S5: Day 83: 1 Samuel 16–18

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace
Episode: S5: Day 83 – 1 Samuel 16–18
Date: March 24, 2026

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Overview

This episode delves into 1 Samuel chapters 16 through 18, focusing on the transition of Israel’s kingship from Saul to David. The hosts explore David’s anointing, his early relationship with Saul, the iconic story of David and Goliath, David’s friendship with Jonathan, and the deeper gospel implications of these narratives. The conversation moves beyond surface-level readings, emphasizing Christ as the true hero of these Old Testament stories.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Saul’s Downfall and the Rise of David

• The episode opens with the context: although Saul has been rejected by the Lord, he remains king until his eventual death at the end of 1 Samuel ([00:22]).

  • “So even though kingship has been taken from Saul, he's functionally king for the rest of First Samuel until he dies at the... Not to give it away...” – Co-host ([00:22])

• Attention shifts from Saul to David, with God instructing Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king ([00:36]).

  • “So then for now, the camera turns to David, and all of sort of the focus of the story now, now is on David.” – CJ ([00:38])

The Anointing of David

• Samuel is sent to Bethlehem. Even he, the prophet, is at first distracted by outward appearances when choosing among Jesse’s sons, but God directs him otherwise ([01:16]).

  • “Samuel’s told by God to go to Bethlehem with a horn full of oil. ...God was sort of willing to let the people decide the sort of king they wanted in Saul, God here says, I have selected a king for myself among Jesse's sons.” – Co-host & CJ ([00:43–01:03])
  • “People look at outside appearances. ...God says, nope, it's none of these guys.” – CJ ([01:24])

• David, the youngest and a humble shepherd, is brought in and anointed ([01:35]).

  • “He’s the youngest, and he's out, you know, shepherding sheep. So he says, well, you have to bring him here, because I think that's the guy I'm looking for.” – CJ ([01:35])

David’s Calling and Initial Struggles

• The Spirit of the Lord comes upon David, while it departs from Saul, symbolizing the transfer of God’s favor and empowerment ([02:07]).

  • “The Spirit of God rushes upon him. The Spirit of God leaves Saul, which is pretty symbolic.” – Co-host ([02:07])

• An unsettling spirit torments Saul, leading to David’s entry into the royal court as a musician who can soothe Saul’s distress ([02:12–02:42]).

  • “The way that the Lord brings David into Saul's orbit is by using David's skills as a musician to soothe Saul.” – Co-host ([02:14])

David and Goliath: Faith over Appearance

• The hosts recount the famous account of David and Goliath, highlighting David’s unexpected confidence and reliance on God ([02:54–03:28]).

  • “David kind of stumbles on the battlefield and he says, well, I'll do it. This guy seems like he's trying to defy the Lord. I'm willing to fight.” – CJ ([03:08])
  • “Here's this young boy ...who ends up fighting against Goliath and winning.” – CJ ([03:28])

• David’s victory comes not from strength or military prowess, but from trust in God, in contrast to outward expectations ([03:25]).

  • “David is relying on the power of the Lord in a way that people weren't expecting, because again, people look at outside appearances.” – Co-host ([03:25])

David and Jonathan: Friendship and Humility

• 1 Samuel 18 describes the deep friendship between David and Jonathan, marked by Jonathan’s humility and recognition of God’s choice ([03:49–04:21]).
  • “Jonathan and David's souls were like, were knit together. ...Jonathan is willing to lay down his right to the throne because he recognizes that David is the true anointed.” – Co-host ([03:49])
  • “That's pretty humble to say as Jonathan, I could have inherited the kingship or I could have tried to, but instead I'm going to recognize that God has anointed David...” – CJ ([04:04])

Saul’s Fear and David’s Rising Success

• David’s military successes cause Saul to fear and resent him, realizing his own decline in influence ([04:21–04:46]).
  • “David ends up being a successful warrior. He kills a lot of Philistines. ...Saul sort of becomes afraid of David because David is so successful and is getting so much praise.” – Co-host & CJ ([04:21–04:37])

Gospel Connection: Seeing Christ in David’s Victory

• The hosts push back on the common interpretation of the David and Goliath story as a motivational tale for personal triumph, instead presenting David as a “type” of Christ ([04:56–05:35]).

  • “A lot of biblical interpretation wants to see the David and Goliath story as you and I are David. ...But I think if we try to find Christ in it, it's Christ is David and sin is Goliath.” – Co-host & CJ ([04:56–05:24])

  • “Christ, in his humility and his reliance on the Lord, was able to conquer sin and death and destroy evil through the cross and through his resurrection. So that's where I see Christ in the Goliath story.” – CJ ([05:24])

• The personal application is recognizing ourselves as the trembling Israelites, unable to defeat sin on our own, but delivered by Christ’s victory ([05:35]).

  • “If I were gonna put myself in that story, I'm one of the weak and trembling Israelites who didn't have the strength nor the ability to go to battle. And so Christ has done that for me. So that's gotta be my takeaway from this passage.” – Host ([05:35])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On David’s Anointing:
  “People look at outside appearances. ...God says, nope, it's none of these guys.” – CJ ([01:24])

• On Jonathan’s Humility:
  “That's pretty humble to say as Jonathan, I could have inherited the kingship or I could have tried to, but instead I'm going to recognize that God has anointed David....” – CJ ([04:08])

• On Christ as the True Victor:
  “Christ, in his humility and his reliance on the Lord, was able to conquer sin and death and destroy evil through the cross and through his resurrection. So that's where I see Christ in the Goliath story.” – CJ ([05:24])

• On Application:
  “I'm one of the weak and trembling Israelites who didn't have the strength nor the ability to go to battle. And so Christ has done that for me.” – Host ([05:35])

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Timestamp Highlights

• 00:38 – Focus shifts from Saul to David’s story
• 01:35 – David, the youngest, is chosen and anointed
• 02:07 – The Spirit leaves Saul and fills David
• 02:42 – David’s musical gifts bring him into Saul’s court
• 03:08 – David freely volunteers to face Goliath
• 03:25 – David’s victory is based on God’s power, not his own
• 03:49 – Jonathan and David’s friendship, Jonathan’s humility
• 04:21 – Saul’s fear as David’s popularity rises
• 04:56 – Reframing David and Goliath as a Christ-centered story
• 05:35 – The true application: Christ as victor for believers

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Conclusion

The episode emphasizes reading Old Testament narratives through the lens of the gospel, recognizing how David prefigures Jesus. The discussion encourages listeners to move beyond moralism and self-effort, pointing to Christ’s sufficiency in facing the “giants” of sin and death on behalf of believers. The hosts invite listeners to return for continual study and application of God’s Word in the coming episodes.

Transcript

[CJ]

Foreign.

[Host]

Hey, thanks for joining us again. For a year in the Bible, with daily grace, we are in First Samuel. Today. We're in chapters 16 through 18, and we've witnessed the downfall of Saul. So what's next in this story?

[Co-host]

Yeah, so even though kingship has been taken from Saul, he's functionally king for

[CJ]

the rest of First Samuel until he dies at the. Not to give it away, but until he dies at the end of First Samuel.

[Host]

I think we know it's coming.

[CJ]

Well, you never know.

[Host]

Spoiler alert.

[CJ]

Yeah.

[Co-host]

So then for now, the camera turns

[CJ]

to David, and all of sort of the focus of the story now, now is on David.

[Co-host]

And Samuel's told by God to go to Bethlehem with a horn full of oil.

[CJ]

So again, we have anointing in our mind. We're reminded of Hannah's song, right? Lord will anoint his king.

[Co-host]

And whereas God was sort of willing to let the people decide the sort of king they wanted in Saul, God

[CJ]

here says, I have selected a king for myself among Jesse's sons. Okay? So God's essentially saying, you've had your fun with kingship, yada, yada, yada. Now we're going to.

[Host]

So this is the king we've been waiting.

[Co-host]

Now we're going to get to the guy that I've.

[CJ]

That I've chosen. Right?

[Co-host]

But when encountering Jesse's sons, even Samuel

[CJ]

gets swept up in appearances. You know, Jesse has all of his

[Co-host]

sons line up before Samuel, and each

[CJ]

one Samuel saying, this must be the guy. He's tall. This must be the guy. He's strong, so on and so forth. And God says, nope, it's none of these guys.

[Co-host]

So Samuel says, do you have another

[CJ]

son I just don't see here?

[Co-host]

He says, oh, yeah, he's the youngest,

[CJ]

and he's out, you know, shepherding sheep. So he says, well, you have to bring him here, because I think that's the guy I'm looking for.

[Co-host]

So Samuel finally figures out that that's

[CJ]

the one he's looking for, and he anoints David.

[Co-host]

And in the chapters that ensue, we

[CJ]

kind of learn David's sort of rise to the throne and all of the struggles that he has to undergo to get there.

[Host]

Is it smooth sailing for David as king?

[Co-host]

Sadly, it's not smooth sailing. Ironically, you think it would be.

[CJ]

But he has a big calling on his life, and he actually has to

[Co-host]

struggle a lot more.

[CJ]

So after hearing about his calling, so

[Co-host]

the spirit of God rushes upon him. The spirit of God leaves Saul, which

[CJ]

is pretty symbolic, right? The significance of that.

[Co-host]

And then an evil spirit overtakes Saul. And the way that the Lord brings David into Saul's orbit is by using David's skills as a musician to soothe

[CJ]

Saul when he has these mental fits with, with his music. So David, you know, people hear about David and that he's a good harp player, I suppose, or whatever, whatever instrument he plays. And they say, well, David, maybe he'll soothe Saul when Saul's having these mental fits. And that's kind of how David gets connected with. With Saul.

[Host]

Yeah. So that's going to lead us into one of the most infamous stories in the Bible, which is this battle that we see between Goliath, a giant, and David. Not giant.

[CJ]

Yep, exactly. I mean, it probably doesn't require a lot of explanation. I mean, this is probably one of the most well known stories in the Bible for anybody. Goliath is a giant and he represents

[Co-host]

the Philistines and all these Israelites are afraid to fight against him.

[CJ]

But David kind of stumbles on the battlefield and he says, well, I'll do it. This guy seems like he's trying to defy the Lord. I'm willing to fight.

[Co-host]

So he takes his sling and his five stones and he slings and he

[CJ]

essentially knocks out Goliath, chops off his head. And that's sort of the story. And David is relying on the power

[Co-host]

of the Lord

[CJ]

in a way that people weren't expecting, because again, people look at outside appearances. And yet here's this young boy or this young teen or however old you'd like to think of him as at that point, but he's this young, small person who ends up fighting against Goliath and winning.

[Host]

Yeah. And we're going to break down in just a minute like what that means for us, what we take away from that. But let's walk through First Samuel 18 first.

[Co-host]

Yeah. So then in First Samuel 18, it says Jonathan and David's souls were like, were knit together. They become close, so close that Jonathan is willing to lay down his right to the throne because he recognizes that

[CJ]

David is the true anointed. And if you think about it, I

[Co-host]

mean, that's, that's pretty humble to say

[CJ]

as Jonathan, I could have inherited the kingship or I could have tried to, but instead I'm going to recognize that God has anointed David and he seems to be the one that, that God wants. So that's, that's a pretty powerful plot point.

[Co-host]

And David ends up being a successful warrior. He kills a lot of Philistines.

[CJ]

Probably reminds us of Samson in this way.

[Co-host]

And then Saul sort of becomes afraid

[CJ]

of David because David is so successful

[Co-host]

and is getting so much praise from

[CJ]

others that I think Saul starts to feel the tension of the kingdom sort of slipping through his fingers and being transferred over to David.

[Host]

Yeah. Yeah, we definitely get that feeling. So, okay. To get back a little bit to application by way of that, I want to look at where we see Jesus in this passage.

[Co-host]

Yeah. So I think a lot of biblical interpretation wants to see the David and Goliath story as you and I are David. And our big insurmountable problem is Goliath.

[CJ]

And if we just have enough faith, we can swing our stone and work through our problem. But I think if we try to find Christ in it, it's Christ is

[Co-host]

David and sin is Goliath. And Christ, in his humility and his

[CJ]

reliance on the Lord, was able to conquer sin and death and destroy evil through the cross and through his resurrection. So that's where I see Christ in the goliath story.

[Host]

Yeah, 100%. Absolutely. And so if I were gonna put myself in that story, I'm one of the weak and trembling Israelites who didn't have the strength nor the ability to go to go to battle. And so Christ has done that for me. So that's gotta be my takeaway from this passage. And honestly, interpreting this passage in that way, it is so powerful. Interpreting it the way that you mentioned before, how maybe I heard it growing up or in different contexts, it just never sat with me quite right. I'd never slayed a Goliath. You know, that's never truly happened. But Jesus has. And so thank you for breaking that down for us, cj. We're going to keep walking through First Samuel tomorrow.

[CJ]

Great.

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