Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 26-27, Proverbs 30 and Augustine's Confessions 31

1 Samuel 26 – The Ziphites come and report David’s whereabouts to Saul.  Saul takes his usual 3000 men to go hunt for him. 

When he learns of the expedition, David sends out spies to find Saul. Ahimelech, the Hittite and Abishai, son of Zeruiah, go with David to Saul'’s camp by night and find Saul asleep with a spear stuck in the ground next to his head. Abishai thinks David should kill him, that God has given him into his hand once again.  But David asks, “who can raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” (26:9)

So they take the spear and a water jar and leave.  When he is far away on top of a hill, he calls to the army and specifically to Abner to abuse him for not watching carefully over Saul.  Saul recognizes David’s voice and again calls out in an affectionate tone.  Again David asks him why he continues to pursue him, what guilt does he have. Saul, in his most vacillating way, acknowledges his craziness: “I have done wrong; come back, my son David, for I will never harm you again, because my life was precious in your sight today; I have been a fool, and have made a great mistake” (26:21). David returns the spear.  He simply expresses the hope that God will favor him for the good turn he has done to Saul in sparing him (26:24).

1 Samuel 27 – David despairs of ever escaping Saul’s wrath and runs away to the land of the Philistines, to king Achish of Gath.  When Saul learns this, he stops hunting for him.  David gets Achish to give him one of the Philistine towns to live in—Ziglag, and David remains for a year and four months.

        

They raid the Geshurites, the Girzites and Amalekites, leaving much death and destruction in their tracks.  Achish is pleased for he thinks it means that David will never find any favor (allies) in his lands.

Proverbs 30 – Called the sayings of Agur (no identity confirmed in the note):

“Who has gone up to heaven and come down again. Who has cupped the wind in his hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak – who has marked out all the ends of the earth? What is his name, what is his son’s name if you know it?” (30:4).

“[G]ive me neither poverty nor riches, grant me only my share of bread to eat, for fear that surrounded by plenty, I should fall away and say, ‘Yahweh—who is Yahweh?’ or else, in destitution, take to stealing and profane the name of my God” (30:8-9).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

31 - But yet, O Lord, to you, most excellent and most good, Thou Architect and Governor of the universe, thanks had been due unto you, our God, even had you willed that I should not survive my boyhood. For I existed even then; I lived, and felt, and was solicitous about my own well-being—a trace of that most mysterious unity from whence I had my being; I kept watch by my inner sense over the wholeness of my senses, and in these insignificant pursuits, and also in my thoughts on things insignificant, I learned to take pleasure in truth. I was averse to being deceived, I had a vigorous memory, was provided with the power of speech, was softened by friendship, shunned sorrow, meanness, ignorance. In such a being what was not wonderful and praiseworthy? But all these are gifts of my God; I did not give them to myself; and they are good, and all these constitute myself. Good, then, is He that made me, and He is my God; and before Him will I rejoice exceedingly for every good gift which, as a boy, I had. For in this lay my sin, that not in Him, but in His creatures — myself and the rest — I sought for pleasures, honors, and truths, falling thereby into sorrows, troubles, and errors. Thanks be to you, my joy, my pride, my confidence, my God— thanks be to you for your gifts; but preserve them to me. For thus will you preserve me; and those things which you have given me shall be developed and perfected, and I myself shall be with you, for from you is my being.

We lived (Augustine and I) thousands of years separated in time, in culture, in class, in gender, in relative importance. But his honest retelling of how he grew up and came to see the gifts God had given him as part of a different order, that the things of this world – the competitions, ambitions, sources of pride, competitions for leadership and power, are all insignificant when set against the goals God gives us to aspire to – faithfulness, honesty, integrity, kindness, mindfulness of Him. It is in these things we find our delight and our rest.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 25, Proverbs 28-29 and Augustine's Confessions 30

1 Samuel 25 – Samuel dies and all Israel mourns his passing. 

David, still in the wilderness of Paran, sends 10 young men of his to a rich man, Nabal, who lives in Carmel.  He and his men have been providing protection to Nabal’s flocks and shepherds for a while. Nabal was “surly and mean,” but his wife, Abigail, was “clever and beautiful” (25:3). The men ask Nabal to provide food for David and his men.  Nabal says, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters” (25:10).

A Jerusalem Bible note says that the shearing of sheep was a festive occasion on which the sheep owner was expected to display generosity.  David takes advantage to demand a sum that nomads typically levied on nearby villages in return for ‘protection’—abstaining from pillage and keeping other marauders away.  This was called the ‘law of brotherhood’. That’s why David’s messengers address Nabal as brother in 25:6.

When David hears of Nabal’s lack of generosity, he goes after him with 400 men. 200 are left to watch their baggage. One of Nabal’s men tells Abigail of her husband’s rebuff to David and of the generally good service his men have given them.  So Abigail takes 200 loaves and some wine, five sheep and other food and loads it on donkeys to give to David and his men.  She meets David and begs him to disregard the insult her husband has offered. 

She addresses him as one who has knowledge of the promises the Lord has made concerning him and says, “When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself” (25:30-31).

        

David thanks God for having sent Abigail out to him, for having “kept [him] from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own hand!” (25:34) He accepts her offering and sends her off in peace.  The next morning, when Abigail tells Nabal of what she did, “his heart died within him; he became like a stone” (25:37). Ten days later, he dies.

When David hears of it, he sends and woos Abigail, to make her his wife.  She accepts.  David also marries Ahinoam of Jezreel during this time.  His wife Michal, back with her father, has been given to Palti, son of Laish.

Proverbs 28 – Selections:

“When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability” (28:2).

“He who conceals his faults will not prosper, he who confesses and renounces them will find mercy.” (28:13)

“In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery” (28:23).

Proverbs 29 – Selections:

“The king who judges the poor with equity sees his throne set firm for ever.” (29:14)

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

30 - These were the customs in the midst of which I, unhappy boy, was cast, and on that arena it was that I was more fearful of perpetrating a barbarism than, having done so, of envying those who had not. These things I declare and confess unto you, my God, for which I was applauded by them whom I then thought it my whole duty to please, for I did not perceive the gulf of infamy wherein I was cast away from your eyes. For in your eyes what was more infamous than I was already, displeasing even those like myself, deceiving with innumerable lies both tutor, and masters, and parents, from love of play, a desire to see frivolous spectacles, and a stage-stuck restlessness, to imitate them? Pilferings I committed from my parents' cellar and table, either enslaved by gluttony, or that I might have something to give to boys who sold me their play, who, though they sold it, liked it as well as I In this play, likewise, I often sought dishonest victories, I myself being conquered by the vain desire of pre-eminence. And what could I so little endure, or, if I detected it, censured I so violently, as the very things I did to others, and, when myself detected I was censured, preferred rather to quarrel than to yield? Is this the innocence of childhood? Nay, Lord, nay, Lord; I entreat your mercy, O my God. For these same sins, as we grow older, are transferred from governors and masters, from nuts, and balls, and sparrows, to magistrates and kings, to gold, and lands, and slaves, just as the rod is succeeded by more severe chastisements. It was, then, the stature of childhood that you, O our King, approved of as an emblem of humility when you said: "Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 23-24, Proverbs 26-27 and Augustine's Confessions 29

1 Samuel 23 – David is instructed by the Lord to go help the people of Keilah against the Philistines. He does and is successful. Saul learns of it and thinks the gates of Keilah could be a useful trap for catching David. David uses the ephod Abiathar managed to bring out of Nob to find out from the Lord that Saul is indeed coming to Keilah after him, and that the men of the town will surrender him if he stays.  So David and his (now) 600 men leave and wander here and there, in the wilderness of Ziph.  Saul learns that David has left and gives up the expedition.

        

Jonathan comes out to meet David at Horesh.  They renew their covenant and Jonathan predicts David’s ultimate victory.  People of the region go to Saul and tell him of David’s presence.  They offer to surrender him into Saul’s custody and he blesses them.  He sends them back to find out exactly where David is. David is in the Arabah, south of Jeshimon when he learns Saul is after him again.  He goes into the wilderness of Maon where Saul pursues until a messenger comes and tells Saul that the Philistines have raided the land.  He returns to deal with them.  David goes to the strongholds of En-gedi.

1 Samuel 24 – After dealing with the Philistines, Saul returns to the pursuit of David.  He goes with 3,000 men to the wilderness of En-gedi, in the direction of the Rocks of the Wild Goats it says. 

Saul comes to a cave near the road and goes in “to relieve himself” (24:3). Now David and his men are in the cave when Saul came in, and his men think the Lord has given him into their hands. David cuts a corner of Saul’s cloak off as if to demonstrate how into his hands the Lord has put him, but then becomes conscience stricken: “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to raise my hand against him; for his is the Lord’s anointed” (24:6). He scolds his men and Saul is permitted to leave the cave unharmed.

After he leaves, David follows him and calls out to him, bowing to do obeisance before Saul.  He tries to prove to Saul that he has nothing to fear from him.  He shows him the piece he cut from his cloak: “I have not sinned against you, though you are hunting me to take my life.  May the Lord judge between me and you! May the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you” (24:12).

        

Saul responds to David’s voice with such pitiful affection: “’Is this your voice, my son David?’ Saul lifted up his voice and wept.  He said to David, ‘You are more righteous than I; for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil . . .For who has ever found an enemy, and sent the enemy safely away? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.  Now I know that you shall surely be king, and the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand’” (24:16-19). He gets David to swear that he will not cut off his (Saul’s) descendants. Here, I think, we see the roots of Jesus’ admonition to love our enemies, be good to those who despitefully use us. David leaves the judgment of Saul up to God and God alone.

Proverbs 26 – Here are some more:

“Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest” (26:1).

“Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation” (26:4-5). Hmm!

“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool reverts to his folly” (26:11).

“There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise” (26:12).

 “No wood, and the fire goes out; no talebearer, and quarrelling dies down” (26:20).

“If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. IF you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead” (26:27).

Proverbs 27 – Selections:

“Do not boast about tomorrow, since you do not know what today will bring forth” (27:1).

“Better open reproof than voiceless love” (27:5).

“As no two faces are ever alike, unlike, too, are the hearts of men.” (27:19)

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

29 - Behold, O Lord God, and behold patiently, as You are wont to do, how diligently the sons of men observe the conventional rules of letters and syllables, received from those who spoke prior to them, and yet neglect the eternal rules of everlasting salvation received from you, insomuch that he who practices or teaches the hereditary rules of pronunciation, if, contrary to grammatical usage, he should say, without aspirating the first letter, a “uman” being, will offend men more than if, in opposition to your commandments, he, a human being, were to hate a human being. As if, indeed, any man should feel that an enemy could be more destructive to him than that hatred with which he is excited against him, or that he could destroy more utterly him whom he persecutes than he destroys his own soul by his enmity. And of a truth, there is no science of letters more innate than the writing of conscience— that he is doing unto another what he himself would not suffer. How mysterious are you, who in silence "dwellest on high," [Isaiah 33:5] Thou God, the only great, who by an unwearied law dealest out the punishment of blindness to illicit desires! When a man seeking for the reputation of eloquence stands before a human judge while a thronging multitude surrounds him, inveighs against his enemy with the most fierce hatred, he takes most vigilant heed that his tongue slips not into grammatical error, but takes no heed lest through the fury of his spirit he cut off a man from his fellow-men.

The precise “art” that Augustine continues to lambaste in this treatise is “rhetoric,” the art or skill praised and taught by the sophists from the 5^th century BC on in Athens, Greece general and then later throughout the Roman Empire. Sophists believed that it was the most important thing a person could learn, and it isn’t really very surprising that it should have originated in the first “democratic” society. While it wasn’t democratic in the way we are today; there were many slaves. But if you were a grown man and a citizen in Athens, you basically passed all the laws and ran the city, decided if you went to war, etc. The number of people entitled to vote probably surpassed 30,000 to 40,000. Of course not all of them cared about voting, but it isn’t surprising that this was the city where Sophistry originated and thrived. If you wanted to have your voice count in the huge debates that went on in the outdoor amphitheater where they met, you basically HAD to have rhetorical skills. Sophists came under fire from philosophers for caring more HOW they spoke and HOW PERSUASIVE they were with language than with the “TRUTHS” they articulated, but democracy needs skillful rhetoricians who care about the truth. Augustine apparently had rhetorical skills “beaten into him” literally, and he is terribly critical of the void in value-content (real truth) that he saw in the school.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 21-22, Proverbs 25 and Augustine's Confessions 28

1 Samuel 21 – David goes to Nob, to the high priest Ahimelech.  He pretends the king has sent him on a secret mission, that no one must know where he is or what he is doing.  He asks Ahimelech for bread, but the priest says he has none—only “holy bread.”  He can give it to David and the men who are with him if they “have kept themselves from women” (21:4). David assures him that they have, so the priest gives them the holy bread—“Bread of the Presence”—which is removed each evening. Fresh bread is placed there in its place.

        

It happens that one Doeg, chief of Saul’s shepherds, is there when David comes. He will later play a role in uncovering David’s whereabouts to Saul, so he is mentioned here in passing.

        

David tells Ahimelech he left so quickly on the king’s errand that he brought no sword; he asks Ahimelech if he has one. The only one there is Goliath’s sword, which has been kept there, wrapped in a cloth.  So David takes it and leaves—to go to King Achish of Gath [a Philistine city-state], where he pretends to be mad. “He scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard” (21:13). King Achish is the Philistine king – or one of two Philistine kings that ruled at this time – and remember that David killed the Philistine warrior Goliath and is carrying his sword when he goes to the king, fleeing from Saul. He plays insane so he won’t be recognized and killed.

1 Samuel 22 – David escapes to a cave in Adullam [lying half-way between Gath and Bethlehem] , where his family comes down to him along with others who are debtors or discontented in some way.  He becomes “captain” of a rogue band of 400 men.  He asks the king of Moab [East of the Dead Sea] to let his parents stay with him for a while to keep them safe.  After a while, a prophet (Gad) tells David he should leave this safe place, this “stronghold” and go to Judah, into the forest of Hereth.

        

Meanwhile Saul, very paranoid—maybe not unreasonably so—about the collusion between David and his own son, berates his servants for not warning him about Jonathan’s closeness to David, for not feeling sorry for him.  Doeg, then, the one who had been in Nob with the priest Ahimelech, reveals to Saul that he saw David there, saw Ahimelech give him Goliath’s sword, etc. Saul then sends for the priest and all his “father’s house” to inquire why he helped David.  Ahimelech thinks David is the most faithful of all to Saul.  He does not know he is Saul’s enemy.  Saul tells his servants to kill Ahimelech and all his family, but they “[will] not raise their hand to attack the priests of the Lord” (22:17). But Doeg, the Edomite, does.  He kills 85 of the priestly household that day, and then puts the whole city of Nob to the sword—men, women and children as well as animals. 

Only one son of the priestly family escapes—Abiathar.  He goes to David and tells him what has happened. David responds that he knew that Doeg would tell Saul and that he feels himself responsible for the deaths of all of them (22:22). David invites Abiathar to stay with him.

Proverbs 25 – A second collection attributed to Solomon but transcribed by King Hezekiah – they focus on those seeds of wisdom that help a king to rule well:

“No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind. Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith. Remove the wicked from the king’s court, and his reign will be made secure by justice” (25:3-5).

“Don’t demand an audience with the king or push for a place among the great. It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table than to be sent away in public disgrace” (25:6-7). These verses are used by Christ in his parable in Luke 14:7 – claim no honors – better to be asked to come closer to the king.

“When arguing with your neighbor, don’t betray another person’s secret. Others may accuse you of gossip, and you will never regain your good reputation” (25:9-10).

“Clouds and gusts and yet no rain, such is the man whose promises are princely but never kept” (25:14).

“With patience a judge may be cajoled: a soft tongue breaks bones” (25:15).

“Telling lies about other is as harmful as hitting them with an ex, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow” (25:18).

“If your enemies are hungry, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you” (25:21-22).

“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls” (25:28).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

28 - But what matter of surprise is it that I was thus carried towards vanity, and went forth from you, O my God, when men were proposed to me to imitate, who, should they in relating any acts of theirs— not in themselves evil— be guilty of a barbarism or solecism, when censured for it became confounded; but when they made a full and ornate oration, in well-chosen words, concerning their own licentiousness, and were applauded for it, they boasted? You see this, O Lord, and keepest silence, "long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth," as you are. Will you keep silence forever? And even now you draw out of this vast deep the soul that seeks you and thirsts after your delights, whose "heart said unto you," I have sought your face, "Your face, Lord, will I seek." For I was far from your face, through my darkened [Romans 1:21] affections. For it is not by our feet, nor by change of place, that we either turn from you or return to you. Or, indeed, did that younger son look out for horses, or chariots, or ships, or fly away with visible wings, or journey by the motion of his limbs, that he might, in a far country, prodigally waste all that you gave him when he set out? A kind Father when you gave, and kinder still when he returned destitute! [Luke 15:11-32] So, then, in wanton, that is to say, in darkened affections, lies distance from your face.

We are all of us able to identify with that “prodigal son” Augustine makes reference to in this paragraph. We all to some extent take the blessed inheritance we are meant to have and waste it on silly and self-serving trinkets: worldly goals, vanities, shallow ideas, ambitions and human rewards. And it is when we honestly measure the emptiness of these things against the profound purposefulness we want our lives to have in the end that we find ourselves on the road home, fretting about how our Father will receive us.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 20, Proverbs 24 and Augustine's Confessions 27

1 Samuel 20 – David flees again, back to Jonathan wondering what it is he has done to earn the hatred of Saul. Jonathan assures him that his father never does anything without telling him (Jonathan) and that he will protect David. 

David worries about the fact that Saul knows of Jonathan’s affection for him—they have sworn to a “covenant” in 1 Samuel 18:3 based on “the bond” of love that existed between them. “Jonathan [had] sealed the pact by taking of his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt” (1 Samuel 18:4).

David now asks Jonathan to try to plumb his father’s intentions.  Saul will be having a banquet that David will be expected to be at.  He will not be there and hopes Jonathan will let him know if Saul is angry or not at his absence.  Jonathan will let David know how he responds by a signal he sets up: if he sends a boy to fetch his arrows before where David is, then everything is fine.  If he sends him past where David is waiting, then it means David must run for his life. He, Jonathan, says, “May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.  If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die, never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.’ Thus Jonathan makes a covenant with the house of David. . .” (20:14-16). This covenant will later be a huge factor in how David deal’s with Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth.

        

The first day, Saul does not show anger at David’s absence, but the next day after his anger is kindled (20:30).  He gets into an argument with Jonathan.  He tries to tell Jonathan he will never be king if David lives.  Jonathan keeps telling his father that David has done no wrong and Saul finally throws his spear at his own son.  Jonathan too is full of anger (20:34) and grieves for David.

        

The next day Jonathan goes out into the field and gives the appropriate sign to David.  They have a moment to themselves before David leaves—weeping and promising faithfulness forever.

Proverbs 24 – Here are a few good words:

“By wisdom a house is built, by discernment the foundation is laid; by knowledge its storerooms filled with riches of every kind, rare and desirable” (24:3-4).

“Better the wise man than the strong, the man with knowledge than the brawny fellow; for war is won by sound thinking and victory rests in having many counselors” (24:5-6).

“Do not be indifferent when men suffer injustice. If you say, ‘I do not know this man!’ does not he who tests hearts perceive it?” (24:10-11)

“Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and when he stumbles, let not your heart exult lest the Lord see it and be displeased . . .” (24:17).

“To show partiality in judgment is not good. The man who says, ‘You are innocent’ to the guilty; the peoples will have only curses for him, and the nations horror” (24:24).

“By the idler’s field I was passing, by the vineyard of a man who had no sense, there it all lay, deep in thorns, entirely overgrown with nettles, and its stone wall broken down. And as I gazed I pondered, I drew this lesson from the sight, ‘A little sleep, a little drowsiness, a little folding of the arms to take life more easily, and like a vagrant, poverty is at your elbow and, like a beggar, want’” (24:30-34).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

27 - Bear with me, my God, while I speak a little of those talents you have bestowed upon me, and on what follies I wasted them. For a lesson sufficiently disquieting to my soul was given me, in hope of praise, and fear of shame or stripes, to speak the words of Juno [Roman for the Greek goddess Hera], as she raged and sorrowed that she could not

    Latium bar

    From all approaches of the Dardan king,

which I had heard Juno never uttered. Yet were we compelled to stray in the footsteps of these poetic fictions, and to turn that into prose, which the poet had said in verse. And his speaking was most applauded in whom, according to the reputation of the persons delineated, the passions of anger and sorrow were most strikingly reproduced, and clothed in the most suitable language. But what is it to me, O my true Life, my God, that my declaiming was applauded above that of many who were my contemporaries and fellow-students? Behold, is not all this smoke and wind? Was there nothing else, too, on which I could exercise my wit and tongue? Your praise, Lord, Your praises might have supported the tendrils of my heart by your Scriptures; so had it not been dragged away by these empty trifles, a shameful prey of the fowls of the air. For there is more than one way in which men sacrifice to the fallen angels.

The smoke and wind of worldly learning. Augustine is very tough on himself and critical of the whole Roman educational system. I tried and failed to find the meaning or context of the quote he includes here, which apparently he not only needed to repeat but say with due emotion and “convincement” that he accepted its truth and importance. The more convincingly he recited and immersed himself in their importance, the better he was thought to be.

While I have a difficult time latching onto the weight he gives to the offensive content of what he was forced to learn, I see what he is saying about the fact that we do not as children and young people have much if anything to say about what we are asked to learn, the values and beliefs we are made to embrace. These things are forced upon us by our tribe, our time, our cultural context. You wonder what he would think of the teaching techniques of the Catholic schools that so many go through today and rebel against as antithetical to spiritual truth.

There is a time growing up when you are not in control of what you must learn and embrace, but at some point reflection and the inner guide’s voice kicks in. For me this happened when I was about 8. I began to look up into the sky at night and bring my woes and my questions there, and I began to feel a guide within me comment without words on what was happening around me. And I felt in that moment connected to a teacher that I could rely on.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 19, Proverbs 23 and Augustine's Confessions 26

1 Samuel 19 – Saul speaks to his son Jonathan about his desire to kill David, but Jonathan of course warns David. The next day, Jonathan speaks to his father about David.  He reminds Saul of the many services David has performed from him and tries to tell him it will be a very great sin if he harms him without cause.” Saul heeds the voice of Jonathan” (19:6), for the time at least. These stories of Saul’s vacillating relationship with David seem so real to me, so reflective of what has to have been a serious mental illness in the king. He is amenable to reason sometimes, but then the paranoia comes over him and he becomes lethal.

But later, the same evil spirit comes upon Saul, and in an unexpected moment, he tries to “pin David to the wall with the spear” he has in his hand (19:10). David flees. 

His wife Michal warns him that night that he will be killed in the morning if he does not run away. He does, and Michal takes an idol and makes it up to be human size and human looking (19:13).  Saul realizes that Michal has tried to fool him. She tells him that David threatened to kill her if she didn’t help him by trying to deceive Saul’s men.

David flees to Ramah where Samuel lives.  Saul sends messengers after him to get him.  They encounter David and Samuel with a group of prophets in a state of frenzy (20:20).  The messengers too fall into the frenzy.  The same thing happens with another set of messengers; so finally Saul goes down himself and he too falls into a prophetic frenzy (20:23). He strips off his clothes and lays naked all day and all night.

Proverbs 23 – Pretty much the same here:

“Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle” (23:4-5).

“Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge. Don’t fail to discipline your children” (23:12-13).

“O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways” (23:26)

”Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks” (23:29-30).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

26 - And yet, you stream of hell [the educational system of the day, that forces these god-stories into children’s minds], into you are cast the sons of men, with rewards for learning these things; and much is made of it when this is going on in the forum in the sight of laws which grant a salary over and above the rewards. And you beat against your rocks and roarest, saying, "Hence words are learned; hence eloquence is to be attained, most necessary to persuade people to your way of thinking, and to unfold your opinions." So, in truth, we should never have understood these words, "golden shower," "bosom," "intrigue," "highest heavens," and other words written in the same place, unless Terence had introduced a good-for-nothing youth upon the stage, setting up Jove [Zeus] as his example of lewdness:—

    Viewing a picture, where the tale was drawn,

    Of Jove's descending in a golden shower

    To Danaë's bosom . . . with a woman to intrigue.

    And see how he excites himself to lust, as if by celestial

          authority, when he says:—

    Great Jove,

    Who shakes the highest heavens with his thunder,

    And I, poor mortal man, not do the same!

    I did it, and with all my heart I did it.

Not one whit more easily are the words learned for this vileness, but by their means is the vileness perpetrated with more confidence. I do not blame the words, they being, as it were, choice and precious vessels, but the wine of error, which was drunk in them to us by inebriated teachers; and unless we drank, we were beaten, without liberty of appeal to any sober judge. And yet, O my God—in whose presence I can now with security recall this—did I, unhappy one, learn these things willingly, and with delight, and for this was I called a boy of good promise.

You cannot really understand Augustine without some knowledge of the myths he was being forced to learn and regard as sources of knowledge of life’s deepest mysteries. The whole story of Danae can be checked out in brief at this site: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977031557.

Danae was the daughter of a king who heard from the Delphic oracle that he would never have a son, but his grandson would kill him. So he tries to lock his daughter up so she won’t meet anyone and want to marry. The god Zeus called the “promiscuous father of the gods” is the only one who can get to her, but he does and she has a son – Perseus.

These stories were part of the fundamentals of Roman education. Terence was a Roman author in Northern Africa in the 2^nd century. When Augustine was a boy, Terence’s plays would have been part of the curriculum.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 18, Proverbs 21-22 and Augustine's Confessions25

1 Samuel 18 – Jonathan loves David from the first; “the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (18:1).

Like the heroes of the past, everything David did, was touched by success—command of Saul’s armies, popularity among the women who greeted David’s returns from war with singing and dancing (18:6).  Saul becomes jealous of him, and “an evil spirit rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day” (18:10). The story explains too that “Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul” (18:12).

But “all Israel and Judah loved David” (18:16). Saul promises David his daughter Merab in marriage, but instead he gives her to Adriel the Meholathite.  The other daughter, Michal, loves David.  Saul agrees to their marriage because he hopes somehow she will be “a snare” to David (18:21).  Again David’s response to the offer is one of humility—that one so poor and lacking in reputation might gain so great an honor.  Saul plays with David—he says he will give her if David can bring back to him the foreskins of a hundred Philistines.  This is the kind of snare he is thinking of—where David wants her so much he will go out and get killed trying to win her—much as Uriah will be killed when he is put in a position of danger by David. David manages to do what he has been challenged to do—one translation from the Hebrew even places the number at 200 rather than 100.  They are married, but Saul is now crazed with fear of David from this time on.  Saul’s behavior is clearly that of a mentally unbalanced person—full of contradictions--paranoia, affection and fear.

Proverbs 21 – The proverbs I liked for today:

“The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices” (21:3).

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap” (21:5-6)

“A secret gift calms anger; a bribe under the table pacifies fury” (21:14). Easy to see why this is such a problem in the world. It was praised for so long!

Proverbs 22 – Today’s best:

“Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender” (22:7).

“Throw out the mocker, and fighting goes too. Quarrels and insults will disappear” (22:10).

Then follow a set of thirty saying introduced in this way: “I have written thirty sayings for you, filled with advice and knowledge. In this way, you may know the truth and take an accurate report to whose who sent you [to the king]” (22:20-21). What follow is pretty much the same as what I’ve quoted over the past days.

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

25 - But woe unto you, you stream of human custom! Who shall stay your course? How long shall it be before you are dried up? How long will you carry down the sons of Eve into that huge and formidable ocean, which even they who are embarked on the cross (lignum) can scarce pass over? Do I not read in you of Jove the thunderer and adulterer? And the two verily he could not be; but it was that, while the fictitious thunder served as a cloak, he might have warrant to imitate real adultery. Yet which of our gowned masters can lend a temperate ear to a man of his school who cries out and says: "These were Homer's fictions; he transfers things human to the gods. I could have wished him to transfer divine things to us." But it would have been more true had he said: "These are, indeed, his fictions, but he attributed divine attributes to sinful men, that crimes might not be accounted crimes, and that whosoever committed any might appear to imitate the celestial gods and not abandoned men."

Augustine complains of the way the ancient poets projected human sinfulness on the gods in their stories, or “attributed divine attributes to sinful men.” If both cases, the moral landscape becomes very confusing for young people.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 17, Proverbs 19-20 and Augustine's Confessions 24

1 Samuel 17 – The battles with the Philistines continue, this time at Socoh in Judah.  Saul gathers the Israelites against them.  Now a Philistine “champion named Goliath, of Gath” comes forward; he is over nine feet tall. He is armed in bronze mail. 

Over a period of forty days, this huge foe shouts into the ranks of Israelites “Why have you come out to draw up for battle?  Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?  Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.  If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us” (17:9). He scares people to death.

The three eldest sons of Jesse are there with the army.  David also is among Saul’s men, but he goes back and forth—tending the sheep his father has and being with the army.  Jesse sends David to the front with food for his brothers.  While there he hears Goliath’s challenge and hears talk amongst the Israelites that Saul has said he will give whoever takes up Goliath’s challenge one of his daughters in marriage (17:25). David is upset that the man freely scorns “the armies of the living God” (17:26) as he does. David’s brothers are put off by David in the same way, it seems, that Joseph’s brothers were put off by his dreams and apparent pride.

Saul hears of David’s offer to meet the Philistine in battle and accepts it.  He clothes him in his own armor and gives him his sword, but David cannot walk with all this on (17:38). David removes them and picks up five smooth stones from the wadi to use with his sling.  Goliath is insulted at the sight of David, but David calls out, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (17:45). David’s first stone hits Goliath in the forehead and he falls. He takes Goliath’s sword and kills him, cutting off his head.  The feat scares the Philistines and they flee.  Saul inquires into who the young man is, whose son he is, and Abner brings him before the king.

Proverbs 19 – Today’s best:

“Where reflection is wanting, zeal is not good; he who goes too quickly misses his way” (Jerusalem Bible 19:2).

“People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord” (19:3).

“Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts” (19:6).

“Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs” (19:11).

“A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping” (19:13).

“If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord – and he will repay you” (19:17).

Proverbs 20 – Today’s best:

“Though good advice lies deep within the heart, a person with understanding will draw it out” (20:5).

“False weights and unequal measures – the Lord detests double standards of every kind” (20:10).

“The buyer haggles over the price, saying ‘It’s worthless,’ then brags about getting a bargain” (20:14).

“Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth” (20:17).

“The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old” (20:29).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

24 - Hear my prayer, O Lord; let not my soul faint under Your discipline, nor let me faint in confessing unto you your mercies, whereby you have saved me from all my most mischievous ways, that you might become sweet to me beyond all the seductions which I used to follow; and that I may love you entirely, and grasp your hand with my whole heart, and that you may deliver me from every temptation, even unto the end. For lo, O Lord, my King and my God, for your service be whatever useful thing I learned as a boy— for your service what I speak, and write, and count. For when I learned vain things, you granted me your discipline; and my sin in taking delight in those vanities, you have forgiven me. I learned, indeed, in them many useful words; but these may be learned in things not vain, and that is the safe way for youths to walk in.

The mistakes we make as children or “youth” (18 to mid-20s) are easier to look back on and see as forgiven. We are so easily mislead by false promises, the false promises of people who might mislead us and the false promise of ideas we think are “cool” but which do not stand the test of time.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 16, Proverbs 17-18 and Augustine's Confessions 23

1 Samuel 16 – Samuel is then told to go out and go to Bethlehem to anoint a new king.  Samuel worries that Saul will be a danger to him, but he goes.  He offers sacrifice there and has Jesse’s sons brought before him one at a time—Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah and four others.  They are all fine men, but “The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (16:7).

The youngest son is David; he is out “keeping the sheep” (16:11). He is sent for.  He is “ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.  The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’ . . .and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (16:12-13).

Apparently David appeals to both the standard of the people AND the standard of the Lord, for he is both handsome, talented and filled with the spirit.  The passages here are filled with a certain inner contradiction.  We hear God saying here that he does not go back on what he decides embedded in a story about how he does change his mind about the anointing of Saul for the kingship. And this is embedded in an even deeper contradiction about whether or not the mere having of a king is or is not something offensive to God.  How to resolve these tensions? They really are only resolved over time as the redemptive work of God goes forward.  Then the ideal of obedience rather than sacrifice finds its proper referent.  The ideal of kingship finds its worthy subject—in Christ.  And the real qualities God favors emerge in David and in the people he unites.

        

As for Saul, the spirit of the Lord abandons him and an evil spirit comes in its place to torment him.  Because he is tormented, his people send for someone who can calm him by playing the lyre.  David is the one who is called for.  He comes “loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid . . . Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer” (16:20-21).

Proverbs 17 – The proverbs I liked:

“Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting—and conflict” (17:1).

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart” (17:3)

“Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children” (17:6).

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends” (17:9)

“A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise than they deep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent” (17:27-28).

Proverbs 18 – Today’s best:

“Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions” (18:2)

“Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook” (18:4).

“The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?” (18:14).

“Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people” (18:16). I don’t include this because I like it. I include it here because there was a similar saying in the preceding chapter – it doesn’t seem like something you’d want to promote though it undoubtedly has ALWAYS been true. Seems like you’d want to focus on the distortion of judgment such gifts brings to the system of governance or the civil order of things.

“An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars” (18:19).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

23 - But why, then, did I dislike Greek learning which was full of like tales? For Homer also was skilled in inventing similar stories, and is most sweetly vain, yet was he disagreeable to me as a boy. I believe Virgil, indeed, would be the same to Grecian children, if compelled to learn him, as I was Homer. The difficulty, in truth, the difficulty of learning a foreign language mingled as it were with gall all the sweetness of those fabulous Grecian stories. For not a single word of it did I understand, and to make me do so, they vehemently urged me with cruel threatenings and punishments. There was a time also when (as an infant) I knew no Latin; but this I acquired without any fear or tormenting, by merely taking notice, amid the blandishments of my nurses, the jests of those who smiled on me, and the sportiveness of those who toyed with me. I learned all this, indeed, without being urged by any pressure of punishment, for my own heart urged me to bring forth its own conceptions, which I could not do unless by learning words, not of those who taught me, but of those who talked to me; into whose ears, also, I brought forth whatever I discerned. From this it is sufficiently clear that a free curiosity has more influence in our learning these things than a necessity full of fear. But this last restrains the overflowings of that freedom, through your laws, O God—your laws, from the ferule of the schoolmaster to the trials of the martyr, being effective to mingle for us a salutary bitter, calling us back to yourself from the pernicious delights which allure us from you.

Again it is sometimes difficult to make out what is being said exactly, for the complexity of Augustine’s thinking is mixed with the difficulty of the translator’s choice of words – words I am not familiar with like “ferule” and “salutary.” It seems like he is reflecting on the way fear distorts the free curiosity that is good in the learning process, but then he seems to say too that the “delights” we have in certain things we’re asked to learn pull us AWAY from God.

I see the process as complex but then the “order of God” in the universe is complex. We find our way through the fears, false joys, and true leadings to a place where we can discern what has been helpful and what has not in the search for a connection with our creator and the good “He” wants us to find in His truth, His love and His presence.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 15, Proverbs 15-16 and Augustine's Confessions 22

1 Samuel 15 – Samuel tells Saul that God is sending him to destroy the Amalekites for opposing the Israelites when they came up out of the desert on the way from Egypt years earlier.  Now all the Amalekites are to be destroyed or put under “the ban.”

Saul goes out with a huge force (200,000 soldiers, 10,000 from Judah). The Kenites (living amongst the Amalekites) are warned to remove themselves (the Kenites had helped Israel). 

Saul defeats the Amalekites and takes the king (Agag) captive.  They also spare “the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatlings, and the lambs and all that was valuable, and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed” (18:9). 

        

This makes Samuel very unhappy with Saul.  When Saul meets Samuel, he explains that he spared the best in order to offer them up to the Lord in sacrifice.  Samuel sees the matter as Saul not obeying the voice of the Lord (15:19). Then there is this very important speech by Samuel:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offering and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king (15:22).

I always thought that the call for obedience over sacrifice was from the later prophets, Isaiah and others.  But here it is in Samuel’s mouth, and the act of obedience desired is not care for the orphan and widow, but the destruction of the Amalekites.  Surely this is where Isaiah got the concept from.

        

Saul admits his fault and admits that the reason he preserved the “best” was not for the Lord but out of fear of his people.  Instead of obeying the Lord, he obeyed “their voice” (15:24). He asks for forgiveness, but Samuel will not. Saul catches hold of Samuel’s robe and tears it (pleading? threatening? I think pleading, but it does not really say). Samuel says, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this very day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.  Moreover the Glory of Israel will not recant or change his mind; for he is not a mortal, that he should change his mind” (15:29). Then Samuel orders Agag be brought to him and he “hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal” (15:33).

Tough passages these.  The Jerusalem Bible note says the criticism directed at Saul here is different from the anti-monarchy tirades.  It is directed toward him as an individual for his individual disobedience.  The anointing is removed from him and given to David, but the office of king is not at issue. After this, Samuel goes home and does not see Saul again until his death, “but Samuel grieved over Saul” (15:34).

I have to say I have trouble with the moral arch of this story – both the demand that every man, woman and child among the Amalekites be slaughtered is rough; but the turning on Saul is also difficult for me. And the man who will replace him wasn’t flawless either.

Proverbs 15 – More proverbs:

“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare” (15:1) “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit” (15:4).

“A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. A wise person s hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash” (15:13-14).

“Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil. A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate” (15:16-17).

“Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success” (15:22)

 “A kindly glance gives joy to the heart, good news lends strength to the bones” (15:30).

Proverbs 16 – These stand out to me:

“The Lord has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster” (16:4).

“Unfailing love and faithfulness make atonement for sin, by fearing the Lord, people avoid evil” (16:6).

“Better to have little, with godliness than to be rich and dishonest” (16:8).

On the powers and importance of the king: “A king detests wrongdoing, for his rule is built on justice . . . The anger of the king is a deadly threat; the wise will try to appease it. When the king smiles, there is life; his favor refreshes like a spring rain” (16:12-15). Sounds like he’s seeing himself as God in a way – I guess God is meant to be the model for what a king should be.

“Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (16:18).

“From a wise mind comes wise speech; the words of the wise are persuasive. Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body” (16:23-24).

“Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city” (16:31-32).

“We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall” (16:33).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

22 - But now, O my God, cry unto my soul; and let your Truth say unto me, "It is not so; it is not so; better much was that first teaching." For behold, I would rather forget the wanderings of Æneas, and all such things, than how to write and read. But it is true that over the entrance of the grammar school there hangs a veil; but this is not so much a sign of the majesty of the mystery, as of a covering for error. Let not them exclaim against me of whom I am no longer in fear, while I confess to you, my God, that which my soul desires, and acquiesce in reprehending my evil ways, that I may love your good ways. Neither let those cry out against me who buy or sell grammar-learning. For if I ask them whether it be true, as the poet says, that Æneas once came to Carthage, the unlearned will reply that they do not know, the learned will deny it to be true. But if I ask with what letters the name Æneas is written, all who have learned this will answer truly, in accordance with the conventional understanding men have arrived at as to these signs. Again, if I should ask which, if forgotten, would cause the greatest inconvenience in our life, reading and writing, or these poetical fictions, who does not see what every one would answer who had not entirely forgotten himself? I erred, then, when as a boy I preferred those vain studies to those more profitable ones, or rather loved the one and hated the other. "One and one are two, two and two are four," this was then in truth a hateful song to me; while the wooden horse full of armed men, and the burning of Troy, and the "spectral image" of Creusa were a most pleasant spectacle of vanity.

It seems to me here that Augustine has fallen into a common human mind-trap: feeling that the significance of one aspect of human life must involve the denigration of some related aspect. No doubt the words and numbers that form the foundation of human thinking and communication are important – they are foundational. But the castles built with those tools are also of great value. We cannot forget that the biblical narrative is a construction very like the construction of a brilliant author to plumb the depths of human experience and the meaningfulness of human ideas and human lives. I think it is our capacity to create these “narrative castles” that makes us know we are more than the other animals around us.

There are many “castles” [ideas, narratives] built with the words we learn: personal identity, communal narratives, theories that shape the narratives we learn and modify or build from scratch. The ones that drew me growing up were the political narratives – my grandfather’s admiration for FDR, the communal [American] narrative that gave meaning to all the social norms I grew up with. Robert Bellah, who just passed away this week, was very influential in my later life for giving me the “narrative” language I feel best captures the way we humans build those “castles” of thought.