10 Contrasts Between Saul and David

Israel’s first king, Saul, had the royal throne ripped away from him and given to David. He rejected God’s commands, and God rejected him as chief-in-command. But why does God respond so firmly to Saul and so graciously to David? If both Saul and David were sinners, why is Saul portrayed so negatively overall in and why is David portrayed so positively overall?

You could list more, but here are ten ways David and Saul are contrasted in the books of Samuel. These serve to explain why Saul was rejected and David was raised up, and they also demonstrate a life of faith in God versus unfaithfulness to God.

1. Saul is the people’s king and is a king after their own heart, representing their desires and priorities (1 Sam. 12:13). Israel wants a king like all the nations and gets it (8:20). David is God’s chosen king, a man after God’s own heart (13:14).
2. Saul hid “in the baggage” in fear when lots were cast to appoint him as king (1 Sam. 10:21-22) and hides from Goliath but David expresses courageous faith in running toward Goliath (1 Sam. 17:11). [See the next section below on Saul’s fear of man that stands in contrast to David’s fear of God.]
3. Saul trusts in the worldly resources of his armor and weapons but David trusts in the Lord (1 Sam. 17).
4. Saul is known for his outward appearance as a man of impressive statute whereas David is picked for the internal characteristics that point to him being a man after God’s own heart. 
5. Saul wasn’t willing to wait for Samuel (1 Sam. 13:8-9) but David waited on God throughout his time in the wilderness. This also demonstrates David’s trust in God and Saul’s lack of trust in God. 
6. God is with David and against Saul. He takes His Spirit from Saul but the Spirit rushes (and stays) on David.
7. Saul’s family members, soldiers, and servants love David, while Saul increasingly loses favor with them and becomes angrier and hateful to David (1 Sam. 16-17). Saul is selfish, angry, jealous, murderous, arrogant, hateful, and unraveling. David is beloved, faithful, upright, loving, hunted, humble, and yet God’s favor is upon him in all he does.
8. David continually sought God but Saul did not. David inquired of the Lord’s will, whereas Saul failed to do so. When Saul finally did inquire of the Lord there was no answer, but God does answer David’s inquiries.
9. In 1 Samuel 21-23, Saul killed all those in Nob (because they helped David) whereas David saves the town of Keilah (even though they would give him up). “As Polzin notes, this providential intervention sharpened the contrast between David and Saul: David spared the clan of those who offended him, but Saul wiped the clan out that offended him (cf. chap. 22:6–23).”^[2]
10. Saul repeatedly looks over, justifies, and blames others for his sin (1 Sam. 13-15), but David confesses and repents of his sin (2 Sam. 12).

Fear of God VS Fear of Man

Part of what the narrator of 1 Samuel does is set up clear contrasts between Saul and David. The kings were called to rule under God and in the fear of God. It was essential to being Israel’s king (see Deut. 17:19; 1 Sam. 12:14, 24). While imperfect, in his final words David states that he has ruled “in the fear of God” (2 Sam. 23:3). But for Saul, rather than rule with a fear of God that leads to faithfulness, he is characterized instead by a fear of man and circumstances that leads to foolishness. In his Themelios article, “The King’s Fear of the Lord as a Theme in the books of Samuel“, pastor David Cook argues that this is what separates David from Saul in 1-2 Samuel.^[1]

Robert Bergen also summarizes the role a sinful fear played in Saul’s life.

“What had motivated Saul to move away from obedience to God’s command? Fundamentally it was misdirected fear: instead of fearing the Lord as required by the Torah (cf. Lev 19:14; 25:17; Deut 6:13, 24; 10:12, 20), Saul ‘was afraid of the people’(cf. Mark 11:32; John 7:13). Because of that misguided fear, Saul ‘listened to the voice of’ (‘gave in to’) the people instead of listening to the Lord’s voice as required by the Torah (cf. Deut 27:10).”[2]

Here are a few of the instances of Saul’s fear showing up in 1 Samuel.

• “[Saul] has hidden himself among the baggage” when they’re trying to crown him king (10:22).
• “Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling” (13:7).
• “He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, ‘Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.’ And he offered the burnt offering” (13:8-9).
• “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice” (15:24).
• Speaking of Goliath challenging Israel: “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (17:11). Also, David seems to speak into Saul’s fear. “And David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine’” (1 Sam. 17:32).
• Saul seems to live in fear and paranoia about David for the rest of his days.
• “Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel” (1 Sam. 28:20.

FOOTNOTES

Saul’s track-record isn’t entirely negative. Here are a few positive things noted:

• Gave God the credit for victories early on (11:13)
• Military victories (14:52)
• Helped bring about a level of unity as monarch in Israel (11:12-15)
• Tells the people not to sin by eating the animals in their blood (15:33)
• Built an altar to the Lord (15:35), even if his motives aren’t entirely clear

^[1] Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 234.

^[2] Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 251.

^[1] See, David C. Cook, “The King’s Fear of the Lord as a Theme in the Books of Samuel,” Themelios: Vol. 45: Issue 3. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the-kings-fear-of-the-lord-as-a-theme-in-the-books-of-samuel/

^[1] Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 173.