[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 7pm if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, you can find us
[email protected] be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast, Madison Church of Christ Sermons. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: We have been going over First Samuel specifically talking about the life of David in here the last few weeks we've been really looking at Saul's well, first we saw Samuel. Then we saw Saul's ascension. We've seen Saul's decline. We're going to work through the last seven chapters or eight chapters of First Samuel today.
The first two or three chapters we were meant to cover last week. So I'm just going to briefly mention them and then we'll get and move on. The end of First Samuel essentially ends with Saul passing away, and then two Samuel starts with David essentially being king. But remember when these books were originally written, it was just one book. It was Samuel. So the natural split when people did it years and years and years later was just dividing it into like Saul's kingdom, first Samuel, David's kingdom, second Samuel. So in first Samuel 23 we were supposed to talk about this last week. We didn't get to it. I'm just going to briefly mention this. We see a compare contrast scene between David and Saul. We see this situation where David speaks with Yahweh. Interestingly enough, this is pretty wild to me.
Only in this chapter and in a chapter, I think it's two or three chapters from now. Those are the only times in scripture that I've been able to find where David actually ever hears any words from God.
So if you think about it like David and Goliath probably hadn't heard anything to that extent, at least nothing that we know of Multiple other situations in Scripture. He has Nathan the prophet later on come and speak to him, but it's not God coming and speaking to him. He has all these different situations. And I think that that helps put things in perspective to me sometimes because David in his long life as king, with all these like amazing things happening in his life.
While he did have a couple crazy moments where God did directly speak to him, sort of like us, it wasn't just like happening all the time. It was rare. He knew some of the words that had been passed along, some of the old scriptures and stuff like that.
But more than anything, it was just his faith that kept him going. But David is speaking with God in 1st Samuel 23.
He asks God if he should attack a people.
God says yes. He goes down and attacks the people. Saul begins to chase him. He asks God if he should flee or if he should stay. God tells him to flee and he flees. Jonathan shows up in the midst of that. It's actually the last time that Jonathan and David ever talk face to face. And then on the other half of the chapter, we have Saul and we have Saul pursuing David. And it keeps bringing up how he's pursuing him in his own strength. And as he's pursuing David, this just crazy situation happens where it looks like he finally has David cornered. And then he hears that Philistines are attacking his home base.
And Saul has to make the decision, do I go back and fight these Philistines or do I finally grab this guy? I've been trying to follow the whole time. But. But what the chapter is trying to do is not just tell you the story about it. It's literally trying to set up a compare and contrast. Who is David trusting in for his strength? Who is David getting answers from?
Who is Saul trusting in for strength? Where is Saul getting his answers from?
We were going to talk about this past week as well, but 1st Samuel 24:25 are interesting because, well, 1st Samuel 23 is a compare contrast with David and Saul. 1st Samuel 24:25 actually begins something very interesting that continues through the end of 1st Samuel. It is a compare and contrast with David himself in 1st Samuel 24. We just don't have time. So we're not going to read all of it. But this is essentially the story where David and his men are being pursued. They hide in a cave. Saul comes to use the restroom in the cave. David's men look at him and say, now's the time to get him. David says, no, we're not going to get them. He goes, cuts off a section of his robe. Saul leaves the cave. David comes out. I've spared your life. This big emotional scene. You think maybe this story is coming to a conclusion, but sadly it's not. And then it ends. So we have 1st Samuel 24. David spares someone's life. He. He's Saying, let's put this all in God's hands. If you've never studied first Samuel 25, it's an interesting little chapter, but it's about a guy named Nabal.
Nabal literally in Hebrew, means fool.
And David is in the wilderness. And this guy Nabal is married to a woman who's amazing, apparently named Abigail. And while they're in the middle of the wilderness, David's men apparently protect Nabal's sheep for a period of time. But they're also starving, so they come to Nabal and they say, hey, can you provide us with some of your supplies? And later on in the chapter, it describes Nabal as a man with, like, thousands of sheep and hosting lavish banquets and everything else. And Nabal essentially says, like, no, y' all are on your own. Ha ha. And walks away.
However, later on in this chapter, David.
David decides, you know what?
I need to take up a sword against this man. We need to go and we need to just take vengeance on our own. Kill this man, get rid of this evil, evil person.
And all of a sudden, Abigail comes up to him. It's this big part that's right here, just a beautiful passage. Sorry, we don't have time to get into it. But Abigail pleads with David to spare Nabal, not because she necessarily cares about Nabal, but because she cares about God and his Word and what he wants.
And David spares Nabal because of what Abigail says. And then the very next thing says Nabal at this lavish fancy banquet type of thing that he was throwing, gets drunk, wakes up the next morning, it seems that it describes his heart. He probably had a heart attack or something. And it says, then the lord took him 10 days later.
And this whole thing ends up being a comparison contrast to the prior chapter, because David is looking at Saul saying, like, God's got to handle this. I can't do this to this man. But then he looks at a drunk fool and he says, I'm going to take matters into my own hands. I'm going to destroy this man. But then he realizes at the end, no, even a situation like that.
Here's how 1st Samuel 25 ends. Even a situation like that still needs to be in the Lord's hands in the end.
But remember that comparison contrast with David himself, because that begins to come up a little bit more than the David Saul comparison as we get to the end of First Samuel.
So First Samuel 26, after this Nabal story, after this comparison contrast describes David looking at his men. Saul's people are camped Outside, and they're pursuing David. Him and a man named Abishai sneak into Saul's camp while he sleeps, and they steal Saul's spear and his water jug. While Saul is asleep, David calls out to Saul from a hillside. And then Starting in verse 17, here's what the text says.
Saul recognized David's voice and he said, is that your voice, David, my son? David replied, yes, it is, my lord the king. And he added, why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done and what am I guilty of? Now let my lord the king listen to his servant's words. If the Lord has incited you against me, then he may accept an offering. If however people have done it, may they be cursed before the Lord. They have driven me today from my share in the Lord's inheritance and have said, go serve other gods now. Do not let my blood fall on the ground. Far from the presence of the Lord. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea as one hunts a partridge, not in the pear tree, but in the mountains.
Later on, Saul continues and essentially tells David, like, hey, you've proven me as the man in the wrong.
Here's what's interesting. I want to ask a few questions about 1st Samuel 26 before we move on.
So Saul, this great, mighty king, is chasing a partridge in the mountains. He's chasing a flea. And Saul is making chasing David all like, completely about his glory versus David's glory. Saul has slain hundreds, David has slain thousands. This is all about Saul thinking, here's what I deserve. This man's challenging it. It's me versus him, David. However, look at this verse he's saying to Saul's pursuing of him. They've driven me today from not from my home, not from the people that I love, not from me being able to be the king, from my share in the Lord's inheritance and have said, by banishing them from the land, go serve other gods now. Do not let my blood, don't let it just fall. Don't kill me, is what he's saying. He's saying, don't let my blood fall to the ground, far from the presence of the Lord.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: From Saul's perspective, this whole situation is me versus David. All he's considering in my mind is how I'm comparing to this other person, how I'm struggling against this other person.
David's focus here seems to not even be on Saul.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: David's focus is on what's happening with the glory that the Lord's getting.
So here's my question. To all you guys, just to start, like, how do we prevent ourselves from getting caught up in a me versus that person and instead get to a point where the sole thing that we're thinking of is just as God being glorified in this scenario. How do we get to that point?
Just constantly being in prayer and asking for God's guidance, trusting that if he's guiding you in it, he will help you stay straight on that path. Absolutely. And the constant part is, I think, the biggest aspect of it. This is something that's not just like, I'm going to flip a switch in my brain and it's suddenly going to be the way that I act towards things. This is a consistent everyday practice that begins to occur in our lives that we all struggle with unless we put it into practice where we're considering not ourselves, but God.
I don't want to get too far into this, but later on we'll get into the David and Bathsheba story. Then you have Psalm 51, who was David's ultimate sin against God? In the end, it's this theocentric God centric view where everything doesn't revolve around what's happening here necessarily. Everything revolves on what's happening with my relationship with him.
What if in every circumstance that we got into, in every conversation that we get into, in every action that we have in our lives, we start by not thinking, like, what brings me the most joy or how angry am I at that person, or what's wrong about this situation, but instead, like, God first, God first, God first. How is that shaping everything else that I'm doing and thinking in my life?
Why take though the spear and the water jug? I do want to bring this up.
The water jug will come into play a little bit later when Saul's struggling.
But these two things, the argument that I want to make. So in this story, if I didn't already mention it, David takes Saul's spear and water jug while he's sleeping. When he wakes up the next morning, that's what David has standing on the hillside. So why take those particular things?
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Saul's spear? This is pretty interesting, starting as Saul really starts going downhill over and over and over again. In First Samuel, Saul is mentioned with his spear.
This doesn't happen early on in his life, but you can see scenes where he's throwing it. You can see scenes where he just has it by him while he's sitting there in anger. You can have other scenes while he's leading his people. But it always describes Saul with his spear Saul with his spear. Saul with his spear. And I think one of the core messages that this text is trying to get across to us by bringing up this so much is the thing that Saul is associating with his strength.
And 1st Samuel 26 can be taken.
But not only that, as we'll find out in 1st Samuel 31, that same thing is also the source of his death.
The thing that he's relying on for strength can be stripped from him and is the source of his death. So here's my question to everybody. Like, we don't have to answer it out loud, but just think internally.
What's the thing that your strength relies upon?
There's a book right now that I'd recommend to a lot of you. It's actually, I don't know how many years old by a guy named Timothy Keller.
And it's called Counterfeit Gods and Counterfeit Gods. It's a fascinating book. But later on in the book, like chapter 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, it starts talking about like cell phones and it starts talking about our salaries and our jobs and our purposes and stuff like that. The way that he starts the book, Counterfeit Gods, this like negative connotation title, the way he starts the book is talking about kids and family.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: And the whole focus of it from the very get go is like, we make so many things. The source of our strength and the God in our minds and the thing that we care about and put the most time in.
But ultimately is that where we find our strength?
Ultimately, is that the thing we're called to rely on more than anything else? The answer is no.
Saul looked at himself later on in this text and it's this horrible demise of a person that started out weak, who God was making strong. And all of a sudden he thinks he's strong and God's making him weak.
It's this situation where he thinks the spear is bringing him the power, but the spear is the thing that kills him. The spear is the thing that can be taken.
So when it comes to our lives, as we read this text and work through it, the question just is like, where are you finding your strength?
[00:15:46] Speaker B: That's a question I struggled with as I read this. I'm having to deal in my own mind with like, okay, what do I need to just put away and stop saying, this is the thing? I'm not saying as a Christian, Like, I'm not saying this is the thing that I'm relying on, but what do my actions show?
Well, it looks like I'm relying on this and this and this. A little bit more than what I may be saying.
It's a good time of evaluation.
And then first Samuel 27 happens. After this brave moment of David sneaking into the camp, here's what 1st Samuel 27 says here. I'll zoom in.
But David thought to himself, take note. I highlighted in yellow. Anytime that David begins to think to himself, that's not a good thing.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: One of these days, I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines.
Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hands. So he decides to flee the person who's pursuing him to go to the place where everybody wants to kill him.
So David and the 600 men with him left and went over to Achish, son of Moach. He was the king of Gath, David and his men. And Gath, who was from Gath, Goliath.
David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.
When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. Then David said to Achish, I have found favor in your eyes. Let a place be assigned to me in one of your country towns that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you? So on that day, Achish gave him ziklag, and it belonged to the kings of Judah. It's belonged to the kings of Judah ever since Ziklag. I looked this up. In the Hebrew, it literally means almost like pressurized, like squeezed together.
But the thought process is, this is going to be a place where people are under stress.
This is going to be a situation. This town that he gave David is going to be an area that is pressurized.
David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
Now David and his men went up and they raided the Geshurites, the Gerazites, and the Amalekites. For in ancient times, these people lived in the land extending to Shur in Egypt. Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels and clothes. Then he returned to Achish. So all of those, by the way, are areas that are essentially like, on the same side as the Philistines that we just named.
When Achish asked, where did you go raiding Today David would say, against the Negev of Judah.
Judah is not a Philistine location. Or against the Negev of Jerameel, or against the Negev of the Kenites. These were all friends to Israel.
He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought they might inform on us and say, this is what David did. And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. Achish trusted David and said to himself, he has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life. In those days, the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, you must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army. David said, then you will see for yourself what your servant can do. Achish replied, very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life. I was looking at this word a little bit. There's other times that the Bible mentions the word bodyguard.
This is actually pretty funny. This is the only time that this specific word is used, though, for bodyguard.
And the literal, like, translation of it is the keeper of my head.
Now, is there another person from Gath that David was the keeper of their head?
Yes. So, like, if you're, like a Jewish person reading this, you're like, ha, ha.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: He cut off Goliath's head. At the same time, this guy from Philistine territory is saying, you're the keeper of my head now as well.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: So here's my question. To start.
What do we make of this chapter?
David has literally just snuck into Saul's camp.
Prior to this, he's been anointed by God. He's run into another situation where God's leading through the wilderness and Saul just happens to use the bathroom and the cave that he's in and stuff. God is leading, is leading, is leading. And then it starts by saying, and David thought to himself, and then, let's go into the Philistine territory and live among them and live this, like, weird life where.
[00:21:09] Speaker B: The Israelites think you're living with a sinful group of people now, but actually you're killing them while telling their people that you're not killing them and you're killing the people that you were with. Like, what do we make of this whole situation.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: In this chapter?
Just what inferences, what ideas can y' all come up with that we learn here? It's kind of similar to Samson, because, you know, Samson, I said to myself, like, he wanted the woman that God told him not to be with ended up being part of his downfall. You know, he had that. I guess it was like a maybe a spirit of entitlement that I wanted and didn't really address. Or it could be pride entitlement, either one. But he never really addressed that. And then that ended up being the downfall to several other sins. Absolutely, absolutely.
Part of me thinks about the he thought to himself. And that just makes me think, like, okay, if I ever think something about myself, like, I need to take a break. But at the same time, I think that's an excellent comparison on that side of things. On the other side of things, I was thinking of Elijah.
Like, you have this situation where David walks into a camp and he's so brave and he's cutting off and stealing the king's everything and walking off and saying, like, you're chasing me. I'm a flea, I'm a partridge.
And then all of a sudden, the very next chapter is, this guy's going to kill me. I'm really scared. I have to flee from here.
I started thinking about the sacrifice on the mountain and then Elijah fleeing from Jezebel immediately afterwards. There are these periods where we just go through, like, such moments of trusting in God and then fear and worry and hurt and heartache and everything else sets in and suddenly we're running the opposite way. It just makes me step back and think in both of those situations. Like, whenever I'm feeling that way, is it going back to me just thinking to myself, where am I finding my strength from where I need to find my strength?
So that's 1 Samuel 27 to the beginning of 28. And then you have first Samuel 28.
It's an interesting, weird chapter that I get texts from.
[00:23:34] Speaker B: Kids about every once in a while. It is not talking about Star wars, but I should have put a background of Endor on this.
Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in the town of Ramah.
Saul had expelled the Medians and Spiritists from the land.
The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa.
[00:24:01] Speaker B: When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. Terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
Saul then said to his attendants, find me a woman who is a Median, that I may go and inquire of her. There is one in Endor, they said. So Endor is the text Normally will name place his for a very specific reason. I don't even know if I can highlight this. I can't. But where it's saying the Philistines set up camp and where Saul gathered, it would essentially be saying, saul gathered here. The Philistines set up camp here. You know where Endor is? It's right here.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: So what did Saul have to do to get to Endor? Walk around or through where the Philistines were camped.
Saul disguised himself. He put on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman.
Console a spirit for me, he said, and bring up for me the one that I name. But the woman said to him, surely you know what Saul has done. He's cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death? Saul swore to her, by the Lord. As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this. Then the woman asked, whom shall I bring up for you? Bring up Samuel, he said. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, why have you deceived me? You are Saul. The king said to her, don't be afraid. What do you see? The woman said, I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth. What does he look like? He asked. An old man wearing a robe is coming up, she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? I am in great distress. Saul said, the Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.
Samuel said, why do you consult me now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors, to David, because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites. The Lord has done this to you. You. Today the Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.
Immediately, Saul fell full length to the ground, filled with fear. Because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and all that night. And essentially after this, Saul. Saul just walks away, sad.
Finally recognizing that his just time has come to an end.
Which I probably would too, if a guy rose out of the ground and told me, like, yeah, it's over.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: Kids will ask questions about this passage. They'll say, like, what's the witch of Endor? What does this mean? Who could this possibly be?
I dug into this a lot, and after tons of time spent on this, my answer to all of you is, we have no idea.
There is no set knowledge of what this could be.
You can debate all day whether you think she could actually call up spirits or not. I found pretty good evidence for both sides of the argument. There's some people that say, like, she was a fake. She didn't really do this. And then God made Samuel come up. There are others who say, like, well, demons could have been alive in one this time or some other situation. There's no textual evidence that I've been able to find that really points to a direct answer to this. But that doesn't matter because ultimately that's not what this text is about.
The writer of this text didn't want us to debate who the witch of Endor is. If people can really call up spirits again today, they didn't want us to debate what Samuel looked like. Was this the real Samuel? Was he in ghost form? Or, like, what does this guy look like? How would we put him up on a movie screen? He didn't want us to debate any of that. He wants us to see it for what it really is. And this is Saul's ultimate downfall. Saul had been.
Saul was actually one of the only kings in all of Israel's history, one of the only few who never got his people to worship idols.
This all starts with him saying, like the text says to us, he had banned the people who were into magic, who were into witchcraft, who were into all. Saul was one of the few kings who had actually done this. In the midst of the text that we've read thus far, in the midst of chasing David, in the midst of deceiving people, in the midst of being just utterly evil towards the end of his life, Saul kept saying phrases like, God be with you, or, I know the Lord has you in his hands. Or let's all start by consulting the Lord to see if he has an answer for us.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: So here's my question. I kind of put it on the side.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: He didn't introduce all these things. How can people today claim to follow God, but in reality be spiritually desolate?
[00:29:36] Speaker B: I don't know about you guys, I see that a lot in our culture today.
I see a lot of people that have gotten Christianity confused with something that it just absolutely and completely isn't.
And I don't know, that brings a bunch of heartache.
[00:30:00] Speaker B: It's a huge, big, scary, difficult problem. And ultimately this all comes down to, in my opinion, the idea that Saul didn't introduce idols to the people of Israel, but he had definitely created an idol and that was himself.
[00:30:18] Speaker B: In the midst of all of this, in the midst of claiming and saying whatever you might be doing, it all ultimately comes down to your heart and the actions that you follow because of your heart that determine whether you're creating an idol or not, whether you're truly following God or not.
Saul had definitely, definitely at this point, done this in his life.
This chapter is sad. It seems that he's trying to come after God one more time.
And God essentially says, like, nah, like, this is not the time for that.
Saul immediately then chases after the things that he's been against his whole kingship, like, this is the last domino to fall.
He's been saying he's for God in the midst of these horrible, horrible sins.
But finally he does the thing that is completely apart from God. He goes to this woman.
And just a question for you guys to internalize.
What do we chase after for answers that's not God and why?
I think there are a million and one answers to this for me, in my personal life at least.
I think sometimes I feel like God's not given me a quick enough answer.
So, okay, where am I going to go to now for an answer that I can find all on my own and all of my wisdom?
[00:31:48] Speaker B: I think there are other times where I don't like his answer.
And I decide, okay, well, where am I going to go to for a different answer?
Where do you guys chase? It's just something good to internalize.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: What you chase after can be something that brings you peace in small moments. What you chase after can be something that just from the start is devastating in your life, that you may think is what you need.
Going all the way back to David's chapter, let's just make sure that we're people to not just think to ourselves. That's one Samuel 28, the really sad story of Saul.
And then you get back to 1st Samuel 29.
I'll just go over this quickly.
The Philistines essentially gathered David, like, this is just so crazy to me. David, we know, or at least most of us in here know his story, know what he'll become and stuff. But prior to this, he's also already brought down goliath and stuff.
1st Samuel 29 David is literally like joining the Philistine army. He's in the very back of it with his 600 men. You can imagine him, I don't know if he would have been walking, riding on a horse, riding on a camel or what, but you can imagine him at the back of this pack.
War chants are going on around and they're about to charge the Israelite camp.
The people that God has anointed as like the people that he'll be over dominion of. Like he's about to charge his own people. Not only that, he's about to charge Saul himself, who he wasn't even willing to kill in a cave. He wasn't willing to kill when he snuck into the camp. David is lined up because he followed his own thought process and he is suddenly about to charge the Israelite camp.
But in the midst of all of this, the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish, the King of Gath, and they said, send the man back that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master's favor than by taking the heads? This is another like, ha ha. We've gone through two heads so far. This is the third reference of his own men.
So then David is asked to stay back.
What are yalls thoughts? I just have this one to start. Would David have fought against Israel?
[00:34:25] Speaker B: I don't want to put hands in the air or not, but like David followed his own just dumb wisdom into this moment.
Like, would he have actually done it? Would he have gone to battle against.
I'm not sure of the answer to that. I like asking difficult questions, but I rarely have answers.
[00:34:48] Speaker B: But I do know that there is a message that does work through this chapter, at least one that I can see, and that's God can choose to work his will even in the midst of our bad decisions. Sometimes it doesn't matter whether David would have or would have not attacked the Israelites. What matters is God was going to make this thing work out in some way. And the crazy thing is he did that through the other Philistine generals and officers and stuff. And they're the ones who got David to turn away.
You get to 1 Samuel 30 and I'll read this and then I'll talk about this little graph that I made over here.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: So David and his men are Told to go back by the Philistine officers. And Ziklag is where they've lived for the last year and four months. It's this place under pressure in the midst of the Philistines and Israel and everything else. And they're asked to go back. And just this really bad, difficult scene occurs. They reach Ziklag on the third day of their travel back.
Now, the Amalekites. And take note of this, the Amalekites are the people who would fight for many, many years against the Israelites who Saul was commanded to completely destroy. He did not completely destroy them. And that's what ended up being the last drop in the bucket that caused God to leave Saul's presence.
Now, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag.
They had attacked Ziklag and burned it and had taken captive the woman, the women and everyone else in it, both young and old.
They killed none of them.
Interestingly enough, this is not the way that we think about things today.
They killed none of them in an ancient Near Eastern context is a very, very bad thing.
It was much more preferred to face death than rape, torture, enslavement at the hand of your enemies, starvation. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.
David's two wives had been captured and home, Ahinoam and Abigail. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking about stoning him.
Each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. And this verse, I think, at least, and many commentators think, is meant to be taken in direct comparison to chapter 28, the end of the indoor story, verse 20, where Saul is without food and he's weak and he just lays down.
David found strength in the midst of this hard, difficult, awful time in the Lord his God. What ends up happening is he talks to God once again, as referenced earlier.
They end up finding God, tells them to attack them, pursue them. They find an Egyptian, this Egyptian guy who had been enslaved to them, I guess, says, hey, here's where they are.
They go down to the raiding party.
All the men are scattered all over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling. Reveling, by the way, is just. It means something sexual, literally because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines. David fought them from dusk until evening, and not one of them got away. What's that different from when it comes to battling the Amalekites compared to Saul? Saul let them get away. He let some of them live.
[00:38:50] Speaker B: Ultimately, he takes some plunder from them, gives it to other elders there. What are we beginning to see regarding David's trajectory?
I just want to make a mention of this before we get to the very end.
All of First Samuel is about David. Saul, David, Saul, David, Saul. For the most part, it's this comparison contrast. Even in these chapters, we're seeing that a lot. But the very end of this story, we're starting to see David to David comparisons. We see Saul in the cave.
David lets him go, says, God will handle this. Then we see Nabal. David says, I'm going to handle this now. Bad decision.
Next chapter, we see Saul in his camp. David spares him again.
Next chapter, he decides to flee to the Philistines. He decides to live with them. A couple chapters later, he's sent home from the Philistines, realizes what the Amalekites have done, and brings this situation to justice.
All of a sudden, this David, this young boy, this guy who, like, has been praised throughout this book, we're starting to see a trajectory that goes a little bit like this. And if you're a reader of this, you're starting to get a little bit worried. You're starting to say, like, oh, we saw Saul's for a while and then he tailed. Now we're seeing David's do this.
That means something very, very significant.
1st Samuel 31. It's a very sad story. Philistines fall on Saul and his sons and the Israelites.
Saul ends up taking his own life after they're being beat and his sons have died.
After taking his own life.
They cut off Saul's head.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: And his three sons, and they put their heads on their gates and mount their clothes and tools and armor and everything else.
Some Israelites sneak in, take it all off and burn it in the end.
2 Samuel 1, David hears of this. This is just a good point for you guys to study yourselves.
This messenger comes to David.
He says, what's happened? When you really dig into the intricacies of the text, it's not actually completely true what he said. David strikes him down and kills him. It's kind of a stunning moment. But what likely was happening is, like, through a little bit deeper look, the man was trying to bring Saul's story and goods to David for a reward.
And David's saying, Like you're an enemy and you're trying to get reward through this awful situation and then strikes him down.
[00:41:30] Speaker B: And David has this lament, like, true lament. And I don't know if we've studied it a lot at church. I don't remember the last time. But a good study would be how people in the Bible lamented, because our culture is not very good at that. Our culture says, bake a pie and say sorry and then walk away and smile the next day.
That's not how they did it back then, right? It's this song of lament and honors Saul and Jonathan in it.
[00:42:08] Speaker B: And the reader of this text is stuck at the very end seeing this trajectory of David back and forth. And in my mind, thinking of these two things, First Samuel starts with God saying, it's evil to have a king.
But then there's another situation, 1 Samuel 16, where God essentially chooses.
God says, I'm going to choose the next king, and it's going to be a man after my own heart.
And the reader is starting at the very end of First Samuel. You see Saul's death, you see David going like this, and you're just thinking to yourself, like, ooh, these things are competing.
What's going to end up happening in this?
And next week we'll see what began to happen in that as we focus on David's beginning of his kingship.
I'll bring up that stuff next week and I'll post these goals on our groupme. So that's class.
