Old Testament
1 Samuel narrates Israel's fateful turn from judges to kings. It opens with Hannah's prayer and song of a God who reverses fortunes, raises up the prophet Samuel, and pivots on Israel's demand for a king 'like the nations' — which God calls a rejection of his own rule. He grants them Saul, impressive in stature but ruined by disobedience, for 'to obey is better than sacrifice.' Rejecting Saul, God seeks 'a man after his own heart' and sends Samuel to anoint David, the overlooked youngest son, because 'the LORD looks at the heart.' Filled with the Spirit, David defeats Goliath in the confession that 'the battle is the LORD's.' The book establishes the line of David and the standard of the true king — one who trusts and obeys God — pointing beyond every flawed king to the Anointed One to come.
Open 1 Samuel in the Atlas →Work through 1 Samuel in the Atlas — passage by passage. Read the text, test your understanding, discover its themes, and watch how it connects across Scripture.