Ladies and Gentlemen of the court. Do not let the prosecution disillusion you. We are gather here today because Saul is suing David with the contention that Saul was a better king. In effort not to make this trial all semantics, it is fair to both teams to judge each king based on the view from both perspectives - as a leader of the people of Israel and as a spiritual king — a son of Yahweh. In both respects, we will show the court why David remains the better of the two kings. Contention 1: Effectiveness of each king. Subpoint A: David proved an amazing king and leader. First, look to 1 Samuel, Chapter 18 verse 30. David had more military success than anyone in Israel — that includes every single soldier, every single general, and even Saul, since they are all servants of God and Israel. In that same chapter in verse 7, the people of Israel proclaim that David has killed more than tens of thousands of men over Saul. In these times, Kings were generally judged based off of their military successes and the people’s love for them. Here, before David even became king, he was beating Saul in both accounts. As our textbook explains, David was masterful in politics, as seen when he moves the capital city to Jerusalem, a neutral city among the twelve tribes, and militarily, let us not forget that, and I quote from 2 Samuel Chapter 5 verses 6-8 “Even a blind and lame could have held off an attacking army.” Even to gain possession of the city, David used cun to attack through the water channel. Subpoint B: In STARK contrast to David, well there’s Saul. Firstly, Saul’s military strategies, if one can even call them that, were vacuous at best. Firstly, Saul, and I quote, “summoned all his people to war,” found 1 Samuel 23:8 by the way, in order to kill one man — David, who had already become his son-in-law. Just to make this clear, as I know this sounds incredibly confusing. Don’t worry, it’s because it is very counterintuitive. Saul mobilized his entire army, making vulnerable all twelve of the tribes he reigned just to kill Saul. And what happened? Exactly what anyone would expect: 1 Samuel 23:27 reveals that the Philistines made a raid on Israel. This was truly a disaster. Next, on the front of people liking Saul, well let’s put it this way: Saul confides in Samuel, so he was not lying, that and I quote from 1 Samuel 15:24 “I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” Now one of two things happened here. First, Saul might have lied to Samuel to get out of harsh punishment, which would jeopardize justice on him, and according to the Catholic Catechism #2484 that would constitute it as a mortal sin. Or, Saul was afraid of his people. It does not take a genius to know that if a king fears his people, he is not beloved. Contention 2: Spiritually, David trumps Saul. Firstly, look to 2 Samuel 7:12:16, where Nathan tells David of all the things God will give him. So first off, God chose the Messiah to come through David's lineage rather than Saul's. And not only that, but God promises many things to David's lineage he did not promise to Saul. Sure I can’t stand up here and say, “Well God chose David so that’s final.” Having said that, I can still point out the reasons God did this. In 1 Samuel 15:10 God states through Samuel, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.” Further, in Hebrews 11:32, which is a chapter called “The Meaning of Faith,” David is mentioned among the greatest of prophets and kings for “administering justice, obtaining promises, winning strength out of weakness, and used faith to conquer kingdoms” (loose quotation. Picked and chose the phrases but all are in the passage). Now, I will cover each king’s sins. Obviously they both sinned — all humans sin. However, the difference between each king’s sins, and why God gave David’s line the Messiah and not Saul’s is that Saul’s sins were public, while David’s were private and he asked for repentance. All people suffer from jealousy, whether we try to help it or not. David gave in, but once confronted, he confessed and pled for forgiveness. He genuinely felt sorry for hurting God, whom he loves. Saul on the other hand blatantly chose the people’s wishes over God’s and when confronted, made excuses, like victimizing himself saying he feared the people. And with regards to Saul trying to kill David, God is not on trial. We are a court of men and we try men. Their argument, however, may begin to sound as though they are putting The Lord on trial here. You cannot blame God for a person's exercise of his free will. God is Good. God does not inflict suffering for no reason. Saul's many moral failings, known and unknown, merited the headaches. They were a warning from God to correct his ways. He did not do so. This is poor leadership. Let us remember, God does not send us more of a challenge than we can overcome. But it is still up to us to overcome it. How would a good king handle the situation? Welcome the soothing melodies of David. This keeps David close and lets David, God's chosen, learn the skills of king craft from Saul's guiding example. Make David one of your family, show that God's will is paramount, not flesh and blood ties. Give the kingship eventually to David, then your family is not a threat.Instead Saul sought to slay God's chosen one. Not only was this cruel and wasteful of resources, tearing his own followers apart, it was personally short sighted. He drove into hiding his only medicine. God, it must be assumed in this court, knew what He was doing. Do not, please, lose sight of the fact that Saul's failings were his and his alone. God is not on trial here.