Year 7, Day 334: 2 Samuel 17

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Today we see the fruit of David’s wisdom about which I spoke yesterday.  Today we get to see Absalom take over the throne and seek for advice.  Ahithophel comes to Absalom and tells him to go and attack while David is unable to prepare.  Hushai tells Absalom to wait until he can gather greater strength.  David hoped that Hushai would be able to sow disorder in the court of Absalom.  It works.

Here’s the thing, though.  We don’t really know that Hushai was giving bad advice.  We don’t know that Ahithophel’s advice was all that good.  For all we know Absalom could have gone out after David, an experienced general surrounded with strong experienced fighters, and found himself outmatched.  We know that God foiled Ahithophel’s advice; we don’t really know that Ahithophel’s advice would have worked had it been listened to.

What we do know, though, is that Hushai is the good counsel.  Hushai’s counsel gives David time to organize.  Hushai’s advice gives David’s spies time to relay the plan to David so that he can make his own strategy.  David’s political and organizational wisdom – no doubt aided by God’s infinite wisdom – is put on display.

There’s one other topic that needs to be discussed before we deal with Absalom tomorrow.  Ahithophel hangs himself when he realizes that his wisdom isn’t going to be followed.  On one hand, I get this.  When a political advisor is ignored and a second advisor is upheld, it is easy to see why Ahithophel feels little hope.  However, I also find this a little rash.  Just because you aren’t listened to once doesn’t mean you give up.  It doesn’t mean that you run away and quit, much less hang yourself.  Ahithophel gives up rather quickly rather than working towards achieving his goals and finding his niche.

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Year 7, Day 333: 2 Samuel 16

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There is much to examine in this passage, but I am going to focus it all on one element of this story.  As David goes out, he is met by two people.  One person comes and gives David respite through wine, donkeys, and food.  Another comes out and curses David and throws stones.  What I love is David’s reaction to each of these.

As we would expect, David receives the servant who comes out to bless him.  In fact, David takes the land of the master and promises it to the servant because of his loyalty.  David looks in favor upon those who look upon him in favor, especially in his time of disgrace.  If you want to find out who your friends are, find the people who still want to be around you when your chips are down.  There are your true friends.

The other person that David meets is a member of Saul’s clan.  Naturally, this man comes out to curse David.  He throws stones.  He curses David.

What I love about this part of the story is that David accepts the critique.  I love his advice.  He tells the people around him that if it is God’s will for this man to curse him, then why resist it?  If it is not God’s will that this man curse him, then doesn’t it make sense that God will exact vengeance for David?

There is such wisdom found in both of these scenarios.  David looks upon those who gather around him when he is at his lowest.  He doesn’t resist those who come to kick him when he is lowest.  He puts his faith in God in both circumstances.

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Year 7, Day 332: 2 Samuel 15

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Today we get to see the double-sided brilliance of David the king.  I say double-sided brilliance because David leads in this chapter out of his faith in God and his political cunning.  As usual, we note that so long as we aren’t talking about David’s personal life, we’re back into the land of David the good decision-maker.

How does David trust in God?  Notice that when David gets the news of Absalom’s rebellion he leaves.  He simply walks away from Jerusalem.  He puts his full trust in God that if he is in God’s favor, then God can bring hi back.  In David’s mind, it is really that simple.  There is not point hanging on if God wants Him to leave.  But if God wants David in Jerusalem, God can bring him back.  David gives God space to work His hand.

How is David a brilliant politician?  First of all, let’s return to the last point.  David doesn’t force a fight.  David doesn’t take on Absalom in the midst of his proverbial honeymoon period with his supporters.  Absalom’s supporters will be the most fervent as Absalom is coming into power and setting things up.  David walks away and let’s Absalom exhaust the energy derived from the newness of his campaign.  That’s brilliant.

Another way that David is brilliant is that although he leaves, he leaves with spies in place.  David sends the Ark back to Jerusalem. He knows that is a sure thing, because surely Absalom won’t send the Ark away.  Surely Absalom won’t kill God’s priests, either.  With the Ark and its priests in Jerusalem, David has spies.  Furthermore, David sends a prophet back into the city as well.  The prophet he sends in has the support of the priests with the Ark.  Together, they will be able to support one another and bring David much needed intel.  David’s political prowess matches his religious faith in God.

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Year 7, Day 331: 2 Samuel 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

It is easy to be torn on this particular passage.  On one hand, Absalom has a reason to feel the banishment from the king.  On the other hand, especially as a Christian, it is easy to buy into the woman’s argument that God finds ways to restore the banished. The question is, who is right?  Which position is the better one?

I’ll lay out my thoughts directly.  I believe the woman is flat out wrong.  God may find a way to restore people, but remember that this is Joab’s plan, not God’s plan!  This is Joab finding a way to bring Absalom back.  This is Joab finding a way to keep up the appearances of the royal family and make everything seem like it is okay.

As proof of this, look at what happens when Absalom comes back.  He goes to his house.  David still won’t see him.  Absalom questions Joab why he was brought back and indicates that it would have been better for him to stay away.  In other words, there is no repentance felt on Absalom’s behalf.  There is no repentance required by David, either!

That’s a huge point.  When God deals with sin, He deals with it one of two ways.  In one case, God righteously judges the unrepentant.  In the other case, God forgives the humbly repentant.  That’s how we know God is at work: we see either righteous judgment or humble repentance.

We don’t get that in this story at all.  Absalom doesn’t change.  In fact, we could make a case that he becomes even more petulant.  Neither is there judgment shown in this passage, either.  While this sounds like a great story of forgiveness and redemption at the outset, this is actually a great example of cheap grace and its ineffectiveness.

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Year 7, Day 330: 2 Samuel 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There are a myriad of lessons that can be learned from this story.  The easiest lesson to see is the lesson regarding the consequences of sin.  Amnon aspires to be with his half-sister.  In our modern culture, this is highly frowned upon, even illegal in most places.  In the ancient world, however, such type of an arrangement is not unheard of.  Even Tamar herself tells Amnon that she would be willing to marry him!  Amnon won’t wait, however.  He wants Tamar now.  He succumbs to his impulse and rapes Tamar.

The ultimate consequence of this act is that Amnon will die at Absalom’s hand.  That, however, will spur on Absalom’s revolution as we’ll hear about soon enough.  Tamar has to live with the knowledge that she is no longer a virgin daughter of the king.  This one moment of uncontrolled passion has lasting consequences not just on Amnon, not even just on the king’ family, but on the whole kingdom!  We can never know the extent of our sinfulness.

Another lesson that we can learn is the lesson of generational approval.  Some people call this generational sin.  When a parent in a family has a sinful pattern that is accepted instead of viewed as wrong, the sin tends to become accepted as the status quo in the family.  The children learn to at least accept the sin if not repeat it.  We can see this in David’s family right here.  David takes women he wants, using any means to get them.  That’s not really all that different than Amnon’s behavior.  David kills men who wrong him - except for Saul, God’s anointed.  That’s not really all that different than Absalom.  The proverbial fruit is not falling far from the tree in this story.

A third lesson that we can learn here is that blood ties people together, but those ties vary from person to person.  Absalom kills his half-brother because of what he did with Tamar.  David mourns Amnon’s death, but in spite of being furious he doesn’t comfort Absalom or Tamar after her rape or punish Amnon in any way.  David’s advisors seem to console David by telling him that only one son is dead, as if losing one son is mitigated by having a number still alive.  Human relationships are odd, and we all perceive them differently.  Human beings all place different value of relationships in general and then value their own personal relationships at differing levels as well.

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Year 7, Day 329: 2 Samuel 12

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What I spoke about yesterday comes to light today.  David is caught in his sinfulness.  He thinks that he can hide his sin.  He tried by having Uriah sleep with his wife so that the baby might appear to be Uriah’s.  When that didn’t work, he had Uriah killed in battle so that he could comfort Uriah’s mourning wife.  David has set up the world around him to make it look like he’s innocent.  He cannot fool God, though.  Nathan comes to David and catches him in his sin.

There are two things that I love about this story.  First, it shows us that there are consequences to our actions.  Even though God forgives David, there are still consequences to be dealt with.  The baby dies.  David knows that Nathan will always know his guilt.  God foretells David that his own wives will be violated by someone close to him.  There are consequences to living a life where we choose sin, especially when that choice is made in the privacy of our home.  Yes, there is forgiveness.  But the consequences are not removed when the guilt is removed.

The second thing that I love about this story is that in spite of the consequences David still goes out and makes life right.  Instead of being angry with God about the death of his child, David goes in and consoles Bathsheba.  In fact, he gives her another son, a son who will eventually be king, even!  David realizes his mistake at staying home when his soldiers march out to war and he goes out to join them in battle as they take the city.  David accepts the consequences and gets on with life.  He does a course correction, makes amends, and goes back to the pursuit of righteousness.

That’s what imperfect people following a perfect God have to learn how to do.  We cannot continually condemn ourselves for our mistakes.  Mistakes happen.  We are sinful beings.  Accept the consequences, make amends, and carry on the pursuit of God’s ways.  That’s how to be a person after God’s own heart even in the midst of our sinful nature.

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Year 7, Day 328: 2 Samuel 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

David and Bathsheba is a classic story.  Many people lift up this story as David’s major flaw.  While David was an excellent ruler and quite the general, he did falter in his personal life, especially where women are concerned.

We shouldn’t be surprised by this story, though.  Remember the story of 1 Samuel 25 where David took Abigail to be his wife after he had her husband, Nabal, killed?  Don’t forget that at the time he was already married to Michal, Saul’s daughter.  David has always shown that while he seeks righteousness publicly as a ruler, he has a tendency to bend the rules a bit when it comes to his personal life.  He kills men to take their wives.  He is a polygamist.  There’s really no hiding that fact.

There isn’t any point trying to justify it, either.  Yes, he’s a king.  Yes, that was how kings acted.  Kings always have two faces: the political leader and the personal rule bender.  Kings have always been above the law.  While it is a reality, it is not an excuse.  If we are going to walk righteousness publicly we need to walk it privately, too.  If we don’t, we’re just hypocrites.

That brings me to my big learning for this chapter.  This chapter is always a humbling one for me.  It is so easy to look down my nose at David and fault him for his flaws.  While he is certainly guilty of such judgment, the reality is that I am just as guilty in my own way.  People see the public persona that I put on and, Lord willing, see a desire to walk in the righteousness of God.  But I’m flawed.  I have my own areas of weakness.  I may not kill me and take their wives, but I am not innocent of sin.  I do lust.  I do envy.  I do get non-righteously angry.  I don’t always respond in love, especially in my thoughts.

That’s no excuse for David, just like it isn’t an excuse for me.  In fact, it’s grace.  God loved David.  God called David a man after His own heart.  David sinned, but in that sinful shell was the heart of someone who truly sought God’s ways and repented when faced with his sin.  The fact that God loves a repentant sinner is always a word of grace in my book.

We don’t love the sin even when it points us to grace.  We mourn the sin and hopefully learn from it.  But that might just cause us to love grace all the more!

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Year 7, Day 327: 2 Samuel 10

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2 Samuel 10 fills us in on some more of the political milieu of the time of David.  The king of the Ammonites dies, so David sends a delegation to great the new king.  David is a good warrior, but he knows that the battle that costs the fewest resources is the battle that is never fought.  If he can start out the reign of this new king by seeking peace, it may set a trend for the rest of the king’s life.

However, the Ammonite king gets bad advice.  Isn’t funny how one little turn of bad advice can really mess us a whole life?  The Ammonite king’s advisors hint that David may have sent the gift with a hidden agenda: as spies.  Honestly, it isn’t an unreasonable thought.  I could see a king doing such a thing as spy out a new king’s political position before his power is fully established!  While not unreasonable, it is still bad advice.  Lesson one from today is to realize that bad advice can start out sounding quite rationale.

The king then acts on that bad advice.  He acts upon something with no proof.  He humiliates the gift that David sent him.  It is one thing to be suspicious, it is another thing to act upon it through a rash decision.

Naturally, this upsets David.  David sets out his army to conquer those who rejected him.  Long story short, the Ammonites rely on mercenaries, and the mercenaries take the money and run when the battle proves tough.  The Ammonites are defeated.  This new king finds himself a vassal (or worse) shortly after becoming a king simply because he chose to act on bad advice.  That’s a huge lesson to learn.

What I really like about this story is how the vassals of the conquered army line up to make peace with David.  These kings act under good advice.  When someone more powerful than the person to whom you are submitting comes along, make peace with that person!  That is just rational.

That same thinking is one of the key tenets of my faith, by the way.  God is the biggest power out there.  Why would I not seek peace with Him?  Why would I not pursue a forgiving relationship with the biggest power on the block?

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Year 7, Day 326: 2 Samuel 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There are so many good things that come out of today’s chapter, and from so many angles!  We can talk about David caring for those unable to care for themselves by speaking about David’s care of the lame Mephibosheth.  We can talk about David’s ability to forgive in his care of Saul’s descendant.  We can speak about David’s ability to let go of grudges using the same line of thinking.  We can talk about his pursuit of righteousness by returning Saul’s land to one of Saul’s kin.  We can speak to David’s generosity by inviting in this man to eat at his own table like one of his own sons.

All of these are great thoughts to pursue.  At their core, however, is on mega-thought.  All of these things are possible only because David trusts God.  David has completely and totally placed his life within the provision of God.  David has accepted that his life will go as God orders it.

Because of this, David is able to be generous.  After all, who can out-give God? Can David possibly give away more than God can give Him?

David is able to let go of grudges because he trusts God.  What punishment can David impose than will be more righteous than the punishment that God imposes?  What makes any of us think that in our grudge we can be more righteous than a God who knows all, including the hearts of others?

David is able to look upon the downtrodden in life because he trusts God.  God looked down upon David the shepherd and saw what nobody else could see: a king.  If David trusts God to see what truly lies within, why should he not do the same and follow God’s sight?

All of David’s righteousness starts with his trust for God.  True righteousness first begins with relationship.  When we let go of our impulse to care first about ourselves and trust God, we find ourselves capable of doing much more than we ever thought possible.

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Year 7, Day 325: 2 Samuel 8

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Today’s chapter is largely about the victorious conquests of David.  There are several important things to note today.  None of them, however, are more important than the note that we have about David dedicating the spoils of his victory to the Lord.  I find this note to be exemplary.  It was the Lord who prospered David; it should be the Lord who gets the credit.  The Lord’s name should be praised highly for the progress that David makes.

As subthemes to that overarching theme, I have a few other points to ponder.  First, let’s look at the fact that God continues to prosper David in war.  It would be easy to take a chapter like 2 Samuel 7 and turn it into a chapter about how God must hate war because He wouldn’t let David build the temple.  To make such a point, however, is simply narrow in focus.  To make sure a point ignores the theme of this chapter.  If God hated war, why on earth would he prosper David in war?  I don’t mean to say that God is a violent God, either.  The reality is that God understands something that we don’t.  The eternal status of the soul is far more significant than the fleshly life.  War or no war, everybody dies.  God’s focus is on the eternal.  It is wrong to say that God hates all war just as much as it is wrong to say that God loves war.  God is focused on the eternal.  War is a thing that humans bring onto themselves.  God will work through our bloodthirst to bring about His righteousness.

Second, notice that David starts to put garrisons in the surrounding nations.  In other words, David begins to dominate the region.  David places garrisons in the other nations for two main reasons.  These garrisons will ultimately ensure the peace.  They will be able to watch over the conquered land and deal with any rebellions before they get too great.  The other reason is that the garrisons will help ensure that tribute is paid back to David.  David uses these garrisons as a means to help keep the flow of resources coming into his own people.

In all of this, God is with David.  God prospers David.  God takes David and through his military prowess brings the land under a single power: His people.

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Year 7, Day 324: 2 Samuel 7

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Today’s reading starts off as a bit of a downer.  David wants to build the Lord a temple.  David has good motivation for this, even.  David respects how the Lord has allowed him to prosper and wants to show the Lord some honor in return.  There isn’t anything harmful in this request.

The downer is that the Lord says no.  God doesn’t want David to build him a house.  David has drawn too much blood.  One might say that David may have made too many enemies.  Whatever the reason, in spite of David’s best wishes, God says no.

What I find absolutely amazing in this chapter is David’s response.  David accepts God’s ruling.  David could have gotten mad.  He doesn’t.  David could have gotten stubborn and built the temple anyway.  He doesn’t.  David accepts the ruling.

In fact, David takes God’s no and turns it into an opportunity to give praise to God.  That’s what I truly find worthy of lifting up.  David hears the Lord tell him no to one of his dreams and David turns around and praises God because of it.  This is a man after God’s own heart.

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Year 7, Day 323: 2 Samuel 6

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Today we have two very classic stories.  You can read my thoughts on Uzzah’s death elsewhere.  Obedience to the Lord is a very important consideration, and not being obedient can have some very serious consequences.

Today I am going to focus on David’s dance and Michal’s reaction.  David dances before the Lord as the ark is brought up before him.  Michal is angry because she sees David’s action as improper.

I’m always torn by this story, primarily because I am an introvert.  I typically don’t enjoy parties, celebrations, and public dancing.  I can resonate with Michal, depending on how David danced. If he actually did do something lewd or inappropriate, then he should be chastised.  Since I cannot see how he danced, it isn’t like I can actually judge.

On the other hand, as an introvert I do really need to accept that public displays of love for God may well be out of my comfort zone but that doesn’t make them necessarily inappropriate.  There is a difference between actually being lewd or inappropriate and a person seeing it as lewd or inappropriate. As an introvert, I should always be mindful to understand that my inherent quiet disposition should not influence my judgment of right and wrong when it comes to public events.

In the end, I can understand both sides.  I’m guessing, though, that David didn’t actually do anything wrong since the Biblical account supports his dancing.  It’s never wrong to show one’s love for God in public, so long as we don’t offend God in doing so!  As David says, we should let God be the judge of what He finds appropriate and inappropriate.  He is more than capable of doing so.

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Year 7, Day 322: 2 Samuel 5

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In today’s chapter, we get to hear about David becoming king.  The story is actually anticlimactic.  The tribes come before David and make him king.

This decision makes sense in a good way.  Saul is dead.  Jonathan is dead.  Jonathan’s son is dead.  Abner is dead.  Anyone who truly wanted to stand in David’s way is gone.  Those who would care to rise up against David would have no more legitimate claim upon the throne than David.  None have blood claim to Saul’s family.

What is important is that the Hebrew people recognize David’s spiritual position.  He is the one that God has chosen.  Therefore, while nobody has blood claims upon the throne, David has the spiritual claim.

Once David has the throne, he goes about taking care of his true enemies.  The Jebusites are the first on the scene.  There are internal enemies, living in the city of Jebus (called Jerusalem once David takes over).  What is neat is how David conquers the Jebusites.  They are confident that David cannot conquer the city because Jerusalem is in a very defensible position.  They are wrong.  David uses stealth and cunning to defeat the defensible city.  Typically, brains beat brawn when brains have even time to think through the situation.

Then comes the Philistines.  What I love about this story is that David pauses and consults God before taking on the Philistines.  David trusts God.  He respects God.  He listens to God.  He is victorious because he is willing to follow God and put himself ina  position of humility.

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Year 7, Day 321: 2 Samuel 4

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Today we get another vision of David's pursuit of righteousness.  Jonathan's lame son in killed.  The avengers come to David to show him that they killed one of his rivals.  They expect to be rewarded and welcomed.

We should not be surprised when we get to David's reaction.  David scolds the men.  He's not interested in other human beings protecting him from enemies.  David knows that God can do such a thing far more righteously than any human being can.  After all, who can judge a person's heart any better than God?

Furthermore, this child of Jonathan's was of no danger to David!  The people would not have seriously supported his claim to the throne.  Nevermind that this was the child of one of David's closest friends!  Naturally David is not interested in rewarding these killers.

I think this is a really enjoyable perspective to hear.  We can easily focus on many of David's faults, especially when we think about his wives, concubines, and his lust.  But we should also realize just how strongly he pursued righteousness when acting as a leader of God's people.  David was interested in making the right thing happen for the right reasons.  As a king, David paused frequently and trusted in God.  That is a quality that is to be respected.

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Year 7, Day 320: 2 Samuel 3

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2 Samuel 3 gives us an interesting tale about the working of human political machines.  As we read through these words, we hear that Abner is offended by the house of Saul.  This provokes Abner to have a change of heart.  Abner decides to support David and his claim to the throne instead of Saul's deformed son.  This is a big decision; Abner was one of the leading generals of Saul's troops.  As Abner went, much of Saul's family fighting force would go as well.

However, Joab cannot forget what Abner did.  Abner killed Joab's brother, Asahel.  Let's make sure that we remember the story.  Abner was being chased by Joab's brother and Abner killed him after telling the other man to leave him alone several times.  When this didn't happen and Asahel forced the attack, Abner killed him in self-defense.  Joab cannot get past this family grudge, so Joab kills Abner in cold blood.

What we can learn from this is that sometimes we blame people not because they are guilty but because we want them to be guilty.  Joab cannot forgive Abner even thought Abner was acting in self-defense and gave Asahel several opportunities to back away.  Abner is truly innocent, but Joab wants nothing to hear of it.

Look at David's reaction, though.  David curses Joab, which is amazing.  David looks to one of his generals and curses him.  David risks losing Joab's loyalty.  Why this is significant is because we see David choose the righteous path over the popular path.  Abner didn't deserve to die.  David sides with Abner instead of siding of his general Joab.

This is really a powerful testimony.  We need leaders who will do the right thing, not the popular thing.  We need leaders who will assert truth, not popular opinion.  We need to look for people who can think for themselves and stand up when needed.

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Year 7, Day 319: 2 Samuel 2

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I find this chapter interesting in that we get a glimpse of humanity from multiple directions.  First, David comes to God and asks his will.  God tells David to go up and be anointed as king.  David obeys.  As he does, he calls out the people who cared for Saul’s dead body and praises them for doing so.  David accepts the role of leadership with grace towards his enemies.

In contrast, we get to see Abner.  Abner doesn’t consult God.  Abner takes one of Saul’s malformed sons and lifts him up as king.  Abner may be loyal to Saul.  Abner may simply enjoy his position of power and not want to relinquish it.  Either way, Abner does not react with grace towards his opponents or towards God.  It ends with war among the tribes.

We can learn much from the contrasting actions.  However, what I think is really telling is that this whole situation arises because the people demanded a king in the first place.  When we look back at the time of the Judges, the Hebrew people were not fighting with each other.  They had their issues, but they were external rather than internal.  When the people were under God, they were united.  Now, however, they are desperately concerned about human leadership and human authority.  They are concerned about authority, power, greed, domination, rank, etc.  It’s interesting to note how the people fall as their desire to be under God wanes.

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Year 7, Day 318: 2 Samuel 1

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This passage gives us two very interesting choices for David.  The first choice is the death of the Amalekite.  Reading this story after finishing 1 Samuel 31 should cause us to pause.  After all, wasn’t Saul killed by his own sword?  Didn’t the Philistines gather him and his things up and put them on display?  How then are we to take these words of the Amalekite?

The truth is that this Amalekite is likely lying.  He probably knows that Saul was trying to kill David.  He probably thinks that he can earn himself a position with David if he claims to be the one who killed Saul.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize that at least twice David had the opportunity to kill Saul himself and never did.  As a result, the Amalekite is killed.  Whether David kills him because he knows that he is lying or because he respected Saul’s life is unclear.  Either way, this Amalekite was probably the first and last person to claim he killed Saul!

This leads us to the second interesting choice that David makes.  David mourns the life of Saul and his sons, especially Jonathan.  For those who know David, this isn’t an unusual choice.  This absolutely fits with David and how he lived.

What makes this choice unusual is just how unworldly this choice is.  Most people would be cheering the death of an opponent.  Most people would be cheering the death of someone who desires you to be dead.  Most people would be focused on their opportunity to become king.  Not David.  David is mourning the loss because he isn’t focused on himself and his desires.  David mourns because it is the right thing to do.

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Year 7, Day 317: 1 Samuel 31

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Today we finish the book of 1 Samuel.  I’ve found it odd that the book is called 1 Samuel, but Samuel is clearly dead prior to the end of the book.  Furthermore, the book ends with Saul’s death.  2 Samuel actually has nothing to do with Samuel, but with David as king!  There isn’t really anything theological in that chapter, just an interesting thought.

Regarding the death of Saul, there are a few things to note.  First of all, notice that Saul takes his own life.  While this is technically a suicide, I’m not entirely sure that it is equal to other types of suicides.  Saul takes his own life because his death is imminent.  He is going to be captured – maybe killed – at the hands of the Philistines.  Saul knows that if he kills himself, he can choose how painful and how long his death takes.  The Philistines might drag it out for hours, days, weeks, and maybe even years.  Saul takes his life to avoid the worst of the possibilities.

That being said, Saul still takes his life.  In that choice, Saul wrestles control out of God’s hands.  It could be that God would use the moment to teach Saul a lesson.  It could be that God could rescue Saul from the Philistines at a later date.  It could be that God has rejected Saul so much that God allows Saul to suffer and die.  The point is, we’ll never know because Saul takes his own life.  Saul doesn’t give God an opportunity to show His righteousness or His mercy.

Finally, we can tell from this story that God’s Word is true.  God promises Saul that none of his offspring will be upon the throne.  That promise is lived out in this battle.  In one moment, Saul and his sons are gone.  The only thing of Saul’s that remains now is Michal, David’s wife.  The door is now open for God to move as He places David on the throne.

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Year 7, Day 316: 1 Samuel 30

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Today I am focusing on a very small portion of this chapter.  I’m going to look at what happens after David has his town burned.  David marches his soldiers out after consulting with the Lord.  He is victorious, getting everything back that was lost, including his wives.

The issue is that during the pursuit there are some of his men that become tired and are unable to pursue the enemy as quickly.  This is important, because David knows that the enemy has got a head start on them.  The longer David’s possessions and wives were in the hands of another, the more likely they wouldn’t be able to be recovered properly.  Therefore, David leaves the tired men behind so that he can go on in speed.

When David is victorious, he has their own possessions retrieved as well as plunder from their defeated enemies.  Some of the men who went out to fight with David grumble and tell David that those who were left behind had no right to any of the plunder since they didn’t fight.  David has a decision to make.

Today we see David make a good decision.  David turns to those who grumble and teach them a powerful lesson.  The lesson is to realize where our strength rest.

David’s lesson goes like this.  It is God who gave us the power to defeat the enemies.  Therefore, the plunder should go to all people.  After all, if we only give plunder to those who fought, we are making the subtle claim that it was their own power and not God’s that provided victory.  I think that’s a very powerful lesson for the day.

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Year 7, Day 315: 1 Samuel 29

Theological Commentary: Click Here

1 Samuel 29 gives us a bit more indication towards David’s dark side.  The Philistines are marching out to go to war.  The lords among the Philistines don’t particularly want David to go down among them.  Unfortunately, given the circumstances I don’t think that I can really blame them.

Yesterday we discovered that David has been up to some nefarious actions.  He’s raiding people to stay alive.  He’s lying about his actions to Achish.  He’s killing people to cover up those lies.  He’s begun a bit of a downward spiral in his life.

Here’s the thing.  David continues those patterns of deceit in this passage.  Achish comes to him and tells him that the Philistines want him to stay behind.  Do you here what David says?  “What have I done?”  He plays innocent when he knows he’s guilty.  Perhaps what is worse is that he plays off of Achich’s ignorance of his actions as proof of his innocence.

David is showing his prowess as a liar today.  He is also showing his prowess as a manipulator.  I can’t give him a very high grade for what I see in this passage.

That being said, I can’t be too harsh on David, either.  David isn’t doing anything that I haven’t done.  David is just thinking about himself, something that I do quite frequently.  Chapters like this are a great opportunity for us to look into our lives and see where we are similarly guilty.

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Year 7, Day 314: 1 Samuel 28

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This chapter is another perspective of humanity.  Human beings really have a propensity for doing what is right when everyone is looking but then doing what they want when a need arises or when nobody is looking.  For example, take a look at Saul here in the chapter.

Saul, under the guidance of Samuel, had all of the mediums thrown out from the midst of God’s people.  God doesn’t want people consorting with the dead.  He doesn’t want them relying upon wisdom from anyone but Him.  Saul is willing to publicly follow Samuel’s guidance on this matter.

However, at this point in the story Samuel is dead.  God has quit responding to Saul and providing guidance to him.  There is a large army of Philistines who are seeking to conquer him and his lands.  Saul is looking for any kind of guidance, and everyone that can produce true wisdom is gone.

At this point, Saul turns to a medium at Endor.  Isn’t it interesting how Saul kicked out the mediums when it was publicly necessary.  But when push comes to shove, Saul decides to consort a medium.  Nobody is looking; nobody will hold him accountable.  Saul feels his back against the wall; Saul’s true colors rise to the surface.

This is what I meant at the beginning of this reflection.  Saul is willing to give a public face of righteousness.  But when nobody is looking, his darker character comes out.  When he feels cornered, Saul breaks his own rules.  When we aren’t careful, we often live hypocritically and do as we please when the mood calls for it.

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Year 7, Day 313: 1 Samuel 27

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The thing that I hate most about studying the life of David is exactly the same thing that I love about studying the life of David. David is such a real person.  One minute I am praising David’s focus on God’s ways.  The next minute I am confounded by his actions.  He’s so real because he’s always bouncing between awesome character, questionable character, and downright bad character.

For example, take today’s story.  I think this is a story about questionable character.  David flees Saul, which sounds like a great idea.  If David isn’t in the territory of the Hebrew people, then Saul will have a more difficult time trying to kill David.  It works out well for both people.

David goes to the Philistines and lives among them.  While not an ideal move, David seems to be accepted and makes a living among them.  He doesn’t make enemies of them and gets along well with the neighbors.  Again, this seems like a swell decision.

Furthermore, David goes on raids in order to provide for his people.  While not a great ethic choice in the modern world, the truth is that raiding was a cultural reality in David’s day.  Right or wrong, it was a part of life.  David chooses to raid people who dwell away from the place he’s chosen to live among the Philistines – although not too far.  This also seems like a great idea.  If you are going to make people mad at you, you don’t want it to be the people that you live right beside.

But then we see the flaw in the character.  David lies about what he’s doing.  David allows the Philistines to think that he has been raiding his own people.  David lies to cover up that he’s not really making his own people mad at him.  David doesn’t just allow the Philistines to believe what they think is true, David promotes the lie.  That’s pretty sketchy in my book.

Furthermore, David knows what he is doing is wrong.  David kills everyone he meets when he raids.  He does this so that there wouldn’t be any survivors to tell stories to counter David’s lies.  This is simply downright corrupt.  Raiding for supplies was a part of life in the ancient world.  Slaughtering everyone you raided was not a part of everyday life.  It may have happened occasionally, but even then it was an atrocity when it happened.

David really has questionable character in this story.  Yes, many of his decision are based on sound logic.  But are they based upon godly logic?  Is David seeking gain in the world around him through godly means or through worldly means?

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Year 7, Day 312: 1 Samuel 26

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I’ve always found this conflict between Saul and David interesting.  Saul seems bent on destroying David.  David seems bent on not destroying Saul.  Time and time again Saul pursues David to kill him.  Time and time again David finds himself in apposition to kill Saul and he lets him live.  This is a great study in contrasts.

What makes this story even more great is that we need to consider why it is that Saul desires to kill David.  He desires to kill David because he is jealous.  He wants to kill David because David is God’s elect and that means that Saul’s son won’t ascend to the throne.  He wants David dead because he is king and he is used to following his own compulsion.

On the other hand, look at David.  We are told again and again that David is a man after God’s own heart.  What is so special about David, especially since he seems so prone to sin?  What makes David special is his understanding that God’s ways are different than the ways of mankind.  How many times does David’s own soldiers try to convince him to take the life of Saul?  How many times does David refute them and allow vengeance to be in God’s hands?  In this regard – in fact, in almost all scenarios except those that involve wives – David is incredibly gifted at looking beyond what the world would expect and instead look to what God would call him to do.

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Year 7, Day 311: 1 Samuel 25

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I have to be honest.  The opening verses to 1 Samuel 25 are some of my favorite.  No, not because Samuel dies.    It’s sad when a great spiritual leader dies and is unavailable to be among the people who need him.  But why I love these words is because the eulogy is so understated.  Samuel dies.  Israel mourns.  Life goes on.

That’s a great perspective to remember.  This is the spiritual leader of the whole Hebrew people who just died.  There is no great eulogy.  There is no great retelling of all of Samuel’s great deeds.  He dies, they mourn, and they move on.  What a great perspective!

For the rest of this chapter, we see an interesting mix.  Let’s start with Abigail.  Here is a woman who is of great worth!  She hears about the rash offense that Nabal makes against David.  She takes matters into her own hand and goes out to meet David with what Nabal should have sent in the first place.  She does what is right in spite of her husband’s folly.  David receives the offering and peace is made.  The right thing happens in spite of the folly of a foolish man.

In fact, when Nabal comes to his senses and realizes what has happened, he is struck.  A few days later, God strikes him dead.  Through Abigail, God rescues David and then takes care of Nabal himself.

One last comment.  Once Nabal is dead, David offers to take Abigail as a wife.  Remember, David already has a wife.  This is the beginning of an issue with David, an issue we’ll see occurring again and again throughout the chapter.

The question is, how much credit should we give the death of Samuel with respect to the timing of this event?  How much impact does the death of a spiritual leader have on the morality of the people and its leader?  I’m not saying that it is Samuel’s fault, of course.  Samuel is dead, there’s not much he can do about it!  What I am saying is that I think that there is a lesson to be learned here.  When we find ourselves far from good spiritual leadership we also find ourselves close to the jaws of sinfulness and temptation.

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Year 7, Day 310: 1 Samuel 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Yesterday we saw how corrupt people deal with life.  Corrupt people are always looking out for themselves.  Corrupt people are willing to use one another as stepping stones to make themselves better.  That’s how corrupt people live.

On the other hand, look at David in this chapter.  Saul comes into the cave in which he is hiding.  Remember, David is hiding from Saul because Saul wants David dead.  Saul comes into the cave to go to the bathroom.  He is utterly helpless.  Saul is at David’s complete mercy.

David’s own men encourage him to kill Saul!  They try to tell Saul that this is God’s opportunity being presented to David.  They want David to do what is best for him in the moment.  That’s perfectly natural.  It’s perfectly human.

However, look at what David does.  David cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe.  David finds a way to prove to Saul that he could have killed Saul but instead chose to let him live.  David shows us how righteous men live.  David will Kill when it is the Lord’s idea.  But he will not kill here because Saul if his king.

The neat thing is that we get a glimpse of righteousness in Saul because of David’s righteousness.  Remember, he brought down his army to pursue David.  Now, David is within his grasp.  However, Saul is shamed into righteous behavior because David has proven his heart.  Saul turns around and leaves David in peace.  Should David have killed Saul, there no doubt would have been more bloodshed between Saul’s followers and David’s followers.  David’s righteousness diffuses the situation completely and allows violence to pass from within their midst.

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Year 7, Day 309: 1 Samuel 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In this chapter, God uses David to save a town from the hands of the Philistines.  Unfortunately for David, these aren’t people who are loyal to him.  When Saul hears about David’s presence, Saul pursues David.  The Lord warns David that the people of the town will turn David over to Saul, so David flees.

There is a neat point that we can bring out here.  Do you remember who came to serve with David?  In the last chapter, we hear that David is joined by those who were distressed under Saul’s kingship, those who were embittered under Saul’s kingship, and those who were indebted under Saul’s kingship.  In other words, David is able to make friends of those who would be in a better position for him to become king.

On the other hand, take these people of the city that David just saved from the hands of the Philistines.  They are masters over their own city now that David has saved them.  While they should feel a debt to David for freeing them from the Philistine oppression, they actually see David as a means to strengthen their position under Saul!

What’s the lesson that we can learn here?  It is not safe to assume that people will remember what we’ve done for them.  People will always seek the path that will put them in the better position.  The men who are David’s allies are such because it will be to their advantage.  The people of the city seek to turn David over because they see an advantage to it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that we don’t go out and do good.  We continue to help people regardless of whether they are appreciative and remember or not.  We do it because we know that God will remember.  But we do it remembering that people will seek their own advantage first; it is just human nature to do so.

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