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There are many difficult aspects of following God. It is difficult to trust him when your world is falling apart. It is difficult to hear his voice amidst all the noise of this life. It is also difficult to discern what God wants for us when we are faced with deciding between two equally good options.

As we come to our passage this morning, we need to note that we are nearly halfway through our study of 1^st Samuel. The general arch of the storyline is that Israel is coming out of the period of the judges where everyone dishonored God by doing what was right in their own eyes instead of living in obedience to God’s commands (Judges 2:11 – 23; 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

The book of 1 Samuel is a great case study for those who want to become godly leaders. Through all the ups and downs in the story, we can observe godly leaders contrasted with ungodly leaders. We can see this contrast loud and clear in chapters 13 – 15 where – as one commentator notes – Saul, an ungodly leader, is constantly caught up by contrast with godly leaders like the prophet Samuel and his very own son, Jonathan.²

Reading this passage kind of leaves you feeling a little yucky does it not? It is kind of like watching a movie go from bad to worse, or maybe it is more like watching a movie that you know has a sad ending while hoping the ending has changed somehow.

The passage we are looking at today comes right on the heels of last week’s passage where we observed Israel’s victory over their Ammonite enemies who had been threatening to render a portion of Israel ineffective in war as well as to enslave them to a life of forced labor.

I often argue for the wartime mentality of the Christian life. Numerous New Testament passages deal with the themes of making war against our ancient enemies, Satan, Sin, and Death through the power of Jesus who is our crucified, risen, and returning Savior.

As we dive back into our study of 1 Samuel today, I want to set the table for us and orient our minds around some of the central characters, the plot line, and some of the central themes so that we can rightly interpret and apply the text to our lives.