READING FOR APRIL 14, 2025: 2 SAMUEL 1, 1 CORINTHIANS 7, PSALM 31:1-13 2 SAMUEL 1 After David had had defeated Amalekites and returned to Ziklag, he received word about Saul and his sons who were fighting the Philistines. The news was all bad. Israel lost the battle; Saul and Jonathan died. The messenger, ironically, was a young Amalekite. This person stated that Saul was severely wounded and asked him (the Amalekite man) to relieve his suffering by killing him, which he did. David’s first reaction was one of overwhelming grief, expressed through weeping and fasting.
David proclaimed the Amalekite guilty of killing the Lord’s anointed and had him executed. This raises some interesting questions about the ending of life. Given David’s background, comments, and behavior, there is no indication that this man would have been punished had he killed Saul in battle. Notice that David doesn’t express morale outrage over Jonathan’s death, only grief. Since David, himself, commanded the death penalty for the Amalekite, he does not to find capital punishment problematic. What he found morally unacceptable was what we might call today “euthanasia.” This is legal in several western counties, including Canada, but not in the United States. Ten states, however, allow assisted suicide. The Bible advocates leaving this up to God: “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that” (James 4:15).
Finally, David channels his grief and memorializes artistically the lives of these giant figures by writing a beautiful lament. To David, the passing of an earthly life is no small matter and leaves us poorer. Another great poet, John Donne, put it this way: “Any man's death diminishes me, be- cause I am involved in Mankind; And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
1 CORINTHIANS 7 This chapter is about relationships around the marriage covenant. Paul is responding to questions from the Corinthian church about marriage. (I apologize for the explicit sexual language.) It is right for married couples to have sex with each other (as blunt as possible). There may have been a group of people in the Corithian church that had chosen to abstain from sex in their marriage to not fall into sexual perversion. Paul states that it is wrong for one person in a marriage to withhold sex for an extended period. In verse 10, Paul is most likely referring to the command that Jesus gave to his disciples (Matthew 5:32, 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18): “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matt. 19:9).
For those of us Christians who have endured divorce, we struggle with this teaching. We can affirm that divorce is not a part of God’s plan for marriage. In a perfect world, every marriage would last until “death do us part.” But for several reasons, the marriage that we were a part of ended in divorce. We live in a world of sin. We live in a world where “sexual immorality”
READINGS FOR APRIL 14, 2025 CONTINUED: 1 CORINTHIANS 7, PSALM 31:1-13 (adultery, pornography, addictions, etc.) is prevalent. There are marriages where physical, psychological, and emotional abuse has taken over the marriage. There are marriages where lying, cheating, and stealing have placed a serious burden on the union. These unions are destructive and unhealthy. Paul struggles with the ambiguity of certain situations in marriage as well. In verses 12-16, Paul gives exceptions to Jesus’ instruction if one member of the marriage is a Christian and the other is not. In our modern world, there are reasons in our society where the ending of the marriage is necessary for the health of all parties involved. It is not part of God’s plan. But through sin, the marriage comes to an end.
I believe that if you have been through a divorce in your past there are only a few things you can do at this point. Accept that God’s plan for your marriage was for it to last for a lifetime. Ask God to forgive you for your part (and ONLY your part) of the failure of your marriage. Then maybe the hardest part, forgive your former spouse for their part of the failure. And lastly, know that we have faith in a God who forgives: “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:5).”
The rest of the chapter can get confusing. It begins in verse 17: “Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.” This rule of Paul’s has been used by people to reinforce their own beliefs. It was used by slave owners in the Southern States to justify the institution of slavery. It has been used by several “end times” cults to justify their belief that marriage would keep people from being prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These are only two examples. Paul’s rule was most likely instituted in churches to keep false teachings from taking over. The rule emphasizes that there is no change of status that you can do by your own action that can make you more worthy of salvation. Jesus accepts you as you are.
PSALM 31:1-13 This psalm is a psalm of lament (an expression of grief.) The reason for this grief is due to a conspiracy that David had to face and overcome. It was so intense that many of David’s supporters and friends abandoned him. Verse 13, which is the middle verse, expresses the reason for the writing of this hymn. No other psalm expresses a sturdier trust in God when powerful human forces have threatened harm. David has taken refuge in God. He asks God to protect him in this time of trouble. In verse 5, David expresses his total trust and commitment to God. He has entrusted himself into God’s care. The beginning of Verse 5 is almost the precise words that Jesus expressed as his last words from the cross: “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46). The other psalm that Jesus quoted from the cross was Psalm 22:1 in Matthew 27:46. Jesus echoes the words that David penned. Jesus' work was done, and he could now endure death for God’s saving work to proceed to the resurrection.
