I was reading Genesis 3 yesterday as part of my YouVersion reading plan, and it has kept knocking around in my head since then.

You can take a look at the passage here

This is the biblical account of the very first sin to enter the world. The original. Numero uno.

Eve has been created, and has been told the few rules of paradise. It would seem that she has been left to wander as she wills, and she found herself in conversation with the crafty serpent.

This crafty serpent decides to stretch the truth just a teeny tiny bit – most of what he says is true, but not all of it. Yes, eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will open her eyes and give her wisdom – it will make her like God in that way. She will know and understand the difference between good and evil. And no, she did not “die” that day in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense, she did. And physically, her days just got a number put on them. Her body began to decay and every breath brought her closer to death.

What has been knocking around though comes after that part. She takes the fruit, shows it to Adam and they eat it together.

And their eyes were opened. Sin entered into Paradise.

What is the very first thing they do? They hid.

First they hid their nakedness with fig leaves. Then they hid themselves from God.

That’s the thing with sin. It creates division. It separates us from God. It causes us to look upon ourselves and feel that we need to hide ourselves away because we aren’t pure and spotless anymore. It makes us turn away from God because He is pure and spotless. He is Holy.
Then what happened?

The blame game starts. They were caught in their sin. Once God called them out of hiding & began to repair the rift in the relationship they start passing the blame. Avoiding responsibility.

Genesis 3:11-13
11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Adam passes the blame to Eve, and she passes it on to the crafty serpent. At least the serpent didn’t pass it along too. But no matter how far they passed it along, all they did was make the number of people who would be punished larger.

Because sin must be dealt with, and the consequences must be faced.

The serpent was cursed to slither on its belly & eat dust all of its days. It would no longer find a sympathetic ear in the woman, and it was cursed to have its head crushed.

The woman was cursed with pain in childbirth – one could assume she was cursed with monthly reminders of that pain as well. She was also told that she would live in submission for the rest of her days – but not like it.

Adam was cursed with toil and hard labor. No longer would everything he put his hand to be easy, he now had to work hard for everything he got. He had to fight against weeds and thorns to get the food to feed his family until the day he died.

Oh yes, death was now a reality for them, but not just their death.

Verse 21 says “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

A sacrifice had to be made to atone for the sin. Something had to die so that they could go on with their lives.

They found themselves kicked out of paradise, now with knowledge of evil, and faced with lives of pain and hard labor.

Thankfully they still had God in their lives. And thankfully God also provided the ultimate sacrifice for us – the Lamb has been slain to take away our sin and bring us back into relationship with God. We are clothed in His righteousness so that when God looks upon us He see’s Jesus – a pure and spotless life lived for Him.

When sin separates us from God, we need to walk into the light, not hide from Him. He longs to bring us back into relationship with Him. If He didn’t, Jesus would never have been born a Man, would never have lived a human life, and would have been spared the humiliating torture of the cross.

But He loves us. He created us to be in relationship with Him. And He gave us free will so that we could choose to show Him our love and give Him our worship.

Today we are going to take a look at David.  He has come to bring some food to his brothers, and – more importantly – to get word on how they are doing for his father.  Imagine his excitement!  He gets to be away from the sheep for a day and gets to go to the front lines of the battle!  He gets to go hang with the warriors.  What young man wouldn’t think that was cool?

He gets there, and it’s not quite what he expected to find.  There is no battle, the warriors are just milling around on their hillside… talking.

David hears snatches of the conversation and his interest is peaked.  Apparently King Saul has made some pretty big promises to the man who will go out and face this Philistine from Gath.  Really big promises.  Like make him part of the family promises.

David is intrigued.  He is asking questions.  He is thinking about things…

²⁶Then 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?”

Eliab – David’s oldest brother – hears him asking questions and gets a little huffy.  David feigns innocence, but people have already heard what he was saying.

He actually seemed interested in fighting Goliath – and no one else had even considered it.

³¹When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him.³²David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

³³Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.”

First, I would like to point out the attitude with which David goes before King Saul.  It is an attitude of humility.  David already knew enough about Saul to know that if he came in arrogance, he would fail.  If he walked in full of himself, he would be ignored.  But he came in with humility – “Your servant” is how he referenced himself to Saul.

And he didn’t call anyone else a coward… especially Saul.

Saul looked at the oung man standing before him and was a bit confused.  David was probably in the range of 16-22 now – having reached his full height, but I’m sure he hadn’t filled out much yet.  He was handsome, but he was not a trained warrior – far from it!  He was a shepherd.  A musician.  How could he fight against this man of war?  This GIANT man of war!

But David had a good argument.

³⁴But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

³⁵I 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.

³⁶“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.”

³⁷And 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 ” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

Wow – this kid is claiming to have killed bears and lions with his bare hands.  Defending sheep is apparently a bit more challenging than I thought.  It’s not just sitting around all day playing the lyre and enjoying the idyllic countryside.  You actually do have to do things.  You actually have to fight against large animals.

Apparently it was a convincing argument.

Of course, he also claimed that the Lord would protect him.  That is the most important part of his claim – God was with him.  I’m sure Saul remembered what it felt like to have God’s presence with him, after all, the Spirit of God had been with Saul for some time – leading & guiding him as be began his rule.

So, Saul took young David at his word.

³⁴And David said to Saul, Your servant kept his father’s sheep. And when there came a lion or again a bear and took a lamb out of the flock,

³⁵I went out after it and smote it and delivered the lamb out of its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and smote it and killed it.

³⁶Your servant killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God!

³⁷David said, The Lord Who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you!

³⁸Then Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.

³⁹And David girded his sword over his armor. Then he tried to go, but could not, for he was not used to it. And David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I am not used to them. And David took them off.

⁴⁰Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in his shepherd’s [lunch] bag [a whole kid's skin slung from his shoulder], in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand, and he drew near the Philistine.

Saul set out to make David go to battle looking like he wanted him to look – and like everyone around him looked.  He put his own armor on David (which tells me that David must have been somewhat tall, as Saul was head & shoulders above most of Israel) and girded him for battle as a soldier.

But David was not a soldier, he was a shepherd.

David put on the armor and tried to walk around, but he couldn’t.  He knew that if he were to go out and attempt to fight Goliath in something that was so foreign to Him it would be nearly impossible.  So he took it off.

Instead he took the staff that he had come with and the sling that he used to fight off wild animals.  Along the way he stopped at the brook and chose five smooth stones to use.

He trusted God to be his shield.

He went with what he knew, he played to his strengths.

He was familiar with the staff and the sling.  They were weapons he had wielded before with success.  I’m sure he has played at swords as a child, but he was not trained in hand-to-hand combat with one.  And given Goliath’s size, well, hand-to-hand combat most likely would not go well for him.  I mean the guy was nearly twice his size!  His head was at the perfect height to be cleaved from his shoulders… not exactly a pleasant thought.

So he walked forward with the tools God had given him in the past, and trusted God to provide the rest.  He didn’t even have the stones when he headed down, but he knew that God would provide those too.

He had no armor, he had no shield bearer.  He had no sword.  But he did have God – and that made all the difference.

He walked forward with certainty and purpose and full of faith that God would prevail… and those who taunt God would be destroyed.

We are backing up today to take a closer look at Goliath – and just why it was that he was so intimidating.

⁴Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.

⁶He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.

⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him.

Six cubits and a span.  That is what we are told is Goliath’s height (before or after his head was removed though?  sorry, bad joke)

So just how long is a cubit?

The research I did this morning points to the average cubit being about 18 inches long – although accounts vary from 12 inches to 24 inches.  A span is from the tip of your thumb to the top of your pinkie, fully extended – averaging about 9 inches.

So, if you multiply 18×6, you get 9 feet.  Plus 9 inches, that puts Goliath at 9’9″ tall.  Not exactly a small fry.

Then you add in all of that bronze armor.  Historians estimate that the scale-armor alone weighed about 155 lbs. – and that is before you add the weight of the helmet, sword and greaves and Goliath starts hefting that javelin around to toss it. This guy had to be more than just a tall skinny whisp of a man.  He had to be strong too.

Oh, and keep in mind that the Israelites weren’t exactly known as a tall group of people to begin with.  If David was in his late teens or early twenties, he could have been around 5’9″ in height – not exactly short, but not a towering presence either.  Or he could have been even shorter – around 5’3″.  The bible doesn’t share that information. But when you are up against someone who is almost 10 feet tall, what difference will a few inches make?

That’s certainly enough height difference to create a bit of an impression.  Then you add in the fact that Goliath was covered from head to toe in bronze armor – not the lightest to be sure – and was hefting around some heavy weaponry and you begin to understand the Israelite’s fear.

This was one big, strong dude.

This massive guy was calling someone out to stand toe-to-toe with him on the field of battle, and the fate of an entire country would be resting on their shoulders – the fate of their family would be in their hands.

No one was willing to take that risk – they were just too afraid.

They were looking at the physical presence and it looked impossible.  They were listening to his taunts and believed the lies that they would never measure up.  None of the men in the Israelite army could get past their fear long enough to take the step to faith that God would fight this battle for them.

Except David.

This week we will be studying the story of David and Goliath.  I am hopeful that we will be able to pull a variety of ideas from this passage to discuss.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

⁸He [Goliath] stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.

⁹“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.”

¹⁰Again the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.”

Wow.  That sure was a mouthful.  Israel comes to defend their land against the Philistines (again), and they are taunted for even showing up!  Basically this guy is standing there asking them why the even bothered coming out – after all, they are just going to lose anyway.

Do you ever feel like that?

It doesn’t matter if I try to overcome _____________ (fill in your own blank), it’s bigger than me.  It’s more than I can handle.  I can try to fight, but I will just end up losing parts of me in the process.

But you show up.  You recognize the battle for what it is.  Then the taunts really start in.  “You can’t do this.”  “Don’t you see the opponent over there?  They are more powerful than you.”  “You are too weak to even enter into battle, why did you even show up?”

Ouch.

But I want to make sure you notice something hiding in the middle of verse 8.

“Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul?”

Um…

Well, not exactly.

After all, they were the children of Israel – servants of GOD, not Saul.

So not only is this guy berating them for even showing up, but he is ignoring God.  He is ignoring the fact that he is ragging on God’s chosen people, and thereby dissing God.

Stand back – lightning could strike at any time!

Here is an entire army worth of men who are under the protection of God, and they are letting the physical override the spiritual.

They are trusting their eyes instead of their faith.

This goes on for 40 days – they suffer through this large specimin of a man hurling insults to them day after day after day, and it’s beginning to take it’s toll.

They are discouraged.

They are afraid.

They are hiding from this giant of a man and believing the lies he is cursing them with.  Even Saul is cowering before Goliath.  He could order someone to go out and fight, but everyone is sure that it would mean certain death for whomever walks into that field.

They are not trusting God to protect them.  Instead, they have put their faith in Saul – and he seems terrified.  More than that, God has already left him.  God has already chosen a new king to replace him because Saul doesn’t trust in Him.  Saul trusts only in himself.

When we trust only in ourselves or those around us, we miss out on the blessing that comes through faith.  The blessing of God’s peace in the midst of trials, and the chance to lean into His strength and know that we are safe in His very capable hands.

The best part though?  Each time we trust in God, our faith grows stronger and we are quicker to trust in Him next time.

And there will be a next time.  There always is.

But God is always there.

Samuel has anointed David as the next king of Israel.  The Spirit of the Lord has come upon David – and He is there to stay.

So what now?

Samuel goes back to Ramah.  He has done what God told him to do.  But what about David?

First, he goes back to tending his father’s sheep.

But…

When the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David, it left someone else.

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.

The Spirit left Saul, and in it’s place the devil had some fun.

Saul was tormented.  Saul no longer had the Spirit of God upon him.  Saul was no longer God’s chosen king over Israel.  Saul just… was.

His servants were concerned for him – enough that they sought ways to fix the problem.  And their solution enabled David to come to the palace and begin preparations for becoming the king God wanted him to be.

¹⁵And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” ¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” ¹⁸One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” ¹⁹Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” ²⁰ And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. ²²And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Saul needed someone to play music.  He needed something to take his mind off all of the things around him that were causing him anxiety.  He needed to find peace, and God used David to provide that peace for him.

There are so many details that are overlooked by this passage.  What must David have thought when he was summoned to the palace?  What must Jesse have thought, given the fact that his youngest son had been anointed king?

It is obvious that David was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.  He came to the palace, he played for the king, and he became beloved by the king.  If David had been spouting off about being the next in line, Saul would have not kept him around.

We don’t know how much time had passed between Samuel’s visit and David being called to the palace.  All we know is that the servants knew of him.  They knew that he was a skilled musician with good stage presence who knew how to hold his tongue – and he had courage in the face of danger.

We don’t know how dark Saul’s moods were at this point, but apparently his servants knew that someone who scared easily wouldn’t cut it.  They needed someone with bravery and courage.  I also wonder if they wanted him to have boldness to say what needed to be said in the best way possible.

He became Saul’s armor-bearer.  Saul requested that David stay with him, and David got a front row seat to running a kingdom.

He could not have gained a better opportunity to see what his future could look like as king over Israel.  He could not have gained that kind of education in any school, and he would never have seen it if all he did was tend the sheep.  And he became a familiar face around the palace.

God may have rejected Saul, but He still used him to bring about His purpose in David.

Now we are getting to the good stuff.  1 Samuel 16:5-13.

⁵And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” ⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” ¹⁰And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” ¹¹Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹²And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

That’s a lot of young men.  Samuel was sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse – but he didn’t know which one.  When God brought Saul before him, he saw a young man that was very tall, well built and handsome.  I guess he assumed he would find another tall, well-built and handsome young man again in one of Jesse’s sons.

But not a boy.

The passage says that David was “ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome” – but it also says that he was the youngest.  Young enough to still be the one out keeping watch over the flocks of sheep.  Young enough to be kept back from battle.  Just barely no longer a child.

I’m not sure I would be ready to place a 12-15 year old boy on the throne of a country – would you?

God wasn’t ready to do that either.

He was, however, ready to begin preparing David for the court.  He used Saul to teach David how to be king – without Saul realizing it for a long time.  He directed Samuel to anoint him as the next king of Israel… and then David went back to watch the sheep.

Somehow this makes me think of Joseph.  He too was the youngest – but the one destined for greatness.  When he told his brothers of his dreams, they set out to remove him.  I wonder how it is that David and his brothers reacted so differently.

The bible never says that David began behaving like everyone needed to give him more honor.  It doesn’t say that he tried to use this anointing to get out of doing chores.

But what does the bible say?

And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.

Maybe that was the difference.  The Spirit of God was upon David.  He was being directed in heart and mind.  He was submitting himself to God’s will and God’s timing, and allowing God to prepare him for the role he would eventually fill.

And he went back to the fields and the sheep.

The last post caught us up to 1 Samuel 16:1.

Samuel was grieving over Saul’s disobedience of God, and Saul had gone on his merry little way – not fully realizing the true consequences of his actions.

And then the Lord speaks to Samuel…

¹The 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.”

How often do we need God to say that to us?

Stop dwelling in the past and get on with it!  I have told you want to do, now go!

Samuel knew that God had rejected Saul as king.  He knew that Saul would be replaced.  But at the same time, he was sad that Saul had chosen to walk away from God’s will for Israel… and for him.

It is so easy for me to look at those around me and grieve over choices that they are making.  Choices that will lead to unpleasant consequences at the very least, if not their own ruin.  The hard part is to move on and let God deal with them in His way.  I want to help them!  I want to reach out to them and say “Hey!  Don’t you see what you are doing?  Don’t you see where this will lead?  You need to change direction!”

Sometimes God does call us to do that, but other times He calls us to move on.  To take the next step and get on with what He has placed before us.

The second half of the verse gets even better.

“I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”

Yay!  God is telling Samuel what the next step is!  He isn’t left floundering, wondering what he needs to do, where he needs to go.  God has laid out the path before him.

But… Israel still has a king, and Saul doesn’t want to be replaced, as we can see.

²And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

Saul no longer had respect for the Lord or his servant Samuel.  Apparently it was common knowledge that those who crossed Saul, well, let’s just say they didn’t double cross him.  Samuel heard what God commanded, saw the plan God had, but he also had fear of it.

But God comes through again:

And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ ³And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”

God has a plan.  He has already thought through Samuel’s objections and questions – and provided the answer.

What is there in your life that God is telling you to move forward into?  Where is He leading you that you are afraid to go?  He will provide everything you need.  He has the answers you seek, and He will guide you.

That’s one of the great things about God – He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us.  His Word is the lamp to our feet and the light to our paths.

Seek His face.  Spend time asking Him your questions.  But don’t let those questions or your past stop you from following His will for your life.

Which Samuel did.

⁴Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem.

What are you waiting for?  Get your supplies and go.

This week we are studying 1 Samuel 16:1-13.  This is the passage where Samuel anoints David as the next king over Israel – while Saul is still very much on the throne.

The first verse is as follows:

¹The 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.

There is so much in that verse!  First, there is the question – how long will you grieve, since I have rejected him. Samuel was sitting in Ramah, apparently with a great amount of grief and dispair.  Last week we saw that Israel told Samuel they wanted a king – having judges and prophets was no longer enough for them.  After all, the other countries around them all had kings, why not them?  (such a human trait, no?  Wanting to have whatever those around us have.)

So Samuel is rejected by Israel, although it was really God that was rejected.  Saul is chosen by God to be king over Israel, and anointed by Samuel.  At first Saul does great.  He is humble and contrite of heart.  He is scared of the responsibility.  He doesn’t think he qualifies for the job.

Apparently that changed.

Over time Saul grew into the status and enjoyed being King.  He took credit for things others did.  He decided to take Samuel’s position and offer a sacrifice to God before the Israelites.  Don’t misunderstand – he did good things too.  He waged a war against the Philistines and drove them out of Israelite land, temporarily.

But then he chose to disobey God.

God sent him to wipe out the Amalekites.  Why?  Because of the way they treated the children of Israel while they were escaping from Egypt.  Because they were tormenting the small town on the outskirts of Israel.  Because they were the cause of God’s children crying out to Him.

Saul was told to keep nothing and to destroy everything.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Saul and the Israelite army chose to keep the best of the livestock.  He chose to bring Agag, the king of the Amalekites back with him… alive.  And he had turned his back on God.

How do we know this?  How do we know that he turned away from God?

“…for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” – 1 Samuel 15:15b

“But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” – 1 Samuel 15:21

“Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” – 1 Samuel 15:30

What is the phrase that is repeated over and over in these verses?

The Lord your God.

Not the Lord my God, but your God.

Not good, Saul.  Not good at all.

God had make him king over Israel – king over God’s chosen people – and he rejected God.  What he failed to realize was that God had placed him there… and God could remove him as well.

And God could choose someone else to be king over Israel.  Another family to begin a dynasty.

Which He did:

“And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” – 1 Samuel 15:26

And that catches us up to verse 1 of 1 Samuel 16…