Whew!
I was out of the loop there for a while as I got behind on my reading but today I caught up! Luckily reading about King David is pretty interesting and lively.
Back in 1 Samuel Saul falls into a "prophetic frenzy", strips off his clothes and lays "naked all that day and all that night' (1 Samuel 19:23-24). That's an interesting image. Or how about when David disguises himself and pretends to be crazy and lets "spittle run down his beard" (1 Samuel 21:13).
Also toward the end of 1 Samuel, David seems kind of like a bandit as he and his men raid and pillage village after village. He even lies to King Achish in a deceitful ploy to undermine him. But on the other hand David is completely loyal to Saul even though Saul is trying to kill him! And Saul tries killing himself by falling on his spear, but he is still alive. So he begs this other guy to put him out of his misery, which the guy apparently does. Then that guy reports this to David and David kills that guy for killing Saul! I mean this has more twists and turns that a soap opera!
One thing I admire about David is his loyalty to Saul. David knows Saul is a flawed leader, but he never tries to overthrow him or speak against him. He sits back and allows God to deal with Saul. I think that is a wise approach that I find useful in my own life. How often we deal with someone in a position of authority (whether it be a boss, a teacher, maybe even a spouse!) and we disagree and then we are so likely to talk badly about them or try to undermine them. David is loyal to Saul and trys to help him even though Saul tries to kill David. He realizes Saul is in the position of authority and he is going to honor that no matter what and allow God to deal with Saul. Easier said than done but certainly an approach that is worth thinking about. Unfortunately David doesn't treat Uriah the same way and totally disses him (and kills him) to get his wife! Bad move.
I think I have written before about how the 2nd son attains a better standing than the first born, such as Jacob over Esau or Isaac over Ishmael or Jesus over the Israelites ("God's first son" as the Bible states). Solomon, who will come to power after David, is David's second son. Reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son.
Back in 1 Samuel Saul falls into a "prophetic frenzy", strips off his clothes and lays "naked all that day and all that night' (1 Samuel 19:23-24). That's an interesting image. Or how about when David disguises himself and pretends to be crazy and lets "spittle run down his beard" (1 Samuel 21:13).
Also toward the end of 1 Samuel, David seems kind of like a bandit as he and his men raid and pillage village after village. He even lies to King Achish in a deceitful ploy to undermine him. But on the other hand David is completely loyal to Saul even though Saul is trying to kill him! And Saul tries killing himself by falling on his spear, but he is still alive. So he begs this other guy to put him out of his misery, which the guy apparently does. Then that guy reports this to David and David kills that guy for killing Saul! I mean this has more twists and turns that a soap opera!
One thing I admire about David is his loyalty to Saul. David knows Saul is a flawed leader, but he never tries to overthrow him or speak against him. He sits back and allows God to deal with Saul. I think that is a wise approach that I find useful in my own life. How often we deal with someone in a position of authority (whether it be a boss, a teacher, maybe even a spouse!) and we disagree and then we are so likely to talk badly about them or try to undermine them. David is loyal to Saul and trys to help him even though Saul tries to kill David. He realizes Saul is in the position of authority and he is going to honor that no matter what and allow God to deal with Saul. Easier said than done but certainly an approach that is worth thinking about. Unfortunately David doesn't treat Uriah the same way and totally disses him (and kills him) to get his wife! Bad move.
I think I have written before about how the 2nd son attains a better standing than the first born, such as Jacob over Esau or Isaac over Ishmael or Jesus over the Israelites ("God's first son" as the Bible states). Solomon, who will come to power after David, is David's second son. Reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son.
Replies to This Conversation
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Permalink Reply by Amber Kalina on -
Jeepers Kreepers Telemeepers... DRAMA!
I wish everyone could be that confident, including myself. To trust that God will take care of it in his own time and own way. It's like in the veggie tales movie I watched last night (cumon, who DOESN'T like veggie tales?) that was called Gideon the Tuba Warrior. It was about how we can trust God to take care of things. Sometimes he uses us to do so, or he will just do it by himself.
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Permalink Reply by Abby Kalina on -
i think it's fun hearing about david. and i agree amber it is hard to trust God sometimes. to fully trust him.
rob, you should watch it and make your kids watch it to. it has a good moral. in the end.
something i don't get in samuel (end of 1 begining of 2) in samuel 1 it says that saul falls on his sword and kills himself, but in samuel 2 it says that this other dude saw him and pitty killed him...which is right?
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Permalink Reply by Rob McNair on -
Yeah I was confused by that too. My take is that Saul does fall on his own sword but is still alive, so that other guy finishes him off out of pity. I don't think we can ever completely trust God. We are too inclined to try to do stuff ourselves. We are too independent and self-centered.
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Permalink Reply by Amber Kalina on
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So, do you think David's killing of the guy who killed Saul is just? I think David was just acting out of emotions cause he was sad of Saul's death. He wanted revenge. Naughty, naughty... I know he believed that God would take care of it, but maybe that's exactly what happened; God brought that guy to the mountain where Saul was, and yeah.
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Permalink Reply by Rob McNair on
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Yeah, I mean the guy David kills really didn't premeditate killing Saul, he killed him because he was already dying. He just wanted to put him out of his misery. Who knows though, maybe the guy told David because he was boasting, like "Oh yeah, I'm bad...I just killed the king!" And maybe he thought David would reward him. I think David felt that since God had chosen Saul originally, that he needed to remain king cause he was annointed. And David never tries to overthrow him.
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Permalink Reply by Abby Kalina on
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OK, I know this is Abby's account, but I'm going to reply on it anyway. (Which means this is Amber)
Why is David so....ug.... I don't even know how to describe him anymore. He's not the little hero with the stone and a slingshot anymore, let's just say that. He casts out his son and won't forgive him until an old lady shows him his flaw. He takes another man's wife, when he already has lots. He doesn't even get angry at his first born for raping one of his daughters. What's the deeliio? I mean, we're all sinners, but still...
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Permalink Reply by Tracy Bieger on -
I think this is exactly why Jesus says "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Because us "wise" adults have a hard time missing the profound simplicity of that, it is hard for us to just trust God.
Amber Kalina said:Jeepers Kreepers Telemeepers... DRAMA!
I wish everyone could be that confident, including myself. To trust that God will take care of it in his own time and own way. It's like in the veggie tales movie I watched last night (cumon, who DOESN'T like veggie tales?) that was called Gideon the Tuba Warrior. It was about how we can trust God to take care of things. Sometimes he uses us to do so, or he will just do it by himself.
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Permalink Reply by Amber Kalina on
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Ok, I have this test that is so simple, but the adlut mind makes it so complex. Kindergardeners could answer correctly!
1) How do you fit an elephant into a refridgerator?
2) How do you fit a giraffe into a refredgerator?
3) There is a big meeting of animals. All of the animals will be there except whcih animal?
4) There is a river that you have to cross to get to the other side, but there is no bridge or boat, the river is too deep to wade, and it is too wide to jump. How do you get across without getting eaten by the alligators?
Seems completely off topic, but this is completely relevant. It shows that we need to look at the little things and not try to break everything down into a science. I can tell you, I took this quiz and failed miserably. Take a guess. (Don't ruin it for others if you've taken it before, but you can share your imput, of course). :)
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