When He Comes to His Throne. August 23, 2008         Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.  (Deuteronomy 17:18-19)       “The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Jishui, and Malchishua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.”  (1 Samuel 14:49-51)       Whenever I personally read from book to book, beginning at First Samuel and continuing on to Second Samuel and First Kings, I feel the need to examine the contents of these books very carefully.     In the course of our lives, we need to examine many things very deeply and as we live from day to day, we need to put into practice the verse that says, “In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself” (Philippians 2:3). When I encounter narratives of a historical nature in the Bible such as the one we have just read, however, it makes me wonder if we really acknowledge God’s plan with pure hearts in the course of our lives. I wonder if we all recognize our individual places and the situations with which we are faced within the great flow of the work of the gospel.     Within the three verses we have just read from First Samuel, there are various names that are even difficult to pronounce. First, there are some who played an important role in establishing David on the throne of Israel as part of God’s plan. You can also see this in other parts of the Bible, but man does not have the power to be able to change God’s plan. Neither can the schemes of a few people or their limited plans, send God’s work off course. Man does not have the power to resist or take control of God’s plan. As human beings, we are living our lives within God’s plan.     From First Samuel, Israel appears not as a nomadic nation, nor as a tribal nation, but as a nation with sovereign power. Now Israel had become a nation established under a powerful system of government. However in Numbers chapter 17, we find that God warned Moses in advance that the people of Israel would abandon God, who was their King, and would desire a king from among the people (see verse 14). The hearts of the Israelites, who wanted a king from among the people, did not correspond with the heart of God. Nevertheless, a man was appointed as king within the history of Israel, yet, in spite of this, God’s plan, which was established beyond the realms of time, was fulfilled step by step within Israel which had put itself under the power of a monarchy.     This world has determined how the Bible should be taught. Consequently, even people who claim to have realized the truth of the gospel through the words of the Bible read the Bible in the way that has been established by the world. If you do this, you may miss the tremendous truths regarding God’s plan which are embedded deep within the words of the Bible.     When it comes to the content of First Samuel, too, many people will just tell you that in it we read how Samuel became a priest. He was a prophet and a judge, and he was the one who anointed Saul, making him king of Israel. Then when Saul did not prove to be a suitable king in God’s eyes, David was established as king and anointed in his place. David killed Goliath, and, as he became more popular, Saul tried various methods to seize him. And then Saul died, and David became king. This is about as much as people generally know of this content, and they tend not to take their thinking any further than this. Perhaps some of you, too, have read several times the account of the events between when David killed Goliath and when he became king, and yet you do not really know what it is all about.     There are many times when we read the historical books of the Old Testament-particularly First Samuel and the books that follow-as though reading a historical novel. If, however, we carefully inquire and search the words of the Bible, as it says in First Peter (see 1 Peter 1:10), we can definitely know what God is saying to us through these words, even though the events recorded in the Bible occurred in times that are very different from our own.      The Heart of David and How He Saw Saul     Let’s think about the events that led up to the passage we have just read in First Samuel chapter 14. Following their time in the wilderness, the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. The book of Joshua contains a record of which piece of land was allotted to each tribe for them to occupy. Also, when the days of Joshua had passed and the time of the judges began, many judges arose from the various tribes to rule over Israel. In the book of Judges it says that, because they did not have a king, the people did what was right in their own eyes (see Judges 17:6). Also, as we move on from the book of Judges to the books of Samuel, we find that the book of Ruth is introduced in the middle here.     The first person who appears at the beginning of First Samuel is the last judge, Samuel. Samuel was a priest, a judge, and also a prophet. He was a person who embraced all three powers of leadership amongst the Israelites; this one man had the roles of prophet, political leader and priest. Even so, he was not a king.     One day, God called him to go out and find the man by the name of Saul, anoint him and establish him as king. Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin. In the Bible it says that Samuel anointed a great man from the land of Benjamin and established him as king (see 1 Samuel 9:16).     In Genesis, however, we can see Jacob’s prophesy regarding the tribe of Judah, and there he said, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah” (Genesis 49:10). When Saul became king, even though God told him to destroy all that was seized in battle, he kept some items (see 1 Samuel chapter 15). Seeing Saul behaving in this way, Samuel warned him that he would soon be dethroned. Then from the tribe of Judah, David-one of the grandchildren of Boaz, who appears in the book of Ruth-was chosen by God.     You can read about Boaz, one of King David’s ancestors, in the book of Ruth, which comes right before First Samuel.  Through this course of events, David’s ancestors were born, his father was born, and he was born.     As a boy, David lived in the fields and mountains raising animals and taking care of them. Then he killed Goliath, a Philistine general, hitting him with a stone from his sling, and when he had fallen, taking his sword and cutting off his head. This appears in First Samuel chapter 17.     In the course of that event, a person appears whose name is also recorded in the passage we read above. That person is the man by the name of Abner. Abner was a cousin of King Saul. Saul’s father and Abner’s father were brothers. The Bible tells us that Abner was an officer in the army of the Israelites during the time of Saul’s reign. When Saul saw David kill the Philistine, he asked Abner whose son the boy was. Abner said that he did not know, so Saul told him to go and find out. The latter part of First Samuel chapter 17 tells how Abner brought the boy, David, to Saul.     This marked the beginning of a fateful meeting. As soon as Abner brought David to Saul, the king asked the boy whose son he was. David answered, “I am the son of Jesse of Bethlehem.” Then the account moves on to another matter. In this way, David creeps stealthily into the framework of Israel’s politics and power.     Then, Saul’s daughter, Michal, saw David and fell in love with him.       “Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. So Saul said, ‘I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.’ Therefore Saul said to David a second time, ‘You shall be my son-in-law today.’ And Saul commanded his servants, ‘Communicate with David secretly, and say, “Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.”’ So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, ‘Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?’ And the servants of Saul told him, saying, ‘In this manner David spoke.’ Then Saul said, ‘Thus you shall say to David: “The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.”’ But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.”  (1 Samuel 18:20-27)      

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