BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

You finished the two-part book of Samuel. Congratulations! These narratives complete the symmetrical epilogue you started reading yesterday. Once again, we have a story about David and his mighty men going to war against the Philistines. And once again, we find a weak and feeble king sheltered from the front lines while his men take on fierce enemy warriors.

Yesterday’s reading also featured a story about the destructive consequences of Saul’s failure, and today we saw a parallel story about one of David’s deadly failures.

While taking a military census, David tallies up his own strength instead of trusting in Yahweh. As soon as the prophet Gad confronts David about his wrongdoing, he humbly repents. David describes his sin with the Hebrew word me’od, meaning “very” or “much.” But as you’ll see in the video, me’od also appears in the Shema prayer (Deut. 6:4-9) as a noun. Humans are supposed to love God with all their everything—their me’od. But David fails to do this, resulting in devastating consequences for the whole nation.

Though David’s failure is great, the story implies (consistently) that God’s mercy is greater. The center of the book’s epilogue contains David’s songs of praise, a beautiful parallel to Hannah’s song at the beginning of 1 Samuel. Despite his own weakness and failure, David remains confident in Yahweh’s grace and willingness to keep covenant promises. The future hope woven into these final poems reaches far beyond David himself, looking to the future messiah who would bring God’s Kingdom and blessing to all nations.

Reflection Questions

• Compare David’s poetic memoirs (2 Sam. 22-23) to Hannah’s song (1 Sam. 2). What common themes do you notice? How have you seen these themes play out throughout the book of Samuel?
• What do you think it looks like to love God with all your “muchness”? Can you think of any people in your own life who show this kind of love toward God?