1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.
Saul, the first king of the Jewish nation, has been killed in battle on Mt. Gilboa along with his three sons (1 Samuel 31). This is important for a few reasons:
1. The lineage is dead. With Saul’s three sons killed (Jonathon, Abinadab and Malkishua), Saul’s legacy is gone. There is no one left to ascend to the throne. David was anointed by Samuel to be the next in line, so this clears the way for David to do so. This is part of the providential nature of God for us to understand. Even though it is acted out in human terms, both in war and death, God is moving the pieces around so that David will take the throne.
2. David to become the king: David was intoned as the next king of Israel way back in 1 Samuel 16. Throughout all of the events of the next fifteen chapters, God’s rule does not change. In fact, we see God’s hand working in all the circumstances that lead up to his kingship. We see David’s defeat of Goliath and Saul’s subsequent paranoia about David grow. We see Saul chase David into the wilderness. We also see that David has the opportunity to kill Saul but does not. Why? Because David trusts God’s provision. He knows that he has been selected by God and will not harm Saul because of it. We also see Saul’s desire to be seen as a conquering king, which leads him toward his gruesome death. But all of these things show us God’s steady hand on the wheel. He is driving David toward the throne.
2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor. 3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him. He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” 4 “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.” “The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.” 5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’ 8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ “‘An Amalekite,’ I answered. 9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’ 10 “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
This young Amalekite warrior has a problematic story. First, we have to address motive. Why did he come to David? Is he looking for something more than just relaying a story? Is he lying or telling the truth?
When we look at 1 Samuel 31:5, we see this statement:
When the armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.
Both accounts can’t be right. If the Amalekite is to be trusted, then the biblical account is wrong.
Remember first that the Amalekites were in constant opposition to Israel and were deemed to be blotted out by Saul (1 Samuel 15:2-3). But even before that, the Amalekites were always in opposition to Israel (Exodus 17:16) and were not people if God (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). God, in His long-haul patience and mercy gave the Amalekites a long time to come back to him, which they did not. So, when Saul was tasked with wiping them out, and he did not, it caused greater problems for him. The Amalekite showing up to show David Saul’s crown and band does not denote truth; it merely shows us a picture of the Amalekites and their desire for self-preservation.
11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered. 14 David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. 16 For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
David’s reaction is not of satisfaction or joy; it’s torment. Saul had chased David around the countryside in hopes to kill him so he could retain his own power. But David did not raise a hand to him, did not retaliate or try to kill him. David respected the king and understood God’s promise. He knew he would ascend to the throne in God’s time, not his own. If he were to kill Saul, he would be king under his terms. David knows how to wait on God’s timing. Because the Amalekite killed Saul, David dealt with him in the same fashion. If the story was a fabrication ( which it appears to be), then it wasn’t a very smart one. David knew that God deals with death, and when we intervene in God’s plans and take a life before it is meant to be taken, then we have stepped into the realm of playing God and not being patient to let God do what He needs to do when.
But didn’t David commit the same crime? By dealing the justice to the Amalekite, didn’t he cut short a life before God’s time? That may be true. David will deal with his own actions later. In 1 Chronicles 17:1, David wants so badly to build the temple for God. This would be a permanent structure for sacrifice and worship. But he isn’t allowed to. Why? 1 Chronicles 22:8 says this:
8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, z‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.
In the story of David, there is a lot of killing. Some of it righteous in the sense of war and defense, but others (Uriah comes to mind) that is senseless and wrong. Whether this killing was justified or not, it shows that David was willing to dispense justice as God’s servant and perhaps takes matters into his own hands sometimes.
David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan 17 David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar): 19 “A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel. How the mighty have fallen! 20 “Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice. 21 “Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, may no showers fall on your terraced fields. For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil. 22 “From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied. 23 Saul and Jonathan-- in life they were loved and admired, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. 24 “Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold. 25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. 26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. 27 “How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”
David’s sorrow is real and raw. Jonathan was David’s friend and confidant. In 1 Samuel 20, David and Jonathan’s friendship is fully realized. Saul is also mentioned here as a man of honor. David does not denigrate either man but holds them in the highest esteem.