Samuel . Saul . David .

Michael Collum

Inactive
Samuel . Saul . David .

Samuel .

Dedicated to the Lord by Hana in lament because she couldn't have children .

Samuel said everything the Lord told him to say . and did not let not a single word fall to the ground .

Samuel was grieved Israel rejected God in asking for a king . he seemed to have rejection issues . God had to reassure him it is not you they have rejected . but me as king .

Saul .

Saul was anointed as King . didn't seem to interested in being a king . an example of the phrase ringing through the Judges . and in those days Israel had no king and every man did what was right in his own eyes .

Saul had this very strict way of doing things . this strict way caused him to almost kill his son Jonathan if the men of Israel did not stop him . because the Lord brought about a great victory through Jonathan that day . so Saul seemed to have no concept of what grace was . he acted under the premise that this was a cruel world and those who break the rules must be punished . Saul even tried to kill David when he was playing music to exorcise his demons .

Because of events surrounding Saul there was a saying about him "is Saul also among the prophets?" and from David saying of Saul "I will not touch the Lord's anointed" when he had a chance to take his life .

Saul's career as King before God ended when he saw that his army was losing and he did not wait for Samuel who was brought up by Levites to do the sacrifice . and him being of the tribe of Benjamin .. did the sacrifice himself . Samuel said something really important in his speech to Saul, "God doesn't care about sacrifices as much as he cares that you do what he says" very important, yet more:

1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

This foreshadows his next sin in the life of this drama . but the main issue here is . Saul didn't repent of his sin he said .. hey .. could you like .. come back with me . so the people don't think i'm a bad person? all he cared about was what men thought, but didn't care what God thought at all .

The next sin in this drama between Saul and Samuel is when Saul believes that "well i can't talk to God except through Samuel" which wasn't true, all the kings had an anointing from God and actually had that capacity but that's another study altogether . So Samuel gets brought back from the dead by a witch just so he can tell Saul, you're gonna die today . Isn't that too much?

Samuel, had rejection issues over Israel wanting a king, and failure issues over Saul rejecting God, and to top it all off, when he's resting from all his labours under the son . this anointed twerp goes from rebellion to witchcraft . to ask him what to do . like don't you just want to slap him upside the head and say .. hey .. i'm not a fortune teller! but i guess as a seer . that's kinda how the prophets were treated by the common folk back then sometimes . with perhaps a greater degree of reverence .

Samuel's issues with looking on the outside only were addressed when God had him anoint David as king .

1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Strangely enough . David spoke to God already . so after he became king . Samuel kinda disappeared from the picture . but this so far shows a prophet's life is not easy . not only do people idolize you as some kind of oracle . but also God confronts you with your own issues through the people you are a prophecy to or prophesy to . but they don't know he's doing this quite often . so if you say nothing . they won't know . but moving on .

David .

Volumes can be said of David but the one really remarkable thing i noticed was David .. acted like he was exposed to the sermon on the mount somehow . he acted really weird and his generals (i.e. Joab) told him so .

David was the man that was after God's heart . the only thing about his life that God would hold against him was when he committed adultery and then covered it up with murder . everything else God loved that about him . he was a very energetic and caring person .

David even mourned the death of Saul who tried to kill him . mourned the death of his son Absalom who rebelled against him, his father in a civil war . David saw things in a god centric kind of way . he saw the rebellion as what the Lord said would come . and no matter how bad it was David said he would accept it .

David was the complete opposite of Saul .

When David came to power Saul's faction became less and less and less . but when David was on the run it was revealed some of them were still around .

“And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou [art taken] in thy mischief, because thou [art] a bloody man. Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now [may this] Benjamite [do it]? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day. And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. And the king, and all the people that [were] with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there.” (2Sa 16:7-14 AV)

So Saul, would have killed that man right away . but David said . oh . the Lord sent him to curse . me .. so bless him . the logic that man lived by was after God's heart . but in context of the world he was living in .. he was insane . but that's the kind of insanity i like .

So when i look at this i see the conflicting ideologies . one that becomes dominant as the evening . and then the morning that removes all prominence of the dark shadows of the night before .

Samuel . in this .. is like the one who represents God . like why can't you all be one people? hen gathering her chicks and all that .

Saul . in this .. is very legalistic . rigid . and unmerciful . if someone transgresses . they must be punished! Saul seemed to act under the premise that "regardless of the methods i used . what they did is wrong . and that they are punished is what matters . i will not show weakness by admitting how i was wrong that would compromise my position ."

David . in this . will fight if he has to . or in the case of Nabal punish fools for returning evil for Good . but quite often will mourn the death of his enemies . and extend friendly gestures to his enemies that .. endanger his own life . David knew the mercies and lovingkindnesses of God and .. he lived them . and he knew when he did something wrong . and when confronted with it he repented .

And in this i remember the prophetic echo, in that Jesus, son of David, of Judah, of Abraham, saying to Saul of Benjamin ..

Ac 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

So David and Saul still battle it out today in the church like night and day . and each have their following thinking one is a prophet and the other is a prophet . but God is calling each and every one of us to be as Samuel . and be one people . as prophets who serve God . and abandon the politics of man . whether it be national or church .

May we reach together towards what we know God wants for us . As we meditate on the way of David . may we remember the quiet one who suffered through all this turmoil . in that there is the elder and prodigal son of the parable . But God calls us to have the heart of the Father in that parable . may we remember Samuel as the example of faith in this story and seek what that represents in our own lives . for if we seek . we will find it in him . if we seek with our whole hearts .

Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

And .. yes i know . we are all becoming as Jesus . but the above figure is to focus on key attitudes that God likes .. and doesn't like so much .

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
 
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