[Salvation]

Friday: Samuel
Ornament: Crown

Samuel and the Beginning of the Kingdom

Saul is a member of the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest of the tribes. He is described as handsome and tall, a man of substance. His father, a wealthy man, loses a number of donkeys. Saul goes in search of them but cannot find them. Told of a holy man in a nearby town, Saul goes to see him to ask if he can help Saul find the donkeys. Samuel is in the shrine of the town, conducting the sacrifices. When Samuel sees Saul, he realizes that Saul is the man God has told him about in a dream. God told Samuel that Saul is the man who will help free the people from the Philistines.

God Calls to Samuel — 1 Samuel 3
Samuel and Saul — 1 Samuel 10-12

[Salvation]

Saturday: David
Ornament: Shepherd's Crook or Harp

David, a Shepherd to the People

David was a great poet and a person of deep, yet flawed, spirituality. He is credited with a heartfelt song of faith in God for his continued protection (2 Samuel 22). In this song, David describes God as a rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn, stronghold, and refuge. God's actions in David's life are like the mighty forces of nature aiding him: breakers surge and floods overwhelm; the earth sways and shakes, trembles and quakes. David's enemies flee and are destroyed, ground into the dust and trampled. God's commitment to David will not end, though David is unfaithful in many ways. God's covenant love is steadfast and enduring.

The Young David — 1 Samuel 16-17
David and Jonathan — 1 Samuel 18
Saul and David — 1 Samuel 24; 28
David the King — 2 Samuel 5-6
David, Bathsheba, and Nathan — 2 Samuel 11-12
David's Later Years — 2 Samuel 19-24