April – A First Kingdom
See A Plan for Bible Reading for the year-long schedule of reading with downloadables.
God has established a covenant with His people, but they prove unable to live within it. The result is a fractured society with little moral center and little remembrance of God’s life-giving law. Into this disorder, God does something new. Through Samuel, God initiates a transition from chaos to kingship, establishing a line through which His purposes begin to unfold.
Week 1 – Samuel’s Call, Early Kingdom
Total Reading: 28 chapters – Chr 1; 1 Samuel 1–15; Psalm 1-12
Israel’s demand for a king marks a turning point. What seems like a political request reveals a deeper spiritual struggle: trust in God versus trust in human strength. Saul’s rise shows both God’s accommodation of Israel’s desire and the dangers of leadership detached from faithful obedience.
Guiding questions:
- Why does Israel want a king, and what does this reveal about their fears and desires?
- How does God describe Israel’s request; what is ultimately being rejected?
- What strengths and weaknesses emerge early in Saul’s leadership?
- How does partial obedience undermine Saul’s kingship?
Connected reading: Deuteronomy 17:14–20
Week 2 – David’s rise to Saul’s death
Total Reading: 28 chapters – I Samuel 16–31; Psalm 13-24
God raises up David, not for his outward strength but for his heart. As Saul’s rule deteriorates, David learns leadership through suffering, patience, and trust in God’s timing. This highlights the contrast from self-preservation to humility and trust.
Guiding questions:
- What does God mean when He says He looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7)?
- How does David respond to injustice, danger, and opportunity?
- Why does David refuse to seize the throne by force?
- How do these chapters redefine what godly leadership looks like?
Connected reading: Psalm 23
Week 3 – David’s line, reign and covenant
Total Reading: 28 chapters – I Chr 2-10; 2 Samuel 1-10; Psalm 25-33
David’s rise to kingship marks a new stage in God’s purposes. His reign brings unity, victory, and the establishment of Jerusalem as the center of worship. Most significantly, God makes a covenant with David, promising a lasting kingdom through his line, pointing forward to something greater still.
Guiding questions:
- What stands out about David’s leadership as he becomes king?
- Why is God’s covenant with David (2 Sam. 7) so central to the Big Story of Scripture?
- How does David respond to God’s promises, and what does this reveal about his heart?
- In what ways does this covenant create both hope and expectation for the future?
Connected reading: Psalm 26
Week 4 – David’s failures, Absolom’s rebellion
Total Reading: 28 chapters – 2 Samuel 11–18; 1 Chr 11-19; Psalm 34-44
David’s reign reaches a turning point as personal sin leads to deep personal and national consequences. Though God’s promises remain, David’s failure sets off a chain of conflict, division, and rebellion, most painfully within his own family.
Guiding questions:
- What do David’s actions reveal about the dangers of power, complacency, and hidden sin?
- How do the consequences of his sin unfold in both his family and the kingdom?
- What do these chapters show about God’s justice and mercy working together?
- Why is even a “man after God’s own heart” unable to fully lead God’s people as they need?
Connected reading: Psalm 51
Finishing up – David’s later years
Total Reading: 10 chapters – 1 Chr 20-21; 2 Samuel 19-24; Psalm 45-46
David’s later years reveal both restoration and lingering consequences. Pride, census-taking, rebellion, and loss expose the cost of leadership and the seriousness of trusting human strength over God’s provision. Yet God’s mercy continues to frame the story.
Guiding questions:
- Why is David’s census such a serious offense?
- What does this episode reveal about misplaced trust?
- How does God’s mercy appear even in judgment?
- How does David’s story prepare us to look for a better King?
Connected reading: Hebrews 1:1–4
In today’s reading, I Samuel 6-8, we again have a full cycle of sin that highlights the holiness and grace of God against the hard-heartedness of His people. Notice especially the verbs through this section…
– The people: rejoice, sacrifice, mourn, question, plead, consecrate, return, redirect hearts and remove idols, confess.
– God: answers, saves, restores.
– Samuel: judges, worships.
– Samuel’s sons: turn aside, pervert justice.
– The people: request a king, reject God, refuse to listen.
Do you see any parallels in the Big Story? How about in our own lives?
One especially interesting verse is 7:12, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us.'” Why are visual reminders of God’s presence, provision and power important for us and for our children? What visual reminders do we have in our home and in our daily routines?
There is much in this week’s readings about fear, suffering, leadership, and self-control. Psalm 19 provides a foundation for understanding how David was shaped to live faithfully in all of this.
David begins with praise for the beauty and power of the universe that God designed and, more importantly, the wisdom and glory of the God who brought it into existence. Creation itself “speaks,” declaring His character and work. Even today, we can see and “read” this testimony in the order and design of the world around us.
But he quickly moves deeper from the voice of creation to the clarity of God’s Word. It is the Law of the Lord that restores the soul and gives wisdom. These laws describe how we are to live in community with God, with others, with His creation and even with ourselves.
This helps us understand David’s life. In the wilderness, under pressure and threat, David learns to fear God rather than man. He submits himself not to his circumstances, but to the Word and character of God.
Psalm 19 ends with a prayer that reflects this heart: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.”
This is the foundation of true leadership and the deeper need that even David could not fully fulfill: a heart fully aligned with God, shaped by His Word, and dependent on Him as our Rock and Redeemer.
Reflection:
– How do I use my words?
– Do my words and my thoughts reflect God’s truth?
– Do they join in the praise of creation, declaring His glory?
– Are they pleasing to Him?