Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he put [them] to the worse.
God would later bring valiant warriors to David as He had previously brought to Saul (1 Samuel 10:26), but Saul now had to select recruits by personally evaluating them. This is another indication of God’s limited blessing on Saul. In contrast, hundreds of soldiers volunteered to serve with David. Saul established a standing army in Israel for the first time (cf. 1 Samuel 8:11).