BIAY - Flailing kingship
1 Samuel 20-22, Proverbs 27:15-27
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Friendship and then some (20:35-42) - An elaborate plan reveals Saul’s intention to kill David, and his growing rage. Jonathan, Saul’s son, experiences the regrettable truth. His friendship toward David is a wonderful gift. At the same time, I don’t read this as dishonoring his father, as in the fifth commandment. Saul’s rage was disconnecting him from the truth and deepening his own sin. Rather than indulge his father’s faults and enable further sinfulness, Jonathan’s friendly loyalty to David also served to thwart Saul from realizing a darker goal.
King’s rage (22:16-19) - Saul’s anger blinds him to reality. David would be loyal to the king (and will be). His popularity is not interfering with his character on this point. The terrible thing I note here is that Saul is so emotional—in a way that men can characteristically be emotional—that his pride is hurt and his ego is wounded. He puts on as strong, but is in fact weak. Sadly, this has consequences for the innocent priests and people of Nob.
Questions:
Have you ever had to carefully discern loyalty and doing what was best as a higher form of loyalty than straightforward support?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, grow me in the fruit of the Spirit, that I may effectively practice self-control and grow in wisdom and grace. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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