1 Chronicles 10 – 14

Verses 10:13 & 14 describe Saul’s demise:

^13-14 Because Saul disobeyed the Eternal One and trusted in the counsel of a medium instead, he died at the Eternal’s hand; and the Eternal gave the kingdom to the great king David, son of Jesse.

This starts to get a little confusing since Saul was introduced as king when he was being killed by the Philistines. Then 11 -14 talks about David and tend to jump back to before Saul’s death, so there is not a consistent timeline. Saul was Israel’s first king and was not of God’s will. The people chose Saul because of his looks and ignored the fact he hid from what they wanted. So I guess that’s why not much time was spent talking about Saul.

Verse 11:7 talks about the “City of David”:

After the conquest David lived in Zion, so it became known as the “city of David.” 

I always considered Jerusalem as the “City of David” and not Zion. In doing a study many say all three names are synonymous and therefore the same place, but they differentiate later in this chapter by not calling Zion but rather Jerusalem. I cannot say I understand what is actually the truth, just what scripture says. I guess they have not found relics of Zion and just assumed it to be Jerusalem.

One last note is David’s men are selected based on their abilities in battle. We see this in chapter 11.

Verse 14:16 talks about David’s obedience:

David obeyed God’s command, and he defeated the army of the Philistines from Gibeon to Gezer.

This is key to David’s life and should be a model for ours. When David ignored God’s commands and went on his own will, things fell apart. How many times have you had problems and when looking back we see failures in our obedience to God. Sure we can get back on track, yet often the scars from our drift remain for decades to come as with David. God forgives and helps restore things to normal, people on the other hand remember and hold bitterness for life sometimes.