December 30 - January 4
1 Samuel 14 - 18
Devotional Background
What’s the Big Idea?
While Revelation offers many details on the tribulation—even if they are often couched in the mystery of symbolic language—it is the final four chapters that dictate the overall message of the book. Revelation 19–22 portrays Christ’s future triumph over the forces of evil and His re-creation of the world for the redeemed. Ultimately, the book—and the world—end in a final victory for truth and goodness and beauty.
For the bulk of its sixty-six books, the Bible portrays a world deep in the throes of suffering. Human beings have had a problem with sin since the fall in Genesis 3, and verse after verse has recorded our problem in painstaking detail. The brilliance of Revelation is that it provides a final answer to this problem, a hope that Jesus will once and for all heal the wounds wrought by sin (Revelation 19), reign for a thousand years on earth (Revelation 20), and then re-create the world into a place that represents God’s original design (Revelation 21–22). The Bible’s narrative is a simple one: creation, fall, re-creation. Without the completion of the redeeming work of Jesus recorded in Revelation, we wouldn’t have the end of the story, leaving our hope for the future in serious doubt. 
https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-historical-books/first-samuel
Weekly Schedule
Day 1 (December 30)
1 Samuel 14:26-52
Key Verse: 52
Day 2 (December 31)
1 Samuel 15:1-35
Key Verse: 24-26
Day 3 (January 1)
1 Samuel 16:1-23
Key Verse: 18-19
Day 4 (January 2)
1 Samuel 17:1-31
Key Verse: 26
Day 5 (January 3)
1 Samuel 17:32-58
Key Verse: 49-51
Day 6 (January 4)
1 Samuel 18:1-30
Key Verse: 27
Memory Verse
1 Samuel 16:7 
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
January 6 -11
1 Samuel 19 - 23
Devotional Background
How do I apply this?
God is still sovereign in the twenty-first century. He will accomplish His purposes with or without our cooperation. But as was true in the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David, our response to God’s call affects our outcome. Will we obey Him as Samuel and David did and live lives marked by blessing? Or will we, like Saul, try to live on our own terms? “To obey is better than sacrifice,” Samuel told Saul (1 Samuel 15:22). That truth still speaks to us today.
https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-historical-books/first-samuel
Weekly Schedule
Day 1 (January 6)
1 Samuel 19:1-24
Key Verse: 2
Day 2 (January 7)
1 Samuel 20:1-23
Key Verse: 2-3
Day 3 (January 8)
1 Samuel 20:24-42
Key Verse: 34-36
Day 4 (January 9)
1 Samuel 21:1-15
Key Verse: 10-15
Day 5 (January 10)
1 Samuel 22:1-23
Key Verse: 17-18
Day 6 (January 11)
1 Samuel 23:1-29
Key Verse: 13-15
Memory Verse
2 Samuel 7:22
Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
January 13 -18
1 Samuel 24 - 28
Devotional Background
Who wrote the book?
Together, 1 and 2 Samuel form one book in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, was the first version to divide the material into two parts. Though named after its main character, the prophet Samuel, the book does not claim an author. However, Samuel may have written, and he certainly supplied, the information for 1 Samuel 1:1–24:22, which is a biography of his life and career up to his death. First Chronicles 29:29 notes that Samuel, along with Nathan and Gad, recorded the “acts of King David.” Evidence in the writing suggests that the books of 1 and 2 Samuel were compiled by someone from the prophetic school who used documents from Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.1
https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-historical-books/first-samuel
Weekly Schedule
Day 1 (January 13)
1 Samuel 24:1-22
Key Verse: 10
Day 2 (January 14)
1 Samuel 25:1-22
Key Verse: 1
Day 3 (January 15)
1 Samuel 25:23-44
Key Verse: 23-26
Day 4 (January 16)
1 Samuel 26:1-25
Key Verse: 15-17
Day 5 (January 17)
1 Samuel 27:1-12
Key Verse: 5-7
Day 6 (January 18)
1 Samuel 28:1-25
Key Verse: 7-8
Memory Verse
2 Samuel 22:31
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
January 20 - 25
1 Samuel 29 - 2 Samuel 3
Devotional Background
Where are we?
Second Samuel is set in the land of Israel during the reign of David and follows the course of his forty years as king of Israel (1011–971 BC).
https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-historical-books/second-samuel
Weekly Schedule
Day 1 (January 20)
1 Samuel 29:1-11
Key Verse: 6-7
Day 2 (January 21)
1 Samuel 30:1-31
Key Verse: 6-8
Day 3 (January 22)
1 Samuel 31:1-13
Key Verse: 4
Day 4 (January 23)
2 Samuel 1:1-27
Key Verse: 25-27
Day 5 (January 24)
2 Samuel 2:1-32
Key Verse: 8-9
Day 6 (January 25)
2 Samuel 3:1-39
Key Verse: 22-24
Memory Verse
1 Samuel 22:32
For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God?
December 23 - 28
1 Samuel 9 - 14
Devotional Background
Why is 1 Samuel so important?
In this critical period of Israel’s history, the people of God transformed from a loosely affiliated group of tribes into a unified nation under a form of government headed by a king. They traded the turmoil of life under the judges for the stability of a strong central monarchy.
First Samuel focuses on the establishment of that monarchy. The people demanded a king, similar to the kings of the surrounding nations (1 Samuel 8:5). Saul, the first king, though “head and shoulders above the rest” did not have a righteous heart, and his line was destined never to inherit the crown (9:1–15:35). God instructed Samuel to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, as the next king (16:1–13).
Much of 1 Samuel follows David’s exploits as a young musician, shepherd, and warrior. We witness his underdog victory over Goliath (17:1–58), his deep friendship with Jonathan (18:1–4), and his growing military prowess (18:5–30). He waited patiently for the throne, often pursued and driven into hiding by Saul. The book concludes with Saul’s death (31:1–13), which serves as a natural dividing marker between 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.
https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-historical-books/first-samuel
Weekly Schedule
Day 1 (December 23)
1 Samuel 9:1-27
Key Verse: 1-2
Day 2 (December 24)
1 Samuel 10:1-27
Key Verse: 23-24
Day 3 (December 25)
1 Samuel 11:1-15
Key Verse: 6
Day 4 (December 26)
1 Samuel 12:1-25
Key Verse: 12-14
Day 5 (December 27)
1 Samuel 13:1-23
Key Verse: 13-14
Day 6 (December 28)
1 Samuel 14:1-25
Key Verse: 24-25
Memory Verse
1 Samuel 2:2
There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.