A vital lesson on obedience

2 Samuel 1:1-16

David and his men are back from rescuing their wives and family from the Amalekites who had raided and burned Ziklag.  It is clear they are tired and need rest, but they also need to rebuild Ziklag, so their families will have a place to live.

You should not thank it strange that King Saul and his sons have been dead for three days and David is unaware, he and his men have been a little preoccupied.  It is the third day, and a man comes from Saul’s camp and once David has seen him he knows things have not gone well.  His clothes are torn and dirt is on his head, these are signs of mourning, so it was clear that things had not gone well for Israel.  The first words out of his mouth were, the troops fled, many are dead or have fallen and also Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.

This is the account the young man told David and his men; “And the young man who told him said, “By chance, I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ So I stood beside him and killed him because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.” 

Now that is not in keeping with the account we have from 1 Samuel 31:5, so it gives us two possibilities and the first is for reaching that Saul was still alive and ask the Amalekite to put him out of his pain.  But the second is closer to what happened, the Amalekite arrived after Saul’s death and before the Philistine came, he saw a window of opportunity to receive a reward from David, so he took the crown and the armbands to David.

Once more, we could read right by a vital lesson on obedience that is hidden in this account.  Do you recall 1 Samuel 15:1-3, “Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”  If Saul had obeyed God this young man would not be the one who brought David the crown, and Saul would not have lost favor with the Lord, obedience brings blessing, and disobedience brings curses.

I am sure the young man is looking forward to his reward when David asked this question: “David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?”  I’m sure at this point the young Amalekite was ready to say goodbye without any reward, but his own words brought judgment, and David called one of the young men to kill him.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice