There is a temporary peace between David and Saul. So David makes a peace effort with a wealthy neighbour in his tribal homeland. His expectation is that given its the festive time of shearing, his overtures will be welcomed and much-needed hospitality offered, especially in the light of the good conduct of his army. However, we don’t always get what we expect and a nasty response is received, triggering violent anger in David. Will he now “do a Saul”? Christians must be careful in self-control so as not to allow the poor behaviour of others towards us trigger sins in ourselves.
Brief notes on this passage are also sent out in daily emails during the week after the sermon. An archive of these may be read on a separate website: press here to go to the first one from this passage or press here to read the introduction to the notes, which are entitled “Think of the King“.
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