Day 91 – 2 Samuel 1:11-16
Scripture Review
2 Samuel 1:11-16
"Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:"
(2 Samuel 1:11)
The first thing David does with the news is tear his clothes. He does not smile. He does not whisper, "At last." He does not look around to see if anybody celebrated. David's mourning was sincere and he and all with him humbled themselves under the heavy hand of God on Israel. This heart of Daivd should come as no surprise, because if you have been following him through 1 Samuel 24, 1 Samuel 26, and the Psalms, this is exactly the man we should expect to see. The David who would not kill Saul in the cave and would not let Abishai pin him to the earth in the trench is the same David who rends his garments when Saul is reported dead.
"And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword."
(2 Samuel 1:12)
They mourn not only for Saul and Jonathan, but "for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel." David was deeply concerned for the public welfare and grieved the national disgrace as well as the personal losses. His reverence for Saul's office and his love for Jonathan make his reaction far more complex than mere relief at a rival's death. This is grief on several levels at once, national loss, covenant loss, and the end of a long chapter in Israel's history.
"And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite."
(2 Samuel 1:13)
The man had already identified himself earlier, but now David asks formally and judicially. David is about to pronounce sentence, so he establishes identity on the record. The messenger answers again: "I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite."
"And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?"
(2 Samuel 1:14)
"How wast thou not afraid?" David is not improvising piety now that he has something to gain from it. He has been living by this rule all along. His issue is not whether Saul had failed, but whether anyone had the right to take that matter into his own hand against the LORD's anointed. So here David looks at the Amalekite and asks the only question that matters, how could you claim to do what I refused to do when Saul lay defenseless before me more than once?
"And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died."
(2 Samuel 1:15)
If the Amalekite's story was true, he deserved death for treason; if it was false, his lie proved to be lying against himself, as sin often does sooner or later. The Amalekite came expecting reward. He found judgment. He assumed David would be glad to hear that Saul was dead and grateful to the man who made it happen. That misreading cost him his life. Carnal people keep assuming godly men are secretly driven by the same appetites they are. They think everyone has a price, everyone loves advancement, everyone can be made happy by news that benefits the self.
"And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD'S anointed."
(2 Samuel 1:16)
The sentence rests on the man's own confession: "thy mouth hath testified against thee." His death was his own responsibility. Whether the man actually killed Saul or lied about it, his own mouth condemned him. If he did it, he confessed regicide. If he lied, he lied in order to profit from the supposed killing of the LORD's anointed. In either case, his mouth trapped him.
Saul ended 1 Samuel 31 fearing what the uncircumcised would do to him. David, by contrast, had learned in Psalm 56 not to fear what flesh could do, but to trust the word of God. That is why 2 Samuel does not begin with David dancing around a grave. It begins with him mourning, then judging.