Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 21-24.

Today’s passage contrasts King Saul with David in several ways.  We also see how much David had progressed as a warrior since the day he defeated Goliath.  When David defeated Goliath, he rejected the weapons and armor which King Saul offered him as being more hindrance than benefit because they were too heavy.  Here, when he is fleeing Saul’s court, he takes the sword which Goliath had worn as better than no sword.  The fact that David could wield Goliath’s sword at this point indicates that he had grown in strength and skill.  We should seek to similarly grow in the strength and skill needed to carry out the tasks to which God calls us.  So, one of the contrasts between King Saul and David comes when Saul discovered where David had gone, and that he had gathered a force of men around him.  King Saul accuses everyone around him of conspiring against him.  Further, when he discovered that the priest, Ahimelek, had provided aid to David when David first fled from him, he had Ahimelek, and all of his family, killed.  It is worth noting that Ahimelek had no way to know that David was no longer in Saul’s favor.  On the other hand, when David realized that the people of Keilah would turn him over to King Saul, after he had protected them from Philistine raiders, he left.  Further, when King Saul relieved himself, without a guard, in a cave which David was hiding in, David chose not to kill Saul.  We should seek to emulate David, not Saul.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 18-20.

One of the things which always strikes me is that David turned down the opportunity to marry King Saul’s eldest daughter, but later married another of Saul’s daughters, Michal.  The passage never really tells us why, but it gives us a few hints.  First, it seems to me that David had no ambitions, other than serving the Lord (and perhaps, fighting against those who were the enemies of the Lord’s people).  Second, I think he knew that Michal was in love with him and desired to marry him, while her older sister, Merab, would only have married him because her father told her to do so.  I suspect that David returned Michal’s love (this is supported by the fact that one of his demands to make peace with Abner after King Saul’s death was her being returned to him).  All of this to say, that David did not seek the kingship of Israel.  It came to him due to the hand of God.  David did what he could to serve God in the situations he found himself in, and God raised him to be king.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.