David

As I've just finished reading 1 Samuel, I'm astounded and perplexed by David. I shake my head at so many things that he did.

One thing that has stood out to me is his constant respect and honour that he maintained toward Saul, simply because he was the "Lord's annointed". And yet Saul repeatedly tried to kill him! He chased after him through caves and deserts and tried to spear him to the wall! He was relentless in his pursuit of David and yet David never retaliated, even when he had at least 2 opportunities. And then in the end, when David hears of Saul's death he mourns and grieves at this news. He even kills the guy who killed Saul (at Saul's request).
Amazing.

The second thing is David's relationship with Jonathan. These two guys were kindred spirits, in the words of Anne of Green Gables. I mean, they were tighter than brothers. It made me think about the men I know and their relationships with other men. I don't think I've seen two men as close to each other as David was to Jonathan. I wonder if that is because they think they may be perceived as gay?
Anyway, I think that in today's culture, some may wonder if Jonathan and David were involved in a homosexual relationship. This is something that I know is not true as David was truly a man after God's own heart and I know that God detests homosexuality. He also hates murder and affairs/infidelity and David did those things as well. But I digress...
Anyway, I just read in the beginning of 2 Samuel after David finds out about Jonathan's death, he writes a lamentation (or poem or song) in honour of Saul and Jonathan and in the end says that the love that Jonathan gave him far surpassed the love from a woman.
Interesting.

So as I said before, David has perplexed me and yet he gives me hope.
He was by no means perfect and yet his devotion to God and his passion really made him stand out and in the end we find that God does indeed call him a man after His own heart.
So that's what I'm learning/pondering/thinking about.