If this section of the Bible were a movie, it would probably be rated R! The battle, blood, and betrayals are all part of the real-life drama ancient people experienced during the transfer of power from Saul to David in 997 BC. Some see these stories and think, “That’s entertaining, but not relevant to my life,” or they miss the point because the violence seems so shocking for a holy book. But this is more than a part of ancient history, it is God’s Holy Word. This doesn’t mean everything everyone does is what we all should aspire to. But it does mean God uses the good, bad, and ugly to speak to his people and reveal more about who he is.

So what do we learn about God from these stories that include David ordering people to be executed? We see repeatedly that David has a fierce loyalty to God’s will. Even when Saul was chasing him down and he had the chance to take Saul’s life, David loyally respected that Saul was still the king God had put in place. David does not plot to take over Israel and finally be the king with all the power that he always wanted. David was simply responding to how God is handing Israel over to his leadership on God’s timeframe.

Hopefully, you do not have literal backstabbing happening in your life as David and the people around him experienced. But how will you respond when someone gets promoted and you don’t? What if someone in the family gets a certain kind of treatment and you don’t? When others think they are doing you a favor by gossiping about your enemies and socially murdering the reputation of people who make life harder for you, how will you respond? King David’s imperfect example of loyalty to the point of violence, points us to the perfect example of Christ, who married Justice and Mercy together. Jesus, who was born into the line of King David, who was crucified with a sign that read, “The King of the Jews,” was fiercely loyal to the will of God, even to the point of violence. But it was not violence against others that secured the kingdom of God. Instead of executing the disloyal, Jesus was executed so those who are disloyal could be redeemed.

Questions for reflection:

  1. What kinds of drama and backstabbing do you experience in your world? What is a response to that you can take that would demonstrate fierce loyalty to God’s will?
  2. Would you describe yourself as fiercely loyal to whatever God wants on whatever timeline God wants it? What could you do differently today to demonstrate sincere loyalty and love in these things?