Saul And David

The story of Saul and David illustrates in some respects the story of the first man (Adam) and that of the second Man, who is the Lord from heaven. The first man was a failure through his disobedience. What sorrow it brought to himself and to all his posterity! The way of disobedience seems fair to many, strewn with flowers and with temporal rewards in view, but alas, such are the devil's baits to catch his ofttimes willing victims. The fair fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil captivated unwary Eve in Eden. The fearful and fell fact is plainly told in Genesis 3:6.

The disobedience of Adam resulted in the Saviour being a Sufferer all His life:

(1) at the hands of the devil in temptation, (2) at the hands of men who hated Him without a cause and persecuted Him for His righteousness, and (3) at the hands of God when He suffered once on Calvary for the sins of others.

Many others who sought to walk in the ways of God suffered before the Lord's time on earth, and many have suffered since for the doing of the Lord's will, at the hands of the disobedient. We can never measure how far an act of disobedience may travel in its effects. Many may suffer as a result.

Such facts are shown out in the lives of Saul and David. The psalms of David are replete with references to the enemies of David, the chiefest of whom in his early days was Saul. Did the fault lie with David? It did not, for David's behaviour towards Saul was ever correct and dutiful. It has often been pointed out how wisely David conducted himself, "David ... behaved himself wisely", "David conducted himself wisely in all his ways", "he behaved himself very wisely", "David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul" (1 Sam. 18:5, 14, 15, 30). But what of Saul in his carnal jealousy and spite? Think of his words regarding himself a short while before his death, "Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly" (1 Sam. 26:21).

What an assessment of his conduct, and what a confession! He spared the best of Amalek and Amalek's king Agag (Amalek is a type of the flesh). God had decreed that He would have war with Amalek until He had destroyed the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Saul, ever after he spared the best of Amalek, manifested the characteristics of Amalek in persecuting God's king, David, and in slaying God's priests.

J. Miller

Extracted from Needed Truth 19S2

unknown | Jun 1993
Voices From The Past