Archives for April 2026

OVERVIEW:

The death of Saul; David mourns the death of Saul and Jonathan; David’s song of sorrow; David is crowned king of Judah; Ishbosheth is made king of Israel; Abner deserts Ishbosheth to align with David; Joab murders Abner; Ishbosheth’s murder; David’s execution of Ishbosheth’s murderers.

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

As we saw in yesterday’s reading, 1^st Samuel ends with the death of Saul. As the name of the book implies, 2^nd Samuel is a continuation of the narrative of 1^st Samuel, so it likewise begins as 1^st Samuel ends, with the death of Saul.

Saul’s death gives us an incredible glimpse into the heart of the only one Scripture ever specifically identifies as a “man after God’s own heart.” (1^st Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) With all that Saul had done to David, and had attempted to do, one would think that David would be elated at the news of his death. That’s precisely what the Amalekite, who claimed to be Saul’s killer, thought! But that certainly wasn’t the case! Amazingly, David genuinely grieved and lamented Saul’s death (1:11–12, 17), even composing a song as a beautiful and continuous memorial to Israel’s first king. (1:19–27) David slayed the one who claimed to be Saul’s slayer for the audacity of thinking it was within his right to put to death the one whom God had anointed. Be careful who you slay, realizing more people are slain with the four-ounce slab of mucous membrane that rests behind our teeth, than all the world’s swords and knives combined! In this case, the Amalekite slayed himself with his own lying “membrane”!

With Israel’s king now dead, the question was, who would be his successor? Back in 1^st Samuel 16:13, David had been anointed by God by the prophet Samuel as Israel’s next king. But that was a long time ago, and Abner, Saul’s cousin and the powerful commander of Saul’s army was determined to keep the kingship within the family, or perhaps better stated, within his own authority. He moves to persuade the elders of Israel to put Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, on the throne.

Once again, it is incredible to watch the “man after God’s own heart” operate. With the anointing David had received of Samuel, he most certainly could have justified himself in facing Abner in battle for his “right” as God’s chosen successor. Rather, David inquired of the Lord (2:1, 4), placing his life and the entire situation completely in God’s hands. It is a great lesson for those of us living in the last days, to whom the Scripture identifies as “lovers of their own selves” (2^nd Timothy 3:1-2), and those who are interested in their “rights” (Revelation 3:14 – “Laodicean” = “the rights of the people”), who are so prone toward self-promotion and personal advancement, rather than waiting upon God, seeking God, and trusting God.

What situation are you presently facing, that from a human perspective, you would have the “right” to vaunt yourself, and “make happen” what you know God has determined as His will? David teaches us how unnecessary it is to fight for our “rights”, and how God proves His faithfulness when “self” is off the throne, and we patiently and confidently submit ourselves to Christ’s Lordship, allowing Him to carry out His will in our lives, in His way, and in His time. David realized that if Jehovah had indeed anointed him as king, then Jehovah would deal with his enemies, and bring him into the possession of the kingdom.

God led David to Hebron where He was anointed king of Judah, yet Judah was only a small representation of Israel’s tribes. The other tribes of Israel refused to recognize David’s kingship. But in due time, Abner and Ishbosheth had a major falling out, causing Abner to pledge his loyalty to David. When Joab, the captain of David’s army returned from battle and heard that David had met with Abner, it sent Joab over the top! He immediately planned to kill Abner, and did so by stabbing him under the fifth rib (the perfect location to assure death). In response, David publicly condemned Abner’s murder in two ways: first, by cursing Joab and his house; and second, by proclaiming a time of mourning for Abner, while openly mourning for Abner himself.

With Abner out of the way, Ishbosheth’s position became weaker and weaker, while David’s grew stronger, and stronger. Baanah and Rechab realized that David’s rule over Israel was inevitable, and decided to impress David by killing Ishbosheth. David, however, was not impressed! David realized that God would never lead men to violate His word in order to enthrone His king (i.e. It is never right to do wrong, in order to do something right!) David knew that God was more than able to fulfill His promises to him without the assistance of murderers! David called for Baanah’s and Rechab’s execution, exposing their bodies to the humiliation of public display, while the head of Ishobosheth was respectfully and honorably buried in the tomb of Abner.

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

In DAVID’S SONG OF SORROW — 2^nd Samuel 1:19–27 (Even though Saul had made David his enemy, David continuously loved Saul. Christ loved us, even though we had made ourselves His enemies — Romans 5:8, 10a; Ephesians 2:1, 4–5a)

In DAVID’S PARTIAL REIGN — 2^nd Samuel 2:4 (Though David had been anointed as Israel’s king, he actually reigned over a very small percentage of those to whom he was entitled to rule. He patiently waited for God’s timing. In similar fashion, the Lord Jesus Christ has been anointed King over all the earth, yet awaits the Father’s timing to actually possess His kingdom. There are only a small percentage of the world’s population who recognize Christ as their Lord and King, but one day soon, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father —  Philippians 2:10–11)

OVERVIEW:

David spares Saul’s life again; David lives in the land of the Philistines and defeats many enemies; Saul consults with a witch regarding going to war; David recovers his family and the families of his soldiers who are kidnapped; Saul’s sons are killed in battle; Saul takes his own life.

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

After Nabal died, at the end of chapter 25 in yesterday’s reading, David took his widow, Abigail, to wife. David was a man with so many talents and abilities, and had such a good heart, however, it is fleshly violations such as this that will ultimately blossom into a snare of epic proportions in his life down the road. When God prophesied hundreds of years earlier, in Deuteronomy 17, that Israel would get to the place that they would want an earthly king like the other nations of the world, one of the key stipulations God made abundantly clear even then, was that a king in Israel “shall not…multiply wives to himself.” (Deuteronomy 17:16–17) David had already been anointed by Samuel for kingship in Israel (16:1–13), but before he can even be installed into the office as the nation’s leader, he has already violated one of God’s key stipulations.

Perhaps it was that lapse in judgment that spilled over into his decision to return to the land of Ziphites, placing him into harm’s way by getting in the direct path of his irrational and unpredictable enemy, Saul, once again. By God’s grace, He caused a “deep sleep” to fall upon Saul and his band of 3000 soldiers, and by taking Saul’s spear and water bottle while he was sleeping rather than taking his life, David is able to prove to him, again, that he did not aspire to kill him. (26:7–12)

It should be noted that the PHYSICAL condition of “deep sleep” that God poured out upon Saul and his men is actually a graphic picture of a condition that God pours out upon people SPIRITUALLY. Isaiah 29:10–11 talks about “the spirit of deep sleep” that causes a person’s spiritual eyes to close, and the Bible to become as if it were sealed to them. It is apparent, biblically and practically speaking, that God chooses to pour out this spirit upon people because they willfully choose to close their eyes to the truth of God’s word that has been revealed to them. In Matthew 13:15, Jesus talked about people whose “eyes they have closed; lest at anytime they should see with their eyes.” We must be very careful in what we communicate to God, through our lives, that we really want, because God will gladly, though sadly, oblige. Pharaoh hardened his heart, and God helped him to get what he wanted as God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. People in the last days communicate to God that they want a lie by rejecting the truth of God when it is revealed to them, and God will give them the lie they told Him they wanted, and they will believe the lie of the antichrist. (2^nd Thessalonians 2:8–12) People close their eyes to God’s truth, and God will help them in the process, and He will close their eyes! (Isaiah 29:10–11; Matthew 13:15) Once again, we all might do well to ask ourselves what it is that our lives are actually telling God that we want! We all might need to ask ourselves, is there any area in our life where we are willfully rejecting truth that has been revealed to us?

Note also in today’s reading, that one of the most admirable qualities David possessed was how he regarded GOD’s authority in his life, and how that translated into how he regarded MAN’S authority in his life. Samuel had anointed David king while Saul still held the office. David, however, never manifested a sense of entitlement; he never directly or indirectly sought to undermine the king’s authority; neither did he seek to rally followers to stage any type of insurrection against Saul’s regime. Though God had promised to deliver Saul into David’s hand, David made for absolute certain that that deliverance would not come from his own hand! On several occasions, David articulated that he would “not stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed.” (1^st Samuel 24:6; 26:9, 11, 23) In other words, regardless of his own anointing, as long as God allowed the previously anointed king to sit on the throne, David wasn’t going to be party to any action to remove him. David operated off of biblical principles that, at that time, were yet to be recorded in God’s word: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

In chapter 27, David puts himself into another precarious situation, this time by taking refuge in enemy territory, and ends up lying to the king. Chapter 28 is another sad chapter in the Bible, and yet another of the sad chapters in Saul’s life. When we first met him in 1^st Samuel chapter 9, Saul “STOOD…higher than any of the people.” (9:2; 10:23) God had set before him a future that was incredibly bright and promising. By chapter 28, however, he has “STOOPED” lower than any of the people. (28:14) He is literally on his face in front of a demonically-empowered witch, asking her to help him know his future because God was no longer communicating with him or to him. Oh, the depths to which sin can take us! Saul asks her to call up Samuel from the dead, and surprisingly enough, Samuel does appear to Saul! It was even surprising to the witch and, by the sound of her voice (28:12), even freaked her out!

This passage, as you can imagine, has been the subject of many theological discussions and debates. Perhaps the simplest explanation for what actually happened with Samuel’s appearance to Saul is that he was there, not because of the witch’s power, but because God sent him there to deliver a message that He wanted Samuel to deliver to him.

The account of the death of Saul is also the subject of considerable debate. The debate centers around the fact that there appears to be two contradictory accounts of how it actually happened. In 31:4–6, the account reveals that after being wounded in battle, Saul fell on his own sword and took his own life before the enemy was able to taunt him and/or torture him. However, in 2^nd Samuel 1:2–10, the account the Amalekite reports to David is that Saul had fallen on his own sword, and though he was greatly wounded, Saul was convinced that his injury wasn’t going to kill him, so he asked the Amalekite to “finish the job,” as it were. The Amalekite tells David that he personally believed that Saul was going to die from his self-inflicted wound, so he saw no harm in putting Saul “out of his misery”, so to speak.

So, which account is right? Is this actually a contradiction in the Bible?

Let’s be clear. If this is a contradiction in our Bible, the best thing any of us could do is close our Bible right now and never open it again! Then, we ought to take this tool, the “365 Days of Pursuit”, and use it as kindling for our next bonfire, spending as much time as is necessary trying to find something productive to do with our lives that makes us happy, because the reality is we’re all in a lurch! (1^st Corinthians 15:32) If this is a contradiction, then the entire Bible is a sham, and nothing more than a worthless piece of unreliable literary trash! It is not the word of God, but is, in fact, the words of men! In other words, it is the exact opposite of what 1^st Thessalonians 2:13 says it is!

Obviously, these two accounts of Saul’s death are NOT a contradiction in the Bible because there are NONE! As in these two accounts, there sometimes may be “apparent contradictions” in the Bible, but there are NO contradictions! It is in very fact, the perfect, inspired, infallible, inerrant word and words of God! (Proverbs 30:5–6; 1^st Thessalonians 2:13) The “apparent contradictions” that are in the Bible can usually be unraveled by simply employing basic reasoning skills, and/or by simply comparing Scripture with Scripture. (1^st Corinthians 2:13) In this particular “apparent contradiction,” the answer is very simply that the story that the Amalekite told David in 2^nd Samuel 1 was simply a fabrication. He may have concocted the whole story to make him look heroic in the eyes of David, and/or to give explanation for why he had Saul’s crown and arm band in his possession. His fabrication, however, ended in his death. (2^nd Samuel 1:15)

Perhaps the best way to summarize the book of 1^st Samuel is for us to hypothetically take a sheet of paper and divided into two columns. At the top of the first column, we would title it: “What NOT to do.” At the top of the second column, we would title it: “What TO DO.” In the first column, we would explain the lives of two key characters: Eli and Saul. In the second column, we would explain the lives of two other key characters: Samuel and David. That is basically the practical essence of the entire book. The beautiful thing about our God, is that He graciously allows us the privilege of choosing the column from which we will conduct our lives!

If someone were to read a written account of our lives over the past several years, like we have done with these four men in 1^st Samuel, would they place us in the “What TO DO” column, or the “What NOT to do” column?

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

Through the URIM, which was used to determine God’s will — 1^st Samuel 28:6 (Hebrews 1:1–2 – Today, Christ speaks to us, to reveal His will, through His Spirit as we read His word. God… “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…” Hebrews 1:2)