Maybe it was an April Fool's trick than wasn't funny, but my blog failed to behave properly last night. So far it's working today. Luckily most of it saved, so I didn't have to do the entire thing over again! Thank You Lord!!!
David and his men came across an Egyptian slave who had been left behind because he was sick. They gave him food and water and he was revived. David asked him who he was, and found out that he had been with the raiding party that had razed and plundered Ziklag. The slave asked them not to turn him over to his master, and in exchange, he told them everything. They went down and fought them and got back everyone and everything. Two hundred men had been too exhausted to continue all the way to rescue their families and had to stop and wait beside a river. When David and the entourage arrived at the place where they waited, the men who had fought didn't want the 200 men to have anything. But David insisted that they would all share and share alike. When they got back to Ziklag, David sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah as a present.
Saul and his army fought the Philistines. It was a mighty battle. Soon three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua were killed. Saul had taken heavy damage from the arrows of the archers, critically wounding him. He told his armor-bearer to kill him, but he couldn't do it. So he fell on his own sword and died. Then the armor-bearer did likewise. When the Israelites saw that the battle was lost they fled for their lives and the Philistines inhabited their towns. The next day when the Philistines came through the battleground and found the bodies of Saul and his sons they cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers all throughout the land, they hung his body on a wall. When the Israelites heard about it they went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons during the night and burned them. Then they buried their bones under a tamarisk tree and fasted 7 days.
David heard about Saul's death. Shortly after that a man arrived at Ziklag with a story that he'd been at the place of the battle and Saul had asked him to kill him so he had obliged him. Then he took Saul's crown and the band on his arm and brought them to David. All the men tore their clothes and mourned and wept and fasted until morning. Then David asked the messenger why he was not afraid to kill God's anointed. David had the man killed because he had admitted to killing Saul. David remembered Saul and Jonathan with a lament which he taught to all his men.
David asked the Lord if he should go up to one of the towns of Judah. God told him to go. David asked where he should go and God told him to go to Hebron. So David, his wives, the 600 men and their families all went to Hebron and the men of Judah anointed David king over them. David was king of Judah for 7 years and 6 months.
Meanwhile Abner, the commander of Saul's army decided Saul's son should be king. He was 40 years old and ruled Israel (except for Judah) for 2 years. David and his men met Abner and his soldiers at a place called the pool of Gibeon. There they decided that the soldiers should fight each other. That day David defeated them. Abner was chased by a very fast runner named Asahel. Abner told him to stop chasing him, but he wouldn't, so he thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel's stomach and it went through to his back, and he died. When David's men found his body they all stopped and Abner called out to them asking how long they would kill each other. So they blew the trumpet and the fighting stopped. In all, 19 of David's men had gone missing, but 360 Benjamites who had been with Abner died. They buried Asahel in his father's tomb at Bethlehem. They marched all night and returned to Hebron by dawn.
Tomorrow read 2Samuel 3-6:11
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