This week we
will continue the study of the entire Book of I Samuel in the Old Testament.
(1) Why did David wish to save the people of Keilah which was among the villages of the western hills of Judah (see Jos. 15:44)?
(2) V. 6 remarks that as the son of the high priest fled to join David, he brought him the ephod. What might be the significance of this to David, especially when he wished to save the people of Keilah?
(3) Why did David feel the need to enquire of the Lord?
(4) Why did he enquire of the Lord again, when his people were afraid to fight the Philistines?
(5) What was the result of this campaign, and what should it mean to the following people?
a. David
b. His followers
c. The people of Keilah
(6) Now Saul and all Israel must have heard of David’s victory over the Philistines in Keilah:
a. What impact should it have on Israel as a whole?
b. What impact should it have on Saul?
c. What impact should it have on the people of Keilah? Do you think they would betray David?
(7) What does it tell you about Saul in that he seemed to pursue David at this time in the name of God?
(8) It is understandable that David would enquire of the Lord. It seems to be his attitude of not making major decisions without enquiring the Lord:
a. But why did he ask if the people of Keilah would surrender him to Saul?
b. Unfortunately, the Lord’s answer was affirmative: Why would the people of Keilah betray the one who had just saved them?
(9) Why did David decide to run, instead of confronting the people of Keilah and/or fighting against Saul?
(10) How many men did he have now, as he hid in the tract of desert that was between Judah and the Dead Sea (the town of Ziph is about 1¾ hours to the south-east of Hebron)?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) While David was running for his life, why did Jonathan show up to see him?
(2) Read carefully the words spoken by Jonathan to David:
a. In what way(s) did his words help David find strength “in God”?
b. In what way(s) are you touched by the words of Jonathan?
(3) Based on the geographical location of Ziph, its people ought to belong to the tribe of Judah, David’s own tribe. Why would even they seek to hand him over to Saul?
(4) How would David feel about it?
(5) How did Saul react to the Ziphites’ offer to help him? How does it speak to you concerning a person who knew the Lord had left and rejected him?
(6) How did God intervene this time to save David?
(7) Who was, in fact, the most important enemy of Saul and Israel?
(8) Did he really have to pursue David? What other options did he have?
(9) Instead of focusing on fighting against the real enemy of the people of God, Saul chose to waste his time fighting against David, creating internal division and turmoil:
a. Is the church today any different from Saul and his supporters?
b. What have you learned from David, especially when you are caught in the middle of a church’s conflict?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) How many men did Saul choose to resume his pursuit of David? He is now in En Gedi which is in the middle of the west coast of the Dead Sea (See Jos. 15:62).
(2) When Saul went into the cave where David and his men were hiding to relieve himself, David’s men saw this as a “God-given” opportunity. Would you agree? Why or why not?
(3) Did David see it as a “God-given” opportunity? What did he do with it?
(4) Why was David conscience-stricken afterwards? Would you be? Why or why not?
(5) Would you not have taken this chance to kill Saul?
(6) What then was the difference between you and David?
(7) If you were one of his men, how would you feel about the following?
a. David’s action
b. David’s conscience
c. David’s rebuke of you
(8) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) When David showed his face to Saul:
a. How did he address Saul (v. 8 and v. 11)?
b. What was his posture?
c. What does this say about David?
(2) David’s speech to Saul was both heart-felt and honest:
a. Whom did he put the blame on? (v. 9) Why?
b. Did he recognize that it was God who delivered Saul into his hands? (v. 10)
c. What reasons did he give Saul for choosing not to kill him? (v. 10)
d. How did he declare his innocence? (v. 11)
e. Whom did he call on to be the judge between them (v. 12)
f. How did he deprecate himself before Saul? (v. 14) Why?
g. To whom was his appeal ultimately directed to? (v. 15)
(3) Without reading further, what might you speculate as Saul’s response?
(4) Seriously, what options were now opened to Saul?
(5) Consider Saul’s response carefully:
a. How did Saul address David in return? (v. 16)
b. Why did Saul weep?
c. How did he express his repentance, obviously before everyone there? (v. 17)
d. What did David do that had left him ashamed? (v. 18-19)
e. What did he confess about his knowledge of his own fate? (v. 20)
f. What was his plea to David? (v. 21)
(6) Do you think Saul’s actual response was genuine? Why or why not?
(7) “Now Samuel died” (25:1). Let’s use the remainder of our time to reflect on the life of this great man of God:
a. Can you recall how his birth came about? How special was it? (1 Sam. 1)
b. Under what conditions was he brought up as a child? (1 Sam. 2 – 3)
c. What significant and momentous changes were brought by Samuel in terms of (i) the resumption of God’s speaking to Israel (3:19-21), (ii) the resumption of theocracy, (iii) and yet also the beginning of monarchy?
d. If you were Samuel, looking back at what happened in your life, what would you say to the Lord?
e. If you were to write the epitaph of Samuel, what would you put on his tombstone?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Now David moved down to the Desert of Maon (or Paran) which is the northern part of the desert of Arabia which stretches up to the mountains of Judah (Num. 10:12). There, he had an encounter with a man named Nabal of Carmel, which is not likely to be the Carmel in the north-western tip of Israel, but “Kurmul” on the mountains of Judah, “scarcely half an hour’s journey to the north-west of Maon” (K&D, 526).
(1) Given the unsettled time they lived in and given the biblical description of this man, Nabal, what would it take for him to grow into such wealth and to maintain his prosperity?
(2) From the conversations in this story and what we have been told in previous chapters, we know that David had already gained fame: It was public knowledge that Saul had pursued him and that even Saul confessed that David was chosen by God to be king (24:20). Therefore what should Nabal have done to David and his men during this festive time of sheep shearing, given that they were neighbors and that he had benefited greatly from David’s protection?
(3) What does it say about Nabal that David had to send his men to “remind” him of their needs?
(4) What Nabal did that so enraged David:
a. Was it his refusal to give provisions to him and his men?
b. Was it his intentional words of insult?
c. Was it what his words represented?
d. Was he not afraid of David at all? What was he counting on?
e. How did his own servant describe him? (25:17)
f. How would you describe him?
(5) Do you think David would be justified in killing Nabal? (25:21-22) Why or why not?
(6) As we know, the men of David were a bunch of malcontent “losers” (22:2), but from the description given by the servant to Abigail in vv. 14-17, what did these men turn out to be?
(7) What did Abigail do right away upon hearing what her servant said? What was she trying to achieve? Why did she not tell her husband?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
In trying to save her husband’s life, Abigail acted on her own and demonstrated why the Bible calls her “intelligent” (25:3).
(1) How did Abigail describe her husband? (v. 25) Should she have said that?
(2) What were the first words that Abigail said when she met David? Why did she add that she did not see the messengers whom David sent to talk to Nabal? (v. 25)
(3) What she said in vv. 26-31 was of great significance, because it revealed that her action was not aimed to save her husband’s life only, but also for David’s sake:
a. How did she affirm God’s choice of David as the king of Israel?
b. Why did she mention the “sling”? (v. 29)
c. What had she prevented David from doing?
d. Can you see her intelligence in her words and action?
(4) What did David appreciate most in Abigail? Why?
(5) When Nabal was sober and heard his wife’s story, why did his heart fail and become like a stone? What kind of a person does this reveal about him?
(6) The Bible says, “the Lord struck Nabal and he died” (v. 38): Why does the Bible clearly attribute the death of Nabal to the Lord? What might be the message, especially given what David said in v. 39?
(7) The death of Nabal followed by David’s request to take Abigail as his wife obviously shows David’s great admiration of both the intelligence and beauty of Abigail, however, the Biblical author chooses to tell us that David did have another wife named Ahinoam (though his former wife, Michal, had been taken away from him by Saul). What might this additional appendix do to this otherwise beautiful story?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) The last time we read about Saul’s pursuit of David, it was in Desert of En Gedi with David sparing the life of Saul, and Saul openly recognizing his wrong (24:17-21). If Saul was sincere about his confession then, why didn’t his “repentance” last? How does it speak about the human heart? (See Jer. 17:9)
(2) How much might Saul be encouraged to pursue David with the repeated betrayal of David by the Ziphites (of Judah)? (23:19-20)
(3) Presumably, Ahimelech, the Hittite, and Abishai, son of Zeruiah (David’s sister — see 1 Chr. 2:16) were close confidants of David:
a. Why did David ask one of them to go with him to the camp of Saul?
b. What did he wish to achieve?
c. Was Abishai aware of David’s plan?
(4) They were able to get rather close to Saul, close enough that Abishai was confident of striking Saul with his spear:
a. We know why David would not harm Saul the first time (24:10); shouldn’t Saul’s breach of his promise change it all?
b. What additional explanation did David give about how he anticipated Saul’s demise and death in vv. 10-11?
c. What great lessons can we learn from David?
d. To what does the Bible attribute such a successfully stealth expedition? (v. 12)
(5) Why did David challenge Abner first, instead of Saul directly?
(6) In his plea to Saul, David (i) once again declared his innocence, (ii) reminded Saul that his action was not incited by God, (iii) lamented that he was forced to flee to a foreign land and to foreign gods, and (iv) likened himself to a flea and a partridge (26:18-20):
a. Can you tell what approach he was taking?
b. What did he ultimately wish to achieve?
c. What can we learn from his example?
(7) Compare Saul’s response here in v. 21 with his previous response in 24:16-21:
a. Can you tell what might be the main difference between them?
b. Do you think that this time Saul will keep his words? Why or why not?
(8) In response to Saul’s “confession”:
a. Did David “go back” as requested by Saul? Why?
b. Whom did he ask to deliver his life in the future? Why?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?