2Sa 1:2 | KingComments | STEP | The history of David, which started in 1 Samuel, continues in this book. Yet it is also a new beginning. The first book ended with the death of Saul, the king after the heart of man. This book is about David. From 1 Samuel 16 onward it also is about him. There he becomes the rejected king. Now it is about him as the crowned king. The second book of Samuel describes the history of the kingdom of David according to the main moments of its development. We find here: 1. The beginning of the reign of David as king of Judah in Hebron, while the other tribes of Israel still adhere to the house of Saul (2 Samuel 1-4). 2. His exaltation to king over all Israel and the blessed establishment of his kingship (2 Samuel 5-9). 3. The time of the humiliation of his kingship as a result of his adultery (2 Samuel 10-20). 4. The end of his government (2 Samuel 21-24). In 1 Chronicles 11-29 we find the same history described, also with additions to it, but more seen from the aspect of the development of the Old Testament kingdom of God. There we see a detailed description of David’s efforts in the design and regulation of public service to God and the organization and affirmation of his kingdom and its administration. David here is still in the area where the Philistines are in power. He is back in Ziklag two days, after he was sent away by the Philistine princes, except by Achis, as a danger for the battle against Israel. God has used it to free him from his false position. He must have been tense about the outcome of the fight in which he was not allowed to participate. Saul could not wait patiently, David could. He knows that everything is in the hand of the LORD. When God works, he can be still. He also does not send a spy to find out how the battle is going. On the third day of his stay in Ziklag there is a report of the battle. An Amalekite brings him the tidings that Saul and Jonathan died. The man really comes from the fight. He does not pretend. David submits the bearer of the tidings to an interrogation about the facts. He wants certainty. Here David doesn’t know yet that the man who brings him this message is an Amalekite. He seems not to have been in the service of Israel or the Philistines, but an independently operating robber. David asks several questions. In this way he discovers the true character of the man and he is kept from accepting the kingship prematurely and from the wrong hands. The Lord Jesus is our Master in everything, even in asking questions. He did not need to ask people who came to Him questions to find out what their motives were, “for He Himself knew what was in man” ( ). The questions He asked were meant to discover man to himself and to bring him to conversion in that way. He also silenced His questioners by His questions. When David asks about Saul’s death, the Amalekite says that he killed Saul at his request. In order to justify his deed, he speaks about Saul’s death as something that would happen anyway. In 1 Samuel 31 we read how it really went ( ). This Amalekite thinks he pleases David by telling him that his great enemy is dead and that he personally took care of it. But he does not know the heart of David. He has acted completely differently than David has always done. The man presents it as if he has done a service to Saul by killing him, and at the same time he has done a service to David. As proof that his story is true, he took some jewelry with him. Tragically, Saul has lost the kingdom by sparing the king of the Amalekites. Now he has his royal dignity taken away by an Amalekite. The Amalekite offers them to David. It is as if this man offers David the kingdom. If David had accepted this, he would have accepted his kingship from the hand of an Amalekite. Amalek is a picture of the flesh, used by satan to fight against God. Accepting the crown means accepting the kingship. David, however, wants to accept the kingship only from the hand of the LORD his God.

‏ 2 Samuel 1:2

Introduction

The history of David, which started in 1 Samuel, continues in this book. Yet it is also a new beginning. The first book ended with the death of Saul, the king after the heart of man. This book is about David. From 1 Samuel 16 onward it also is about him. There he becomes the rejected king. Now it is about him as the crowned king.

The second book of Samuel describes the history of the kingdom of David according to the main moments of its development. We find here:

1. The beginning of the reign of David as king of Judah in Hebron, while the other tribes of Israel still adhere to the house of Saul (2 Samuel 1-4).

2. His exaltation to king over all Israel and the blessed establishment of his kingship (2 Samuel 5-9).

3. The time of the humiliation of his kingship as a result of his adultery (2 Samuel 10-20).

4. The end of his government (2 Samuel 21-24).

In 1 Chronicles 11-29 we find the same history described, also with additions to it, but more seen from the aspect of the development of the Old Testament kingdom of God. There we see a detailed description of David’s efforts in the design and regulation of public service to God and the organization and affirmation of his kingdom and its administration.

Message About Saul and Jonathan

David here is still in the area where the Philistines are in power. He is back in Ziklag two days, after he was sent away by the Philistine princes, except by Achis, as a danger for the battle against Israel. God has used it to free him from his false position. He must have been tense about the outcome of the fight in which he was not allowed to participate. Saul could not wait patiently, David could. He knows that everything is in the hand of the LORD. When God works, he can be still. He also does not send a spy to find out how the battle is going.

On the third day of his stay in Ziklag there is a report of the battle. An Amalekite brings him the tidings that Saul and Jonathan died. The man really comes from the fight. He does not pretend. David submits the bearer of the tidings to an interrogation about the facts. He wants certainty. Here David doesn’t know yet that the man who brings him this message is an Amalekite. He seems not to have been in the service of Israel or the Philistines, but an independently operating robber.

David asks several questions. In this way he discovers the true character of the man and he is kept from accepting the kingship prematurely and from the wrong hands.

The Lord Jesus is our Master in everything, even in asking questions. He did not need to ask people who came to Him questions to find out what their motives were, “for He Himself knew what was in man” (Jn 2:25). The questions He asked were meant to discover man to himself and to bring him to conversion in that way. He also silenced His questioners by His questions.

When David asks about Saul’s death, the Amalekite says that he killed Saul at his request. In order to justify his deed, he speaks about Saul’s death as something that would happen anyway. In 1 Samuel 31 we read how it really went (1Sam 31:4-5). This Amalekite thinks he pleases David by telling him that his great enemy is dead and that he personally took care of it. But he does not know the heart of David. He has acted completely differently than David has always done.

The man presents it as if he has done a service to Saul by killing him, and at the same time he has done a service to David. As proof that his story is true, he took some jewelry with him. Tragically, Saul has lost the kingdom by sparing the king of the Amalekites. Now he has his royal dignity taken away by an Amalekite. The Amalekite offers them to David. It is as if this man offers David the kingdom.

If David had accepted this, he would have accepted his kingship from the hand of an Amalekite. Amalek is a picture of the flesh, used by satan to fight against God. Accepting the crown means accepting the kingship. David, however, wants to accept the kingship only from the hand of the LORD his God.