e east Of Jordan and won the love of all the
Hebrew people. (2) Against the Philistines (I Sam. 13-14) in which
Jonathan was the hero. Before the battle he disobeyed the will of God
by performing the duties of a priest and was told he should lose his
kingdom on account of it. At the close of the campaign he lost his
temper and proposed to kill Jonathan, his son, the hero of the day
because he had unwittingly disobeyed a foolish command. (3) Against
Moab, Ammon, Edom and Zobah (I Sam. 14:47) of which there are no
particulars given. (4) Against the Amalekites (I Sam. 15) in which,
though he defeated Amalek, he disobeyed God in not wholly destroying
all Amalek and his possessions and thereby lost for the time being
Samuel's help and finally his kingdom. It was after this battle that
David was anointed to become king in Saul's stead.

Saul's Decline. From Chapter 16 on the story tells of the rapid
decline of Saul and of the rise of David to the kingdom. (1) There is
given the story of the madness of Saul and the introduction of David
to the court as the king's musician. (2) The campaign against the
Philistines in which David kills Goliath, the giant that was defying
Israel, and won great honor from the king. (3) His effort to destroy
David. During many years he, with bitter jealousy and an insane
hatred, tried to destroy David who was as constantly delivered by a
divine providence. Whether on account of sickness or other reason, he
seems to have had fits of insanity during this period. (4) His last
battle and death. The Philistines arrayed themselves against Saul.
With a sense of defeat he tried to get in touch with Samuel, but
finally met a death in harmony with his life and thus ended one of the
most melancholy careers of all history. All because of his
disobedience to God (I Chron. 10:1.1-14).

Lessons of the Period. (1) God adapts his methods to the needs and
conditions of the people from tribal government to kingdom. (2) A man
out of harmony with God will certainly fail-Saul. (3) A man in harmony
with God's plan will succeed no matter how much opposed by
others-David. (4) God never forgets to punish those who oppress his
people-Amalekites. (5) The success of God's work does not depend upon
our attitude toward his will, but our condition when it has succeeded
does. (6) A righteous man can succeed without doing wrong to do it.
(7) God's anointed will suffer if they sin. (8) Kindness to
enemies-David to Saul. (9) The st