Learning from 1 Chronicles - God’s Promise to David

1 Chronicles 17:1-4 - After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”

Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.”

That night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in…”

This chapter teaches us important lessons about God’s nature, about our relationship with the Lord, and about how we should pray.

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Learning from 2 Samuel 15 - David Flees from Absalom

2 Samuel 15:14 - So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come on!  Let’s escape!  Otherwise, no one will be delivered from Absalom!  Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.”

The kingdom of David in the Old Testament is a prophetic foreshadowing of the spiritual kingdom of Jesus.  David followed God with his whole heart.  He did not exalt himself, but let God raise him to the kingship in due time.  The Scriptures later compared all the other leaders who followed David to him — particularly regarding if they followed God with their whole heart.

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Learning from 1 Samuel 16 - David Anointed by Samuel (pt.1)

…So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” - 1 Samuel 16:11

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Learning from 1 Samuel 15 - Saul’s Rebellion

1 Samuel 15:23 - “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king…”

Saul sinned and lost everything God had given him. The prophet Samuel even called Saul’s sin “idolatry,” even though Saul had not worshipped any statue or graven image. How was Saul guilty of idolatry? Why was his sin so serious that God permanently rejected him? This study examines these two questions.

Saul’s sin was a common one for religious people. He simply followed his own opinions and will. He departed a little from what the Lord revealed. He offered sacrifices to God, and he thought God should be satisfied. Yet he sacrificed something the Lord had said He did not want. Human religion does not care what God really wants; religion gives God what it wants to give, and expects God to accept anything. When it came to obedience, Saul would obey parts of what the Lord revealed, and he thought God should be satisfied with that. He did not understand that neglecting the other parts of God’s will constituted simple “disobedience.” God sent Saul into a battle with a specific enemy, and told him to take no plunder and no captives. Yet Saul took a little plunder to offer as a sacrifice to God, and a few captives who were royalty, who seemed special. Saul disobeyed, deviated from God’s plan. The prophet Samuel calls this idolatry.

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Learning from 1 Samuel 13 - The Contrast Between Saul and David

Acts 13:20-22 - “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”

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