Michal

1 Samuel 19:8-17New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Again there was war, and David went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them, so that they fled before him. Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.

Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed; she put a net of goats’ hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes. When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” When the messengers came in, the idol was in the bed, with the covering of goats’ hair on its head. Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go; why should I kill you?’”

One of the stories in the Bible that has always intrigued me has been the story of Michal, David's first wife.  Like her brother, Jonathan, Michal also loved David from the moment she met him.  She was part of a grand scheme of Saul's to try to get David killed, and was the second choice for David, marrying him only after her sister, Merab, was married off to someone else.

One of the reasons I've found the story of David and Michal so engrossing is that it plays out like a fairy tale that doesn't end happily ever after.  It follows, sadly, the pattern of many marriages that begin with love at first sight: starting with grand romance, and ending with a sad dose of reality.  

Like a fairy tale, the girl (in this case a princess no less), meets the charming young commoner and marries below her station for true love.  She even saves his life, rescuing him from the clutches of her evil father...

...and then everything falls apart.

The last happy moment David and Michael have is this last night together.  From here, he will escape and end up falling for and marrying Abigail.  And Saul will force Michal to marry someone else too.

And then when David comes back from hiding from Saul, he will demand Michal be taken from her new husband and returned to him (basically as his property).

Michal's story ends for the most part when she mocks David for how silly she thinks he looks praising God so David promises her she will never have a child by him.

The fairy tale turns into "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."

Michal's story is poignant to me both for how she is used by the men in her life, but also by her own pride and vanity at being the daughter of a king.  In someways, she is a victim.  Yet she isn't always sympathetic.  In the end, Michal doesn't turn to her God for help when David mistreats her, she turns away instead, just as her father did.  She relies on her own pride.

There is someone earnestly and honestly real about Michal's story to me.  Her falling for David and then their not ultimately accepting each other as they are, is a story that plays out over and over again in relationship after relationship.  In marriages, and from parent to child.

Jesus calls us into community to love and accept even our enemies.  Yet sometimes, that seems easier to do than with the people that live under the same roof as us.  Relationships get broken and fall apart when we aren't looking.  When time isn't put in.  When expectations aren't met.  

How can God help us to deal with those broken relationships in our lives?

Merciful God, help me to heal all those relationships that are broken with those that are closest to me.  Amen.

Jonathan

1 Samuel 18 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 

Things just go from bad to worse for Saul.  David, unbeknownst to him, is the new anointed King.  David has also killed the greatly feared Philistine, and David is the only one who can soothe Saul's own tired nerves.

And now, to make things even worse, in chapter 18, two of Saul's children fall head over heels for David.  To mixed ends, as it turns out.

First, today is Jonathan.  Jonathan would be Saul's heir, but from this moment on, Jonathan has a covenant with David.  Covenants are bound promises.  That's big time!  For all intents and purposes, David and Jonathan become knit together.

These days, in modern television and film, it is hard to come upon real stories of friendship.  The kind of bound friendship that we see here.  Much has been made as to what kind of love is described here.  Platonic love?  Romantic love?

Covenants were usually political in nature - so, my hunch has always been that the love between Jonathan and David is much like the bond two soldiers fighting side by side have for each other: comrades in arms.  It is more than every day friendship, which itself is something I see less and less of in these days of social media "friends." 

Do you have a friend you feel that tightly bound to?  Someone that you feel as much loyalty to as a spouse or a family member?  Someone that you feel as if you share a soul with?

It is, I think, the kind of friend God continually tries to be to the people of Israel throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.  

Who else makes covenants?  

God does.

It seems clear that this bond between Jonathan and David is shown as a contrast to the increasingly isolated and self-absorbed Saul.  The more Saul reaches in rather than outward toward God, the more isolated he becomes.  Saul, it seems clear, is not the kind who would have such a strong friendship.

Yesterday my daughter told me of a conversation she had about how the children younger than she (she's only 19), are becoming more isolated even than she and her peers who rely on "texting" to communicate with each other.  

It isn't then perhaps too much of a wonder then that the friendship of David and Jonathan can cause such consternation.  Friendship - deep, abiding friendship - sometimes feels as if it is going the way of the dinosaur. 

Saul's great sin perhaps was that he looked ever inward.

Incurvatus in se, as Luther said.  Curved in on oneself.

David on the other hand, in his great friendship with Jonathan, and with God, looked outward.  It is only by looking outward that we can really, truly see the other.  And it is only in seeing them - and loving them for who they are - that real friendship can flourish.

God of love and friendship, help me always to reach outward.  To see beyond myself and to trust in true friendship.  The kind of love and friendship that you show me every day.  Amen.

David and Goliath

1 Samuel 17:22-37New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.

All the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid. The Israelites said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. The king will greatly enrich the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter and make his family free in Israel.”David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” The people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

His eldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David. He said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart; for you have come down just to see the battle.”David said, “What have I done now? It was only a question.” He turned away from him toward another and spoke in the same way; and the people answered him again as before.

When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him.David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!”

"What have I done now?  It was only a question."  

Those might be the most relatable words in scripture.  How many teenagers can you hear in your head saying those words?

The teenager David says them to his elder brother.  You can hear the tone in his voice.  The annoyance.  The attitude!

Like a lot of teenagers I've known, David has confidence.  But David has a little something to back up his confidence. While others might be shrinking in fear at the size of Goliath, David knows two things:

He knows that God will not stand for Goliath's defiance and he knows that he, David, has experience behind him to face the giant.

Much again here has been made of David's size, so it is easy to underestimate him here.  Is he the underdog?  Maybe.  But with confidence, experience, and God on his side, he knows that really he isn't.

Battles in the Old Testament are never my favorite parts of scripture, but here again we see something of the kind of king David will be compared to Saul.  Everything in his face-off with Goliath, David knows is because of God and for God.  There is no personal glory he is looking for.

What is it like when we embrace God's call to us with the confidence and experience that David has?  Have you ever known you were meant for a situation and felt the ease of assurance in knowing that whatever happened, God was with you?

David was equipped.  His equipment was far more than a slingshot.  It was faith and experience.  That faith and experience provided him what he needed to be the person God created him to be.  He lived into his calling.

God of experience and wisdom, you have given me the gift of faith.  Enliven me to go boldly forward in that faith to serve you and your world!  Amen

Samuel and David

1 Samuel 16:6-13New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

When they came, (Samuel) looked on (Jesse's son) Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

In the midst of Saul falling apart, Samuel - despite his fears - follows God's instructions and anoints the next king.  Again, it is God who chooses directly.  Again, the future king is put before Samuel and presented to him by God as the choice.

But this time, Samuel has to go through the line of Jesse's sons before he gets to the right one.  Now there has been much made of the fact David was the youngest and perhaps the smallest (though the text doesn't actually say that he was that small).  Like Saul, however, his appearance - his handsomeness - seems to be one of his noticeable qualities.  

And like Saul he is in the midst of doing his chores for his father when he is chosen.  Saul had been searching for his father's donkey's, and now David is tending sheep.  There seems to be - at least initially - some similarities between the two.

And as we found yesterday, for a time, Saul and David would be bound as David was the only one who could soothe Saul's "evil spirit" with his music.  There will be many connections between Saul and David that will come into play, and perhaps lay the foundation as to how these two similar men become two very different kings.

David's anointing is done in private.  It isn't the public coronation that we are used to seeing coming out of Westminster Abbey or some other modern monarchy.  It was done before his family and God, and did not mark the beginning of his public leadership.

In the meantime, God would be equipping David.  Preparing him for what was to come.  It reminds me in some ways of our baptism.  Many of us were probably baptized as infants: not ready yet for the responsibilities that were to come in our journey of faith, yet lifted up by our family - both biological and community of faith - to take part in this priesthood of all believers.  Claimed by God, as David was, even before we were what many might think of as ready.

Our journey can be just as exciting as David's (although hopefully without all the battles and murders and adulteries that were to come!).  God's claim on us comes before we can return the favor.  But God equips and prepares us for the calling and says to us "you are ready" even before we think we are.

Good and gracious God, you have prepared me for this journey of faith.  Help me to hear your call and be ready for service in your great adventure of life!  Amen

Samuel and Saul

1 Samuel 16:1-5;14-23 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul’s servants said to him, “See now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skillful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will feel better.” So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me someone who can play well, and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him.” So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David who is with the sheep.” Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by his son David to Saul. And David came to Saul, and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

This is an important chapter, worthy of looking at in its entirety over a couple of days.  Here is the transition from Saul to David, with Samuel as the lynchpin.  Each man is worthy at looking at in this chapter.

First, Samuel.  This will be his last major act as God's servant: anointing David as king.  He probably thought he was done with that.  He'd made Saul king and had lived to see if become the disaster he predicted it would.  Now he's had to anoint another king in his place and is understandably a bit worried for his life.

Then Saul.  This chapter, as well as the previous one, have always been tough for me.  God has abandoned Saul because Saul did not obey, yet in this case, his disobedience to my eyes always seemed like mercy.  He did not kill the enemy king, Agag as God had commanded.  And now, as a result, an "evil spirit" from God is tormenting him.

I'm going to admit I've always had a hard time with that.  I've have rather come to the conclusion that that's OK.  It's OK to have a hard time sometimes with scripture.  And maybe what I've learned is that sometimes it takes a while for it to make at least a modicum of sense.  That's why the Bible is worth returning to over and over.  Some of it makes a bit more sense to me now - at least as to the why God is angry.

The modicum of sense I've made from it can be found in a line from chapter 15.  Saul has not killed the king as ordered, or any of the best of the livestock.  He had been ordered to lay waste to everything.  Instead, Saul killed "all that was despised and worthless" yet saved the king as well as the best of the animals for himself.  He kept what was of value and killed what wasn't.

And God had a problem with that.

It doesn't take much of a stretch to see that as a society, that still happens.  And I'm guessing God's still not happy with that.

As for the evil spirit, well, I don't have a pat scriptural answer for that other than to say that whether you call it an evil spirit or not, we still face the hauntings of our mind and heart and conscience when we have strayed from what we know God desires for us and of us.  

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner who strays and forgets.  Prick my heart and mind when I need it to remind me ever of your presence in my life and of the life you have called me to.  Amen.

Vacation

I'm going to be taking a break a couple days early because of vacation.  Leaving on Saturday - and have to leave my laptop behind.  But I got news today that my grandmother died this morning - so in all honesty, I will be spending the next few days thinking about her and doing some devotional reading for myself!

Will be back on August 3rd!  God bless!

Saul

1 Samuel 9:1-19New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had strayed. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the boys with you; go and look for the donkeys.” He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the boy who was with him, “Let us turn back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and worry about us.” But he said to him, “There is a man of God in this town; he is a man held in honor. Whatever he says always comes true. Let us go there now; perhaps he will tell us about the journey on which we have set out.” Then Saul replied to the boy, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What have we?” The boy answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, to tell us our way.” (Formerly in Israel, anyone who went to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer”; for the one who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.) Saul said to the boy, “Good; come, let us go.” So they went to the town where the man of God was.

As they went up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?” They answered, “Yes, there he is just ahead of you. Hurry; he has come just now to the town, because the people have a sacrifice today at the shrine. As soon as you enter the town, you will find him, before he goes up to the shrine to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those eat who are invited. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” So they went up to the town. As they were entering the town, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the shrine.

Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of my people, because their outcry has come to me.” When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people.” Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate, and said, “Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?” Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer; go up before me to the shrine, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind.

Ridley Scott is making yet another film about Moses.  That's all well and good, I suppose, but really everything I want to see in a Biblical epic happens in I Samuel.

Because this story has it all.

Enter today the best villain in the Bible for my money: Saul.  Villain in a "love to hate him because he's so complex" way.  Not one of those one-dimensional James Bond type villains.  

Saul makes a great villain because he starts out so innocently.  He's got hero written all over him.  He's Shakespearean. He's the flawed noble youth whose life falls apart because of power, pride, corruption and madness.  

He's MacBeth, Darth Vader, and Walter White all rolled into one.

Today when we meet Saul he's the hope of the future.  He's young, handsome, earnest, and obedient.

And that's what will make his fall so hard to see.

In Saul we see how easy it is for things to fall apart.  In Saul we begin to understand the old cliche about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.

In Saul we see that just like the parable of the wheat and weeds from Jesus that was in the Lectionary this Sunday, the wheat and the weeds grow together and sometimes their roots become entangled.

Saul will become entangled.  He'll lose his way and forget the path he's on and who put him there.

It's all too easy.

Saul's is a tale that begins with such promise.  Yet, for all his failings, Saul remains to me a figure of compassion.  He will lose his way, and yet we know that the way is still being paved.  We know that while we might sometimes forget God, God does not forget us.

And I don't think God forgot Saul.

God of mercy, sometimes it is all to easy to lose my way: to forget your promises and try to seek my own path.  When I stray, bring me back again.  Set my roots firmly in your path.  Amen.