Although not stated, it’s generally accepted by Jewish tradition that Samuel is the author of 1 Samuel; however, since we read about his death in 1 Samuel 25:1, it’s widely accepted that someone else wrote the account of his death.
Jewish tradition also indicates that Samuel was the author of 1 Samuel 1-24, and the prophets Gad and Nathan wrote 1 Samuel 25-31, all of 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles 29:29-30.
The writer of 2 Samuel also refers to other writings that aren’t a part of the Bible, such as the Book of Jashar, 2 Samuel 1:18, and The Chronicles of King David, 1 Chronicles 27:24.
Since the history of 2 Samuel covers the period of the forty-year reign of King David, which is from about 1055 B.C. to 1015 B.C. It was a period of struggle as the kingdom had transitioned from the reign of Saul to the end of the reign of David.
In the Jewish canon of Scriptures, the books of 1 and 2 Samuel are one book; this makes sense as 2 Samuel is basically a continuation of 1 Samuel. The historical events from 1 Samuel 31 to the end of 2 Samuel are parallel with 1 Chronicles 10-29.
2 Samuel continues the theme of how God preserved the seed-line nation of Israel, and in particular, the seed of David through whom He would bring the Messiah into the world, 2 Samuel 7.
The Book of 2 Samuel is about King David, and within it, we read about the events of Israel while David was king. We read about many wars and how they secured the city of Jerusalem, which would become their capital.
We read about David’s love for God and God’s love for him. For the most part, David was a good king, but he did make some huge mistakes. He had sex with a married woman called Bathsheba, and he ordered the death of Bathsheba’s husband, 2 Samuel 11:1-27 / 1 Chronicles 14-15 / Psalm 32.
We also read about how David’s own son, Absalom, fought against David and wanted to become king, 2 Samuel 15, and how, time and time again, God saved David from all his enemies.
The most glorious part of the history of Israel was the United Kingdom, so-called to distinguish it from the Divided Kingdom which followed, it lasted from about 1095 to 975 B. C. and included the reigns of three great kings, Saul, David, and Solomon. The story of this period is related in the two books of Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11 / 1 Chronicles 1-2 / 1 Chronicles 9.
You will remember that for about three hundred years, the twelve tribes of Israel had been loosely governed by judges. The last and greatest of these was the prophet, Samuel. But the children of Israel wanted to be like their neighbours, they came to Samuel and asked for a king, 1 Samuel 8.
Although God was much displeased with their request, He instructed Samuel to anoint as their king a young man named Saul who stood head and shoulders above the people. The people gathered at Mizpeh and were presented with their new ruler, who was so timid that he hid among the baggage.
Saul began his forty-year reign well. Israel was beset by enemies, and he undertook the task of driving them back. His army defeated the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Edomites and others.
Soon, Saul was a popular figure among the people. But his popularity went to his head, and he ceased to be a humble servant of God. Instead, he became self-willed, bent on doing things the way he wanted them done, regardless of the will of God.
On one occasion, he was commissioned to ‘utterly destroy the Amalekites,’ 1 Samuel 15:8. Instead, he spared the king and saved some sheep and cattle to sacrifice.
Because he had thus disobeyed the Lord, Samuel rebuked him with the words, ‘Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams,’ 1 Samuel 15:22. From that time on, God rejected Saul as king.
Saul deeply loved him and selected him as his armour bearer. David quickly rose to prominence by slaying with a sling the champion of the Philistines, the giant Goliath.
The ensuing glory given to David provoked the jealousy of Saul, who began to suspect that David was trying to supplant him as king. From that time on, Saul sought to kill David and for years hunted him as an outlaw over the hills of Israel.
Perhaps the most beautiful friendship in the Bible is that of David and Jonathan, the son of Saul, who, although he realised that David would become king instead of himself, constantly sought to save David from his father’s ire. Saul and Jonathan both fell in battle with the Philistines to prepare the way for David as king.
To try and understand why David was a man ‘after God’s own heart’, we need to contrast the character of Saul, who was Israel’s first king, with the character of David, their second king.
It wasn’t long after Saul had become king that we began to see what was really going on in his heart. If you remember, Saul and his army were about to go into battle against the Philistines, and he wanted God’s blessings to be with him and his army.
I guess there was nothing wrong with wanting God’s blessings before going into a war. However, the problem came because he became impatient; he was told to wait seven days for the prophet Samuel to arrive, but his patience ran out.
So, he decided to go ahead and present a burnt offering to the Lord himself, 1 Samuel 13:1-9. Like most of us who are impatient, he came out with an excuse when Samuel finally arrived and asked him what he had done.
Saul’s excuse was that he ‘felt compelled’ to offer the burnt offering, when in fact he deliberately chose to offer the sacrifice knowing that this could only be done by the priests, 1 Samuel 13:12.
Saul was then told by Samuel that he would no longer be king and his kingdom would be taken from him because of his actions. Saul was a character who only thought about himself; he totally ignored God’s commandments and God’s direction.
He totally disobeyed God, and as a result, this demonstrated that he certainly wasn’t a man after God’s own heart, 1 Samuel 13:13-14. Notice that Samuel mentions that God was looking for a man after His own heart, a man who would become the new leader of Israel. A little later, God sent Samuel to Jesse the Bethlehemite to find the next king from among his sons, 1 Samuel 16:1.
When Samuel arrived, he was impressed with several of the sons of Jesse, but God didn’t want them, and so He helped Samuel to choose the right person. We read here that God doesn’t judge people on their external appearance, but He looks at their hearts, 1 Samuel 16:7.
In other words, God doesn’t fall for the façade that many people have today, with their false words and actions. God knew Saul’s heart and rejected him, and then He looked at David’s heart and chose him, 1 Samuel 16:10-13.
1. God chose David because He knew David would obey Him and do what God commands.
Saul did his own thing, what he wanted to do, Jeremiah 7:21-23, but David was obedient to God and His commands, Acts 13:21-22. Notice that God says that David, ‘will do everything I want him to do’, this implies obedience. Saul did his own thing and didn’t want to obey God because he wanted to please himself, but David felt compelled to obey God in order to please God.
In other words, David cared about what God cared about, he desired what God desired, and his heart sought after the things that God sought after. This is exactly what we see in Christ when He lived His life, Luke 2:49 / Luke 22:42. No one can have the heart of God if they don’t obey God and carry out His commands.
2. God chose David because He knew David would love Him more than anything else.
This was something else which Saul lacked. We can’t tell God that we love Him if we’re not willing to obey Him, John 14:15. These simple words of Jesus are very clear, but many people struggle to keep His commands.
Many people claim that they love God but totally ignore His commandments. Maybe the reason they struggle to keep His commands is simply that they struggle to truly love God in the first place.
David loved Saul, but he loved God more, hence why he obeyed God rather than obeying Saul. We only have to turn to the Psalms to find that many of them were written by David, not Saul. Many of the Psalms which David wrote were all about God; there are many which are love songs, which reveal his heart’s desire and love for God.
Many of the Psalms were written by David, and they reveal that David had a real passion for God; he really wanted to know God, Psalm 42:1-2. It’s clear that David only wanted to worship God, whilst Saul just wanted to worship himself, 1 Samuel 18:8.
3. God chose David because He knew David would lead people and not follow people as Saul did.
We can always tell what kind of relationship a person has with God by the way, they interact with others around them. We see this difference in the character of Saul and David.
Saul wanted nothing more than to be praised by those around him, and as a result, he ended up following people, rather than leading them; he ended up obeying people rather than obeying God, 1 Samuel 15:24.
While Saul desired the praise of men, David was the absolute opposite; he successfully led people because he was following God’s lead and was obedient to Him. As a result of following and obeying God, he successfully encouraged people to do what was good and right in the eyes of God.
We see this on one occasion when he had an opportunity to kill Saul because His men were encouraging him to do so, but David encouraged them not to do so because he wanted to please God instead, 1 Samuel 24:4-7.
It’s in these verses that we see that David ‘persuaded his men’ while Saul was persuaded by men, we see that Saul wanted to carry out his own vengeance, but David left the matter in God’s hands, 1 Samuel 24:12.
David never tries to win the hearts of people, he only wants to win the heart of God and as a result, he became a great leader because he not only loved God more than anything else but he also fully obeyed Him.
4. God chose David because He knew David would come to hate sin as He hates sin.
People often wonder how David could be a ‘man after God’s own heart’ when he sinned many times against the Lord. The two most memorable sins were when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, murdered on the battlefield, 2 Samuel 11:1-16.
David didn’t live a sinless life, but as His love for God grew stronger, he came to hate sin as God hates sin. Psalm 32 tells us of David’s repentance and sorrow over his sin.
We see this especially in Psalm 51, after the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 12:1-23, David is clearly repenting of his sin with Bathsheba.
While being a man after God’s own heart is about obeying God, having the same desires as God’s heart, and seeking to please God rather than people, a man after God’s own heart also repents deeply when he knows he’s failed.
David deeply loved God more than anything else, and he obeyed His commands, Jeremiah 9:23-24. He learned to hate sin as God hates sin, Romans 6:23, he grieved over his sin as God grieves when we sin, Genesis 6:6. He wanted to lead people in the ways of God, rather than allowing people to lead him into sin.
God knows that none of us can live a perfect life like His Son Jesus did, 1 Peter 2:22-24, but He still desires that His people will have hearts ‘after His own heart.’ He still desires that we love God more than anything else, 1 John 5:3. He still desires that we obey His commands, John 14:21. He still desires that we hate sin and refrain from sinning, Romans 6:1-14.
He still desires that we lead people to Him and encourage them to obey His commands, Matthew 28:18-20. He still desires that we live a holy life because He is a holy God, 1 Peter 1:15-16. The question is, do you desire what God desires? Ecclesiastes 12:13.
Solomon’s rule was in sharp contrast with his father’s. While David had faced turmoil for almost his entire reign, Solomon’s was one of unbroken peace. He began auspiciously.
In a dream, he asked for God’s wisdom rather than riches and honour, and because of his thoughtful request, he was rewarded with all three. Solomon’s wisdom is known to all.
Three thousand proverbs and one thousand and five songs came forth from this sage! Much of his wisdom is recorded for us in the three books which he wrote and which we will study in another lesson.
Politically, he extended the influence of Israel to its greatest height, making it a world power. The fabulous wealth of Solomon astounds us, even to this day. He had fourteen hundred chariots, twelve thousand horsemen, and an annual income of six hundred threescores and six talents of gold. And he didn’t have to pay income tax!
On one occasion, he was given an outright gift of one hundred and twenty talents of gold by the queen of Sheba. When she visited Solomon to see if all the reports of his fame were true, she was so amazed that she exclaimed, ‘Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard.’ 1 Kings 10:7.
The greatest of all Solomon’s accomplishments was his building of the temple of God to replace the tabernacle in which Israel had worshipped since the wilderness wanderings.
Probably no structure in the world’s history has equalled it in cost. Built by one-hundred and eighty-three thousand men in seven and a half years, it cost an immense sum of money to erect. The great wealth of Solomon eventually led to his undoing. He sought every kind of pleasure and married seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.
Most of these were idolaters, and what a time he must have had in trying to please them all. His high cost of living led him to tax the people heavily, much to their dissatisfaction. His reign had started with wisdom and wealth; it ended with women and idolatry.
When his forty-year rule ended, he was a thoroughly disillusioned and unhappy man. In his revelry, he had laid the groundwork for the division of his great kingdom after his death.
What is recorded in this chapter is a continuation of 1 Samuel. After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days, and on the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head, 2 Samuel 1:1-2. When the man arrived, he fell at David’s feet to pay him honour, 2 Samuel 1:2.
When news concerning Saul and Johnathon’s death got back to David, notice that the Amalekite reported to David what had happened, 2 Samuel 1:3-6. It was a different story from the account we read about in 1 Samuel 31:1-13 / 1 Chronicles 10:1-12. We don’t know why he changed some of the details concerning Saul and Johnathon, possibly because he wanted to get paid for giving his report.
The Amalekite reports that Saul asked him to kill him, 2 Samuel 1:7-9. It’s a possibility that when Saul fell upon his own sword, he didn’t instantly die, 1 Samuel 31:4, and so, at that point, he asked the Amalekite to kill him, 2 Samuel 1:9-10. The man says he took the crown that was on Saul’s head and the band on his arm and brought them here to his lord, 2 Samuel 1:10.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Amalekite was one of those who came ‘to strip the slain’ on ‘the morrow’ after the battle, 1 Samuel 31:8, and had the luck to find Saul and possess himself of his crown and bracelet. He probably started off immediately to seek David, and invented the above story, possibly having heard from some Israelite prisoner an account of what really did happen.’
Whatever the real account was doesn’t really matter, but what does matter is the motives behind the Amalekite telling David in the first place that he was looking for a reward for being the one who killed Saul.
The response of David and his men to the Amalekite’s report was mourning and deep remorse, 2 Samuel 1:11-12, because Saul, God’s anointed King of Israel, 1 Samuel 10:1, had been killed by the hands of an uncircumcised man. With the friendship and love David had for Johnathon, 1 Samuel 18:1, would have only added to his emotional pain.
When David asks the man where he was from, he replied he was a foreigner, an Amalekite, 2 Samuel 1:13. This tells us he was a stranger living in the land of the Israelites.
It’s clear that he didn’t really belong to God because, unlike Saul’s armourbearer, 1 Samuel 31:4, he shows no respect or concern for killing God’s anointed, 2 Samuel 1:14.
This was the reason why David ordered the Amalekite to be killed, 2 Samuel 1:15-16. Also, in doing so, he would be carrying out God’s earlier command to destroy all the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15:3, something which Saul failed to do, 1 Samuel 15:4-22.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘David might well think his sentence just though severe, for he had more than once expressed the deliberate opinion that none could lift up his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless, 1 Samuel 24:6 / 1 Samuel 26:9 / 1 Samuel 26:11 / 1 Samuel 26:16.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘If he killed Saul, as he said he did, then he deserved death; at that time it was not known to the contrary, and this man was executed on his own confession.’
As part of a lament for Saul and Johnathon, David ordered all the people of Judah to be taught the lament of the bow, which was written in the Book of Jashar, 2 Samuel 1:17-18.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning the word bow.
‘The word kasheth is to be understood of the title of the song which immediately follows, and not of the use of the bow, as our translation intimates.’
We don’t have any record of this book today, but it was probably an Israelite record of poems and songs written for heroes of Israel, Joshua 10:12-13.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It has been further suggested that in the Book of Jasher, there was, among other things, a collection of poems, in which special mention was made of the bow. This was one of them. 1 Samuel 2:1-10, was another, Numbers 21:27-30, was another; Lamentations 2, was another, Lamentations 3, was another; Jacob’s blessing, Genesis 49, Moses’ song, Deuteronomy 32, perhaps his Blessing, Deuteronomy 33, and such Psalms as Psalms 44 / Psalms 46:1-11 / Psalms 76:1-12 / Habakkuk 3, and Zechariah 9:9-17, also belonged to it.’
David’s lamentation is simply beautiful Hebrew poetry. David became famous for writing these poems, 2 Samuel 23:1, and songs and many are found within the Psalms.
In this lament, David expresses his deep sorrow over the death of Saul and his friend Jonathan, and he highlights the fact that it is God who is working through Israel. He says a gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel. How the mighty have fallen! 2 Samuel 1:19.
Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice, 2 Samuel 1:20.
Gath and Ashkelon were the two main cities of the Philistines that in the text stand for the entire country of Philistia, 1 Samuel 21:10 / 1 Samuel 27:2 / 1 Samuel 31:10.
Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, may no showers fall on your terraced fields, Job 3:3-10 / Jeremiah 20:14-18. For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul, no longer rubbed with oil, 2 Samuel 1:21 / Isaiah 21:5.
Gilboa was the place where Israel was defeated and both Saul and Jonathan killed, 1 Samuel 31:1. From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied, 2 Samuel 1:22.
David nowhere rejoices over the death of Saul, despite Saul’s several attempts to kill him, which tells us a lot about David’s respect for him as God’s anointed king, Luke 6:37. Notice the respect he has for Saul and Jonathan when he says, Saul and Jonathan in life they were loved and admired, and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions, 2 Samuel 1:23. Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold, 2 Samuel 1:24.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The women of Israel are most happily introduced. They who had come out to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music” in the day of victory, are now called to weep over him.’
David ends his lament with some beautiful words about his dear friend Johnathon. How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights, 2 Samuel 1:25.
He calls Jonathan his brother, who was very dear to him, and he says Jonathon’s love for him was wonderful, more wonderful than that of a woman, 2 Samuel 1:26. David ends by saying how the mighty have fallen! 2 Samuel 1:27 / 2 Samuel 1:19 / 2 Samuel 1:25. The weapons of war have perished! 2 Samuel 1:27.