The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel. As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish. The commanders of the Philistines asked, "What about these Hebrews?" Achish Said, "Oh don't worry. I've been with him for a year and I found no fault in him." David is awesome if God is to bless him so much that He's done nothing wrong in like a year! I want to be like that. But the Philistine commanders were angry with him and said, "Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting." So Achish told David and David went back to the land.
When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. David ROCKS! He seeks God in every hour and remembers him even in his trouble. David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue." An old Egyptian slave led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder."

Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand." So David fled to Gath and Saul stopped hunting for him. So, after he says he won't get him twice, he finally gives up. Do you think it was cuz he thought he shouldn't be doing that anyway? Did he think that finding David was the right thing to do? David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
The NIV. calls this chapter: Saul and the Witch of Endor. When Saul goes out to battle against the Philistines, he was afraid. He asked God for help, but God didnt' answer. I would be scared too. So he calls a witch to bring Samuel back for a while. Saul Asked Samuel and Samuel said that the kindom was torn from him. He and his sons would die and David would take his place. And this was punishment for not dealing with the Amalikites. The woman and his men urged him to eat and he did. The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.

David keeps shamig Saul!

This chapter is called David shames Saul. Well, David cut off a little of Saul's robe while Saul was taking a break from trying to find him. But David was ashamed that he did even that to what he called his master. I would call that loyalty to God. If God appointed him, evil or not, then he has no right to do even that! I think that was neat and that I should try to consider others in a similar way. after showing and king Saul what he had done, Saul stopped chasing, but David had to promised not to harm him or his descendants. After Samuel died, there was great sadness throughout all Israel. But now David shamed Saul again! Samuel dieing really has nothing to do with any thing. He just died.Poor saul. He seems like a bad, confuzed man.

One day David was told that the philistines were attacking Keilah. he inquired of the Lord if they should attack. Now something I've noticed about David is that he asks God about everything. I need to do that more than I do. Cuz I don't do it very often when I should. But David's men said to him, "Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!" If God said to fight it means your'e gonna win. It's not like God would send you out to a war to lose! Once again David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him, "Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand." So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah. (Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.) When David inquired of God, did God actually talk to him in words saying he was gonna have victory? Well, when Saul heard that David came to Keilah, a city with walls, he pursued him, thinking, The Lord has given him into my hands! Did he not know that he is doing wrong? Once David found out that Saul was pursueing him he asked God David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will." So David fled. Did God want him to do that? David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

So after some provisions from the priest, David again fled from Saul. David reached Gath. He was afraid of the king there and acted like a madman. He left gath andcame to a cave where he became a leader of four hundred men. When Saul found out that A preist helped David, he put an end to all of them. But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, escaped and fled to join David. He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. Then David said to Abiathar: "That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father's whole family. Stay with me; don't be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me."

Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David and warned him, "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out."

Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?" So Saul swore to never kill him. But alas, an evil spirit came upon him and he threw his spear at David who was playing him harp. David evaded it. That night David made good his escape. Saul sent men to David's house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't run for your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be killed." So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats' hair at the head. She is a brave woman. When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, "He is ill." Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, "Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him." But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats' hair. And she's smart too. David had fled to Samuel and Saul's men pursued him. But along the road, they saw some prophets prophesying and they started doing it too.So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth.

Saul's being grumpy

So Saul's so happy with David that he let him be a high army commander. Johnathan also loved him and he and David promised to keep each other safe. When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."
Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?" The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice. EMBARRASSING! And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the LORD." For Saul said to himself, "I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!" His little "plan" didn't work making him very angry. The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well known.

The Lord had rejected Saul as king and David was anointed. But he could not be king untill Saul had died. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. So, as people lining up for war usualy did, they shouted at each other. Exept, the Israelites weren't shouting. Only Goliath. So you know the story. One thing that stuck out is that you could tell how confident David was in God. When Goliath said, " Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?"
"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." He is completly counting on God to do anything.

The Philistines took out all the blacksmiths so that no one had any weapons except Saul and Johnathan.One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, "Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side." But he did not tell his father. So no one was aware that Jonathan had left. Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." What does that mean?"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

Jonathan said, "Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands." So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. "Look!" said the Philistines. "The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in." The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, "Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson."
So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel."Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre. Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God. That day the Philistines were routed.

The Amonites are attaking the Israelites. The Israelites say: Make a treaty with us. The Amonites say: Not unless we take one of your eyes out and emmbarass you! The Israelites were given seven days to call for help. When the news reached saul, the spirit of the LORD came upon him. He mustered up so many guys-

The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. That day Saul was confirmed as King. Now Samuel is making his goodbye speech thats very long.

Samuel anointed Saul's head and kissed him. Then, once he was told he was supposed to be king,Samuel told him three signs that would come true and the spirit of the LORD would come upon him. And all the things came true. When he got home, everyone asked him what took him so long, Saul told them that he had been assured by Samuel that the donkeys were found but he did not tell about being the king.
Samel started to name the tribe, and the tribe of Benjamine was chosen. Then he started to name the clans, and the clan of Matrni was chosen. Then Saul was chosen. When they looked for Saul, he was not there. God said he was hiding among the baggage. So they looked for him. Was it that he didn't want to be king? They brought him out and the people exclaimed "LONG LIVE THE KING!!!!!"

Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. I don't think they would be trouble makers. They shoudn't have a king anyway.

Marble Mischief

That's right, Marbles. Bump, a game one of my relations made up includes marbles, and cards. Lane, Sticks, J man, Mom, and I were playing. J man was with Mom who was on my team. I was supposed to be with Bird, but, I could see she wasn't cooperating so she was playing with the large bucket of marbles. She would drop a few, pick them up, put them on the board, etc. etc. After a while, there was a loud crash, as marbles went rolling everywhere. I, apparently, was the first one to see. So, being the nearest, I extended my arms, trapping a lot of the marbles that were still on the table. By then the whole place was in action, catching or picking up marbles. Meanwhile, Dad goes, "WHAT HAPPENED?" And Bird is almost in tears saying, "I'm sowwy." What a way to give the night a little fun!

Two Kings?

Okay, the point is the people want to appoint another King. Another? You ask. Yes, another becuz Gods already the king. I wonder if I would be tempted to do that if Samuel gave his two evil sons as Judges. Sam prayed, and asked God what he should do. God said : "Give them a king. It is not you they rejected, but me. They've been rejecting me ever since I brought them out of Egypt, forsaking me and serving other gods, as they are doing to you. But warn them and tell them what a King will do to them." When Samuel told the people what would happen to them, they were stubborn and still wanted a King. " No!" They said, "We want a king over us. Then we can be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles!" If they hadn't noticed all the other nations are the bad guys. So Samuel found the one who God wanted, he appeared wise, he was handsome, and a head taller from any other man. When Samuel saw him God told him that he was the man God was looking for. Saul dined with Samuel that day.
The next day they went on the roof top and Saul got ready to go. Samuel told the servant to go ahead of them becuz he had a message from the Lord to Saul.

The people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord. Samuel said if they were really willing to serve the Lord, then they had to put away their idols, which they gladly did. Then Samuel said for them to assemble at Mizpah and he was going to pray for them. They fasted and poured water for the Lord. When the philistines heard where they were and what they were doing, they attacked. The Israelites heard and said to Samuel: "Do not stop praying for us!" They must have been awful scared. I mean, they just put away their idols, and who knows the Lord's still gonna fight with them, I would be scared! Samuel sent a burnt offering to the Lord and cried out on Israels behalf, and the Lord answered him. As the Philistines were about to engage in battle, God sent a thunder storm upon them and they fled. The Israelites pursued them and slaughtered some of them. God is so creative. He sends so many different punishments to different people.

The Ark gets Returned to Israel

After the Ark had been in the Philistines hands for 7 months, they called all their wise men and priests and asked them what the people should do. They said to give it back with a present to go with it and you will be healed. "You should send them 5 gold tumors and 5 gold rats." RATS!? Whats that supposed to mean? Who would want a gold statue of a rat? "Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance." Can you guess what happened? Yep. The cows went strait along the road, not in thier own territory.Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron. But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD.The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"

1st Sammy 5

Here it reads: After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold. God knows how to take care of them! Well as you can imagine, they were scared stiff. Plus, many of their people got sick and died. When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, "What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?"
They answered, "Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel. But of course, the same thing happened. So they moved it again! This time the people saw it coming and made plans to take it away. Smart people.