1 Samuel 16:1-13, Characteristics of David

David was not a perfect man.  None of God’s “men” were.  God describes His servants honestly.  We see their faults and their faith.  God recognizes special things about those who serve Him faithfully.  Abraham was God’s “friend” (2 Chron. 20:7).  Moses, was God’s “servant” (Josh. 1:1).  Job was “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1,8; 2:3).  God said great things about David, as did others.  Here’s a list of several descriptions of David, including those who made the statement.

·       13:14: Samuel: “a man after His (God’s) own heart.”

·       15:28: Samuel: a neighbor … who is better than you (Saul).

·       16:1: God: a King “provided” by God. 

·       16:12: Samuel: “ruddy with bright eyes and good-looking.”

·       Here are 4 descriptions related to the killing of the giant:

o   17:12: Samuel: the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem.

o   17:28: Eliab (David’s brother): “I know your pride and insolence of heart.”

o   17:33: Saul: “just a youth.”

o   17:42: Goliath: “only a youth, ruddy and good-looking.”

·       18:14: Samuel: behaved wisely, and the LORD was with him (v12)

·       22:14: The Priest Ahimelech, that David was faithful to Saul.

·       24:11: David, when running from Saul: “I have not sinned against you (Saul).”

·       25:28: Abigail’s description: “my lord (i.e. David) fights the battles of the LORD, and evil is not found in you throughout your days.”

·       2 Sam. 5:1-2: Leaders of Israel, when they made David king, “when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in.”

·       2 Sam. 23:1: David’s own words, “David the son of Jesse … the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel.”

Again, David had his faults, grievous sins.  But some criticism of David is unfair.  For example, some criticize him for fleeing to Gath, that it was an act of unbelief, not trusting God to protect him.  The Bible does not make that accusation.  What do we know about Gath?  It was a city of the Philistines near Israel.  Israelites had lived there with the Philistines in the past (14:21).  Prior to Saul the Israelites used the blacksmiths there (13:19-21). There was a difference between Achish of Gath and the other Philistine kings (22:1-7; 29:3-11), because of David’s lie about attacking cities in Israel when he was actually helping Israel by attacking others. 

My point is that David’s decision to seek refuge with Achish may have been his understanding of what God wanted.  David fought the Philistines (23:1-13); he was not “soft” on them.  Some have wondered what David would have done if the Philistines would have permitted him to join them in fighting Saul (28:1-2).  The evidence of his life to that point is that he would have turned against the Philistines.  He never did anything but fight for Israel and against the enemies of Israel.

Another criticism of David’s early career that I hear has to do with the story of Abigail, when David is ready to kill Nabal for not rewarding him and his men for their kindness (25:13,22).  David is clearly wrong to do this, which Abigail makes clear (25:26-31).  To want revenge is common among people.  The thing that stands out about David in this story is that he heeded your voice and respected your person (25:35, speaking to Abigail).  David was learning that vengeance lies with God.  It is unfair to say that this is a common trait in David’s life.  He did not take vengeance on Saul who repeatedly sought to kill him.  And when he found out that the people of Keilah were going to give him up, after he saved them, he did not get angry or seek revenge (23:10-13).

Bottom line is, that David was a man after God’s heart.  And he became the standard of judgment for all the kings who followed him.

1 Samuel 9:1-2; 15:17-24, Characteristics of Saul

Both Saul and David were chosen by God and anointed by Samuel.  But it is clear that God’s choice of Saul was a matter of giving the people what they asked for.  Let us consider the qualities that made him stand out, and that contributed to his failure.

Saul was impressive physically, more handsome and taller than anyone in Israel (9:2).  He was modest (9:21), and extremely shy (9:21-23).  At first, he ignored his detractors (10:26-27).  Even Samuel was initially impressed with Saul (11:12-15). 

Given a good start, why did Saul fail?

·       13:8-12: He was impatient and self-willed, taking on himself the responsibility of the priesthood.

·       13:12-13: He was dishonest and did not trust God. 

·       14:28,44: He was prone to make displays of his supposed righteousness.  For example, he required the army to fast on a day of battle.  When Jonathan violated Saul’s oath Saul was determined to carry out the execution of his son in order to show that he was faithful to his word.

·       15:3-23: He was partially obedient, and thus disobedient.  Destroying the Amalekites was a big deal, something God said He would do in the time of Moses.

·       13:12; 15:24: He made excuses for disobedience.  He did not submit to God’s rebuke spoken through Samuel.

·       16:14: The Holy Spirit came upon Saul from the beginning (10:10).  In OT times God would do this in certain situations.  Unlike life under the New Covenant, the Spirit did not indwell all the righteous.  He would come on certain people to enable them to do the work of God.  In Saul’s case God withdrew His Spirit and sent an evil spirit instead. 

·       18:8: He was self-centered. Compare Saul’s evaluation of his life in 26:21 (I have played the fool and erred exceedingly) with Paul’s in Phil. 1:21 (For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.)

·       22:8: He was conceited.  He complained that no one felt sorry for him.

·       22:17: He killed the priests of the LORD.  Saul’s taking on himself the duties of the priest and the failure to destroy the Amalekites were decisive in losing the kingdom.  But killing 85 priests was the most insidious action of his reign.

·       31:4: He essentially died by suicide.

Saul’s reign was a tragic failure.  The bottom line was that he failed to allow God to rule Israel through him.  Israel was and is God’s treasured nation, the people He chose above all other nations.  Thus, the ideal king is one who is submitted to and obedient to God in all things.  Remember (Deut. 17:18-20), Israel’s king was to be a man of the word of God, immersed in the Book of the Law.  Saul was not that man!  He showed no interest in being that man.

Psalm 42-43

You will note the similarities between these two Psalms.  Our handling them together is because of the similarities.  It is not because we hold to the idea of many that the Psalms were originally one, though that may in fact be the case.  So that we do not need to keep repeating ourselves, we will consider this as three stanzas and a common life situation.

These Psalms again give us a rich and accurate look into the depth of the human soul.  And we see as well the way in which the godly must deal with the strong messages of the soul.  The Psalmist is in a period of difficulty that is exacerbated by the taunting of the ungodly: “Where is your God?”  It is further deepened by the fact that the saint has been unable to make pilgrimage (42:4). 

One thing that is helpful for us is to note the depth of feeling.  The repeated verse at the end of each stanza calls attention to his being cast down or bowed down in his soul, his deep inner man.  He is disquieted, troubled about his situation.  God, to the Psalmists way of thinking, has not come quickly to help (42:9).  And at the same time, his enemies have continually (42:3) taunted, all day long (42:10).

We live in a world where feelings are of paramount importance.  We are frequently being asked to share our feelings (by a doctor or a Facebook friend).  We are regularly bombarded with ads and advice that will give us quick relief from our feelings and a steady flow of good feelings.  The assumption always is that feeling good is the best thing and whatever we can do to bring it about must likewise be good.

Feelings can be tricky to those who are not careful.  Feelings are a part of our make-up as those created in the image of God.  They send us a signal, an indication of something in the soul.  It may be a feeling of joy, or one of desperation as we see here.  But feelings do not tell us what we should do.  The plan of action must come from the mind; and the mind will give a plan dictated by the heart.  You will note that the Psalmist talks to his soul.  He tells the soul what it must do, whether it feels like it or not.  The soul must “hope in God.”  This is consistent throughout.  The soul is not allowed to demand some immediate action; rather the soul must wait on and for the Lord.

A good thing to note is that he has a complimentary feeling of longing for (panting) for God (v1-2).  In other words the Psalmist has some history with God and knows that the troublesome feelings need to be answered through his relationship with the Almighty.  Thus note in the three stanzas …

·         In 42:1-5 he desires God, thirsts for God, and longs to be in God’s presence at the house of God.  But he is not there and has not been for some time.

·         In 42:6-11 he commits for the time being to remember God wherever he is.  God is “my God” (v6), the “God of my life” (v8; and thus the One at work in his life through the difficult waterfalls and waves, v7), and “God my Rock” (v9, and thus the only One to whom he must come, v9-10).  He is solidly in God’s presence, even though he is not at the tabernacle.

·         In 43:1-5 he pleads with God to both settle his case (the affliction) and to lead him to His tabernacle (v1,3).  It is interesting that “tabernacle” is actually “dwelling places”.  It would appear that what he prays for is not simply to be led to the physical temple, THE dwelling place of God; he is praying God will lead him to a deeper face-to-face relationship where he is physically. 

Let us learn God’s desires for us in these songs.  Certainly let us learn the need for “soul talk.”  We need to sense what we feel.  But we must not be subject to the feelings.  Rather we must make the feelings subject to the will and heart of God.  This means that when we feel despondent, fearful, angry, confident, joyful, curious or whatever we feel we must tell ourselves how to respond.  To begin with we must insist that the soul “hope in God.”  Help will come through our relationship with Him, through His “light and truth”.  Thus our course of action will always be saturated with the “light and truth” of the word of God and a yieldedness to the Spirit of God to lead us in every step.

Read Psalm 2, The Psalms of the Sons of Korah

(This post is in anticipation of tomorrow's post on Psalm 42-43, the beginning of a group of Psalms from "the sons of Korah.")

Let us consider these Psalms, 42-49, that are attributed to “the sons of Korah.”  There were 5 fighting men who joined David in the early years, Benjamites, whose father was Korah (I Chron. 12:6).  But more likely these Psalm titles refer to descendants of Levi, the son of Jacob, who were part of the musical ministry surrounding the temple. 

Levi had 3 sons: Gershom, Kohath and Mereri.  Kohath had 4 sons.  The first, Amram, was father of Aaron and Moses.  The second, Ishar, had 3 sons, the oldest being Korah.  Interestingly Korah died in a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, the Scripture is specific that his children did not die (Num. 26:9-11).  David selected three worship leaders, each a descendant of the three sons of Levi.  These three were Heman the singer, a descendant of Kohath; Asaph who stood at his (David’s) right hand, a descendant of Gershom; and on the left hand Ethan (referred to elsewhere as Jeduthan), a descendant of Merari.  (The detailed geneology of all three is in 1 Chronicles 6:31-48).  All three of these men were noted in the titles of various Psalms. 

The question we are asking here is whether this series of 8 Psalms (7 if you join 42 and 43 as many do) is connected by more than the human song-writers?  Most I suppose would say “no” but I would like to note what an amazing coincidence it is, at least.  I see the eventual fulfillment of “the mystery of God” in these songs.

The “mystery of God” is said to be fulfilled in “the days of the sounding of the seventh angel” (Revelation 10:7), a mystery declared to God’s servants the prophets.  That mystery is quite front and center in the Psalms, being clearly declared in Psalm 2 in God’s promise to make His Son the heir of all things and the ruler over His enemies.  Psalm 110 reveals that the Son’s session at the right hand of the Father is a time of waiting until all His enemies are placed under His feet.  This is the salient point of history and comes to its conclusion in the closing chapters of Revelation. 

The Bible states that in those days Israel will be delivered from a time of terrible oppression by the nations and Christ, God’s Son, will assume the throne of David to rule all the nations from Zion.  His enemies will have been subdued.

Consider Psalm 42-49 as to whether or not this very series of events is in view.

·         Psalm 42-43: The despairing saint is encouraged to “hope in God”.

·         Psalm 44: Israel is cast down and scattered among the nations.  From there she cries out to God for deliverance.

·         Psalm 45: The Messiah is exalted to His throne, a King forever.

·         Psalm 46: The raging nations are subdued.  Wars cease as the weapons of the nations are broken.

·         Psalm 47: The Lord Most High is the King of the earth, ruler of the nations.  “The shields of the earth belong to God.”

·         Psalm 48: Glorious is the City of God, Jerusalem, Zion, the seat of the Davidic King, the Messiah.

·         Psalm 49: The question is, “Why should I fear?”  It is directed to all the nations, “rich and poor” alike.  It is, appropriately, a strong call to faith.

Perhaps you will want to spend some time in these Psalms and in the essential question for every person today: have you humbled yourself before the King, God’s Anointed One, His only Son.  As Psalm 2 implores us: Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.  Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him (v12).

1 Samuel 3:19-4:11, God Glorified through Sinful People

In our last post we highlighted Hannah.  1 Sam. 2:11 mentions Elkanah, her husband, and Samuel whom she lent … to the LORD (1:28).  These righteous people are contrasted with the sons of Eli who were corrupt; they did not know the LORD (2:12).  Again, it’s the time of the Judges.  But God is at work.  In 1 Sam. 3 he calls Samuel to be a prophet.  Then He removes the Ark of His Presence from Shiloh.

There were those who spoke for God during the time of the Judges.  But Samuel is certainly the greatest prophet since Moses.  The call of Samuel is a wonderful story.  I remember hearing this story as a child, how God called to him during the night.  Either I wasn’t listening, or the Sunday School teacher didn’t make it clear, that Samuel made his first prophetic announcement at that time, giving Eli the hard message of God’s chastening on him and his house. 

The difference before and after Samuel’s call is clearly stated.  In 3:1 the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.  In 4:1, the word of Samuel came to all Israel.  By the “word of Samuel” is meant the word of God.  The LORD was with Samuel, none of Samuel’s words fell to the ground, for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.  The Proverbs tell us, where there is no vision, the people perish (29:18).  With Samuel, the vision returned; God was speaking to His people. 

But this did not keep His people from two critical and sinful choices: the carrying of the Ark into battle (Ch. 4) and the request for a king (Ch. 8).  In both these stories we have strong illustrations of the Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

·       God’s rejection of Shiloh.  We have noted previously that Psalm 78 gives the explanation of what was happening in 1 Sam. 4-7.  He chose Judah and Mt. Zion rather than Ephraim and Shiloh (Ps. 78:67-68).  But it is proper to ask: was this just an arbitrary choice by God, one without reason?  No!  Psalm 78 clearly speaks of the failure of Ephraim (78:9-11).  In 1 Sam. 4 we see the sin of the people.  They put their trust in the presence of the Ark rather than in the Presence of the LORD (1 Sam. 4:3).  Not only did having the Ark as a “lucky charm” fail to help Israel; it actually emboldened the Philistines to fight harder (4:6-9). 

o   In the end God was fully glorified, of course.  He was glorified in the death of Eli who was shocked, not by the death of his sons, but by the loss of the Ark (4:18).  He was glorified in the birth of Ichabod, whose name meant the glory has departed from Israel (4:18-22).  He was glorified in the Philistines who found out even in victory the hand of God was very heavy on them (5:10-12).  He was glorified in the judgment on the Israelites who disrespected the Ark (6:19).  And He was glorified in the repentance of the people (7:2-6).

·       God’s provision of a king.  The Ark remained 20 years in Kirjath Jearim (7:2).  During that time Samuel judged the people (7:15).  But as Samuel got old, he tried to make his sons judges over Israel, only to see them rejected by the people because they did not walk in the ways of their father (8:1-3).  It was at this time that the people came and asked Samuel, Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations (8:5).  It seems quite clear that God intended, in time, to establish a king over Israel.  The wording of Deut. 17:14-15 is quite interesting compared to 1 Samuel: When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses.  This is what happened.  God directed Samuel to anoint Saul.  But we can’t miss the obvious: Saul is a king like the nations would have.  He was more handsome and taller than anyone in Israel (1 Sam. 9:2).  Some have put it this way: first, God gave Israel a king of their choosing; then He gave them a king whose heart was like God’s heart. 

In both situations, He used the sinfulness of the nation to bring about that plan.  He did the same in the death and resurrection of His Son.  He does as He wills to do, while holding us accountable.  How wise and glorious is our God!

1 Sam. 2:1-10, Hannah, Woman of Grace

As we begin in 1 Samuel we are still in the times of the Judges.  Eli judged Israel for 40 years (1 Sam. 4:18) and Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life (7:15).  Since Samuel anointed both Saul and David, that would mean there was an overlap of the time of the Judges and the beginning of the Kingdom (Samuel died during the reign of Saul, before David took the throne).

There is a built-in outline of 1 & 2 Samuel.  There are several “summary” passages that seem to conclude one section and then transition to the next. 

SECTIONS          FOCUS           SUMMARY

1 Sam. 1-7                 Samuel               1 Sam. 7:15-17

1 Sam. 8-14               Saul                    1 Sam. 14:47-52

1 Sam. 15-2 Sam. 8   David I               2 Sam. 8:15-18

2 Sam. 9-20               David II             2 Sam. 20:23-26

2 Sam. 21-24             Kingdom          

The stories of the Judges were often conflicting in terms of righteousness.  Barak was afraid to go to war without Deborah.  Gideon needed a lot of encouragement (signs), and at the end of his life opened the door to idolatry.  Samson struggled with devotion to his calling until the very end.  Eli didn’t discipline his sons.  I’m sure you understand my point.  But we should note that there were some remarkable women: Deborah and Jael, Ruth and now Hannah (1 Sam. 1:1-2:11).  Hannah, pronounced “Channah” (hard “ch” sound), is the word for grace.  How appropriate!

It seems to me that both Elkanah (1:23), and without question Hannah (2:1), were righteous people with “Messianic expectation.”  That is, they were faithfully waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise in Gen. 3:15.  It’s not hard to see some strong similarities between Hannah’s song of praise (2:1-10) and Mary’s (Lk. 1:46-55).  Both are humble women who were exalted by God.  And notice 2:10: Hannah’s song concludes with the anticipation of a King in Israel.  She would have known of this from the Messianic prophecies in Gen. 49:10 and Num. 24:17.

In one of our visits to Ancient Shiloh we heard an impassioned message from a rabbi who was talking with a Jewish group from So. California.  He noted how, for Jews, they were in a special place.  They have found the location of the Tabernacle, where the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant rested for several hundred years (from Joshua to Eli).  The rabbi noted that it was holy ground.  He encouraged his audience to think of Hannah when they think of Shiloh.  That is indeed worthy of our meditation.  Hannah is a bright light in the darkness.  In Scripture (e.g. Ps. 78), however, Shiloh is to be remembered as the place that God ultimately rejected in favor of Jerusalem and Mount Moriah, as the place where He would put His name.  It reminds us of another failure associated with the times of the Judges.

Let us seek the Lord, that we might be the light in the darkness of our world.

Site of the Tabernacle in Shiloh.

Sign noting Shiloh, Israel's first capital for 369 years.

Hannah's (Chana's) prayer in Hebrew and English, at Shiloh.

Blowing the Shofar at Shiloh.

Ruth 4, The Kinsman Redeemer

The story of Ruth (and Naomi and Boaz) is one of the most touching and powerful stories in Scripture.  It is well worth the read for anyone.  The change in Naomi from “Mara” (bitter) back to “Naomi” (pleasant) shows the value of waiting on the Lord.  Every couple ought to read the story regularly.  It shows the qualities that make for great husbands and wives.  It has great value for any person.  Our world would be so much better if there were more like Ruth and Boaz.  We seem to know very little about the devotion and loyalty to others that is expressed in these four chapters.

However, as powerful as the story is in that regard, I am convinced the primary purpose of this little book is bound up in the exaltation of Jesus the Messiah.  I am convinced of this because of the end of the story.  If it was just about morality, the story could end at 4:17.  That’s the point where we could say, “and they all lived happily ever after.”  Instead, we are given the genealogy of the infant, back to Perez and ahead to David.  That. of course, is the Messianic line.

Another reason I am convinced this is about Christ is the key term and concept of the book: the kinsman redeemer, a term used 22 times in these 4 chapters (2:20; 3:9,12 (2x),13 (4x); 4:1,3,4 (5x),6 (4X),8,14.)  The background for this is in Deut. 25:5-10 where, if a man dies with a wife but no children, the next brother takes the widow as a wife and inherits the property of the firstborn.  You might think this is to make provision for the young widow.  It does do that.  But our story makes it clear that this “redeemer” law is fundamental to God’s promise to send a Savior.  The first promise (Gen. 3:15) made it clear that the solution to the sin problem would be a human, Someone who was part of the human family.

Some time ago, when we were posting on the book of Numbers, we noted some interesting names relative to this matter.  For example, Amishaddai (Num. 10:25) meant “my kinsman is Almighty.”  Ammihud (10:22) meant “my kinsman is Majesty.”  The names reflected the belief that the LORD Himself would have a “kinship” with sinners.  This concept is rooted in Gen. 22, the story of Abraham offering Isaac to God on Mt. Moriah. 

In the story of Ruth, we see Boaz going to great lengths to redeem Ruth.  Boaz did not need a lot of money to do this.  What he needed was a love for Ruth that was sufficient for him to take on all the responsibility.  And he had to be the nearest of kin.  There was another “nearer” who was unwilling to sacrifice his own standing.  But Boaz was immediately willing to give all for his bride.

This is Christ.  He took on flesh and blood, being willing to call us brethren (Hb. 2:10-14).  In doing this He gave up His heavenly glories that He might redeem us, believers in Christ who have become His bride, the Church.  Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it; redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.