Lesson 32

Godly Vision

Main Idea: Godly hearts care how circumstances affect the glory of God; worldly hearts care how circumstances affect themselves.

Text: 2 Samuel 1

Introduction:

We have here the story of David’s reaction to the demise of Saul. We also have the contrasting story of the Amalekite’s reaction to the same. We get a real picture of what the chapter is all aboutwhen we compare the two. The Amalekite is a heathen and one who cares nothing about the things of God, whereas David is a man after God’s own heart. They both see the same event, but they both interpret it completely differently.

How we think affects how we live. How we see things will not only affect our lives, but it also reveals to us the condition of our hearts. How do you look at life’s circumstances? Are you concerned primarily with how you are affected or are you concerned with how the kingdom and glory of God are affected? A person who is walking with the Lord will be conscious of what is in it for God rather than just what is in it for them.

  1. The Amalekite thought Saul’s death would be good news.
  2. David is still in Ziklag (Philistine country) when he hears of Saul’s death.
  3. Here comes the Amalekite messenger who appears to be sorrowful and a bearer of bad tidings. (He has rent his clothes and he has pit dirt on his head, which is a sign of mourning.)
  4. His news is that Israel has lost the battle and that Saul and Jonathan are dead.
  5. When David questions him on how he knows all this, he tells David a different story than what we read in 1 Samuel 31.
  6. The previous chapter told us that Saul fell on his own sword and committed suicide.
  7. This messenger tells David that he found Saul and euthanized him. Is this true or not?
  8. I believe this young messenger is lying.
  9. The account in 1 Samuel 31 does not really leave room for this to have happened.
  10. The messenger is trying to bring ‘good tidings’ to David and is hoping to be rewarded by David. (2 Sam 4:10)
  11. It would only make sense that he embellishes a bit in order to get more reward.
  12. He even brings Saul’s crown and bracelet to David. This still rather has a ‘kissing up’ feel to it.
  13. To the messenger’s surprise, David is not relieved or glad at the message he has given.
  14. In fact, he turns on the young man and has him killed for slaying the Lord’s anointed. (Ironic that he is killed for a crime he did not really do, but lied about in order to be rewarded.)
  • This messenger is a heathen Amalekite, the group that God wanted destroyed.
  • His heart is the exact opposite of godly. He cares nothing for the things of God.
  • For him, the death of Saul was an opportunity for him to “climb the ladder” and earn the new king’s favor.
  • He only saw this event in relation to how it affected him. In tandem with that, he also believed David would see it the same way.
  • He was sure David would be happy that his enemy was dead and that he was now in power. Never in a million years would he have imagined that David would have killed him for doing this. He truly thought that David would praise him.

(2 Sam 4:10)

  • The messenger never factored in the glory of God in this; he only saw the circumstance in how it affected the individual.
  1. David saw Saul’s death as a tragedy for the kingdom of God.
  2. As mentioned earlier, David kills this messenger for saying that he killed Saul.
  3. This was after he had rent his clothes, mourned, wept and fasted.
  4. What were David’s reasons for feeling and responding the way he did?
  5. Saul was the Lord’s anointed. David knew that you could not mess with God’s man, no matter what.
  6. He recognizes the royal family as the “beauty of Israel.”
  7. He knew Israel’s loss was a chance for the enemies of God to triumph. (vs. 20)
  8. He refers to Saul’s death “as though he had not been anointed with oil.” In other words, something very special and sacred had been desecrated.
  9. He refers to them as “swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.”
  10. Not to mention that helost a friend, Jonathan who had been his best friend and he had natural feelings of sorrow for the loss of his friend.
  • Why isn’t David relieved? Why does he respond with such sorrow?
  • David does not see things like the Amalekite messenger. He sees them in how they related to God’s glory.
  • The first thought on David’s mind when this circumstance comes his way is not “How does this affect me?” but rather, “What a terrible blow to the kingdom of God!”

Conclusion:

These two men were presented with the exact same picture and one saw it as good news while the other saw it as bad news. For many of us, we are astounded at David’s reaction. That alone stands out more than anything else in the chapter does. It would seem more natural that David feels relieved that Saul is finally out of his life and that he is now about to assume the throne. This is probably a revelation into our own spirituality. If all we can ever think about is how change affects us personally and not even consider what is going on in God’s arena, then we will forever see things the wrong way. This will not only affect our actions, but our feelings as well. Let us focus on God’s plan and never fail to factor that into life’s equations.