2 Samuel 1
David Learns of Saul’s Death

1 After the death of Saul, David returned from his victory over the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. 2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s army camp. He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head to show that he was in mourning. He fell to the ground before David in deep respect.

3 “Where have you come from?” David asked.

“I escaped from the Israelite camp,” the man replied.

4 “What happened?” David demanded. “Tell me how the battle went.”

The man replied, “Our entire army fled from the battle. Many of the men are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”

5 “How do you know Saul and Jonathan are dead?” David demanded of the young man.

6 The man answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear with the enemy chariots and charioteers closing in on him. 7 When he turned and saw me, he cried out for me to come to him. ‘How can I help?’ I asked him.

8 “He responded, ‘Who are you?’

“‘I am an Amalekite,’ I told him.
9 “Then he begged me, ‘Come over here and put me out of my misery, for I am in terrible pain and want to die.’ 10 “So I killed him,” the Amalekite told David, “for I knew he couldn’t live. Then I took his crown and his armband, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”

11 David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day. 13 Then David said to the young man who had brought the news, “Where are you from?”

And he replied, “I am a foreigner, an Amalekite, who lives in your land.”

14 “Why were you not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed one?” David asked.

15 Then David said to one of his men, “Kill him!” So the man thrust his sword into the Amalekite and killed him. 16 “You have condemned yourself,” David said, “for you yourself confessed that you killed the Lord’s anointed one.”

"Tell the truth and you won't get in trouble." We teach our kids this from a young age. It is always better to tell the truth than to concoct some story to save our butts. This story turns that theory on its head. Here we have a young man showing respect (kneeling, covered in dust) and trying to do the right thing, sharing the truth of what had happened. And David responds by having him killed. 

Can you imagine, for a moment, being out in that field and seeing the King impaled by his own sword, bleeding out, and begging for help... and you do what? Pretend you never saw it? Walk away? Allow him to suffer in agonizing pain? I don't know. I can't say I could lay a hand on anyone and take their life in my hands, but at the same time, I can't imagine allowing them to continue to suffer, either. 

I have a new dog. She is a rescue Pit and has extreme anxiety issues. I worry about her running into the road and being hit. In fact, the other night, she pulled out of her collar when my husband was taking her out potty and she wouldn't come back. Two and a half hours I searched for her in the yard, around barns, in neighbor's yards, and along the roadside. Several times I thought "Oh, if she's been hit by a car but is not dead, I don't want her to suffer!" and yet at the same time, could I have done anything if I found her that way? Probably the only thing I would have done is gone to get my husband and have him "do the dirty work." Thankfully, I didn't need to. I found her next door at Hillside Dairy Farm at 12:30am. 

It is easy to hear a story like this one and think we know what they "should" have done or what we "would" have done. But we are not them and they are not us. So instead, we try to understand the views of each involved and form empathy for them, trying to understand their motives. For the young man, I believe he was showing compassion by not only taking Saul's life, but by returning to David to let him know what happened. He could have just walked away. As for David, my guess is he was in great despair. He loved Jonathon and certainly had love for Saul, even though Saul had lost his mind and done everything possible to take David's life. And so in his grief and dismay, he found a scapegoat... and took his life, instead.