Love and Death (2 Sam. 1-4; Psalm 6, 8-10,14, 16, 19, 21; 1 Chronicles 1-2)

My husband is convinced I'm going to drive into a tree one of these days, swerving to miss a squirrel or bird or mole.  Or a leaf that looks like a mole.  I can't help it!  It's just instinct to swerve when something jets in front of my vehicle!  The other day the car in front of me hit a squirrel.  I saw it too late to swerve and well... i finished the first car's work.  I felt bad, but consoled myself knowing my giant SUV put the squirrel out of its misery in a hurry.  We don't like to see the dying suffer, do we?

David?  What's your take?

Oh?  You had a guy killed for putting Saul out of his misery?  Huh.  I'd hate to be a squirrel on my deathbed in front of your chariot (or whatever.  You know what I mean.)

Sadly, that wasn't the only time I got mad at David (and it won't be the last!)  My heart also broke for "the husband."  You know who I mean? Michal's other husband?  I know, David married her first and he was right to ask her to come along, but the other husband loves her!  He's so sad and pitiful: "Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim..." (2 Sam. 3:16)  When I Googled David and Michal's love story I found this interesting blurb on ancienthistory.about.com:
"1 Samuel 18:20 says that Michal loved David, the only place in the Bible where a woman's love for a man is recorded, according to footnotes in The Jewish Study Bible. However, there is no biblical record of David having loved Michal, and the later story of their marriage seems to indicate that he didn't, even though some rabbinical interpretations dispute this, according to Jewish Women, an online encyclopedia."

Just one of many scandalous love stories in the Bible.  No wonder it's the world's bestseller year after year!

The Perfect Words, The Perfect Friend (1 Sam. 18-24; Psalm 7, 27, 31, 34, 52)

My plan was to talk about friendship today, but I can’t say a word about it without first mentioning the bombing in Boston today.  But what is there to say?  And then I opened my Bible for today’s reading and, as always, God (via David) had the perfect words, right off the bat: “Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me...” (Psalm 7:1); “Arise, Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies.  Awake, my God; decree justice.” (7: 6).  Verse after verse was exactly what we need after such a tragedy.  Let us just know, God will vindicate us.

God’s timing is so perfect to insert those chapters of Psalms into 1 Samuel just when we need them.  But before the Psalms, there was quite the exciting chase going on between Saul and David!  My favorite part of that story is Jonathan and David’s friendship.  Social media, as much as I love it (hey! Follow me on Twitter!) has really watered down the word “friend.”  I’m “friends” with people I haven’t actually had a conversation with in ten plus years.  I’m happy to stay kinda, sorta in touch with them, but come on.  I count at least three times in seven chapters that Jonathan loved David as himself.  They swore their friendship before God.  They were more than friends, they were blood brothers.

My cup runneth over with wonderful friends.  I can’t sing or cook, I’m not a genius, I’ll never win a gold medal, and I was in line for big thighs when God was handing out patience.  But at every stage of my life God has brought the perfect people to sustain me.  I’m certainly no David, but God has given me more than one Jonathan.  Jonathans who I know would help me escape the rage of an insane king, and for whom I would happily do the same.