 " A sad story of a good man being corrupted by power thrust upon him against his own, and God's wishes."  -The People of Israel decided that rather than a new Judge, they wanted a king The sons of Samuel were not fit to be judges Surrounding nations utilized kings rather than judges  God decides to teach the people their folly by selecting for king exactly what man would picture to be the perfect choice: Samuel anoints Saul, a farmer.  Saul is tall, charismatic, Intelligent, and handsome Saul tries to hide but is anointed as king and then goes back to work on his farm.

 A military crisis forces Saul to start acting as a king. - He showed that he was a good strategic leader - He started to show that he could be corrupted by greed, military strength, and power.  Saul ruins his reign by making two major mistakes that showed a lack of faith in God Mistake #1: 1 Samuel 13 -Saul offered sacrifices before a major battle himself instead of waiting for Samuel, the priest, to show up  What that showed: Saul did not have faith in God’s timing or God’s chosen leader, he tried to be both the priest and the king which was not his job.  The Consequence: Saul’s family line will not reign over Israel anymore after Saul. Rather than Saul’s family establishing a long line, God has chosen someone else to lead Israel after Saul. Mistake #2 : 1 Samuel 15 - Saul was charged by God to completely destroy the Amalekites but he wasn’t willing to open God’s orders and instead spared the king and all of the best livestock.  What that showed: Again, Saul was turning his back on God’s will and choosing to do whatever he wanted to do rather than what God wanted. He refers to God as “YOUR God” here  The Consequence: God rejected Saul and Saul lost his blessing from God as king. God turned his back on Saul’s rule.

 1 Samuel 16 - David was anointed by Samuel to be the next king sometime during his childhood while Saul was still king, right after God rejected him. 1 Samuel 16:7 – David was not physically what one would picture as a king.  He was a child  He was the youngest of his family  He was from a small town

 After he was anointed as the future king David didn’t suddenly become important – it was a process Sometime later David entered into Saul’s service 16:14-23  Saul liked David but didn’t really notice him (16:19-23) David became famous after killing Goliath  NOW Saul really took notice (17:55-58)  As David became more famous, Saul grew paranoid and jealous which helped him to gradually lose touch with his sanity. David became best friends with Saul’s son David (18:1-4) David fell in love with Saul’s daughter (18:20-29) The people of Israel began to favor David over Saul (18:6- 8)

 Eventually Saul’s paranoia about David forced David into exile for 15 years as Saul chased him throughout the country. Although Saul was attempting to kill David, David refused to harm Saul even when he had the chance.  David saw Saul as God’s anointed leader and felt that it would be sinful to take the throne himself instead of waiting for God’s timing. When David received the news that Saul had finally died in battle he mourned him rather than rejoicing  Also killed Saul’s servant for the crime of killing God’s anointed king. As soon as he had the chance David found Saul’s closest surviving relative to take care of.  A “smart” ruler would have killed any surviving members to ensure his rule.

 Rather than assuming the throne immediately after Saul’s death David seeks God’s will God calls David to Judah to reign for awhile and build support David eventually takes over Jerusalem in a quiet military coup David becomes King over Israel