13.  The contents of the books of Samuel naturally fall under three main divisions.  The introductory part takes up the history of the commonwealth under Eli and continues it to the time when the people demanded of Samuel a king. 1 Sam. chaps. 1-7.  This period properly belongs to that of the judges, but its history is given here because of its intimate connection with the events that follow.  It describes the birth and education of Samuel; the disorders that prevailed under Eli’s administration, for which God denounced upon his family severe judgments; the invasion of the land by the Philistines, with the capture and restoration of the ark; Samuel’s administration, and the deliverance of the people under him from the oppression of the Philistines.  The second part, extending through the remainder of the first book, opens with an account of the abuses which led the people to desire a king, and then gives an account of the selection, anointing, and inauguration of Saul as king of Israel, with a notice of his exploit in delivering the people of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites.  Chaps 8-12.  It then gives an account of his first sin at Gilgal, for which Samuel threatened him with the loss of his kingdom, and of his victory over the Philistines, with a general summary of the events of his reign.  Chaps. 13, 14.  For his second sin in the matter of the Amalekites Saul is rejected, and David is anointed by Samuel as his successor; the Spirit of the Lord forsakes Saul, and an evil spirit from God troubles him; David becomes his minstrel, is in high favor with him, slays Goliath in the presence of the two armies of Israel and the Philistines, returns in triumph to the camp of Saul, marries Michal his daughter, but becomes an object of his jealousy and hatred because he has supplanted him in the affections of the people.  Chaps. 15-18:9.  The remainder of the first book is mainly occupied with an account of the persecutions to which David was subjected on the part of Saul, and of the wonderful way in which God delivered him.  It closes with an account of Saul’s distress through the invasion of the Philistines, of his resort in trouble to a woman that had a familiar spirit, of the terrible message that he received at the lips of the risen Samuel, of the defeat of the armies of Israel by the Philistines, and of the death of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa.  The third part occupies the whole of the second book.  It records the reign of David, first at Hebron over the tribe of Judah, with the accompanying war between the house of Saul and the house of David, and then, after Ishbosheth’s death, over all Israel at Jerusalem.  With the fidelity of truth the sacred historian describes not only David’s many victories over the enemies of Israel, but also his grievous sin in the matter of Uriah, with the terrible chastisements that it brought upon him and his kingdom—­Amnon’s incest, the murder of Amnon by Absalom, Absalom’s rebellion, pollution of his father’s concubines, and death in battle.  The closing years of David’s reign were saddened also by David’s sin in numbering the people, for which there fell in pestilence seventy thousand of his subjects.