2Sa 1:11-12 | KingComments | STEP | The man who can wait is the man who is careful. The crown is within the reach of the hands, but its bringer is not sent by God. The eagerness with which he offers the crown is not in accordance with the spirit of David. Even before his son Solomon wrote it down in the book of Proverbs, David shows the truth of the proverb: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles” ( ). God-fearing people are saddened when sinners suffer misfortune, no matter how much the judgment that strikes sinners may be deserved. The spirit of grace in David is also the spirit of discernment. David sees in the approach of the Amalekite the approach of the devil, the enemy of souls. He will not be deceived by the dust on the man’s head and his torn clothes and the tribute he receives. David is here an example of the Lord Jesus. The devil came to the Lord with the offer to give Him all the kingdoms of the earth. All the Lord must do is kneel down before the devil and worship him. Then, without suffering, He shall acquire all the kingdoms. The Lord, however, lets Himself be guided in everything only by the will of His God. He defends Himself against the devil with a word from the Scriptures: “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY’” ( ). He wants to accept the kingship only from the hand of His God and in the way He has indicated: by way of the cross. He waits for the moment when God says to him: “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the [very] ends of the earth as Your possession” ( ). David does not rejoice about the death of Saul. On the contrary, he is mourning about his death. Also “all the men” who are with David react just like him. They have taken over his character, they are formed by him. David and his men weep not only about Saul and Jonathan, but also about the people of the LORD and the house of Israel. Saul always was and is to David, “the LORD’s anointed”, and he even still speaks so of him now. David himself has never dared or wanted to kill Saul, because he always saw Saul as the anointed of the LORD. There is respect for Saul with him. This respect is not present with this man. What this man has done is against the will of the LORD. Instead of taking the kingdom out of the hand of the Amalekite, David kills this enemy. He wants to take the kingdom only from the hand of the LORD. For this deed, the man receives the only ‘reward’ that is appropriate: death. He did not know David’s heart by thinking that he would make him happy with such a message and deed. Maybe we are sometimes so busy that we think we are making the Lord happy, while we have assaulted someone appointed by Him, even if that person deviates so much. In that case, we need to see assaulted in a figurative sense. We can assault someone by always putting him in a bad light. This doesn’t justify the deviation, but there are cases where we must leave such a person to the Lord.

‏ 2 Samuel 1:11-12

David’s Response to the Message

The man who can wait is the man who is careful. The crown is within the reach of the hands, but its bringer is not sent by God. The eagerness with which he offers the crown is not in accordance with the spirit of David. Even before his son Solomon wrote it down in the book of Proverbs, David shows the truth of the proverb: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles” (Pro 24:17). God-fearing people are saddened when sinners suffer misfortune, no matter how much the judgment that strikes sinners may be deserved.

The spirit of grace in David is also the spirit of discernment. David sees in the approach of the Amalekite the approach of the devil, the enemy of souls. He will not be deceived by the dust on the man’s head and his torn clothes and the tribute he receives.

David is here an example of the Lord Jesus. The devil came to the Lord with the offer to give Him all the kingdoms of the earth. All the Lord must do is kneel down before the devil and worship him. Then, without suffering, He shall acquire all the kingdoms. The Lord, however, lets Himself be guided in everything only by the will of His God.

He defends Himself against the devil with a word from the Scriptures: “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY’” (Mt 4:8-10). He wants to accept the kingship only from the hand of His God and in the way He has indicated: by way of the cross. He waits for the moment when God says to him: “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the [very] ends of the earth as Your possession” (Psa 2:8).

David does not rejoice about the death of Saul. On the contrary, he is mourning about his death. Also “all the men” who are with David react just like him. They have taken over his character, they are formed by him. David and his men weep not only about Saul and Jonathan, but also about the people of the LORD and the house of Israel.

Saul always was and is to David, “the LORD’s anointed”, and he even still speaks so of him now. David himself has never dared or wanted to kill Saul, because he always saw Saul as the anointed of the LORD. There is respect for Saul with him. This respect is not present with this man. What this man has done is against the will of the LORD. Instead of taking the kingdom out of the hand of the Amalekite, David kills this enemy. He wants to take the kingdom only from the hand of the LORD.

For this deed, the man receives the only ‘reward’ that is appropriate: death. He did not know David’s heart by thinking that he would make him happy with such a message and deed. Maybe we are sometimes so busy that we think we are making the Lord happy, while we have assaulted someone appointed by Him, even if that person deviates so much. In that case, we need to see assaulted in a figurative sense. We can assault someone by always putting him in a bad light. This doesn’t justify the deviation, but there are cases where we must leave such a person to the Lord.