2 Samuel 1: Integrity

"For David had said to the Amalekite, 'Your blood is on your own head because your own mouth testified against you by saying, "I killed the Lord's anointed."'"

2 Samuel 1:16

Here's an interesting little parable.  The last chapter of 1 Samuel narrates the suicide of King Saul, showing us his weakness and lack of honor.  Then, the first chapter of 2 Samuel brings us an obscure character claiming that he killed Saul by the king's own orders.  This strikes many readers as being an obvious contradiction, but I see an interesting correlation that helps keep the man's claims in perspective.  The very first paragraph of the chapter gives us some necessary information, like who the man is and when he came to David.  After David defeated the Amalekites who had taken his people's families captive, this Amalekite man shows up with torn clothes and dust on his head.  He says he's come from the battle on Mount Gilboa (where Saul perished), but I think it's more likely that he's one of the survivors of David's raid, coming back to try and trick him.  My guess is that he'd heard that Saul was run through by his own sword and assumed he'd ordered a servant to do this for him; he thought he'd claim to be that servant, assuming that this would be viewed as an act of mercy.  His plan backfired horribly.  David ordered the Amalekite slain on the spot for his claim of attacking the king.

The sixth core value of the US Army is integrity.  The Amalekite in this story, whether my assumptions about his motives are correct or not, shows a significant lack of integrity.  If he's being honest, and the account at the end of 1 Samuel is wrong, he lost his integrity when he murdered the king.  If my fabrications are correct, he lost his integrity before he even spoke his lie - when he first started thinking of this crazy scheme.  In either case, David shows integrity in his response to this man: he does what's right, even when (as far as he knows) this man might have really been following the king's orders.  Integrity means doing what's morally right, no matter the consequences and no matter who's going to find out (or not going to find out).

Question of the Day:

Do you have the integrity to speak the truth when it will get you in trouble or make you unpopular?  Do you have the integrity to speak out or act out against wrongdoing?  Do you have the integrity to act righteously even when you are alone?  Do you have the integrity to keep even your deepest subconscious thoughts pure?

Prayer of the Day:

Lord, You know the depths of my heart and yet You have the integrity to love me anyway, not because You need to but because it's the right (and righteous) thing to do.  Help me to follow Your example by living a life of integrity - a life which honors You at all times, no matter what the cost is.  Amen.