Archive for the ‘1 Samuel 22’ Category
READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART XL
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Psalm 52
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The superscription of Psalm 52 links the text to 1 Samuel 22:9-11, which follows:
Doeg the Edomite, who was standing among the courtiers of Saul, spoke up: “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. He inquired of the LORD on his behalf and gave him provisions; he also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” Thereupon the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and for all the priests belonging to his father’s house at Nob. They all came to the king….
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999)
King Saul ordered the deaths of those priests, women, children, infants, and livestock. Taking the “wrong” side in a civil war has long been risky.
The superscription does not apply to the psalm, though. Notice, O reader, that Doeg spoke honestly. Yet read these lines from Psalm 52:
You love all destructive words,
the tongue of deceit.
–Verse 6, Robert Alter
The psalmist contrasts his situation–being “like a thriving olive tree in God’s house”–with that of his foe, uprooted from the land of the living by God. The reference to the olive tree is crucial; it indicates that the psalmist seeks to remain in or near the Temple.
Words matter. Slander and libel are crimes for a good reason: character assassination has long-term consequences. One case in the news as I drafted this post involved a University of Idaho professor falsely implicated in social media in the murder of students. Law enforcement officials attested to his innocence and arrested a suspect. Lies travel rapidly over social media outlets, so the professor was suing.
May we speak truthful words. May our words build up each other and help to create or maintain the common good. May they defame nobody. Words matter, after all. In mythology, God spoke creation into existence. Our words also create. What do they create?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 15, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND MARTYR, 1968
THE FEAST OF BERTHA PAULSSEN, GERMAN-AMERICAN SEMINARY PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGIST, AND SOCIOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF GUSTAVE WEIGEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF JOHN COSIN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DURHAM
THE FEAST OF JOHN MARINUS VERSTEEG, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT NIKOLAUS GROSS, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC OPPONENT OF NAZISM, AND MARTYR, 1945
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Icon of Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING JEREMIAH, PART XXVII
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 47:1-7
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Philistines were descendants of the Sea Peoples.
Interpretations of the Sea Peoples have changed in recent decades. The older version of them was that, starting in the fourteenth century B.C.E., the Sea Peoples moved from Greece to Asia Minor then to the eastern Mediterranean region. They destroyed the Hittite Empire (in Asia Minor). The Sea Peoples attacked Egypt during the twelfth century B.C.E., but the Egyptian forces defeated them. Afterward, the Sea Peoples settled on the coast of Canaan, assimilated with the local population, and became the Philistines.
The Sea Peoples’ defeat at Egyptian hands is a matter of the historical record.
However, the former historical consensus regarding the Sea Peoples may have been wrong. The Bronze Age Collapse (circa 1177 B.C.E.) affected the Mediterranean region. The powers were interdependent. Then a combination of climate change and natural disasters, followed by social and economic collapse, may have driven a diverse group of refugees from one land to another, then to another. Some of the ancient empires may have collapsed from within, not due to the Sea Peoples. Nevertheless, the Sea Peoples may still have proven disruptive. Certainly, they were not welcome.
The Philistines were one of the oldest enemies of the Hebrews. The Philistines oppressed the tribes of Israel for an undefined period of time (Judges 3:31) and again for about 40 years (Judges 13-16). Hostilities between the Philistines and the Israelites continued into the twilight of the age of the judges and into the time of the Israelite monarchy (1 Samuel 4-31; 2 Samuel 1-5, 8). In fact, the Philistine military threat was the main justification for creating the Israelite monarchy.
I have already read prophetic oracles against Philistia during this project of reading the Hebrew prophetic books, roughly in historical order. I have read the oracles in Amos 1:6-8 and Isaiah 14:28-32.
The oracle in Ezekiel 25:15-17 awaits my attention, in due time.
Jeremiah 47:1 establishes a temporal setting for the oracle against Philistia:
before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
Pharaoh Neco II (r. 610-595 B.C.E.) attacked Gaza in 609 B.C.E.
The Septuagint copy of the Book of Jeremiah lacks 47:1. The rest of the germane text of Chapter 47 refers to the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian conquest of Philistia circa 604 B.C.E., followed by mass deportations. The juxtaposition of these facts indicates editing subsequent to the time of Jeremiah the prophet.
Jeremiah 47 depicts God as destroying Philistia. The prophet pleads:
Ah! Sword of the LORD!
When will you find rest?
Return to your scabbard;
stop, be still!
–Verse 6, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
The answer in verse 7 is that the sword of the LORD cannot rest until God commands it to do so.
Walter Brueggemann writes:
Yahweh is not dominated by any of our conventionalities, but acts in sheer freedom, owing no one anything. Listeners to this poem are invited to face this undomesticated God who may violate our sensitivities, this God who maybe the only hope for the Philistines as for Israel.
—A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming (1998), 441-442
God refuses to fit into human categories and metaphorical theological boxes. God does not issue trigger warnings. God remains undomesticated, despite human discomfort. So be it. If we object, we have the problem; God does not.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 14, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT METHODIUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND THE “SWEET-VOICED NIGHTINGALE OF THE CHURCH”
THE FEAST OF DAVID LOW DODGE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN BUSINESSMAN AND PACIFIST
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS J. UPLEGGER, GERMAN-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND MISSIONARY; “OLD MAN MISSIONARY”
THE FEAST OF FRANK LAUBACH, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF MARK HOPKINS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, EDUCATOR, AND PHYSICIAN
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING JEREMIAH, PART I
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 1:1-3
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The first three verses of the Book of Jeremiah identify the prophet, his father, the prophet’s hometown, and the timeframe of his prophetic ministry.
Jeremiah (“YHWH will exalt”) ben Hilkiah hailed from Anathoth, about three and a half miles northeast of Jerusalem. The father, Hilkiah, was a priest. Hilkiah and Jeremiah were outside of the priestly establishment in Jerusalem. Therefore, this Hilkiah was not the high priest Hilkiah (2 Kings 22:3-23:37) who found the scroll of Deuteronomy in the Temple, brought that scroll to King Josiah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.), and participated in Josiah’s religious reformation.
Hailing from Anathoth was significant. Anathoth was one of the cities assigned to Levitical priests in Joshua 21:18. After the death of King David, King Solomon had exiled the priest Abiathar (1 Samuel 22:20-22; 1 Samuel 23:6, 9; 1 Samuel 30:7; 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Samuel 15:24, 27, 29, 35; 2 Samuel 17:15; 2 Samuel 19:11; 2 Samuel 20:25; 1 Kings 1:7, 19, 25, 42; 1 Kings 2:35; 1 Kings 4:4; 1 Chronicles 15:11; 1 Chronicles 18:16; 1 Chronicles 24:6; 1 Chronicles 27:34; Mark 2:26) to Anathoth for supporting Adonijah in the struggle for succession (1 Kings 2:26-27). Jeremiah, therefore, was also a member of a priestly family. He understood the ancient traditions of Israel, as well as the foundational character of the covenant in the life of Israel.
The superscription also defines the period during which Jeremiah prophesied: from the thirteenth year (627 B.C.E.) of the reign (640-609 B.C.E.) of King Josiah of Judah through “the eleventh year of King Zedekiah,” “when Jerusalem went into exile in the fifth month” (586 B.C.E.). We read in Chapters 39-44 that Jeremiah prophesied after the Fall of Jerusalem, too. The list of kings names Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. That list omits Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum and Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah. Yet, as the germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014), points out, few of the prophecies in the Book of Jeremiah date to the reign of King Josiah.
Jeremiah prophesied during a turbulent and difficult period of decline–mostly after the fall of the Assyrian Empire (612 B.C.E. and before the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.). In the wake of King Josiah’s death, Judah had become a vassal state of Egypt. Pharaoh Neco II had chosen the next two Kings of Judah. Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38) had reigned for about three months before becoming a prisoner in Egypt. Then Neco II had appointed Eliakim and renamed him Jehoiakim (r. 608-598 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42). Jehoiakim was always a vassal while King of Judah. After being the vassal of Neco II of Egypt for about three years, he became a vassal of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 605 B.C.E. He died a prisoner in that empire.
Two more Kings of Judah reigned; both were vassals of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46) reigned for about three months before going into exile in that empire. The last King of Judah was Zedekiah, born Mattaniah (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58). He reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. The last events he saw before Chaldean soldiers blinded him were the executions of his sons.
The Book of Jeremiah is one of the longest books in the Hebrew Bible; it contains 52 chapters. The final draft is the product of augmentation and editing subsequent to the time of Jeremiah himself. In fact, Jeremiah 52 is mostly verbatim from 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. Also Jeremiah 52:4-16 occur also in Jeremiah 39:1-2, 4-10. Chronology is not the organizing principle of material in the Book of Jeremiah; jumping around the timeline is commonplace. For example, the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) occurs between Chapters 32 and 33, as well as in Chapters 39 and 52. Some ancient copies are longer than other ancient copies. None of the subsequent augmentation and editing, complete with some material being absent from certain ancient copies of the book surprises me, based on my reading about the development of certain Biblical texts. I do not pretend that divinely-inspired authors were mere secretaries for God.
Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel made a germane and wonderful point in The Prophets, Volume I (1962), viii:
The prophet is a person, not a microphone. He is endowed with a mission, with the power of a word not his own that accounts for his greatness–but also with temperament, concern, character, and individuality. As there was no resisting the impact of divine inspiration, so at times there was no resisting the vortex of his own temperament. The word of God reverberated in the voice of man.
The prophet’s task is to convey a divine view, yet as a person he is a point of view. He speaks from the perspective of God as perceived from the perspective of his own situation. We must seek to understand not only the views he expounded but also the attitudes he embodied: his own position, feeling response–not only what he said but also what he lived; the private, the intimate dimension of the word, the subjective side of the message.
Those paragraphs applied to all the Hebrew prophets. They applied to Jeremiah with greater poignancy than to the others, though.
I invite you, O reader, to remain with me as I blog my way through the book of the “weeping prophet.”
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 6, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 5: THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF FRANKLIN CLARK FRY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA AND THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CLAUDE OF BESANÇON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF HENRY JAMES BUCKOLL, AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERTZOG, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM KETHE, PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Saul and David in the Cave of En-Gedi, by Willem de Poorter
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XXII
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 Samuel 23:15-24:22
1 Samuel 26:1-25
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If the LORD had not come to my help,
I should have dwelt in the land of silence.
–Psalm 94:17, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The editing of different sources into a composite narrative created a unified story with chronological inconsistencies. I have written of some of these contradictions in other posts in this series. That cutting and pasting (to use an anachronism) also gave us doublets–two versions of the same story. Careful reading of much of the Hebrew Bible has identified doublets, starting in Genesis.
The doublet on which I focus in this post pertains to David saving King Saul’s life, not taking it, while the monarch was trying to kill David. The doublets wrap around 1 Samuel 25 in the composite narrative.
In 1 Samuel 23:15-24:22, King Saul and his forces were pursuing David and his forces. Saul was eager to kill David. The inhabitants of Ziph were ready to facilitate David’s death, as those of Keilah had been earlier in Chapter 23. David spared Saul’s life and issued an order that nobody kill the monarch. In this familiar story, David cut off a piece of Saul’s cloak, made his presence known, and spoke to Saul. The king acknowledged that David would succeed him.
The editing of 1 Samuel 23, 24, and 26 is odd. It seems that 26:1-25, with its reference to the Ziphites, originally flowed from the end of Chapter 23.
In 1 Samuel 26:1-25, David spared Saul’s life and forbade violence against the monarch. However, David claimed Saul’s spear, the kingdom of his kingship. (See 1 Samuel 13:22; 18:10; 19:9; 20:33; and 22:6. Also see 2 Samuel 1:6.) David also took the water jar at Saul’s head. Saul and David also spoke, and the king admitted that David would win.
In both versions, Saul admitted to being in the wrong. Yet he persisted in the wrong. Saul did not repent.
I know what it is to be a wronged person. I know the names of those who have wronged me, actively or passively. I know their characters, objectively. I also affirm that they are responsible before God for their characters and deeds, just as I am responsible before God for my character and deeds. What kind of person am I? The answer to that question is more important than the issue of what kind of people others are. One cannot prevail against perfidy by falling into it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 21, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRUNO ZEMBOL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC FRIAR AND MARTYR, 1942
THE FEAST OF SAINTS CAMERIUS, CISELLUS, AND LUXORIUS OF SARDINIA, MARTYRS, 303
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF EDESSA, CIRCA 304
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN OF ANTIOCH; MARTYR, CIRCA 353; AND SAINTS BONOSUS AND MAXIMIANUS THE SOLDIER, MARTYRS, 362
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: A Map Showing Israel at the Time of Saul and David
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XXI
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 Samuel 23:1-14
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fight those who fight me, O LORD;
attack those who are attacking me.
Take up shield and armor
and rise up to help me.
–Psalm 35:1-2, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The events of 1 Samuel 23:1-14 flow from those of 1 Samuel 21 and 22.
In 1 Samuel 21, David, on the run, had lied to Ahimelech (great-grandson of Eli), priest at Nob. David had claimed to be on a mission for King Saul. Ahimelech had believed David yet not consulted God on David’s behalf. In the following chapter, Saul had ordered the execution of the priests, all the inhabitants of Nob, and their livestock. Ahimelech had allegedly consulted God on David’s behalf.
In 1 Samuel 23:1-14, David and his forces defeated Philistines threatening the town of Keilah. With Saul and his forces on the way, the inhabitants were ready to save themselves from the wrath of the king by turning David over to him. David fled and continued to live. Also, Abiathar son of Ahimelech consulted God on David’s behalf.
In 1 Samuel 23:4, David consulted God, who answered.
I like the Quaker doctrine of the Inner Light. As I age, I find myself growing into mysticism and contemplative prayer. Despite the strong rebuke of a certain fundamentalist Presbyterian I know, I recognize no spiritual error in listening to and for God. Contemplative prayer is an ancient aspect of Christian tradition. Contemplative prayer is a positive part of Christian tradition. Contemplative prayer has great value. Prayer is more than talking to God; it includes listening, too. God, I assume, has much to say and says it. One operative question is, are we listening? Are we consulting God? And, when we receive divine replies, how do we respond? Do we recognize them for what they are?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 21, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRUNO ZEMBOL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC FRIAR AND MARTYR, 1942
THE FEAST OF SAINTS CAMERIUS, CISELLUS, AND LUXORIUS OF SARDINIA, MARTYRS, 303
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF EDESSA, CIRCA 304
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN OF ANTIOCH; MARTYR, CIRCA 353; AND SAINTS BONOSUS AND MAXIMIANUS THE SOLDIER, MARTYRS, 362
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David, by Aert de Gelder
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XX
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 Samuel 21:1-22:23
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
They go to and fro in the evening;
they snarl like dogs and run about the city.
They forage for good,
and if they are not filled, they howl.
For my part, I will sing of your strength;
I will celebrate your love in the morning;
For you have become my stronghold,
a refuge in the day of my trouble.
To you, O my Strength, will I sing;
for you, O God, are my stronghold and my merciful God.
–Psalm 59:16-20, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David was in open rebellion against King Saul. Why not? King Saul had forced the issue by trying to kill David and to have David terminated with extreme prejudice. There was no indication of David being disloyal to King Saul before the monarch forced fugitive-rebel status upon him. David, therefore, remained alive the best ways he knew. The future king, in mortal peril, lied to Ahimelich, great-grandson of Eli, and feigned insanity before Achish, the King of Gath. According to the text, Achish knew who David, carrying the sword with which he had beheaded Goliath, was. David’s lie to Ahimelech led to the execution of all but one of the priests at Nob. Abiathar son of Ahimelech survived, though (1 Samuel 2:33).
The narrative emphasizes the contrast between the characters of Saul and David. Saul ordered the deaths of innocents–priests, the inhabitants of Nob, and livestock. When David realized the role he played leading up to those murders, he accepted personal responsibility. Saul also passed the buck before finally admitting error in 1 Samuel 15. But was he sincere when he confessed?
You, O reader, may know or know of someone who seldom or never accepts responsibility for his or her actions. This person may be a neighbor, a boss, a relative, a politician, et cetera. Such people blame others for their errors, frequently in the manner of projecting their failings onto others.
Those of us who have read the story of David know he was deeply flawed. We may not like him. That is fine. But, if we are honest, we must admit that, according to the story, David admitted errors more than once. David admitted errors more than once. I count such honesty as a virtue.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 21, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRUNO ZEMBOL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC FRIAR AND MARTYR, 1942
THE FEAST OF SAINTS CAMERIUS, CISELLUS, AND LUXORIUS OF SARDINIA, MARTYRS, 303
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF EDESSA, CIRCA 304
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN OF ANTIOCH; MARTYR, CIRCA 353; AND SAINTS BONOSUS AND MAXIMIANUS THE SOLDIER, MARTYRS, 362
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Princess Michelle Benjamin with David Shepherd, in Kings (2009)
A Screen Capture
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XVII
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 Samuel 18:6-30
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rescue me from my enemies, O God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.
Rescue me from evildoers
and save me from those who thirst for my blood.
See how they lie in wait for my life,
how the mighty gather together against me;
not for any offense or fault of mine, O LORD.
–Psalm 59:1-3, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David had become a political threat to King Saul. Usually, a monarch received credit for his warriors’ successes. Yet David, not Saul, received credit for David’s successes. The author understood divine favor to account for David’s successes. Saul, already unhinged, became jealous. He tried to arrange David’s death while luring the great warrior into false sense of comfort. Saul’s plan to kill David by placing him at the head of the troops (verse 13) was like David’s plan (in 2 Samuel 11) to kill Uriah the Hittite. Saul established a seemingly high bride price for his daughter Michal. David paid double.
Michal loved David (verses 20 and 28). In the Hebrew Bible, she was the only woman whom the text described as loving her man.
David, by marrying Michal, received the right of succession, behind Saul’s sons. Again the promise passed through the younger child–in this case, Michal.
Saul’s strategy in this chapter reminds me of Don Vito Corleone’s advice in The Godfather (1972):
Keep you friends close and your enemies closer.
Even that plan failed, for, as the author wanted the audience to know, God favored David. Saul, however, was not finished trying to kill David. The unhinged monarch continued to attempt to terminate David with extreme prejudice in 1 Samuel 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 26,
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 15, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY OF NAZARETH, MOTHER OF GOD
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Fiery Furnace
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Daniel 3:19-30
Psalm 57:8-11
Revelation 11:15-19
Luke 1:5-20, 57-66
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wake up, my spirit;
awake, lute and harp;
I myself will waken the dawn.
I will confess you among the peoples, O LORD;
I will sing praise to you among the nations.
For your loving-kindness is greater than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
–Psalm 57:8-11, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In Revelation 11 we read the announcement that
Sovereignty over the world has passed to our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever.
–Verse 15b, The Revised English Bible (1989)
Nevertheless, we must wait until Chapter 21 for that sovereignty to become apparent.
The sovereignty of God is indeed a challenging concept. In the Gospels the Kingdom of God is already partially present. The Roman Empire and its agents, one of whom goes on to order the execution of St. John the Baptist, born in Luke 1, is fully present.
Truly bad people who wield authority always seem to present somewhere. Nebuchadnezzar II, hardly a nice man, is a figure of ridicule in the Book of Daniel. He is fickle and seems unaware of the extent of his authority at times. He is willing to send people to die for refusing to serve the gods, so how nice can he be? He, as monarch, can change the law, too. Later in the Book of Daniel (Chapter 4) he goes insane. Also troubled and in one of the readings (sort of) is King Saul, a disturbed and mentally unwell man. The not attached to Psalm 57 contextualizes the text in 1 Samuel 22-24 and 26, with David leading a group of outlaws while on the run from Saul. In the story David saves the life of the man trying to kill him. (Aside: Chapters 24 and 26 seem to be variations on the same story. The Sources Hypothesis explains the duplication of material.)
One might detect a certain thread common to three of the readings: The lives of the faithful are at risk. That theme is implicit in Luke 1. God will not always deliver the faithful, hence the martyrs in Revelation 14. The sovereignty of God will not always be obvious. But we who claim to follow Christ can do so, by grace, and proclaim God among the peoples in a variety of circumstances.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 29, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS BOSA OF YORK, JOHN OF BEVERLEY, WILFRID THE YOUNGER, AND ACCA OF HEXHAM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS
THE FEAST OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF TIMOTHY REES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LLANDAFF
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2017/04/29/devotion-for-the-second-sunday-of-advent-ackerman/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Mosaic, Church of the Multiplication, Tabgha, Israel
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
1 Samuel 21:1-15 or 2 Kings 4:38-44
Psalm 49:(1-12) 13-20
Matthew 15:29-39; 16:10-12 or Mark 8:1-26
2 Corinthians 8:1-6 (7-15) 16-24
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stories of a holy person feeding a multitude with a small amount of food and having leftovers rhyme, if you will, O reader, in the Bible. This day we read an account of Elisha feeding 100 men and parallel stories of Jesus feeding 4000 men (plus uncounted women and children) in Matthew 15 and about 4000 people in Mark 8. The mechanics of such feelings do not interest me, but the theological importance of them does. The Kingdom of God is here, and we can perceive that reality, if we are spiritually attuned. In the Kingdom of God one finds abundance for everyone; artificial scarcity is a human creation.
Meanwhile, in 2 Corinthians 8, St. Paul the Apostle is raising funds for the Church at Jerusalem. This becomes explicit in Chapter 9. He, quoting Exodus 16:18, originally about manna, makes a point about wealth, monetary and physical:
The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.
–2 Corinthians 8:15, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
After all, we cannot take our money and possessions with us when we die. In this life we ought to use them for positive purposes. So, for example, if a rebel leader (David) pretending to be in the employ of King Saul needs bread for himself and his men takes the display bread reserved for priests to eat, the physical need overrides the ritual rules. (Yet, in 1 Samuel 22, the lie had fatal consequences for the priests.)
In the Kingdom of God scarcity is absent. So is the violence of someone such as King Saul. The ways of God are not the ways of human beings, despite our repeated attempts to make God fit into our categories. Part of this problem of attempting to make God fit into our categories is unavoidable, for, when we ponder God, we must do so from a human perspective. It is the only way we can think about God. Yet we must, if we are wise, recognize that our point of view is rather restricted. Our perspective might be, for example, the spiritual blindness of the Apostles of the leaven of the Pharisees. Reality is much broader than our narrow perspectives, we read. Are we willing to open our spiritual eyes?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 12, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN DOBER, MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMN WRITER; JOHANN LEONHARD DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; AND ANNA SCHINDLER DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDITH CAVELL, NURSE AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT KENNETH OF SCOTLAND, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT NECTARIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ARCHBISHOP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/devotion-for-the-fifth-sunday-of-easter-year-d/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.