2 Samuel 1:1

2 Samuel 1:1 says, Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag;  After Saul’s death, David had returned to Ziklag and stayed there for two days.  David. who now certainly could claim the kingship of Israel, was still hiding out with the Philistines.  As Christians, we do not need to be hiding out with those who are not while our fellow believers are fighting against Satan and his forces today.  Verse two adds, It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.  On the third day after Saul's death, a young man, as he is later referred to as being, came to David from Israel.  He was in bad shape, and fell to the ground in in honor before David.  If people who are in bad shape come to us for help, they shouldn't have to come as though we are some how better than them.  As followers of Christ, we are all equal spiritually and should all be willing to help our fellow believers without them feeling inferior to us or our feeling superior to them.  Verse three continues, And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.  When David asked the young man where he was from, he said he had escaped out of Israel.  David knew the Philistines were going to war with Israel, had even offered to go with them, and was evidently not very concerned about the people of Israel.  He was more interested in protecting himself.  We know that many of our fellow Christians are at war with the world today and we are many times unconcerned because we are safe and that is our priority.  Even then, we at times may aid the enemy more than we do our fellow Christians.  Verse four states, And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.  David asked the young man how the war was going.  He told David the people had fled and many were dead, including Saul and his son Jonathan.  David may have been hiding from Saul, but Jonathan and he had made a covenant to protect one another.  If we run from our enemies, our fellow believers may fall even if our enemies do while we are safely sitting out the battle.  Verse five adds, And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?  David asked the young man how he knew Saul and Jonathan were dead.  If someone comes to us with news today, we should always ask how they know that it is true.  Verse  six continues, And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.  He told David that as he happened upon Gilboa, that Saul leaned on his spear and the chariots of the Philistines were hard after him.  Saul could have been a great king had he been obedient to God, but he wasn't and in the end, when he was standing by his own strength and power, they failed him.  We can be great in the battle against evil today as long as we stand under God's power, but if we attempt to stand by our own while we are out of fellowship with God, we will ultimately fall.  Verse seven says, And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.  The young man said Saul called him over and he went to him and told him he was there.  If people are calling on us when they are in trouble today, the first thing we must do is acknowledge that we hear them.  I believe that too often we are deaf to the cries for help from those around us because we fear that it will upset our peaceful life.  Verse eight adds, And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. Verse nine continues, He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.  The young man said Saul asked him who he was and he told him, and Saul then asked him to finish killing him because he was in anguish because he was still alive. I personally don't believe that we should ever be in such anguish that we want to end our life.  Verse ten concludes, So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.  The young man said he did as Saul asked because he was sure that Saul could not survive his injuries.  He said he then took the crown and bracelet from Saul and brought them to David.  I certainly don't believe that we should ever decide that someone is so bad off that we should kill them.  Still, if they are in a hopeless situation, we may be called on to decide whether to continue to attempt to keep them existing, even when there is no hope of improvement or quality of life. 

1 Samuel review concluded

We are told of Saul killing Abimelech and the priests who had innocently aided David after David lied to him.  Sometimes,  David’s actions were not guided by God's word and this brought consequences to others if not to himself.  We need to always be honest in our dealings with others as Christians.  Then, we have the account of David rescuing Keilah and God telling him that they would betray him to Saul.  Those that we help today in their times of distress, even our fellow Christians, may at times betray us.  We are told of Samuel's death.  Those who serve God will always die one day.  Then later on, we are told of Abigail keeping David from sinning by preventing him from killing Nahal her husband.  David was prepared to act out of anger instead of seeking God's guidance at this time, and we may at times act more out of anger than we do out of the love of God.  If we start to, we need to pray that we have someone who will stop us.  Then, we have the marriage of Abigail and David after her husband's death and David’s marriage to another at the same time.  We do know that God never endorsed marriage to more than on person at a time, and even this was supposed to last a lifetime.  Then, David was given the city of Ziklag by Achish of Gath, a Philistine.  David was hiding out among the enemies of God, and I don't believe that we should ever do this.  I don't believe David was really living by faith at this time, but was relying on his own instincts and we should also never do this.  We also are told off David's willingness to fight for the Philistines against Israel, and we certainly should never fight with the enemies of God against God's people.  Then, we have the account of David’s rescuing those taken captive,  including his two wives, and establishing the rule of shared spoils. If we fail to protect our home and family spiritually, we place them in danger of being taken captive by the forces of evil in the world.  Also, I believe that if we have gained riches in our fight against evil in the world that we should not hoard them but should share with those who are less capable of fighting.  Finally, we have the death of Saul and his sons, which included Jonathan, who had done nothing but help David.  If we engage in sinful actions, it may harm our family as well.  This was the end of the first king of Israel and three of his sons who could have claimed the throne.   Next,we will look at 2 Samuel. 

1 Samson eeview continues on

After God rejected Saul as the king because of his disobedience, Samuel was sent to anoint a son of Jesse as king.  All of his sons that Samuel saw were rejected, even though some seemed physically ideal to be a king.  God was not looking at the physical characteristics but at the heart of the sons.  David was tending sheep at this time and was called, and Samuel knew he had found the right man.  Samuel anointed David as king, but he did not demand to immediately claim the kingship.  He went back to tending sheep.  Even if we are called to be leaders in God's kingdom, our most important role is always to tend to His sheep.  Then after being anointed as king, David was called to play the harp for Saul, and he went and did so.  He did not believe this was beneath him.  We need to be willing to serve in any situation God leads us to without letting pride gat in the way.  After David returned to tending sheep,  Goliath, a giant, was taunting the Israelite army, including  some of David's brothers, when David came to bring his brothers some provisions.  He asked why they were allowing Goliath to do this, and said he would face him.  We should never allow things that we deem to be giants, or too big for us to overcome, to keep us from standing up to them under the power of the Holy Spirit.  David killed Goliath with a sling, cut off his head, and took his sword, but he still did not pronounce himself as the anointed king.  He still recognized Saul as God's anointed king and was content to serve Him.  We should never attempt to claim a place of service until we know for certain that the person filling it is no longer capable of filling it, but must wait for God's timing to be right.  Saul became jealous of David and spent years trying to kill him, but even on two occasions when David could have killed Saul, he didn't.  We also must never act just because an opportunity presents itself, but must rely on God's timing to act.  At one point, Saul promised one of his daughters to David  in marriage, and then had her marry someone else basically to try to humiliate David.  People of the world are still trying to humiliate Christians today.  Eventually,  David did marry one of Saul's daughters, and she loved him and saved his life on one occasion.  Saul later gave her to another man in marriage.  We have to have a lot of empathy for her since she had little say in the matter.  We may at times be treated like a pawn in a chess game, with little to say about the situation we are placed in, but if we remain faithful to God, our victory is assured.  We are told of Jonathan, Saul's son and apparent heir to the throne and his loyalty to David above his loyalty to his father.  We likewise should be more loyal to God and His his plan than we are to our earthly father.

1 Samuel Review continued

We are told of the great fear of the people of Isreal when God showed His displeasure at their demanding a king and also of Samuel giving them the assurance that God would not abandon His people because of their evil in asking for a king.  We need to realize that if we truly are followers of Christ that He will never abandon us.  After Saul reigned for two years, Jonathan his son attacked and defeated some Philistines, which led to the Philistines declaring war on Israel.  The people of Israel instead of standing firmly by  before God ran and hid.  When we face our enemies today, we can either stand firm in faith or run and hide.  Samuel had told Saul to wait seven days in Gilgal and he would come to him.  During the seventh day, Saul grew impatient and assumed the role of priest for himself and offered a burnt offering that the priest should have offered to God.  We then see Samuel telling Saul that he had acted foolishly and that instead of being established forever that the kingdom would be taken from him.  We will not lose our salvation if we act foolishly before God as Christians, but we may lose a lot of His blessings.  Then we have an account of Jonathan and his armor bearer sneaking into the camp of some Philistines and killing them under God's direction.  We need to never be afraid of the enemies of God today but must engage with them under God's direction.  We learn of Saul's foolish edict that no one could eat until the Philistines that they pursued were killed under a penalty of death, and of Jonathan defying that edict.  There may come times in our life when we have to choose between obeying the edicts of man and obeying the edicts of the world.   Saul calling on God's name said that Jonathan should certainly die after he confessed to what he had done, but the people prevented Saul from killing him. We need people who will stand with us if we come under attack today simply because we have been following God's guidance.  We have an account Saul's destroying the Amalekites, but not all of them and taking the spoils of war, which he wasn't told to do by Samuel.  Saul arose early the next morning and told Samuel to see what he had done following God's command, and Samuel asked him what the bleating of the sheep meant.  Saul confessed his sin to Samuel, and he often confessed his sins later on,but there was no real meaning behind his words.  If we are xerving God today simply for material gain,we need to sincerely confess our sins and ask for God's forgiveness.  After ths, Samuel never returned Saul.  If we reject God's call too many times, He may no longer come to us calling on us to repent and be forgiven by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord. Of course, once we do, He will never reject us, though we may at times lose His protection in the world if we do fall back into sin.

1 Samuel review.

Samuel was a miracle baby we might say, born to Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, and she had prayed to God and asked Him for a child after being barren for many years.  She also dedicated the child, Samuel, to God.  Of course, all children are really miracles from God, and we as followers of Christ should dedicate our children to God.  As soon as Samuel was old enough, his mother took him to Eli the priest and left him with him.  She fulfilled her vow to God, and so must we.  Samuel grew up serving God under Eli's guidance, and our children should grow up serving God under our guidance.  Eli's own sons were perverted priests, and Eli was told that his house would be cut out of the priesthood.  Not everyone who is a priest, as we all are as Christians, is truly obedient to God and thereby pervert His law.  One night while Samuel was still, young, God called him to serve Him, though at first he did not recognize God's voice.  We today after we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord will be called to serve God in a particular way, and we like Samuel need to say yes to His call,but first we must have acknowledged that it was God Who called us.  When the Philistines attacked at one point, the people demanded that the Ark of the Covenant be brought into the battle, without consulting God, and the Israelites were defeated, Eli's two sons were killed and the Ark of the Covenant was captured. Just having things associated with God with us doesn't guarantee our victory over our enemies.  We also have the record of the statue Dagon, the god of the Philistines, falling on its face before the Ark of the Covenant and the Philistines returning the Ark to Israel.  We can be certain that there is coming a day when all false gods will fall on their faces before God.  Of course, they could have acknowledged God instead of sending the Ark back along with sacrifice offerings.  After the Ark was returned, the Israelites defeated the Philistines and reclaimed their lost land.  If we have fallen away from God and return to Him in repentance,  He will restore our lost relationship with Him, and material things will never matter. After Samuel had grown old, the people came to Him demanding that he give them an earthly king, even though they had always had God to rule them through His priests and still did.  Samuel warned the people of the problems of having an earthly king, but they still insisted on having one.  They had not talked to God about this, even though they were His chosen people.  Today, people are still putting more faith in earthly rulers than they are in God, even some who at least  profess to be Christians.  The people chose Saul, who seemed to be an ideal candidate, even to Samuel.  Again, God was not consulted about their decision.  When we elect leaders today, we should always pray about our decision.  Saul was anointed as the first king of Israel.  Saul was disobedient to God, and God rejected him. We may be a powerful authority in the world, but if we turn away from God we will one day find out how powerless we are.  God did not reject Saul until Saul rejected Him, nor will He with anyone today.  

1 Samuel 31:1

1 Samuel 31:1 says, Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.  When the Philistines fought against the Israelites, the Israelites fled and fell down and were slain at Mount Gilboa.  As Christians, we may be slain for our stand for God, as Christians often have been, but I don't believe that we should ever be running if this happens.  Had Saul, and the people of Israel stood firm in their faith in God, I don't believe this would have been the outcome.  Still, there may come a day that even if we do stand firm in our faith that we will lose our physical life, but we are forever secure spiritually, so there is no need to run.  Verse two adds, And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.  The Philistines chased the men of Isreal hard, and they slew Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul’s son.  Jonathan had been loyal to David and to God, but he was still killed.  Again, we may be faithful to God and still lose our physical life to those who oppose God, but we already have everlasting life with God spiritually if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse three continues, And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.  The battle went badly for Saul and he was wounded by the archers of the Philistines.  Things had really been going badly for Saul since he failed to be obedient to God.  If we fail to accept the salvation made available by Jesus Christ, no matter how successful we may be materially, things will always be going badly for us spiritually.  Verse four states, Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.  Saul asked his armor bearer to take his sword and kill him, because he was afraid of falling into the hands of the Philistines.  I believe that Saul could have still sincerely repented and turned to God and even if he were captured and killed he would not have been afraid and have wanted to kill himself.  Since his armor bearer wouldn't kill him, Saul killed himself by falling on his sword.  I also believe that things should never become so bad that as long as we have hope of getting better physically that we should ever kill ourselves.  Verse five adds, And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.  When Saul’s armor bearer saw what he had done, he killed himself as well.  Our actions may lead others to make bad decisions.  If we are afraid of the enemies of God, this may lead others to be as well.  Verse six continues, So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his men, that same day together.  His men, his three sons, and Saul wee all killed that day.  I have to wonder how different Saul’s story would have been had he chosen to be faithful to God.  Though it may seem that God rejected Saul and Saul had no choice but to fail, I believe that he and we always make the choice about our relationship with God.   He does not reject anyone but calls all to salvation, and we then make the choice of whether to accept His call to salvation or not.  Verse seven states, And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.  When the other people of Israel saw that his men and Saul fell to the Philistines, they left their cities and fled.  The Philthen moved in to live in their abandoned cities.  If we abandon our position with God, we should not be surprised if sinful men move into what should be our place in the world.  Verse eight adds, And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.  The next day, the Philistines found Saul and his three sons fallen at Gilboa.  Though they were already taking possession of the cities, they evidently did not know the Saul was dead until now.  Verse nine continues, And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.  The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and sent it and his armor into their land to publicize his defeat to the people and their idols.  Not only were they taking credit for Saul’s defeat, they were giving credit to their gods as well.  There are still people today who are killing Christians and giving credit to the gods when they do.  Verse ten concludes, And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.  They displayed Saul’s armor in the house of Ashtaroth, one of their gods, and his body on the wall of another, Bethshan.  Saul had killed himself to avoid being abused by the Philistines, but his body was still abused along with the bodies of his sons we find out later on.  We will find that people of the world today will still do all that they can to discredit Christians.   Verse eleven says, And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;  Verse twelve adds, All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.  When the brave of Jabeshgilead heard what had happened, they went all night and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons, and they then burned them in Jabesh.  If the bodies were burned, the Philistines couldn't recapture them and abuse them any more.  It is better to be totally destroyed physically than to allow anyone to use our life and death to bring honor to false gods.  Verse thirteen continues, And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.  They then took the bones of Saul and his sons, buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted for even days.  Saul may nor have been a great king, biput he was their first earthly king, so they mourned his loss.  

1 Samuel 30:21

1 Samuel 30:21 says, And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.  David returned first to where the two hundred men who had to drop out were.  Verse twenty-adds, Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.  When they reached the men who had been too weak to continue those who had gone on with David, who were referred to as wicked men and men of Belial, said they weren't going to share anything with them except their wives and children and then they could leave. They didn't want them to remain as a part of the nation, much less the army of David.  Sometimes, Christians can have the same attitude toward weaker Christians today, believing that those who have been unable to do as much as they have are somehow less deserving of God's blessings.  Verse twenty-three declares, Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hate given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.  David said this was not going to happen and gave credit for their victory to God and not to the four hundred men and himself.  As long as we acknowledge that God is responsible for our victories as Christians, we should never have a problem with becoming too self-important.  Verse twenty-four adds, For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.  David said that those who had remained to guard the stuff would share equally with those who had gone on.  As Matthew Henry points out these men had not remained behind because they didn't want to go but because they were physically unable to go,  Also, they served a purpose in remaining behind and that was to guard the stuff.   We cannot all be on the front lines in the battle against evil today, but if we are, we need to realize that there are many people behind the lines guarding our stuff.  Verse twenty-five continues, And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. David, who was anointed king though he had yet to assume the throne, made the sharing of the spoils equally a statute and ordinance from that day forward.  We as followers of Christ have God's directive to share with the less fortunate to today, but we often fight against it.  Verse twenty-six concludes, And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;  When David returned to Ziklag he sent some the spoils to the elders of Judah and told them he had a present for them and shared the spoils with them as well.  I am sure this really didn't make some of the four hundred happy.  They would have even less for themselves, but what we need to realize is that as Christians, we are all in this together.  The next few verses simply tell us who those were that shared in the spoils.  Verse twenty-seven states, To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,  Verse twenty-eight adds, And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,  Verse twenty-nine continues,  And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites,  Verse thirty adds, And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach,  Verse thirty-one adds, And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.  We are told at last that David shared with all those where his men and he were likely to travel.