The Bible by David Alley

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 8, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 8 we have an outline of how David defeated all the enemies of Israel, but its a summary chapter, not giving any sense of how long it took, or what order. But his victories are comprehensive over the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Syrians, and more. The Philistines were such a maj...

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 7, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 7 David wants to do something for God. Now this is something that so many people seem to not do. Many are grateful for what God does for them, but it never seems to go to the next step, where they ask God, what can I do for you? David seems to have completely taken the initiative h...

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 6, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 6 David seems to not be aware of the biblical rules for transporting the ark. Neither does he seem to remember recent history when a huge number of people were killed in an ark-related incident when it was returned from Philistine occupation. So he endeavors to bring the ark to Jer...

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 5, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 5 David becomes king over all Israel at 30 years of age. From the time David defeated Goliath until now has been at least 11 years, but more likely 12 to 15. For the last two years of his life (since age 28) he has been King of Judah at Hebron, and would reign there another 5 and a...

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 4, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 4 Ishbosheth, the king of Israel is assassinated in cold blood by two of his own military officers. They travel through the night and bring the head to David in Hebron thinking they are bringing wonderful news. Israel now has only one remaining heir to the throne, which is Mephibos...

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 3, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 3 a long war between Saul’s house and David’s house began in which David grew stronger and stronger, but Saul’s house grew weaker and weaker. This was more of a cold war, and the Philistines were also in the mix controlling a lot of Israelite territory too. Up north in Israel a str...

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 2, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 2 David asks the Lord what to do, now that Saul is dead. David was always listening to what the Lord suggested. God is the omniscient one, and we should pay attention to his opinion. God sends him to Hebron, and the people of Judah anoint him the king of their tribe. Now David bles...

In this video listen to 2 Samuel Chapter 1, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 2 Samuel Chapter 1 an Amalekite brings so-called good news to David. The distance from Mt Gilboa to Ziklag in a straight line is 139 kilometres on Google maps, and most likely the Amalekite didn’t travel in a straight line. He probably travelled more than 150 kilometres in just a few days. He was r...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 31, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 31 King Saul and three of his sons die in battle against the Philistines at Mt Gilboa in the north of Israel. Saul is left with only one remaining son Here in 1st Samuel it says Saul killed himself when he lost hope, but in 2 Samuel an Amalekite falsely claims to have done it. The...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 30, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 30 David’s family is kidnapped from Ziklag. Ziklag is a town only recently unearthed in archaeology, since 2015 and contains the burn layer that matches the biblical story. This is a chapter about great disappointment for David, for his soldiers and for their families who were und...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 29, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 29 David is summoned to war with the Philistines who are going to attack Israel in the north. We don't know how long David and his men were mercenaries for Achish up to this point, but it was at least for two years minimum. Though Achish trusts David, some of the Philistines comma...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 28, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 28 the Philistines are mobilising for full scale war against Israel and David is asked to join them. David and his men are now in a very tricky position. They have played the double agent for years, and now the rubber hits the road where their loyalty will surely be exposed. We wi...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 27, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 27 David and his men become mercenaries for the Philistines. He is safe here from Saul because Saul won’t pursue him into enemy territory. This must have seemed a very strange thing to do from an Israelite perspective because he was now working for the enemy. David is playing a ve...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 26, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 26 David is hiding in the desert but Hachilah is on the edge of the desert, so David actually sends men secretly to see if Saul is really there and he is. What a shock? Despite the previous incident where David spared his life, Saul is still after him. So David embarks on an under...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 25, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 25 Samuel dies and is buried. At this point Samuel is no longer writing the book of Samuel, and may not have been doing so for the last few chapters. We know that Gad the prophet has been with David and is an eyewitness into what happens in David’s life. The rest of 1 Samuel and a...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 24, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 24 David hides at En Gedi with the wild goats, and spares Saul’s life. These wild goats are actually Ibex that live at En Gedi. The En Gedi system is large enough and represents a mini ecosystem supporting even goats. En Gedi is a fabulous tourist location supporting a million vis...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 23, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 23 David goes to Keilah, where he delivers them from Philistine raids, but they later seek to betray him in return. It doesn’t seem fair. David was someone who enquired of the Lord, and before helping the people of Keilah, he asks the Lord for help twice. After this occurs, Abiath...

n this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 22, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 22 David flees to Adullam where men gather to him. He writes Psalm 34 there. Then he flees to Moab and arranges asylum for his parents who are distantly related to the Moabites via Ruth. After this Saul hears that the priests of Nob had aided David and commands Doeg the Edomite to...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 21, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 21 David goes to Nob to get help from the priests. The tabernacle was in Nob, but not the ark of the covenant which was in Kiriath Jearim for a long period of time as recorded in 1 Samuel 7. When Shiloh was destroyed at the first battle of Ebenezer, while the town was destroyed it...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 20, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 20 David leaves Samuel to get intelligence about what is happening, and why Saul is trying to kill him. But Jonathan seems to know nothing about it. The period between his fleeing to Ramah, and this coming back must have only been a short period for Jonathan to have remained ignor...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 19, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 19 things were peaceful and Saul stopped trying to kill David for a while at least, but there was war again. It seems that war, and David’s clearly better military skill is the catalyst for jealousy. Saul tries to pin David with a spear again. This isn’t a repeat of the previous s...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 18, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 18 Jonathan and David discover they have the same heart, and they love one another in the Lord. Previously Jonathan had shown huge bravery at Michmash, and is a warrior-like man similar to David. Here the Lord knits their hearts together. David then enters Saul’s service and parti...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 17, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 17 David slays Goliath, in what is a rare example of representative fighting or one-on-one combat. One-on-one combat was a way of saving many lives, but also required a lot of bravery, even on the part of Goliath. One-to-one fighting was not common in the Middle East, and here Gol...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 16, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. We are in 1 Samuel Chapter 16. Previously we saw three stages in the raising of Saul to King - the private anointing, the public choosing, and the obtaining of public approval. Here David is now at stage one, being privately anointed, but the other stages do not come from a long time, like twenty yea...

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 15, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Samuel Chapter 15 is illustrated how Saul didn’t really care about what God wanted - that is, he didn’t have a heart after God. Many Christians do things for God, but don’t care about what God wants. They serve God for their own benefit, as Thomas a Kempis called it, as “spiritual mercenaries.”...