expired David rose up and went, he and his men, and struck down two hundred men among the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife. When Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, then Saul was even more afraid of David. Thus Saul was David’s enemy continually.”
“Then the commanders of the Philistines went out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed.”

1 Samuel 19 (Day 103)

“Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. So Jonathan told David saying, ‘Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; if I find out anything, then I will tell you.’ Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, ‘Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. For he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great deliverance for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?’ Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, ‘As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.’ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as formerly.”
“When there was war again, David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled before him. Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.”
“Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, ‘If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.’ So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped. Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, ‘He is sick.’ Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, ‘Bring him up to me on his bed, that I may put him to death.’ When the messengers entered, behold, the household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair at its head. So Saul said to Michal, ‘Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?’ And Michal said to Saul, ‘He said to me, “Let me go! Why should I put you to death?”’
“David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. It was told Saul, saying, ‘Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.’ Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, ‘Where are Samuel and David?’ And someone said, ‘Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.’ He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’”

1 Samuel 20 (Day 103)

“David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said to Jonathan, ‘What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?’ He said to him, ‘Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!’ Yet David vowed again, saying, ‘Your father knows well that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, “Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.” But truly as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death.’ Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Whatever you say, I will do for you.’ So David said to Jonathan, ‘Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. If your father misses me at all, then say, “David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.” If he says, “It is good,” your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, know that he has decided on evil. Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?’ Jonathan said, ‘Far be it from you! For if I should indeed learn that evil has been decided by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you about it?’ Then David said to Jonathan, ‘Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?’ Jonathan said to David, ‘Come, and let us go out into the field.’ So both of them went out to the field.”
“Jonathan said to David, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good feeling toward David, shall I not then send to you and make it known to you? If it please my father to do you harm, may the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also, if I do not make it known to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And may the LORD be with you as He has been with my father. If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness of the LORD, that I may not die? You shall not cut off your lovingkindness from my house forever, not even when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.’ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ‘May the LORD require it at the hands of David’s enemies.’ Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.”
“Jonathan said to him, ‘Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed because your seat will be empty. When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain by the stone Ezel. I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target. And behold, I will send the lad, saying, “Go, find the arrows.” If I specifically say to the lad, “Behold,the arrows are on this side of you, get them,” then come; for there is safety for you and no harm, as the LORD lives. But if I say to the youth, “Behold, the arrows are beyond you,” go, for the LORD has sent you away. As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.’”
“David hid in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan rose up and Abner sat down by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. Nevertheless Saul did not speak anything that day, for he thought, ‘It is an accident, he is not clean, surely he is not clean.’ It came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty; so Saul said to Jonathan his son, ‘Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?’ Jonathan then answered Saul, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem, for he said, “Please let me go, since our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. And now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me get away that I may see my brothers.” For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.’”
“Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, ‘You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore now, send and bring him to me, for he must surely die.’ But Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, ‘Why should he be put to death? What has he done?’ Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down; so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death. Then Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved over David because his father had dishonored him.”
“in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little lad was with him. He said to his lad, ‘Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot.’ As the lad was running, he shot an arrow past him. When the lad reached the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the lad and said, ‘Is not the arrow beyond you?’ And Jonathan called after the lad, ‘Hurry, be quick, do not stay!’ And Jonathan’s lad picked up the arrow and came to his master. But the lad was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad and said to him, ‘Go, bring them to the city.’ When the lad was gone, David rose from the south side and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, but David wept the more. Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the LORD, saying, “The LORD will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.”’ Then he rose and departed, while Jonathan went into the city.”

Psalm 11

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

v1-7 “In the LORD I take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your mountain;
For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,
They make ready their arrow upon the string
To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?’
The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
Upon the wicked He will rain snares;
Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness;
The upright will behold His face.”

Psalm 59

For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth [probably a popular song]. A Mikhtam [poem] of David, when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.

v1-17 “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.
Deliver me from those who do iniquity
And save me from men of bloodshed.
For behold, they have set an ambush for my life;
Fierce men launch an attack against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O LORD,
For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.
Arouse Yourself to help me, and see!
You, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the nations;
Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah.
They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go around the city.
Behold, they belch forth with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips,
For, they say, ‘Who hears?’
But You, O LORD, laugh at them;
You scoff at all the nations.
Because of his strength I will watch for You,
For God is my stronghold.
My God in His lovingkindness will meet me;
God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes.
Do not slay them, or my people will forget;
Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield.
On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be caught in their pride,
And on account of curses and lies which they utter.
Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more;
That men may know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah.
They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go around the city.
They wander about for food
And growl if they are not satisfied.
But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;
Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For You have been my stronghold
And a refuge in the day of my distress.
O my strength, I will sing praises to You;
For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.”

1 Samuel 21 (Day 104)

“David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, ‘Why are you alone and no one with you?’ David said to Ahimelech the priest, ‘The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, “Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.” Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.’ The priest answered David and said, ‘There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.’ David answered the priest and said to him, ‘Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?’ So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.”
“one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds. David said to Ahimelech, ‘Now is there not a spear or a sword on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s matter was urgent.’ Then the priest said, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.’ And David said, ‘There is none like it; give it to me.’”
“David arose and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, ‘Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying,
“Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands”?’”
“David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. So he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, ‘Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?’”

1 Samuel 22 (Day 104)

“David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.”
“David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.’ Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. The prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.’ So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.”
“Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. Saul said to his servants who stood around him, ‘Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.’ Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing by the servants of Saul, said, ‘I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. He inquired of the LORD for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.’”
“the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king. Saul said, ‘Listen now, son of Ahitub.’ And he answered, ‘Here I am, my lord.’ Saul then said to him, ‘Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he would rise up against me by lying in ambush as it is this day?’”
“Ahimelech answered the king and said, ‘And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, even the king’s son-in-law, who is captain over your guard, and is honored in your house? Did I just begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair.’ But the king said, ‘You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household!’ And the king said to the guards who were attending him, ‘Turn around and put the priests of the LORD to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me.’ But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hands to attack the priests of the LORD. Then the king said to Doeg, ‘You turn around and attack the priests.’ And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword.”
“one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. Then David said to Abiathar, ‘I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household. Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life, for you are safe with me.’”

1 Samuel 23 (Day 104)

“they told David, saying, ‘Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors.’ So David inquired of the LORD, saying, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’ And the LORD said to David, ‘Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah.’ But David’s men said to him, ‘Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?’ Then David inquired of the LORD once more. And the LORD answered him and said, ‘Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.’ So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.”
“when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, ‘God has delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.’ So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring the ephod here.’ Then David said, ‘O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.’ And the LORD said, ‘He will come down.’ Then David said, ‘Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?’ And the LORD said, ‘They will surrender you.’ Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit. David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.”
“David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God. Thus he said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also.’ So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.”
“Then Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, ‘Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? Now then, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to do so; and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.’ Saul said, ‘May you be blessed of the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. Go now, make more sure, and investigate and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning. So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he hides himself and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.’”
“they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to seize them. But a messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.’ So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape. David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.”

1 Samuel 24 (Day 104)

“when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, ‘Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.’ Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. The men of David said to him, ‘Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, “Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.”’ Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. So he said to his men, ‘Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD’S anointed.’ David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.”
“afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, ‘My lord the king!’ And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. David said to Saul, ‘Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, “Behold, David seeks to harm you”? Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, “I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’S anointed.” Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients says, “Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness”; but my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.’”
“When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, ‘Is this your voice, my son David?’ Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, ‘You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the LORD delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the LORD therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. So now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.’ David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.”

Psalm 7

A Shiggaion [song?] of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

v1-17 “O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
Or he will tear my soul like a lion,
Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.
O LORD my God, if I have done this,
If there is injustice in my hands,
If I have rewarded evil to my friend,
Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,
Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it;
And let him trample my life down to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;
Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries,
And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You,
And over them return on high.
The LORD judges the peoples;
Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous;
For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
My shield is with God,
Who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
And a God who has indignation every day.
If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword;
He has bent His bow and made it ready.
He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons;
He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
Behold, he travails with wickedness,
And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.
He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the hole which he made.
His mischief will return upon his own head,
And his violence will descend upon his own pate.
I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness
And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.”

Psalm 27

A Psalm of David.

v1-14 “The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.
One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD
And to meditate in His temple.
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You,
’Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.’
Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the LORD will take me up.
Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a level path
Because of my foes.
Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.”

Psalm 31

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

v1-4 “In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed;
In Your righteousness deliver me.
Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be to me a rock of strength,
A stronghold to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.

v5-24 “Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.
I hate those who regard vain idols,
But I trust in the LORD.
I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
Because You have seen my affliction;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And my body has wasted away.
Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach,
Especially to my neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
For I have heard the slander of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they took counsel together against me,
They schemed to take away my life.
But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD,
I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
Make Your face to shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I call upon You;
Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.
Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.
How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of men!
You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man;
You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the LORD,
For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.
As for me, I said in my alarm,
‘I am cut off from before Your eyes’;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried to You.
O love the LORD, all you His godly ones!
The LORD preserves the faithful
And fully recompenses the proud doer.
Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the LORD.”

Psalm 34

A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.

v1-22 “I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the LORD;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
O fear the LORD, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
The face of the LORD is against evildoers,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry, and the LORD hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones,
Not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”

Psalm 52

For the choir director. A Maskil [poem] of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

v1-9 “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
Falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.
You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah.
The righteous will see and fear,
And will laugh at him, saying,
‘Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches
And was strong in his evil desire.’
But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”

Psalm 56

For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam [poem] of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

v1-11 “Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;
Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
My foes have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in You.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can mere man do to me?
All day long they distort my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
They attack, they lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have waited to take my life.
Because of wickedness, cast them forth,
In anger put down the peoples, O God!
You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
In the LORD, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
Your vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
For You have delivered my soul from death,
Indeed my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living.”

Psalm 120

A Song of Ascents.

v1-4 “In my trouble I cried to the LORD,
And He answered me.
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips,
From a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you,
You deceitful tongue?
Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning coals of the broom tree.

v5-7 “Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech,
For I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who hate peace.
I am for peace, but when I speak,
They are for war.”

Psalm 140

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

v1-13 “Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;
Preserve me from violent men
Who devise evil things in their hearts;
They continually stir up wars.
They sharpen their tongues as a serpent;
Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.
Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
Preserve me from violent men
Who have purposed to trip up my feet.
The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set snares for me. Selah.
I said to the LORD, ‘You are my God;
Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.
O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of battle.
Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.
As for the head of those who surround me,
May the mischief of their lips cover them.
May burning coals fall upon them;
May they be cast into the fire,
Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.
May a slanderer not be established in the earth;
May evil hunt the violent man speedily.’
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted
And justice for the poor.
Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;
The upright will dwell in Your presence.”

Psalm 141

A Psalm of David.

v1-10 “O LORD, I call upon You; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to You!
May my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds of wickedness
With men who do iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.
Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me;
It is oil upon the head;
Do not let my head refuse it,
For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.
Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock,
And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.
As when one plows and breaks open the earth,
Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.
Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the snares of those who do iniquity.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
While I pass by safely.”

Psalm 142

Maskil [poem] of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

v1-7 “I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD;
I make supplication with my voice to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my trouble before Him.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see;
For there is no one who regards me;
There is no escape for me;
No one cares for my soul.
I cried out to You, O LORD;
I said, ‘You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
Give heed to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are too strong for me.
Bring my soul out of prison,
So that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me,
For You will deal bountifully with me.’”

1 Samuel 25 (Day 107)

“Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah.”
“David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.”
“there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite), that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, ‘Go up to Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him in my name; and thus you shall say, “Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel. Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.”’
“When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name; then they waited. But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, ‘Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?’ So David’s young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words. David said to his men, ‘Each of you gird on his sword.’ So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.”
“But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, ‘Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he scorned them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. Now therefore, know and consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him.’”
“Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. She said to her young men, ‘Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal. It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them. Now David had said, ‘Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good. May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much as one male of any who belong to him.’”
“When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, ‘On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. Now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord. Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil will not be found in you all your days. Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when the LORD does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.’”
“David said to Abigail, ‘Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male.’ So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, ‘Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.’”
“Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light. But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone. About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.”
“When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.’ Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, ‘David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.’ She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, ‘Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.’ Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife. David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives. Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.”

1 Samuel 26 (Day 107)

“the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, ‘Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?’ So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, beside the road, and David was staying in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies, and he knew that Saul was definitely coming. David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.”
“David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, ‘Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?’ And Abishai said, ‘I will go down with you.’ So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him. Then Abishai said to David, ‘Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand; now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.’ But David said to Abishai, ‘Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’S anointed and be without guilt?” David also said, ‘As the LORD lives, surely the LORD will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish. The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’S anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.’ So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.”
“Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, ‘Will you not answer, Abner?’ Then Abner replied, ‘Who are you who calls to the king?’ So David said to Abner, ‘Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king your lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, all of you must surely die, because you did not guard your lord, the LORD’S anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is and the jug of water that was at his head.’”
“Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, ‘Is this your voice, my son David?’ And David said, ‘It is my voice, my lord the king.’ He also said, ‘Why then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? Now therefore, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the LORD has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is men, cursed are they before the LORD, for they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of the LORD, saying, “Go, serve other gods.” Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the LORD; for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.’”
“Then Saul said, ‘I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.’ David replied, ‘Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it. The LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the LORD’S anointed. Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the LORD, and may He deliver me from all distress.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.’ So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.”

1 Samuel 27 (Day 107)

“Then David said to himself, ‘Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.’ So David arose and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. Now it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.”
“Then David said to Achish, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?’ So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.”
“Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to Shureven as far as the land of Egypt. David attacked the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. Now Achish said, ‘Where have you made a raid today?’ And David said, ‘Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites.’ David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, ‘Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, “So has David done and so has been his practice all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.”’ So Achish believed David, saying, ‘He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.’”

Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

v1-5 “Hear a just cause, O LORD, give heed to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips.
Let my judgment come forth from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look with equity.
You have tried my heart;
You have visited me by night;
You have tested me and You find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips
I have kept from the paths of the violent.
My steps have held fast to Your paths.
My feet have not slipped.

v6-15 “I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
Wondrously show Your lovingkindness,
O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.
Keep me as the apple of the eye;
Hide me in the shadow of Your wings
From the wicked who despoil me,
My deadly enemies who surround me.
They have closed their unfeeling heart,
With their mouth they speak proudly.
They have now surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground.
He is like a lion that is eager to tear,
And as a young lion lurking in hiding places.
Arise, O LORD, confront him, bring him low;
Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
From men with Your hand, O LORD,
From men of the world, whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babes.
As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;
I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.”

Psalm 35

A Psalm of David.

v1-28 “Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
Take hold of buckler and shield
And rise up for my help.
Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’
Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life;
Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.
Let them be like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the LORD driving them on.
Let their way be dark and slippery,
With the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
For without cause they hid their net for me;
Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
Let destruction come upon him unawares,
And let the net which he hid catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.
And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD;
It shall exult in His salvation.
All my bones will say, ‘LORD, who is like You,
Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him,
And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?’
Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.
They repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.
I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.
But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They slandered me without ceasing.
Like godless jesters at a feast,
They gnashed at me with their teeth.
Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages,
My only life from the lions.
I will give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will praise You among a mighty throng.
Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.
For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
They opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, ‘Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!’
You have seen it, O LORD, do not keep silent;
O Lord, do not be far from me.
Stir up Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
Judge me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness,
And do not let them rejoice over me.
Do not let them say in their heart, ‘Aha, our desire!’
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
Let those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who rejoice at my distress;
Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.
Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication;
And let them say continually, ‘The LORD be magnified,
Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.’
And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness
And Your praise all day long.”

Psalm 54

For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil [poem] of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”

v1-7 “Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your power. Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah.
Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
He will recompense the evil to my foes;
Destroy them in Your faithfulness.
Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For He has delivered me from all trouble,
And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.”

Psalm 63

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

v1-11 “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.
When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches,
For You have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek my life to destroy it,
Will go into the depths of the earth.
They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a prey for foxes.
But the king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him will glory,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.”

1 Samuel 28 (Day 109)

“it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, ‘Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.’ David said to Achish, ‘Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.’ So Achish said to David, ‘Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.’”
“Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa. When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, ‘Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.’ And his servants said to him, ‘Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor.’”
“Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, ‘Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall name to you.’ But the woman said to him, ‘Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?’ Saul vowed to her by the LORD, saying, ‘As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.’ Then the woman said, ‘Whom shall I bring up for you?’ And he said, ‘Bring up Samuel for me.’ When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, ‘Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.’ The king said to her, ‘Do not be afraid; but what do you see?’ And the woman said to Saul, ‘I see a divine being coming up out of the earth.’ He said to her, ‘What is his form?’ And she said, ‘An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe.’ And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.”
“Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?’ And Saul answered, ‘I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do.’ Samuel said, ‘Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has departed from you and has become your adversary? The LORD has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. As you did not obey the LORD and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the LORD has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the LORD will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the LORD will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!’”
“Saul immediately fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night. The woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and said to him, ‘Behold, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. So now also, please listen to the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength when you go on your way.’ But he refused and said, ‘I will not eat.’ However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it; and she took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread from it. She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.”

1 Samuel 29 (Day 109)

“the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish. Then the commanders of the Philistines said, ‘What are these Hebrews doing here?’ And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, ‘Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?’ But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, ‘Make the man go back, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men? Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying,
“Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands”?’”
“Achish called David and said to him, ‘As the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. Now therefore return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.’ David said to Achish, ‘But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?’ But Achish replied to David, ‘I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, “He must not go up with us to the battle.” Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart.’ So David arose early, he and his men, to depart in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.”

1 Samuel 30 (Day 109)

“it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”
“Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, ‘Please bring me the ephod.’ So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. David inquired of the LORD, saying, ‘Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?’ And He said to him, ‘Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.’ So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.”
“Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. David said to him, ‘To whom do you belong? And where are you from?’ And he said, ‘I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago. We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.’ Then David said to him, ‘Will you bring me down to this band?’ And he said, ‘Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.’”
“When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives. But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back. So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, ‘This is David’s spoil.’”
“When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, ‘Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.’ Then David said, ‘You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us. And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.’ So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.”
“Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, ‘Behold, a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD: to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the Negev, and to those who were in Jattir, and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa, and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Bor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach, and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to go.’”

1 Samuel 30 (Day 109)

“Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul. The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers Then Saul said to his armor bearer, ‘Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me.’ But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.”
“When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.”
“It came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.”

Psalm 18 (Day 109)

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

v1-50 “‘I love You, O LORD, my strength.’
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
He rode upon a cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
Then the channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Your rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
With the kind You show Yourself kind;
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
For You save an afflicted people,
But haughty eyes You abase.
For You light my lamp;
The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
For by You I can run upon a troop;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God,
The God who girds me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And sets me upon my high places.
He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise;
They fell under my feet.
For You have girded me with strength for battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
They cried for help, but there was none to save,
Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
You have delivered me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners submit to me.
Foreigners fade away,
And come trembling out of their fortresses.
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,
The God who executes vengeance for me,
And subdues peoples under me.
He delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
He gives great deliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever.”

Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.

v1-8 “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.”

Psalm 123

A Song of Ascents.

v1-4 “To You I lift up my eyes,
O You who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
Be gracious to us, O LORD, be gracious to us,
For we are greatly filled with contempt.
Our soul is greatly filled
With the scoffing of those who are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud.”

Psalm 124

A Song of Ascents, of David.

v1-8 “‘Had it not been the LORD who was on our side,’
Let Israel now say,
‘Had it not been the LORD who was on our side
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their anger was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have engulfed us,
The stream would have swept over our soul;
Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.’
Blessed be the LORD,
Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 125

A Song of Ascents.

v1-5 “Those who trust in the LORD
Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the LORD surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous,
So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O LORD, to those who are good
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.
Peace be upon Israel.”

Psalm 128

A Song of Ascents.

v1-6 “How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!”

Psalm 129

A Song of Ascents.

v1-8 “‘Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,’
Let Israel now say,
‘Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.’
The LORD is righteous;
He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.
May all who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned backward;
Let them be like grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up;
With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;
Nor do those who pass by say,
‘The blessing of the LORD be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the LORD.’”

Psalm 130

A Song of Ascents.

v1-8 “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
If You, LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the LORD there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.”

The MD/Pastor's Wife Corner

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