Introduction to 2 Samuel
The Book of Samuel describes how Israel asked God to give them a human king to rule over them and follows the career of its first two kings, Saul (1 Samuel) and David (2 Samuel). There is tension between having a human king and the understanding that God is Israel’s king, and this is the theological question that the book explores at length. Thus, the events recounted consider the problem of power and what it does to human beings to have it, as well as how one may exercise power under God’s reign.
The overall structure of the Book of Samuel
The book’s structure is marked out by three poetic sections.[1] Hannah’s Song (1 Sam 2:1-10) sets out the issues around power and the reversal of human power by God: the mighty and proud are brought low and the weak and humble are raised by the Lord. At the transition point between 1 and 2 Samuel, when Saul is dead and the way opens for David to become king, the latter mourns for Saul and his son, Jonathan (‘How the mighty have fallen’; 2 Sam 1:19-27). Although David’s tone is compassionate and full of pity, it highlights for the reader how insecure human power is without God and echoes Hannah’s Song about the mighty being brought low. Saul, who seized the initiative instead of trusting and obeying God (1 Samuel 13 and 15) and held onto power even when God rejected his kingship, is now no more. Towards the end of 2 Samuel, we find two songs (2 Sam 22:2-51; 23:1-7) that emphasise how David’s kingship was rooted in deliverance from the Lord and that godly reign must be exercised in the fear of the Lord (i.e. submitting to His authority).
The covenant with David and the sin with Bathsheba
The high point of 2 Samuel is the covenant with David, the promise that his dynasty will endure (2 Sam 7:8-16). Long after his descendants ceased to govern Israel, the hope remained of another David, a king from his dynasty, who will establish a just rule under God and reign in perfect obedience to the ultimate King, God. This is Israel’s expectation of Messiah (God’s anointed king). David is a poor shadow of this future hope and no less fallible than Saul. The temptation to abuse power comes to him, too, when he sees and takes a desirable woman (Bathsheba), then has her husband murdered to cover his adultery (2 Samuel 11). This is the turning point in David’s story as king and sad consequences follow. All that David did is repeated in his family: one son rapes his half-sister, another son, Absalom, kills the rapist in revenge then seizes power from his father and sleeps with his concubines. David is once again on the run and will only regain his throne by God’s grace and at the cost of his son’s life.
David and Saul: a comparison
Comparing David to Saul, we might wonder why David is still favoured especially because, to our modern eyes, David’s actions (adultery and murder) seem much weightier than Saul’s (taking the initiative to offer sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel and not destroying the Amalekites or their animals after battle). This is where we go very wrong if we judge actions from a moralistic standpoint. The issue in both cases is the motivation to seize control and use power for one’s own selfish ends. However, the two men react very differently when confronted with their abuse of power. Saul either does not understand or cannot admit wrongdoing while David acknowledges his sin without ifs or buts (2 Sam 12:13). Their action, when challenged about their sin, is not a one-off but a habitual attitude that is reflected in their long-term behaviour to power. As we have seen in 1 Samuel, Saul is desperately grasping for power even as it slips from him while David refuses to seize the throne and waits on God to open his way to kingship. As we shall see in 2 Samuel, when David reaps the consequences of his sin as king, he submits himself to God’s humbling and continues to depend on Him.
The issue of power for us individually and as Church
Issues of kingship and power are reflected in the book on a grand, political scale, but the matter of wanting to rule our own lives is a present temptation for all of us. It is true not only of individuals but the church and its leadership, too. Learning to submit to God as our King is a lesson we all must learn because our sinful nature keeps interfering to take control without regard for God. David’s story, however, should encourage us because in his fallible, sinful state, the king knew how to repent and submit to God. What sets David apart and what should lift our spirits as we read his story is his trust in the Lord and in His immense grace, even as he was experiencing God’s discipline.
[1] David G. Firth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Nottingham: Apollos, 2009), 327-28.
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