First and Second SamuelThe judge who anointed the first two kings of Israel. More describe the people of Israel’s shift from being ruled by judges to kings. And yet, this narrative does not start with priests or warriors but with the passionate prayer of a woman named HannahThe mother of the prophet Samuel. More, who longs for a child. In pouring out the sorrows and hopes of her heart to God, Hannah provides a beautiful introduction to the surprises, struggles, sorrows, and joys that follow.
Surprising encounters begin already when the priestA priest is a person who has the authority to perform religious rites. In New Testament times priests were responsible for daily offerings and sacrifices in the temple. More EliPriest at Shiloh who cared for young Samuel. More sees Hannah praying in her quiet distress, assumes she is drunk, and tells her to put away her wine. After Hannah shares her situation and prayer with Eli, he blesses her petition.
God indeed hears Hannah’s prayer. The son she bears is Samuel, who becomes a judge of Israel, anointing both SaulThe first king of Israel. More and DavidSecond king of Israel, David united the northern and southern kingdoms. More as kings over the people. Samuel’s story includes delivering a message of condemnation to his mentor Eli, enduring extensive conflict with Saul, and dying before he can see the rise of David, whom he had secretly anointed while Saul still ruled.
For me, these stories dramatically describe life with God through all-too-human experiences of faith and unbelief, humility and pride, wisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... More and foolishness, love and brokenness. Unexpected reversals often occur, including the rejection of Saul in favor of the young shepherd David and David’s slaying of the giant GoliathThe Philistine giant from Gath, slain by a stone from David's sling. More. Other notable stories in First Samuel include Abigail using her cleverness to prevent David from blood guilt, Saul seeking out a woman who could conjure the deceased Samuel from the spirit realm, David sparing the king’s life while Saul is relieving himself in a cave, and the close friendship between David and Saul’s son JonathanSon of King Saul and friend of David. More.
Second Samuel is similarly full of intensity, rivaling visual dramas of our time like The Godfather and Game of Thrones for violence and plot twists. For instance, just as King David is at the height of his power, he brings ruin upon many when he follows his lust for BathshebaWife of David and mother of Solomon. More. Terrible sins committed by David’s children eventually lead to a civil war, with David nearly overthrown by his son Absolom.
How do stories like these qualify as scripture? Rather than reading them as dull distant history or wrongly assuming that they provide pious examples of biblical family values, I have come to appreciate these books as dear companions in a life of faith. While certainly providing many positive examples of faith and courage, the people in these stories also had shortcomings and made mistakes that still scandalize us today. In the end, however, the two books of Samuel are not about the lives and actions of their human characters. Instead, First and Second Samuel are about God choosing to be among the people of Israel, loving them from sin and brokenness into new life and blessingBlessing is the asking for or the giving of God's favor. Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob instead of his firstborn Esau. At the Last Supper Jesus offered a blessing over bread and wine. To be blessed is to be favored by God. More.
My own journey with these books started over twenty years ago in the Oshkosh Public Library, as I browsed the shelves looking for help with my internship congregation’s summer series on the life of David. There I found two wonderful books: King David: A Biography by Steven L. McKenzie and The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel by Robert Alter. Each of these books introduced me to a David who was more complicated than the humble giant slayer and pious king that I thought I knew.
Almost a decade later, my friend Derek Cooper invited me to join him in editing the 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles volume in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series published by IVP Academic Press. Our task was to select interesting observations about these books that church leaders of the Reformation had written. These reformers helped me see even more new things in the text. For instance, Luther’s colleague Bugenhagen consistently interpreted these books through the lens of justification by faith alone: people are in right relationship with God when they trust that God will provide for them and they make terrible mistakes when they turn to themselves or other powers for life and goodness. More philosophically inclined, the second-generation reformer Victor Strigel would often connect scenes from Israel’s history with insights from Greco-Roman literature to teach the value of having both true faith in our hearts and clear thinking in our heads.
In recent years, I have continued to spend time with First and Second Samuel by using Robert Alter’s The David Story in a seminary class on art and theology that I have taught with Jennifer Agee. We have used this book to show the students how God’s Word speaks to us through artful narratives and to think carefully about the many ways church leaders can effectively shape the stories of faith we share today.
On a personal level, I still enjoy knowing that these are stories that JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. More knew and cherished. I love imagining what “Son of David” meant to people connected ethnically, politically, and religiously to David’s multifaceted legacy. Jesus’ own teachings included references to David and SolomonThird king of Israel who was known for wisdom and building the first Temple. More, along with citations from the Psalms, which are so closely identified with David.
Additionally, Jesus compared himself to the templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More in Jerusalem, the house of God’s abiding presence that was promised to David’s descendants in 2 Samuel 7 and built by Solomon in the early chapters of 1 Kings. Of course, the temple that Solomon built was destroyed by the Babylonians centuries before Jesus’ lifetime. The Second Temple, too, would be destroyed by the Romans around the time that the New Testament gospels were being written. To me, this connection between Jesus and the temple suggests that Jesus interpreted God’s salvationSalvation can mean saved from something (deliverance) or for something (redemption). Paul preached that salvation comes through the death of Christ on the cross which redeemed sinners from death and for a grace-filled life. More not in terms of past glory, kingly majesty, or religious perfection. Instead, Jesus showed with his words and his life that God saves people by going with them through their lowest times. As Hannah put it in her song of praise, “The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to SheolIn the Hebrew Bible Sheol was the place where people, both good and bad, went when they died. While it was a place that might cause sorrow and anguish, it was not necessarily a cause for despair, for, as the psalmist said, God was even... More and raises up … He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap” (1 Samuel 2:6-8). This is the power of God to justify the ungodly that Lutherans call the Theology of the Cross.
In First and Second Samuel, all of this starts with Hannah. In her sorrow, she prays to the Lord, who in turn hears her and blesses her. Such humble acts of honesty and faith remain wonderful ways for us to join with God’s people across time as we live into our daily journeys of faith.
