The Life and Times of

David’s Response (1:11-16)

11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13 And David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he answered,” I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite. “ 14 Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?” 15 And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, cut him down.” So he struck him and he died. 16 And David said to him, “Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the LORD'S anointed.'“

As I read this chapter in 2 Samuel, I am reminded of the old “good news, bad news” jokes. I’ll spare you any examples. I think the messenger is thinking in terms of “good news” and “bad news” when he reaches David. I believe he expected to come to David in this way:

“David, I’ve got some bad news, and I’ve got some good news. The bad news is that Israel has been defeated by the Philistines. Many men have been killed, and many more have fled from the battle, and even from their land and homes. The good news is that your enemy Saul is dead, and so is his heir, Jonathan. This means that you can now place this crown on your head and rule as king over Israel.”

For David, this is all bad news. He is grief-stricken over the defeat of Israel and the death of Saul. He is devastated by the death of his closest friend, Jonathan. Any thought of personal gain at the expense of others is cast aside.

As we read in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “there is a time to mourn” (Ecclesiastes 3:4b). David sets the pace in the mourning that occurs in response to the messenger’s words. His men promptly follow his lead. We can remember occasions when some of his men wanted to see Saul dead. Okay, so neither David nor they could kill Saul. Someone else has, and this might be seen as grounds for some kind of rejoicing but not while David is around! David tears his clothes, and so do the rest. They all mourn and weep and fast until evening. They mourn for the house of Israel, for king Saul, and Jonathan.

Now there is another matter which must be dealt with, a matter that can wait while David and his men express their grief over Israel’s defeat and the deaths of Saul, Jonathan, and many other Israelites. This messenger has confessed to putting Saul to death. This may not seem wrong to him, but it is an outrage to David. How many times has he refused to put Saul to death, even though he might have claimed self-defense? And yet this Amalekite had no reservations about finishing off Saul.

This Amalekite messenger has no idea of the situation into which he has gotten himself. I am reminded of my oldest daughter and a story she loved to tell as a little girl about a wide-mouthed frog. Mrs. Frog would go about asking other mothers what they fed their babies. She would ask one animal and then another. Finally, she came upon a snake, and she said to it, “Mrs. Snake, what do you feed your babies?” (It was here that my daughter Beth especially enjoyed the story, because she would open her mouth up very wide in an exaggerated expression.) Mrs. Snake responded, “I feed my babies wide-mouthed frogs.” Now, with lips pursed ever so tight, Beth went on to say for Mrs. Frog, “Oh, is that so?”

Mrs. Frog did not realize she was setting herself up for disaster, and neither does the Amalekite messenger. He speaks openly of being an Amalekite, without realizing what he is saying. He almost brags about killing Saul, with no sense of hesitation or impending danger. He also speaks lightly about the death of Jonathan, David’s dearest friend. This young man has put a noose around his own neck, and he never realizes it until it is too late.

The Amalekite messenger has said all that David needs to hear. He is already as good as dead. Nevertheless, David asks the young messenger where he comes from for the second time. I must admit being somewhat puzzled about why David asks virtually the same question twice. I may be starting to get the point. Often we ask someone the same question twice, not because we did not hear the answer, but because the answer catches us off guard and puzzles us. The first time David asks this young man, he answers that he has come from the camp of Saul (verse 3). Then, in his report of what happened on Mt. Gilboa, he includes his statement to Saul that he is an Amalekite (verse 8). During his time of mourning, David may have been saying to himself, “Now just how is it than an Amalekite can be among those in the camp of an Israelite king, especially when the Amalekites are an enemy of Israel?⁵ The messenger may just be starting to get the drift of David’s question, and so he at least seeks to clarify his answer by indicating that he is the son of an alien, who is an Amalekite.

But his answer is too little and too late to do him any good. No matter what his explanation might be, he has “stretched out his hand to kill the Lord’s anointed,” and then boasted of it. He is without excuse, condemned by his own words. David orders him to be executed. The Bible Knowledge Commentary makes an insightful comment here:

It is ironic that Saul lost his kingdom because he failed to annihilate the Amalekites, and now one who said he was an Amalekite died because he claimed to have destroyed Saul.⁶

The issues are clear and simple to David, and not as the young man sees them. The young man sees Saul as David’s enemy, an obstacle to his rise to the throne. He sees the death of Saul as good news to David. He sees killing Saul as “putting him out of his misery,” like shooting a horse with a broken leg. David sees it much more simply: he killed the Lord’s anointed. It does not matter that Saul would have died anyway -- it does not matter that he made David’s life hell. It does not matter that Saul was suffering. It does not matter that Saul wanted to die, or that Saul had only moments of life left. It does not matter that the Philistines may soon be upon him. This man killed the Lord’s anointed. And now David has him put to death.