Author: Erin Newton

Links for today’s readings:

Read: 2  Samuel 4-5 Listen: (7:10) Read: Revelation 14 Listen: (3:51)

Scripture Focus: 2 Samuel 4:10; 5:3

10 “When someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news!”

3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

Reflection: The Bad Timeline

By Erin Newton

This is the bad timeline. This phrase has been used recently regarding the never-ending “breaking news” cycle—filled with stories of war, corruption, suffering, genocide, health crises, financial turmoil, and various other events.

I get the same feeling reading through these first chapters of 2 Samuel. The book opens with the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. War breaks out between the two houses. Joab murders Abner. The sons of Rimmon murder Ish-bosheth.

Once David becomes king, another battle swiftly follows. Jerusalem is captured. David takes more women into his house as concubines and wives, granting him more children over the years. Another war breaks out with his former allies, the Philistines.

In the middle of these chapters, we have the anointing of David—a glimmer of positive news showing that God’s promise was being fulfilled.

God promised David that his rule would never end. For that to be true, David would need a royal title, land to govern, and heirs to inherit the throne. Chapters 4–5 reveal the fulfillment of such a promise. David is crowned. David secures Jerusalem as the center of Judah. David has many children who will be heirs.

But the timeline still looks bad, especially from our contemporary point of view. It is surrounded by, nearly drowned in, death and deceit and warfare. It is not really a pleasant chronology to follow. And for many of us, it’s uncomfortable.

We see God working in the life of David through events that are shrouded in evil motives. We see God working through people who have less-than-ideal resumes.

It is perplexing and frustrating. We might prefer God to work through perfect people in ways that are not covered in the corruption of sin. Let us not forget: He has.

The picture of Jesus should be set against this narrative of David. It is not a crown gained through the mafia-style killing of one’s opponent’s household. It is not a story of succumbing to the temptation, “All this I will give you … if you bow down and worship” (the devil). It is not a story of using one’s power and authority to gather women to him.

Jesus is the suffering servant, crowned with everlasting authority because he is divine. He rules over the creation he made through word alone. He gathers unto him a bride who has chosen to follow him.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling;

That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness; and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God. — Psalm 43.3-4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: David—He’s Obnoxious

We should name sin for what it is. Call it out. David was wrong. This is inexcusable. Somehow, in God’s strange working, sinners are still used in God’s plan

David—He’s Obnoxious

Read more: Abishai or Abigail?

Examine your relationship to violence and the ethics of power. Whose mindset do we have? Abigail’s or Abishai’s?

Abishai or Abigail?

Links for today’s readings:

Read: 1 Samuel  27 Listen: (1:59) Read:  Revelation 7 Listen: (2:56)

Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 27:12

12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”

Reflection: David—He’s Obnoxious

By Erin Newton

Obnoxious—not a term you typically hear of David, who was a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam 13:14).

The backstory to David’s defection to the Philistines is Saul’s envious pursuit of him. He fled to Philistine territory to escape danger. While there, he had to gain the trust of Achish (by vowing to be his servant) and go to war against his own people in Judah.

He found a precarious balance by attacking cities that were deemed enemies of Judah (leaving no one alive) but lied to Achish that he had attacked Judean cities. Shockingly, the ruse worked. Achish trusted David while David remained safe from Saul.

The chapter repeats: “He did not leave a man or woman alive.” While typical of warfare in the Bible, the phrase could be hyperbole or narrative flourish. However, the motive for David was that he feared his ruse would be uncovered. “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did’” (v. 11).  

Koowon Kim (Asia Bible Commentary: 1 Samuel) notes the glaring ethical problem with this narrative: “As Christians, how can we justify what David did to the people in enemy cities, especially innocent civilians?”

In short, we can’t. David is not an ideal leader here. He did not inquire of God. He failed to trust God’s promise. He reacted rashly and to the detriment of his morality. Kim sees this behavior as a step into a dark, “vicious cycle of sin.” To save his life by his own means, not through God, he became a perpetual liar and rampant murderer.

Kim is right by saying, “This episode is humiliating for both Christians and Jews who look up to David as the paragon of messiah. So they either do not talk about it … or they rationalize it.”

But David remains, in many Christian spheres today, the role model for leaders (or even manliness). Furthermore, we face similar dilemmas as we watch contemporary Christian leaders fall into these vicious cycles of sin. They lie. They cheat. They steal. They harm. They hurt. What are we to do? Do we ignore it or rationalize it?

Better yet, we should name sin for what it is. Call it out. David was wrong. This is inexcusable. Somehow, in God’s strange working, sinners are still used in God’s plan—a fact that does not deny the reality of one’s sinful behavior.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Splendor and honor and kingly power are your by right, O Lord our God,

For you created everything that is, and by your will they were created and have their being — A Song to the Lamb

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: The Best We Can Do

May we never be enslaved to decisions of political practicality…compromise our souls to maintain convenient alliances.

The Best We Can Do

Read more: Christ, the True Hero

We cannot live up to oaths such as Psalm 101. Neither could David. David would eventually bring corruption, rape, murder, and the ravages of civil war to the city which in this Psalm he pledges to protect.

Christ, the True Hero

Links for today’s readings:

Read: 1 Samuel 19  Listen: (3:43) Read: 3 John Listen: (1:51)

Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 19:3, 13, 24

3 “I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

13 Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.

24 He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence.

Reflection: Spirit, Senses, and Sensibility

By Erin Newton

We are probably all aware of the story of the three pigs, each with their own means of building a house. Or the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. Or Dickens’s character Scrooge who is visited by the three ghosts of Christmas.

The triple multiplication of events, often with increasing tension, is a common storytelling trope.

We come upon such a story in 1 Samuel 19.

David functions as a passive character in this chapter, helped by three of his friends in different ways.

In the first act, David’s friend Jonathan attempts to appeal to Saul through sensibility. He tries to reason with Saul. David has been beneficial to you. You didn’t get upset when he risked his life. Saul awakens to this advice and David is spared.

In the second act, David’s wife Michal attempts to save David by fooling the senses of Saul. She bets on the obliviousness of his guards and entourage. She places a very large idol in David’s spot in bed. The original set of guards are too careless to notice. The ruse is short-lived and when she is found out, she pleads self-defense. Yet David escapes.

In the third act, David’s mentor Samuel (the prophet) seeks the Spirit of the Lord to help. The power of the Spirit is such that those who seek to kill David, when close enough to pose a threat, are overtaken and respond in words of prophecy. Not even the king himself can avoid the power of the Spirit.

This story about David’s escape is entertaining to say the least. The use of threes enables the storyteller to amplify the tension, watching David narrowly escape time and time again. The story begins with a simple friend talking sense to his father and ends with a naked king spouting the word of God like a puppet.

Through this engaging tale, we see God at work in a myriad of ways. He works through a simple friendship and ethical means of communication. He works through an idolatrous trickster and a half-hearted lie. He works through his faithful servant and through the miraculous (probably temporary) enemy-turned-converts.

We see that God is sovereign over all events—Saul cannot kill David. God is sovereign over all people—friends, spouses, soldiers, enemies, and kings cannot thwart God’s plan.

And when God works in our lives, it is likely through the Spirit, senses, and sensibility.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are they who trust in him! — Psalm 34.8

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: The Lord Who Rescues

The story is also about a God who uses unexpected methods to gain victory…God alone rescues. Be a person who responds.

The Lord Who Rescues

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Links for today’s readings:

Read: 1 Samuel  12 Listen: (4:19) Read: Jude Listen: (4:12)

Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 12:13-15

13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.

Reflection: Monarchies Are Manmade Constructs

By Erin Newton

Royalty is a manmade construct and antithetical to the desires of God. Yet today royalty is the object of tabloids and paparazzi, whether they are royal heirs or celebrities with royal status.

Royalty is the outworking of othering. It is created once the distinction has been made between them and us.

In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh was thought to be the embodiment of a god. The king’s voice was god’s voice. He held absolute power and inevitably exploited it.

Despite God’s warning through the prophet Samuel against requesting a king, Israel was set on being like the world around them. The set-apart people demanded conformity.

Samuel laments their decision and recounts the ways in which Israel had called out to God for deliverance only to fall back into sin and error pleading for redemption again. Like a parent who has watched a child go against their advice only to find themselves at risk of disaster, Samuel gives the only advice left: This can only succeed if you (king and community) follow God faithfully. But the reality of human nature looms large. Failure is not only warned against, it is expected.

From this moment forward, the judgment of God is on a tenuous delay. We will continue reading Israel’s history, watching as the first king, Saul, embraces sin. Israel’s second king, David, does the same through the abuse of Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. The downward spiral culminates when God delays no longer.

We are all guilty of wanting to conform to the world. We sometimes look to political or religious leaders with the false sense that this one will solve all our problems. Likewise, leaders often fall into the temptation that their words are as good as God’s. They speak in absolutes, daring anyone to disagree.

Samuel, as a prophet, stands to speak against the foolishness of his own community. And the prophets will continue to take center stage (at least in the arrangement of our Old Testament books). In reality, they were the minority voice among a community that enjoyed their worldly conformity. How different are we today?

Leaders are not gods, but we’ve blasphemously given them labels like “savior” or “messiah.” The sharp contrast necessary to maintain a hierarchy of people—a few at the top, many at the bottom—is nowhere indicated as good in God’s creation.

Our job now is to be like Samuel, interceding for our community despite our collective error.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne; love and truth go before your face. — Psalm 89.14

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Dethroning Kings and Powers

Joshua threw down kings but did not take their place. God was the only king or power Israel needed.

Dethroning Kings and Powers

Read more: Forces and Powers

We don’t resist the world’s powers with worldly weapons or resist demonic powers by attacking humans.

Forces and Powers

Links for today’s readings:

Read: 1 Samuel 3 Listen: (3:03) Read: 2 Timothy 1 Listen: (2:37)

Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 3:1, 12-13

1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them.

Reflection: Rare Visions and Blind Priests

By Erin Newton

Do you think God ever needs time to “recharge his social battery”? Is he ever at a loss for words? No, that’d be ridiculous. The God of the universe does not grow tired or weary.

So why is the word of the Lord during Eli’s priesthood a rare occurrence? Koowon Kim points out that just as Eli’s eyesight was failing, so too was his spiritual vision (1 Samuel, Asia Bible Commentary).

The text says, “There were not many visions.” So there had to be some. God was still speaking to his people, just as he had been doing during Abraham’s sojourn, Moses’s wildnerness wandering, and so on. God wasn’t suddenly mute. God’s leader simply stopped listening.

The apprenticeship of Samuel meant fresh eyes toward God. In fact, notice where Samuel was sleeping—in the temple. He was in the prime location to convene with God. However, when God called once, twice, and a third time(!), Samuel was unaware of his voice.

What exactly had Eli been teaching his young protégé? Lessons must have been centered around the liturgical duties he’d need to perform someday: sacrifices, cleansing, blessings, intercessions, burning, washing, etc. In all of his lessons, Eli must not have mentioned that God liked to talk to his own people. The priesthood for him was simply going through the motions.

But God doesn’t give up. Koowon Kim notes that God would have called Samuel over and over and over until he responded. He is that persistent with us. If Eli was going blind (spiritually and physically), God would grab the attention of those fresh eyes—someone willing to jump up in the middle of the night to answer the call of his master.

If God never tires of speaking to his people, why was the word of the Lord so rare? Based on the vision given to Samuel of the impending judgment for Eli, Koowon Kim suggests, “As it turned out, the corrupt leadership constituted the obstacles that prevented the words and visions of God from making it to the nation.”

And so it is today. Some Christian leaders are blind to the vision of God. Like Eli, they ignore “the sin they knew about” and tolerate those who yoke our God with sinful practices.

We can be Elis or Samuels: obstacles or prophets. We can snuff out the Light of the world in our lives or we listen to God calling us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined from ore and purified seven times in fire. — Psalm 12.6

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: God Starts In The Dark

Samuel’s light that brought judgment and exposed corruption…banished his mother’s shame but shamed Eli’s wicked sons.

God Starts In The Dark

Read more: Where Judgment Falls

Samuel comes to remind us that judgment is coming for the Hophni’s, Phinehas’s, and Eli’s of the world…

Where Judgment Falls