THE RECORD OF THE KINGS 6: THE FINALE

As I have sat behind my screen to wrap this series up, I have struggled with how to bring it to a close. We started with questions we could not initially find answers to, and ended up last week in a place of sympathy for Saul and his insecurity, depression and mental health issues. I cannot think of a better way to tie up the series than to attempt to send caution in the ease there is in becoming a Saul and to lay bare what may be wisdom in dealings with insecure men in authority.

David suffered as a young man who was fleeing a jealous king. But this ‘thorn in his flesh’ taught him wisdom that no book or sage could have taught him. It taught him wisdom in dealing with men – particularly men of authority who battled with insecurity and jealousy. He could smell it from a distance.

In 1 Samuel 21, the record shows that David was still running for his life. After Saul’s attempt to kill his own son Jonathan because he tried to advocate for David, David knew this was becoming too much to bear, so he fled to Gath [verse 10]. It’s sad, but immediately David got to Gath, the scripture records that the king of Gath, King Achish’s officers weren’t happy about David’s being there.

“Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” [21:11]

The last time the women of Israel sang this very song was the first day of all of David’s troubles, and David knew this. He knew, that it was not really about the words in the song, but about the hearts of the men in authority who heard it and what it could become if their assurance was not already secure in the Lord. And like you would expect, the scripture says ‘David heard these comments and was afraid of what King Achish might do to him.’ I can imagine the frustration David was experiencing. He had literally run to the enemy’s camp! To Gath, a Philistine town, seeking shelter from Saul, and this dirge clothed in praises is what greets him? David knew that if King Achish was anything like King Saul, insecure, seeking validation and scared of losing allegiance and popularity, then he was in trouble. What followed could have only been the handiwork of a frustrated man desperate to remain alive:

¹² David heard these comments and was afraid of what King Achish might do to him. ¹³ So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.

Can you imagine what it took for a sane man to scratch on doors and drool saliva down his beard in madness in order to remain alive? And like David desired, King Achish sent him away, giving David the liberty to leave the town of Gath altogether and go hide in a cave, where he eventually became the leader of 600 men. But today’s piece is not intended to be long or complicated. It is merely to do two simple things:

1. Just sometimes, see through the drama and malice and intimidation, and see the fear in the eyes of he who seems to ‘terrorise’ you from their place of authority. The author of 1 Samuel writes in 18:12: Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him. Again in verse 15 he says ‘David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the LORD was with him. When Saul recognized this, he became even more afraid of him.’ And then it got worse in verse 28 when he records, ‘When the king realized how much the LORD was with David and how much Michal loved him, ²⁹ he became even more afraid of him, and he remained David’s enemy for the rest of his life.’

Every single success David chalked was for the kingdom of Israel. It literally went into the archives as having been achieved during the reign of Saul. You would think that this would make Saul happy, even if the little boy took the ‘fans’ for it. David was literally making Saul’s kingdom thrive! But Saul only cared about David’s thriving to the extent that it did not outshine him, even if it meant that it would be to the detriment of his kingdom.

I have heard of bosses like this. Heard of pastors like this. Seen leaders like this. Even though they are the ones in the place of honour and authority, they can’t take your shining, and your excellence if it outshines them, even if it increases their profits and pushes their entities to thrive! Deal with such with wisdom! See through the supposed malice; see the fear on their insides, see the craving for attention and approval and their desire to prove that they are truly in charge; see through the façade and deal with them with insight. It would be ridiculous to attempt to rebel or retaliate, knowing that they do not know any better. And if it’s not too much to ask of you, extend grace to them by praying for them if you can, like Jesus would when they whip Him and scorn Him, ‘forgive them, for they know not what they do’. Oh they sure did know what they were doing with each torn flesh on His back and each gasp Jesus let out. Yet He knew their revelation was limited, and so for malice, he saw and took for ignorance, and did the only thing you could do for such a blinded man – He prayed for them.

2. Lastly, it is wise to recognize that each of us has in us an inclination to pursue ‘relevance’, an inclination to crave approval from people we are both called to and called from. Each of our hearts sits dangerously close to Saul’s; we just either don’t know it yet or have not been put in a place of authority that exposes it yet.

I have deliberately refrained from dedicating an entire episode of this series to David, seeing as he is already hailed as the king who was chosen of God, who epitomized grace and seemed to have done right before the Lord. And rather than draw a distinction from Saul and further entrench that some people are more ‘prone to doing or being good’ than others, I would like to show you how close even David was to becoming a Saul himself.

In 2 Samuel 24, at the end of David’s reign, he thinks to conduct a census. As to whether this was incited by God or Satan, that is a conversation for another day. But if we know nothing at all, we know that ‘each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed’. [James 1:14]. David had purposed in his heart to conduct a census. His commanders tried all they could to reason him out of it, but he had made his mind up!

³Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now! But why, my Lord the king, do you want to do this?” ⁴But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out to count the people of Israel.

They tried all they would to talk David out of this sin, because God had given specific instructions on how a census had to be taken in Exodus 30:12. And although I concede that it is presumptuous, it is not absurd to suggest that David wanted to be able to say, like Nebuchadnezzar, “Look at this, Babylon the great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequate to display my honor and glory!” [Daniel 4:30]

It took Joab and his team an entire 9 months and 20 days to complete the census. Nine months! Enough time for a baby to pop out of a woman; enough time for David to ‘come to his senses’ and realize how self-indulgent and proud he was being! But as God would have it, they finished the census, and of course, God meted out his punishment for David’s sin.

I say this not to discredit David or ‘reduce’ his image in your eyes, but to draw your attention to how fallible and prone even the best of us are to towing Saul’s line, especially at the peak of the slightest attainment of success.

The caution hits home as much as it extends to you, my friend. And David’s fallibility notwithstanding, we cannot dispute that David was a successful king. And if there is anything to learn from him, one thing that appears to be an overwhelming difference between him and Saul, it would be David’s heart. It seemed to have been lost on Saul, but David seemed to know – that everything he had, every success he chalked, every achievement that should have swayed his heart away from God – was for God’s own sake, and for the love of His people Israel. The author of 2 Samuel carefully records in Chapter 5:12:

“And David realised that the Lord had confirmed him as king over Israel and has blessed his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.”

And until we come to a true realization that nothing is really about us; that we are stewards of all that we have, and all we have is given solely for the sake of His own name, and for the sake of His love for His people; until we realize that it is He who has called us and equipped us and has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, we will grope in the dark in vain search for some relevance that will continually evade us.

At the pain of sounding repetitive, I will end with my concluding remarks from last week: It is enough that He chose you. YOU. It is enough that He chose you. And if you’d only realize that even though He places countless stars in the sky, somehow, He calls them each…by…name! [Psalm 147:4]

Thank you for coming along on this series, friend. Until the Lord brings me your way again, stay grounded in Him.

Love,

Rad!💖

Post Script: A display of beautiful African royalty (Ghanaian, mostly😁) for ‘shegee’ reasons!😊🥰

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