Reflections on 1 Samuel

1 Samuel is one of the books in the Bible I have probably read the most. It begins with the calling of Samuel and ends with the death of Israel's first king, Saul. Along the way you meet this guy named David who ends up being pretty important.

So towards the beginning of the book, Samuel has been judging Israel for some time and he is getting old. His would theoretically take over for him, but it mentions that they are not doing a good job. So this means that before Samuel was Eli, but his sons did not do well (i.e. sinned very blatantly at the expense of worshipping God) then Samuel comes along and his sons do not follow in his ways either. So the Israelites ask for a king. Most of the times I read this, I think to myself, "I would have asked for something different too." In fact I might have asked for a king. The problem with the question is becoming a little more clear to me. Asking for a king was not asking to replace Samuel. Asking for a king was actually asking for someone to be over Samuel and the other priests. I wonder if God would have been upset if they had instead asked for a priestly family that did not turn from the ways of their father in the next generation.

The thing that interests me the most about this book is the swings in people's decisions. David seems sure that he will eventually be king. He knows that God will provide for him. Then all of a sudden he gets scared for his life and moves to Gath. The realness of David and his strengthening of his faith is very interesting.

Also, I can not decide what would have happened if David had gone to battle with the Philistines against Israel. The most common answer seems to be that he would have turned on the Philistines. It is never discussed so who really knows.