With the genealogies behind us, we come now to the narrative portion of the book. The writer’s attention will be on David for the next twenty chapters, all the way to the end of 1 Chronicles. But where is he in chapter 10? The whole chapter seems to not be about David at all. He only appears in the very last verse, as the LORD “turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.” 1 Chronicles 10 is in fact, concerned with David’s predecessor, Israel’s very first king, Saul. But all that it records is Saul’s death. We’re not told of his promising start and initial popularity among the people. We are not given information about the long conflict between the house of Saul and the house of David. There is no description of the slow decline of Saul’s house or the gradual strengthening of David’s house. Why not? Because none of that is relevant to the purpose of the Chronicler. He has read 1-2 Samuel, and he is assuming that we have also read those books! There’s no need to re-tell the whole story. The writer is only interested in the last and most significant event in Saul’s reign as king: the defeat of his armies by the Philistines at Gilboa. He concentrates on this one great disaster, then adds a moral to the story: the reasons for Saul’s downfall was that he did not keep the command of the LORD and he did not seek guidance from the LORD (v 12-13). Saul has been unfaithful and disobedient. David, by contrast, will be faithful and obedient. Yes, we all know that David could also be impulsive, lustful, heartless, and indulgent. But to find David depicted with all his flaws, one must read the books of Samuel. Chronicles will depict him more glowingly, as the man after God’s own heart. It’s not that the writer intends to flatter David, or bend the truth about him. Remember, he knows what we know, and he knows that we know! But he is unashamedly selective in what he writes, in order to show that David really was the greatest king of Israel (and he was!). The LORD expects His people to obey Him, and Saul, as their leader, should have been a role model for them. Sadly, he willfully disregarded God’s Word instead. How? On two occasions, Saul did not keep the word of the LORD that was spoken by the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 13 and 15). Another time, he sought counsel from a medium (1 Samuel 28). But he never showed true repentance for his sins. Saul was rejected as king because he lacked the one quality that ultimately mattered: a heart for God. Leadership is serious business. There is no room for half obedience or half-hearted commitment. The centrality of God’s Word has always been the hallmark of godly leadership. For further meditation: