TOPIC: PLEASE, BE CAREFUL!
TEXT: 2 Samuel 1:1-16(NKJV)
- 1:1. Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag,
- 1:2. on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.
- 1:3. And David said to him, “Where have you come from?” So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
- 1:4. Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.” And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”
- 1:5. So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?”
- 1:6. Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance [to be] on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.
- 1:7. “Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’
- 1:8. “And he said to me, ‘Who [are] you?’ So I answered him, ‘I [am] an Amalekite.’
- 1:9. “He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still [remains] in me.’
- 1:10. “So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that [was] on his head and the bracelet that [was] on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”
- 1:11. [Therefore] David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and [so did] all the men who [were] with him.
- 1:12. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
- 1:13. Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where [are] you from?” And he answered, “I [am] the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”
- 1:14. So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
- 1:15. Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, [and] execute him!” And he struck him so that he died.
- 1:16. So David said to him, “Your blood [is] on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’ “
STUDY:
Sometimes, it is reasonable to exercise caution in carrying out people’s demands. Some requests, if not carefully handled, can backfire against whoever fulfills them. The young Amalekite who reported the death of Saul and Jonathan as recorded in our text today did not live to tell the story of the result of his wrong actions and talkativeness.
He gave his report with all enthusiasm not knowing that although David knew that King Saul was neither did he desire to have him killed by anyone else. He must have been very surprised to see how David and the men with him tore their clothes and began to mourn, with fasting and weeping, for King Saul and other fallen heroes. The young man must have been shocked that David did not look at the crown and bracelet of King Saul he brought to him.
At the end of the day, David rebuked the news-breaker and ordered that he should be killed. Child of God, this story should teach us a great lesson. Whatever is wrong is wrong. As that young man boasted in wrongdoing, so do some Christians today. Believers may not engage swords to kill but a lot of killings happen every day in the midst of Christian leaders and worshipers of God.
Tools such as falsehood, backstabbing, hatred, injustice, unrighteousness, etc., are engaged for marital, ministerial and spiritual killings among Christians today. Just as the young man brought the crown and bracelet of King Saul to David with the hope that he was serving the wish of David, do we have people in the Church today who go to different lengths to fulfill the evil agenda of their ‘master?’.
The stand of David teaches that as a Christian, you must not rejoice at the fall or death of your fellow Christian, no matter his or her wrongs against you. You should also pray for grace to hold your tongue.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, grant me grace not to rejoice in the downfall of others, in Jesus’ Name.
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