Day 119: David's Wisdom

1 Samuel 29:1-11 The Philistine leader still believed David was an ally, but the commander of his army demanded that David and his men be sent away. David obliged. His cleverness would serve him well as King of Israel.


Ch 30:1-31 David’s way of doing things reveals many qualities appropriate for a King of Israel: He consulted the Lord first, laid out a plan that shows good and prudential judgement, and was fair-minded in distributing the spoils of battle. (CCC 1806-1807, 2579)


Ch 31:1-13 The Philistines defeated Saul’s army, and then displayed the remains of Saul until some men of Israel stole them away to give him a proper burial. No one can claim that David played any role in Saul’s death since David and his men were too far from the battle. Saul’s death by suicide is not justifiable according to the New Covenant, but at that time they had not received the grace from Christ’s Redemption to understand fully all the ramifications of the Mosaic Law. (CCC 2280-2283)


Psalm 18 God is our protector and has power over life and death. With the aid of grace, obedience to the Commandments makes us righteous in God’s sight. God always blesses us with his help to fulfill our tasks and every mission entrusted to us.


Head of the nations: As God’s anointed, the King of Israel was also the king of all nations, especially since his authority came directly from God. (CCC 1949, 1960, 1963, 1972)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)


(*Walking With God: A Journey Through the Bible by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins)



“A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul…”



“He brought me forth into a broad place. He delivered me because he delighted in me.”



Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much for this opportunity to listen to listen to your word and to see the end of Saul and to have followed him, the one who was anointed first, the one who was anointed by you and called and consecrated to be a king, to fight for the people of Israel. And we are honored that you revealed not only the fact that you called Saul, but also the way in which our choices, even in the midst of being called can either raise us up to you or can lead us away from you. Lord God, we just ask you to please help us to be people who have been anointed but say yes to you. People who have been chosen by you and then are faithful to you, because every one of us has a heart like Saul. Every one of us has a heart that can turn away and we just ask you to please, please always keep us in your grasp. Always keep us near your heart and never let us wander away. Never let us die alone apart from you, but always allow us to walk with you and to die in you. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”