1 Samuel 28:1 - 31:13 & Psalm 18

1 Samuel 28:1-25 (NASB)
¹ Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, "Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men."
² David said to Achish, "Very well, you shall know what your servant can do." So Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life."
³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists.
⁴ So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa.
⁵ When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly.
⁶ When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.
⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor."
⁸ Then Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, "Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall name to you."
⁹ But the woman said to him, "Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?"
¹⁰ Saul vowed to her by the Lord, saying, "As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing."
¹¹ Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for me."
¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul."
¹³ The king said to her, "Do not be afraid; but what do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a divine being coming up out of the earth."
¹⁴ He said to her, "What is his form?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.
¹⁵ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul answered, "I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do."
¹⁶ Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and has become your adversary?
¹⁷ "The Lord has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David.
¹⁸ "As you did not obey the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the Lord has done this thing to you this day.
¹⁹ "Moreover the Lord will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the Lord will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!"
²⁰ Then Saul immediately fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night.
²¹ The woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and said to him, "Behold, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.
²² "So now also, please listen to the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength when you go on your way."
²³ But he refused and said, "I will not eat." However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he arose from the ground and sat on the bed.
²⁴ The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it; and she took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread from it.
²⁵ She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.

1 Samuel 29:1-11 (NASB)
¹ Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel.
² And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish.
³ Then the commanders of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?"
⁴ But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, "Make the man go back, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men?
⁵ "Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"
⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, "As the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords.
⁷ "Now therefore return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines."
⁸ David said to Achish, "But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"
⁹ But Achish replied to David, "I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, 'He must not go up with us to the battle.'
¹⁰ "Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart."
¹¹ So David arose early, he and his men, to depart in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1 Samuel 30:1-31 (NASB)
¹ Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;
² and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way.
³ When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.
⁴ Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.
⁵ Now David's two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
⁶ Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
⁷ Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Please bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
⁸ David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?" And He said to him, "Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all."
⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained.
¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.
¹¹ Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink.
¹² They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.
¹³ David said to him, "To whom do you belong? And where are you from?" And he said, "I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago.
¹⁴ "We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire."
¹⁵ Then David said to him, "Will you bring me down to this band?" And he said, "Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band."
¹⁶ When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
¹⁷ David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
¹⁸ So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.
¹⁹ But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back.
²⁰ So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, "This is David's spoil."
²¹ When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them.
²² Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart."
²³ Then David said, "You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us.
²⁴ "And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike."
²⁵ So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
²⁶ Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Behold, a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:
²⁷ to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the Negev, and to those who were in Jattir,
²⁸ and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa,
²⁹ and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,
³⁰ and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Bor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach,
³¹ and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to go."

1 Samuel 31:1-13 (NASB) 
¹ Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
² The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul.
³ The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers.
⁴ Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me." But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.
⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.
⁶ Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
⁷ When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.
⁸ It came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
⁹ They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.
¹⁰ They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
¹¹ Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
¹² all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.
¹³ They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

Psalm 18:1-50 (NASB)
¹ "I love You, O Lord, my strength."
² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.
⁴ The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
⁵ The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
⁷ Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it.
⁹ He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.
¹⁰ He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
¹² From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O Lord, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
¹⁶ He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my stay.
¹⁹ He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
²⁰ The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.
²³ I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.
²⁴ Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
²⁵ With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
²⁶ With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
²⁷ For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase.
²⁸ For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
²⁹ For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.
³⁰ As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
³¹ For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God,
³² The God who girds me with strength And makes my way blameless?
³³ He makes my feet like hinds' feet, And sets me upon my high places.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.
³⁶ You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.
³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
³⁸ I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet.
³⁹ For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
⁴⁰ You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was none to save, Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
⁴² Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
⁴³ You have delivered me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners submit to me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners fade away, And come trembling out of their fortresses.
⁴⁶ The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation,
⁴⁷ The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.
⁴⁸ He delivers me from my enemies; Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord, And I will sing praises to Your name.
⁵⁰ He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.