1 Samuel ended sadly with the death of King Saul and his sons. 2 Samuel begins sadly with the rest of the record to Saul’s death. 2 Samuel is the record of the reign of King David as he ascends to the throne of Israel. We will see the differences between Saul and David. Saul lived in constant rebellion and disobedience to God. Whereas David was a man after God’s own heart. The main difference between Saul and David was whenever David failed, he repented and sought the Lord. David became Israel’s greatest hero and king. Not only would Jesus come from David’s lineage, and sit upon the throne, in Revelation 22:16, Jesus’ last words in the Bible are “the root and the offspring of David”, which Jesus identifies Himself to David.

David was a mighty man of God, and his greatness came from his heart pursuing the Lord. He never changed Gods. Although, he still had many shortcomings and failures in the flesh. 2 Samuel records and is very transparent to his sins. Chapters 1-10 record all of David’s victories while God established the nation of Israel under David’s leadership, His failures are sprinkled along the way. The rest of 2 Samuel is the record of the downfall and failures of David due to sin in his life, which caused Israel to fall. The success of David is only due to his submission, love and obedience for God. His failures entered his life due to pride he had for what God accomplished, then allowing the lust of the flesh rule over his spirit and the leading of God in his life. The victories and defeats of David and Israel recorded in 2 Samuel are very important and relevant to learn and apply to every believer.