In Israel, archaeology can have highly political and religious overtones, for two reasons. Politically, it underpins Jewish claims to links with the land. Secondly, archaeology can potentially illuminate the historicity of the Old Testament narrative, thereby serving the foresaid objectives.
I have always been a supporter of the minimalist view of the role of archaeology and its relationship to the Bible, as promoted by noted scholar A.R. Millard. His view holds that "the service of archaeology is mainly to provide the stage props for the script which is in the Bible'. Attempts to "prove' the truth of the Bible with archaeological evidence misunderstands the fragmentary nature of the evidence and how it is discovered and analysed.
In the end, as Christians we understand the Bible by faith and there are matters (such as Jesus' miracles) which can never be "proved' by collections of broken pottery and fragmentary texts.
Occasionally, however, discoveries are made which have a direct bearing on the historicity of the Bible. The Tel Dan Stela is one such object (note in particular the contribution of Dr George Athas of Moore College to the discussion of this inscription). Dating to the 9th century BC, it is an Aramaic inscription which bears the first non-Biblical reference to the House of [King] David. Until its discovery, David was largely regarded in many scholarly circles as a mythical figure.
Two other new discoveries of note have recently come to light.
The first is the recent unearthing of stone fortifications in Jerusalem which are said to date to the 10th century BC, the period of the United Monarchy. These remains are potentially highly important, as much current scholarly opinion regards Jerusalem during this time as having been little more than a rural village " hardly the grand political capital of Solomon. The apparent lack of sound archaeological data for the United Monarchy in Israel is a source of much contention, so this material is a welcome addition to the overall discourse. However, little has been published, including the key information which could help nail the date " the pottery (which archaeologists use to help date structures) and radiocarbon dates. Short of an inscription saying "Solomon was here', this new find will be batted backward and forward in scientific journals and international conferences for some time before conclusions are reached.
The second discovery is perhaps of more immediate interest. It is a pottery sherd with an inscription painted on to the surface (known as an ostracon), found at the site of Khirbet Qeiyafa in Israel and dated to the 10th century BC (for more information about the object and its discovery, see here). Although the inscription is not a quote from the Old Testament, it is written in an early form of Hebrew. The date of the object reveals that the written language of the Bible probably appeared much earlier than previously thought, which has implications for the transmission of the Biblical text and the social organisation of early Israel at that time.
Objects such as these are like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. While it proves nothing directly in relation to the Bible, the Qeiyafa Ostracon does help sketch the background of early Israel and provide a foundation for the early creation of the Bible's written text.