David and the Amalekite
Very helpful to read Dale Ralph Davis III Jr on 2 Samuel this morning. If you read 1 Samuel 31 and 2 Samuel 1 together (which you are supposed to do - it's really one book), then you are faced with an interesting conundrum. The author's account of Saul's death and the way it is reported by the Amalekite are startlingly different. The only explanation is that the Amalekite (as one would expect) is lying.
He's trying to ingratiate himself with David who he sees as the next power man. What he has failed to realise is that David has refused to raise his hand against the Lord's anointed; he is sucking up to the wrong guy. He doesn't last much longer.
He's a salutary lesson. The world sucks up (at any cost) to those they think might be holding the cards. Christians do the same. I do the same. Searching my heart, I know this is true - it's part of my sinful nature. But not only is that a misguided motive, even if it were not so, the ends do not justify the means.
Truth. Always.
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