Bible Commentaries

III. Saul's Fall and David's Election - 1 Samuel 16-31

Although the rejection of Saul on the part of God, which was announcedto him by Samuel, was not followed by immediate deposition, but Saulremained king until his death, the consequences of his rejection were veryspeedily brought to light. Whilst Samuel, by the command of God, wassecretly anointing David, the youngest son of Jesse, at Bethlehem, as king(1 Samuel 16:1-13), the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evilspirit began to terrify him, so that he fell into melancholy; and his servantsfetched David to the court, as a man who could play on stringedinstruments, that he might charm away the king's melancholy by hisplaying (1 Samuel 16:14-23). Another war with the Philistines soon furnishedDavid with the opportunity for displaying his heroic courage, by thedefeat of the giant Goliath, before whom the whole army of the Israelitestrembled; and to attract the eyes of the whole nation to himself, as thedeliverer of Israel from its foes (1 Samuel 17:1-54), in consequence of whichSaul placed him above the men of war, whilst Saul's brave son Jonathanformed a bond of friendship with him (1 Samuel 17:55-18:5). But this victory, in commemorating which the women sang, “Saul hathslain a thousand, David ten thousand” (1 Samuel 18:7), excited the jealousy ofthe melancholy king, so that the next day, in an attack of madness, hethrew his spear at David, who was playing before him, and after that notonly removed him from his presence, but by elevating him to the rank ofchief captain, and by the promise to give him his daughter in marriage forthe performance of brave deeds, endeavoured to entangle him in suchconflicts with the Philistines as should cost him his life. And when thisfailed, and David prospered in all his undertakings, he began to be afraid ofhim, and cherished a lifelong hatred towards him (1 Samuel 18:6-30). Jonathan did indeed try to intercede and allay his father's suspicions, andeffect a reconciliation between Saul and David; but the evil spirit soondrove the jealous king to a fresh attack upon David's life, so that he wasobliged to flee not only from the presence of Saul, but from his own housealso, and went to Ramah, to the prophet Samuel, whither, however, Saulsoon followed him, though he was so overpowered by the Spirit of theprophets, that he would not do anything to David (1 Samuel 19). Another attempt on the part of Jonathan to change his father's mindentirely failed, and so excited the wrath of Saul, that he actually threw thespear at his own son; so that no other course now remained for David,than to separate himself from his noble friend Jonathan, and seek safety inflight (1 Samuel 20). He therefore fled with his attendant first of all to Nob,where Ahimelech the high priest gave him some of the holy loaves and thesword of Goliath, on his representing to him that he was travelling hastilyin the affairs of the king. He then proceeded to Achish, the king of thePhilistines, at Gath; but having been recognised as the conqueror ofGoliath, he was obliged to feign madness in order to save his life; and beingdriven away by Achish as a madman, he went to the cave of Adullam, andthence into the land of Moab. But he was summoned by the prophet toreturn to his own land, and went into the wood Hareth, in the land ofJudah; whilst Saul, who had been informed by the Edomite Doeg of theoccurrence at Nob, ordered all the priests who were there to be put todeath, and the town itself to be ruthlessly destroyed, with all the men andbeasts that it contained. Only one of Ahimelech's sons escaped themassacre, viz., Abiathar; and he took refuge with David (1 Samuel 21-22).

Saul now commenced a regular pursuit of David, who had graduallycollected around him a company of 600 men. On receiving intelligence thatDavid had smitten a marauding company of Philistines at Keilah, Saulfollowed him, with the hope of catching him in this fortified town; andwhen this plan failed, on account of the flight of David into the wildernessof Ziph, because the high priest had informed him of the intention of theinhabitants to deliver him up, Saul pursued him thither, and had actuallysurrounded David with his warriors, when a messenger arrived with theintelligence of an invasion of the land by the Philistines, and he wassuddenly called away to make war upon these foes (1 Samuel 23). But he had nosooner returned from the attack upon the Philistines, than he pursuedDavid still farther into the wilderness of Engedi, where he entered into alarge cave, behind which David and his men were concealed, so that heactually fell into David's hands, who might have put him to death. But from reverence for the anointed of the Lord, instead of doing him anyharm, David merely cut off a corner of his coat, to show his pursuer, whenhe had left the cave, in what manner he had acted towards him, and toconvince him of the injustice of his hostility. Saul was indeed moved totears; but he was not disposed for all that to give up any further pursuit(1 Samuel 24). David was still obliged to wander about from place to place in thewilderness of Judah; and at length he was actually in want of thenecessaries of life, so that on one occasion, when the rich Nabal hadchurlishly turned away the messengers who had been sent to him to askfor a present, he formed the resolution to take bloody revenge upon thishard-hearted fool, and was only restrained from carrying the resolution outby the timely and friendly intervention of the wise Abigail (1 Samuel 25). Soonafter this Saul came a second time into such a situation, that David couldhave killed him; but during the night, whilst Saul and all his people weresleeping, he slipped with Abishai into the camp of his enemy, and carriedoff as booty the spear that was at the king's head, that he might show hima second time how very far he was from seeking to take his life (1 Samuel 26). But all this only made David's situation an increasingly desperate one; sothat eventually, in order to save his life, he resolved to fly into the countryof the Philistines, and take refuge with Achish, the king of Gath, by whomhe was now received in the most friendly manner, as a fugitive who hadbeen proscribed by the king of Israel. At his request Achish assigned himthe town of Ziklag as a dwelling-place for himself and his men, whence hemade sundry excursions against different Bedouin tribes of the desert. Inconsequence of this, however, he was brought into a state of dependenceupon this Philistian prince (1 Samuel 27:1-12); and shortly afterwards, when thePhilistines made an attack upon the Israelites, he would have beenperfectly unable to escape the necessity of fighting in their ranks againsthis own people and fatherland, if the other princes of the Philistines hadnot felt some mistrust of “these Hebrews,” and compelled Achish to sendDavid and his fighting men back to Ziklag (1 Samuel 29:1-11). But this was also to put an end to his prolonged flight. Saul's fear of thepower of the Philistines, and the fact that he could not obtain anyrevelation from God, induced him to have recourse to a necromantistwoman, and he was obliged to hear from the mouth of Samuel, whom shehad invoked, not only the confirmation of his own rejection on the part ofGod, but also the announcement of his death (1 Samuel 28). In the battle whichfollowed on the mountains of Gilboa, after his three sons had been put todeath by his side, he fell upon his own sword, that he might not fall aliveinto the hands of the archers of the enemy, who were hotly pursuing him(1 Samuel 31:1-13), whilst David in the meantime chastised the Amalekites for theirattack upon Ziklag (1 Samuel 30).

It is not stated anywhere how long the pursuit of David by Saulcontinued; the only notice given is that David dwelt a year and fourmonths in the land of the Philistines (1 Samuel 27:7). If we compare with thisthe statement in 2 Samuel 5:4, that David was thirty years old when hebecame king (over Judah), the supposition that he was about twenty yearsold when Samuel anointed him, and therefore that the interval betweenSaul's rejection and his death was about ten years, will not be very farfrom the truth. The events which occurred during this interval aredescribed in the most elaborate way, on the one hand because they showhow Saul sank deeper and deeper, after the Spirit of God had left him onaccount of his rebellion against Jehovah, and not only was unable toprocure any longer for the people that deliverance which they hadexpected from the king, but so weakened the power of the throne throughthe conflict which he carried on against David, whom the Lord had chosenruler of the nation in his stead, that when he died the Philistines were ableto inflict a total defeat upon the Israelites, and occupy a large portion ofthe land of Israel; and, on the other hand, because they teach how, after theLord had anointed David ruler over His people, and had opened the wayto the throne through the victory which he gained over Goliath, Hehumbled him by trouble and want, and trained him up as king after Hisown heart. On a closer examination of these occurrences, which we have only brieflyhinted at, giving their main features merely, we see clearly how, from thevery day when Samuel announced to Saul his rejection by God, hehardened himself more and more against the leadings of divine grace, andcontinued steadily ripening for the judgment of death. Immediately afterthis announcement an evil spirit took possession of his soul, so that he fellinto trouble and melancholy; and when jealousy towards David was stirredup in his heart, he was seized with fits of raving madness, in which hetried to pierce David with a spear, and thus destroy the man whom he hadcome to love on account of his musical talent, which had exerted sobeneficial an influence upon his mind (1 Samuel 16:23; 1 Samuel 18:10-11; 1 Samuel 19:9-10). These attacks of madness gradually gave place to hatred, which developeditself with full consciousness, and to a most deliberately planned hostility,which he concealed at first not only from David but also from all his ownattendants, with the hope that he should be able to put an end to David'slife through his stratagems, but which he afterwards proclaimed mostopenly as soon as these plans had failed. When his hostility was first openly declared, his eagerness to seize uponhis enemy carried him to such a length that he got into the company ofprophets at Ramah, and was so completely overpowered by the Spirit ofGod dwelling there, that he lay before Samuel for a whole day in a state ofprophetic ecstasy (1 Samuel 19:22.). But this irresistible power of theSpirit of God over him produced no change of heart. For immediatelyafterwards, when Jonathan began to intercede for David, Saul threw thespear at his own son (1 Samuel 20:33), and this time not in an attack ofmadness or insanity, but in full consciousness; for we do not read in thisinstance, as in 1 Samuel 18-19, that the evil spirit came upon him. He nowproceeded to a consistent carrying out of his purpose of murder. Heaccused his courtiers of having conspired against him like Jonathan, andformed an alliance with David (1 Samuel 22:6.), and caused the priests atNob to be murdered in cold blood, and the whole town smitten with theedge of the sword, because Ahimelech had supplied David with bread; andthis he did without paying any attention to the conclusive evidence of hisinnocence (1 Samuel 22:11.). He then went with 3000 men in pursuit ofDavid; and even after he had fallen twice into David's hands, and on bothoccasions had been magnanimously spared by him, he did not desist fromplotting for his life until he had driven him out of the land; so that we mayclearly see how each fresh proof of the righteousness of David's causeonly increased his hatred, until at length, in the war against the Philistines,he rashly resorted to the godless arts of a necromancer which he himselfhad formerly prohibited, and eventually put an end to his own life byfalling upon his sword.

Just as clearly may we discern in the guidance of David, from his anointingby Samuel to the death of Saul, how the Lord, as King of His people,trained him in the school of affliction to be His servant, and led himmiraculously on to the goal of his divine calling. Having been lifted up as ayoung man by his anointing, and by the favour which he had acquired withSaul through his playing upon the harp, and still more by his victory overGoliath, far above the limited circumstances of his previous life, he mightvery easily have been puffed up in the consciousness of the spiritual giftsand powers conferred upon him, if God had not humbled his heart bywant and tribulation. The first outbursts of jealousy on the part of Saul,and his first attempts to get rid of the favourite of the people, onlyfurnished him with the opportunity to distinguish himself still more bybrave deeds, and to make his name still dearer to the people (1 Samuel 18:30). When, therefore, Saul's hostility was openly displayed, and neitherJonathan's friendship nor Samuel's prophetic authority could protect himany longer, he fled to the high priest Ahimelech, and from him to kingAchish at Gath, and endeavoured to help himself through by resorting tofalsehood. He did save himself in this way no doubt, but he broughtdestruction upon the priests at Nob. And he was very soon to learn howall that he did for his people was rewarded with ingratitude. Theinhabitants of Keilah, whom he had rescued from their plunderers, wantedto deliver him up to Saul (1 Samuel 23:5, 1 Samuel 23:12); and even the men of his owntribe, the Ziphites, betrayed him twice, so that he was no longer sure ofhis life even in his own land. But the more this necessarily shook hisconfidence in his own strength and wisdom, the more clearly did the Lordmanifest himself as his faithful Shepherd. After Ahimelech had been put todeath, his son Abiathar fled to David with the light and right of the highpriest, so that he was now in a position to inquire the will and counsel ofGod in any difficulty into which he might be brought (1 Samuel 23:6). On two occasions God brought his mortal foe Saul into his hand, andDavid's conduct in both these cases shows how the deliverance of Godwhich he had hitherto experienced had strengthened his confidence in theLord, and in the fulfilment of His promises (compare 1 Samuel 24 with 1 Samuel 26). And his gracious preservation from carrying out his purposes of vengeanceagainst Nabal (1 Samuel 25) could not fail to strengthen him still more. Nevertheless, when his troubles threatened to continue withoutintermission, his courage began to sink and his faith to waver, so that hetook refuge in the land of the Philistines, where, however, his wisdom andcunning brought him into a situation of such difficulty that nothing but thegrace and fidelity of his God could possibly extricate him, and out ofwhich he was delivered without any act of his own.

In this manner was the divine sentence of rejection fulfilled upon Saul, andthe prospect which the anointing of David had set before him, of ascendingthe throne of Israel, carried out to completion. The account before us ofthe events which led to this result of the various complications, bears in allrespects so thoroughly the stamp of internal truth and trustworthiness,that even modern critics are unanimous in acknowledging the genuinehistorical character of the biblical narrative upon the whole. At the sametime, there are some things, such as the supposed irreconcilablediscrepancy between 1 Samuel 16:14-23 and 1 Samuel 17:55-58, and certainrepetitions, such as Saul's throwing the spear at David (1 Samuel 18:10 and1 Samuel 19:9-10), the treachery of the Ziphites (1 Samuel 23:19. and 1 Samuel 26:1.), David'ssparing Saul (1 Samuel 24:4. and 1 Samuel 26:5 ff), which they cannot explain in anyother way than by the favourite hypothesis that we have here divergentaccounts, or legendary traditions derived from two different sources thatare here woven together; whereas, as we shall see when we come to theexposition of the chapters in question, not only do the discrepanciesvanish on a more thorough and minute examination of the matter, but therepetitions are very clearly founded on facts.

Anointing of David. - 1 Samuel 16:1. The words in which God summonedSamuel to proceed to the anointing of another king, “How long wilt thoumourn for Saul, whom I have rejected, that he may not be king overIsrael?” show that the prophet had not yet been able to reconcile himselfto the hidden ways of the Lord; that he was still afraid that the people andkingdom of God would suffer from the rejection of Saul; and that hecontinued to mourn for Saul, not merely from his own personal attachmentto the fallen king, but also, or perhaps still more, from anxiety for thewelfare of Israel. He was now to put an end to this mourning, and to fillhis horn with oil and go to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for the Lord had chosena king from among his sons.

1 Samuel 16:2-3

But Samuel replied, “How shall I go? If Saul hear it, he will killme.” This fear on the part of the prophet, who did not generally showhimself either hesitating or timid, can only be explained, as we may seefrom 1 Samuel 16:14, on the supposition that Saul was already given up to thepower of the evil spirit, so that the very worst might be dreaded from hismadness, if he discovered that Samuel had anointed another king. Thatthere was some foundation for Samuel's anxiety, we may infer from thefact that the Lord did not blame him for his fear, but pointed out the wayby which he might anoint David without attracting attention (1 Samuel 16:2, 1 Samuel 16:3). “Take a young heifer with thee, and say (sc., if any one ask the reason foryour going to Bethlehem), I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.” There wasno untruth in this, for Samuel was really about to conduct a sacrificialfestival and was to invite Jesse's family to it, and then anoint the onewhom Jehovah should point out to him as the chosen one. It was simply aconcealment of the principal object of his mission from any who mightmake inquiry about it, because they themselves had not been invited. “There was no dissimulation or falsehood in this, since God really wishedHis prophet to find safety under the pretext of the sacrifice. A sacrificewas therefore really offered, and the prophet was protected thereby, sothat he was not exposed to any danger until the time of full revelationarrived” (Calvin).

1 Samuel 16:4

When Samuel arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the city came tomeet him in a state of the greatest anxiety, and asked him whether hiscoming was peace, or promised good. The singular ויּאמר maybe explained on the ground that one of the elders spoke for the rest. Theanxious inquiry of the elders presupposes that even in the time of Saul theprophet Samuel was frequently in the habit of coming unexpectedly to oneplace and another, for the purpose of reproving and punishing wrong-doing and sin.

1 Samuel 16:5

Samuel quieted them with the reply that he was come to offersacrifice to the Lord, and called upon them to sanctify themselves and takepart in the sacrifice. It is evident from this that the prophet wasaccustomed to turn his visits to account by offering sacrifice, and sobuilding up the people in fellowship with the Lord. The reason whysacrifices were offered at different places was, that since the removal ofthe ark from the tabernacle, this sanctuary had ceased to be the only placeof the nation's worship. התקדּשׁ, to sanctify one's self by washings andlegal purifications, which probably preceded every sacrificial festival (vid.,Exodus 19:10, Exodus 19:22). The expression, “Come with me to the sacrifice,” isconstructio praegnans for “Come and take part in the sacrifice.” “Call tothe sacrifice” (1 Samuel 16:3) is to be understood in the same way. זבח isthe slain-offering, which was connected with every sacrificial meal. It isevident from the following words, “and he sanctified Jesse and his sons,”that Samuel addressed the general summons to sanctify themselves moreespecially to Jesse and his sons. For it was with them that he was about tocelebrate the sacrificial meal.

1 Samuel 16:6-7

When they came, sc., to the sacrificial meal, which was nodoubt held in Jesse's house, after the sacrifice had been presented upon analtar, and when Samuel saw the eldest son Eliab, who was tall andhandsome according to 1 Samuel 16:7, “he thought (lit. he said, sc., in his heart),Surely His anointed is before Jehovah,” i.e., surely the man is nowstanding before Jehovah whom He hath chosen to be His anointed. ButJehovah said to him in the spirit, “Look not at his form and the height ofhis stature, for I have rejected him: for not as man seeth (sc., do I see); forman looketh at the eyes, and Jehovah looketh at the heart.” The eyes, ascontrasted with the heart, are figuratively employed to denote the outwardform.

1 Samuel 16:8-10

When Jesse thereupon brought up his other sons, one afteranother, before Samuel, the prophet said in the case of each, “This alsoJehovah hath not chosen.” As Samuel must be the subject to the verbויּאמר in 1 Samuel 16:8-10, we may assume that he had communicatedthe object of his coming to Jesse.

1 Samuel 16:11

After the seventh had been presented, and the Lord had notpointed nay one of them out as the chosen one, “Samuel said to Jesse, Arethese all the boys?” When Jesse replied that there was still the smallest,i.e., the youngest, left, and he was keeping the sheep, he directed him tofetch him; “for,” said he, “we will not sit down till he has come hither,”סבב, to surround, sc., the table, upon which the meal wasarranged. This is implied in the context.

1 Samuel 16:12-13

When David arrived, - and he was ruddy, also of beautiful eyesand good looks (אדמוני, used to denote the reddish colour ofthe hair, which was regarded as a mark of beauty in southern lands, wherethe hair is generally black. עם is an adverb here = therewith), andtherefore, so far as his looks and figure were concerned, well fitted,notwithstanding his youth, for the office to which the Lord had chosenhim, since corporeal beauty was one of the outward distinctions of a king, - the Lord pointed him out to the prophet as the chosen one; whereupon heanointed him in the midst of his brethren. Along with the anointing theSpirit of Jehovah came upon David from that day forward. But Samuelreturned to Ramah when the sacrificial meal was over. There is nothingrecorded concerning any words of Samuel to David at the time of theanointing and in explanation of its meaning, as in the case of Saul (1 Samuel 10:1). In all probability Samuel said nothing at the time, since, according to 1 Samuel 16:2,he had good reason for keeping the matter secret, not only on his ownaccount, but still more for David's sake; so that even the brethren of Davidwho were present knew nothing about the meaning and object of theanointing, but may have imagined that Samuel merely intended toconsecrate David as a pupil of the prophets. At the same time, we canhardly suppose that Samuel left Jesse, and even David, in uncertainty asto the object of his mission, and of the anointing which he had performed. He may have communicated all this to both of them, without letting theother sons know. It by no means follows, that because David remainedwith his father and kept the sheep as before, therefore his calling to be kingmust have been unknown to him; but only that in the anointing which hehad received he did not discern either the necessity or obligation to appearopenly as the anointed of the Lord, and that after receiving the Spirit ofthe Lord in consequence of the anointing, he left the further developmentof the matter to the Lord in childlike submission, assured that He wouldprepare and show him the way to the throne in His own good time.

David's Introduction to the Court of Saul. - 1 Samuel 16:14. With the rejection of Saulon the part of God, the Spirit of Jehovah had departed from him, and anevil spirit from Jehovah had come upon him, who filled him with fear andanguish. The “evil spirit from Jehovah” which came into Saul in the placeof the Spirit of Jehovah, was not merely an inward feeling of depression atthe rejection announced to him, which grew into melancholy, andoccasionally broke out in passing fits of insanity, but a higher evil power,which took possession of him, and not only deprived him of his peace ofmind, but stirred up the feelings, ideas, imagination, and thoughts of hissoul to such an extent that at times it drove him even into madness. Thisdemon is called “an evil spirit (coming) from Jehovah,” because Jehovahhad sent it as a punishment, or “an evil spirit of God” (Elohim: 1 Samuel 16:15), orbriefly “a spirit of God” (Elohim), or “the evil spirit” (1 Samuel 16:23, compare 1 Samuel 18:10), as being a supernatural, spiritual, evil power; but never “theSpirit of Jehovah,” because this is the Spirit proceeding from the holyGod, which works upon men as the spirit of strength, wisdom, andknowledge, and generates and fosters the spiritual or divine life. Theexpression רעה יהוה רוּח (1 Samuel 19:9) isan abbreviated form for יהוה מאת רעה רוּח, and is to be interpreted according.

1 Samuel 16:15-16

When Saul's attendants, i.e., his officers at court, perceivedthe mental ailment of the king, they advised him to let the evil spirit whichtroubled him be charmed away by instrumental music. “Let our lord speak(command); thy servants are before thee (i.e., ready to serve thee): theywill seek a man skilled in playing upon the harp; so will it be well withthee when an evil spirit of God comes upon thee, and he (the man referredto) plays with his hands.” The powerful influence exerted by music uponthe state of the mind was well known even in the earliest times; so that thewise men of ancient Greece recommended music to soothe the passions, toheal mental diseases, and even to check tumults among the people. Fromthe many examples collected by Grotius, Clericus, and more especiallyBochart in the Hieroz. P. i. l. 2, c. 44, we will merely cite the words ofCensorinus (de die natali, c. 12): “Pythagoras ut animum sua semper divinitate imbueret, priusquam se somno daret et cum esset expergitus, cithara ut ferunt cantare consueverat, et Asclepiades medicus phreneticorum mentes morbo turbatas saepe per symphoniam suae naturae reddidit.”

1 Samuel 16:17-18

When Saul commanded them to seek out a good player upona stringed instrument in accordance with this advice, one of the youths(נערים, a lower class of court servants) said, “I have seen a sonof Jesse the Bethlehemite, skilled in laying, and a brave man, and a man ofwar, eloquent, and a handsome man, and Jehovah is with him.” Thedescription of David is “a mighty man” and “a man of war” does notpresuppose that David had already fought bravely in war, but may beperfectly explained from what David himself afterwards affirmedrespecting his conflicts with lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-35). The courageand strength which he had then displayed furnished sufficient proofs ofheroism for any one to discern in him the future warrior.

1 Samuel 16:19-20

Saul thereupon sent to ask Jesse for his son David; and Jessesent him with a present of an ass's burden of bread, a bottle of wine, and abuck-kid. Instead of the singular expression לחם חמור, an ass with bread, i.e., laden with bread, the lxx read לחם חמר, and rendered it γόμορ ἄρτων ; but this iscertainly wrong, as they were not accustomed to measure bread in bushels. These presents show how simple were the customs of Israel and in thecourt of Saul at that time.

1 Samuel 16:21-23

When David came to Saul and stood before him, i.e., servedhim by playing upon his harp, Saul took a great liking to him, andnominated him his armour-bearer, i.e., his adjutant, as a proof of hissatisfaction with him, and sent to Jesse to say, “Let David stand beforeme,” i.e., remain in my service, “for he has found favour in my sight.” Thehistorian then adds (1 Samuel 16:23): “When the (evil) spirit of God came to Saul (אל, as in 1 Samuel 19:9, is really equivalent to על), and David tookthe harp and played, there came refreshing to Saul, and he became well,and the evil spirit departed from him.” Thus David came to Saul's court,and that as his benefactor, without Saul having any suspicion of David'sdivine election to be king of Israel. This guidance on the part of God was aschool of preparation to David for his future calling. In the first place, hewas thereby lifted out of his quiet and homely calling in the country intothe higher sphere of court-life; and thus an opportunity was afforded himnot only for intercourse with men of high rank, and to become acquaintedwith the affairs of the kingdom, but also to display those superior gifts ofhis intellect and heart with which God had endowed him, and thereby togain the love and confidence of the people. But at the same time he wasalso brought into a severe school of affliction, in which his inner man wasto be trained by conflicts from without and within, so that he mightbecome a man after God's heart, who should be well fitted to found thetrue monarchy in Israel.