2 Samuel 1:1-16 Striving to please God and God alone

2 Samuel 1:1-16  Striving to please God and God alone

1 After the death of Saul, David returned from his victory over the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. 2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s army camp. He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head to show that he was in mourning. He fell to the ground before David in deep respect.

3 “Where have you come from?” David asked. “I escaped from the Israelite camp,” the man replied. 4 “What happened?” David demanded. “Tell me how the battle went.” The man replied, “Our entire army fled from the battle. Many of the men are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” 5 “How do you know Saul and Jonathan are dead?” David demanded of the young man. 6 The man answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear with the enemy chariots and charioteers closing in on him. 7 When he turned and saw me, he cried out for me to come to him. ‘How can I help?’ I asked him. 8” He responded, ‘Who are you?’ “‘I am an Amalekite,’ I told him. 9” Then he begged me, ‘Come over here and put me out of my misery, for I am in terrible pain and want to die.’ 10 “So I killed him,” the Amalekite told David, “for I knew he couldn’t live. Then I took his crown and his armband, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”

11 David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the LORD’s army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day. 13 Then David said to the young man who had brought the news, “Where are you from?” And he replied, “I am a foreigner, an Amalekite, who lives in your land.” 14 “Why were you not afraid to kill the LORD’s anointed one?” David asked. 15 Then David said to one of his men, “Kill him!” So the man thrust his sword into the Amalekite and killed him. 16 “You have condemned yourself,” David said, “for you yourself confessed that you killed the LORD’s anointed one.”

Background

After Saul and his sons were spent at the battlefield, the scene is set for David’s return to Israel as ruler and king. However, David’s succession is not without a brief period of struggle with Ishbosheth, Saul’s remaining son. In today’s passage, as David returns to Ziklag, we see a messenger being put to death because his own ingenuity that got the better of him. He died for an imaginary act that he confessed to but never did. Here, we learn never to take credit for deeds we never did or to try to enter into another’s good books by trickery. For, it would suffice to live for the audience of the One God and to please Him alone.

Observation

I escaped from the Israelite camp

After a successful plunder on the Amalekites David returns to Ziklag. And on the third day, a young man comes to him purporting to have mercifully killed Saul: “So I killed him,” the Amalekite told David, “for I knew he couldn’t live”. We know that this man’s story is a fabrication against the account of Saul’s suicide (see 1 Samuel 31:3-6). The intent of this young man is perhaps to ingratiate himself to David supposing David is an eager and active contender to the throne; the young man is claiming responsibility for something he never did, in expectation of a reward from David. David and his men although outlawed and hunted like animals by Saul, showed their solidarity and loyalty to their fallen king: David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news.

Why were you not afraid to kill the LORD’s anointed one?

The young man has to die not because he is the bearer of the bad news. But because he has incriminated himself to an act that cannot be rectified accept by his own life. Saul although fatally wounded and wishes for death is nevertheless still “the Lord’s anointed” and the young men has acted irreverently. What he thinks is an impressive declaration of loyalty towards God’s chosen king is rejected by David as unpardonable and worthy of death.

Truth

Never take credit for what you did not do or steal other people’s thunder.

There are those who prey on unsuspecting people by stealing their thunder and depriving others of the recognition they deserve. They fabricate stories and take credit for something they did not do at the expense of the deserving person. For this, God will demand recompense for the injustice committed. The young man, stumbles upon Saul’s corpse and supposes that he has chanced upon the opportunity of a life time fabricated an imaginary act that he could not afford to pay accept with his own life. Therefore, we must not steal people’s ideas by making them our own, or create false impressions as being the one who “started it all”. For we will never know what lurks underneath the deeds that we have claimed responsibility for. The young man, by his own ingenuity got the better of him because he thought he knew David as one who could be easily manipulated by his display of loyalty.

Do not strive to enter into any person’s good books, but strive to please God and God alone.

There are many who will try very hard to pander to those who are in positions of authority. By their display of “submission”, inocuity, and symbols of loyalty, they hope to create better opportunities to further their personal agenda. If one could enter into another’s good books by sheer manipulation and flatter, you can be sure that his position is as sturdy as a spinning top. Realistically, people cherish one another not by deeds done in time past, but by their future value. However, God appraises people not by their display of zeal but by the posture of their hearts. The young man by cunning tries to ingratiate himself to David only to find himself in an irreversible position: he died for the act that he did not commit. However, when we endeavor to please God, He remembers our works of love and will reward us accordingly. Hebrews 6:10 say,

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name.

And again Paul says,

God will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life. Romans 2:6-7

Therefore, let us not try to find an angle to enter into people’s good books, but as we endeavor to do what is right and by making decisions that benefits the whole, God will secure our position by His own authority and prosper us in all that we do.

Applications

Do you have a tendency to exaggerate your value and achievements through your words and trickery? The danger is that we may be tempted to take credit for the works that we did not do. However, our words should accurately represent the works that we have done so that others may not take advantage of us. Hence, even as we refrain from stealing other people’s thunder, we must always protect ourselves from being abused by others. Always make a note of the achievements that you have done and make sure it is on your year-end appraisal form.

Do you subconsciously attach a political value on each person that you come in contact with? And you will not spend time with anyone unless he gives you some kind of leverage? Perhaps, it is time to repent because God will appraise you base on your true value, which is the posture of your heart. Whatever that is not done out of love for the benefit of the whole is not credited to your account. Paul says,

If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. I Corinthians 13:2-3

Your works, no matter how grand and magnificent they may appear will not give you an ounce of credit if it is not done out of sacrificial love. Therefore, we should not strive to impress anyone, but we only need to live for the audience of One.

Dear Lord, I will not take cheap shots by claiming credit for something that I did not do. As true and enduring reward comes from you, I will endeavor to do my best for the benefit of all. Help me to value each person not according to what he could give me but according to love. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.