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Today marks the seven-year anniversary of my marriage to Tina, my bride. Let me recap our life together for you.
When we met, she thought I was a nice guy, but not much else. As we got to know each other, she started to get a little gun shy about me, and I guess I can't blame her when I look back at where I was as a person. Time went by, and I started to really get to like this girl and want to spend more and more time getting to know her better. I met her family and liked all of them, but noticed that Tina was starting to pull away a bit.
I had a theory in those days of getting on the good side of a girl's mother in case the relationship with the girl would ever hit any snags. This may seem odd, but where do you think girls go when they are confused and need some advice in men? That strategy, and Tina's younger sisters kept me in the picture long enough for Tina to overcome her fears about me. It was because I was on her mother's good side that she allowed me to play hide and seek with Tina's early-elementary age sisters until Tina got home, where she was forced to at least say "Hi" to me. Did that sound a little bit creepy to you? Yeah, me too.
In time, Tina warmed up to me a bit more, and before we knew it, we were married. The wedding took place on Friday, April 18, 1997 at the church in Living History Farms not far from our home. I've been asked why we chose a Friday, and there really isn't a story there. The church was available. On that wonderful day, I married the love of my life. A dinner and a gift don't begin to show my appreciation for all that she means to me.
All we can do is grow in Christ together. Isn't that what marriage is really all about?
Saul has gone too far here. He has not only hunted an innocent man, he has now killed priests for no reason other than their aid given to David. Priests and their families. That put a chill up my spine when I read that. With this king becoming more and more obsessed with David's destruction, I don't think David could have continued on if he didn't lean on God. By the end of this first psalm, David speaks about praising God. Under these circumstances, most people would be looking outward rather than inward for some other means of delivery.
Now I don't want to sound like a jerk here, but why wasn't Saul going after Jonathan first? Saul knew that Jonathan and David loved each other like brothers and he knew that his son had helped David escaped before. Saul even brought Jonathan with him on the hunt and didn't watch where he went while he left camp.
And talk about self-control! David was close enough to Saul to kill him outright, but only cut a corner of his robe... then felt sorry he did it! To top it off, he called out to Saul and showed it to him! I think I'd mail it myself! David was very brave and very faithful. Of course, he was the anointed king of the Israelites upon the passing of Saul, so this is a bit of life insurance, but you can only count on that assurance if you have faith. For that reason, David gets some mega-kudos from me! Saul was obviously impressed as well, and it looks like there will be peace between the two. That's just the first instance in this reading where it is shown that vengeance is the Lord's. Not ours.
Here we go again! It looks like I spoke too soon about Saul's peace with David. Of course, if David believed it at the time, he would have returned to his normal duties before the troubles. Again, David finds Saul in a vulnerable moment, spares him, and asks why he is being hunted. Again Saul repents and again David knows not to return, but to flee. This time he is spared in Philistine country, but all the while, he is killing Philistines and raiding them. This guy had some serious guts!
Did Saul ever pay attention to the teachings of the time? Did he know any of the Laws of God? Of course he did, but here he is consulting one of the mediums that were to be put to death by the command of God. I'd say Samuel was gentle with him in how he answered the question.
I get the impression that the band of fighters with David here walks too fine a line between Life and Death. David had nothing to do with the raid that took the families of his raiders and he had lost as much as any of them, yet they were speaking of stoning him! Nonetheless, he did the right thing and inquired about his next move with God. This is so refreshing! After recovering their losses, David also let those troublemakers know that the plunder was to be shared among them all equally.
Next we have the death of Saul and his sons. Trust and Obey. After David's mercy on Saul, I'm a bit saddened at this loss, but know that this occurred on God's timeline. He knows the number of days each of us is allotted and what His plan for our lives is. That is His sovereignty and is the very foundation of... well... everything!.
When David learned that Saul and his family was dead, I imagine the flurry of emotions was intense. The joy of not having to run and hide any longer. The sorrow of losing his best friend. The sadness that the Lord's anointed was no more. The responsibility of a nation. That's enough to send most people for counseling. David did some hard mourning over this.
Saul had a son still alive who took control over much of Israel for a while. This resulted in a civil war. David's men were much better fighters and he slowly began to win the war, but it must have chafed him to be killing Israelites! David's mighty men were probably the greatest warriors of their time. To fight many armed opponents and kill them all is an astounding feat!
I'm sure that there is a lesson to be learned about the matter of the water from the Bethlehem well that David would not drink, though he longed for it, but I'm not quite sure what that is. If I could hazard a guess, I'd say that his earthly self wanted a taste of the water from his youth. When his loyal and capable warriors returned from their mission, though, David poured it out to the Lord. Perhaps that is his way of showing that he was not fighting for earthly desires, but ultimately for the Lord.
I do welcome any other insight about this matter, though. It has my curiosity piqued!
This is a reading of transition. David was growing in power and there was some violence involved. This is recorded for the ages, but I'm not seeing many lessons here other than David dispensing quick justice to anyone who attacks the family of Saul. Because I don't see any other lessons, I'll speak for a moment about the psalms that we have begun to explore.
I read a book last year called Gettin' There by Steve Farrar. Actually that was the fourth time I had read it, but it is such a great book, I had to read it again. It discusses how the paths we walk in our days are fraught with dangerous choices we can make and shortcuts that seem to always run into peril. It also shows that this path of life, this trail as Steve puts it, is one that is a marked trail, with vital information on where you should go, where to rest, where to find comfort and so on. These trail markers are found in the Psalms. Before reading this book, I figured the songs in the Bible to be mostly "sissy stuff," but the book pointed out that many of them were written by one of the greatest warriors in the history of humanity, a real man named David. A man with godly tendencies and human faults.
I won't give up too much here, but Steve points out that every Psalm has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Many of them discuss the heartache or problems of the writer and end up with praise given to God, for He is the one that can solve all of your problems. The book is written from a male perspective, or is meant for that audience, but I saw very little content that was specifically meant for men and not women. There is a bit about fatherhood, but other than that, it's a universal book. If you've ever regretted a decision you've made and want to return to God's trail for your life, this book needs to be in your home!
It has been a while since the other nations had reason to fear the Israelis in our reading. Finally we have a king who loves God more than himself and will rule with justice and Godliness. David wasn't perfect, as we'll see, but the glory days of Israel are ahead!
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