Reading Second Samuel

Second Samuel is another interesting picture of perhaps the second most heralded character in Israel's history; King David. There are really three contrasting portraits painted of the man throughout the book, and throughout the rest of Deuteronomistic History.

First, David as the young, courageous shepherd. This part of the story painted David in an extremely positive light. He was labelled as the obedient son, doing the dirty work for his father and his brothers multiple times. He was the one left to watch the sheep while his brothers participated in a special meal. He was the one who was left to watch his father (and the sheep again) while his brothers gained respect by fighting in the king's army. Yet, you never read about any complaints from David. In fact, he keeps mainly to himself, supposedly writing psalms after psalms during his time as a shepherd. When he does get a chance to be thrust into the light, he immediately takes it, eager to prove himself, not to his brothers who get mad at him, or even the king who watches him closely, but rather to the one thing that he finds hope in; God.

Even in David's teenage years, he remains quiet, yet extremely confident and courageous. He is thrust under the wings of an extreme insane king, Saul, and his life is threatened multiple times. He doesn't run and hide, but rather chooses to remain, and wait for God's command.

Second, David is the masterful, self-confident strong leader, making himself a famous king never to be forgotten. The people adore him, idolize him, and even worship him. His enemies were continually frightened by him, scared to even think about standing up against him. In a way, David was the greatest human king Israel would ever have. In fact, he can even be considered one of the greatest leaders ever to grace this planet, as a political and military conqueror.

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Yet, through all of that good, there still remained an evil in David. David was initially very controlled with his war actions. He showed amazing restraint in his campaign in defence from Saul. Yet, at some point, he lost that restraint and turned into a ruthless man, showing no conscience over ordering an innocent man's death. He also lost all morals and consideration for God, and turned to multiple worldly sins to satisfy his own craving for power. He turned to adultery, to worldly fortune, to anything but God. And ultimately, that led to David's downfall.