{"id":59989,"date":"2019-07-23T12:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T09:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=59989"},"modified":"2023-02-15T07:41:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T05:41:15","slug":"ultimate-devotion-not-vulnerable-to-peer-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/ultimate-devotion-not-vulnerable-to-peer-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Devotion, Not Vulnerable To Peer Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[834,895,894,707],"acf":{"old_id":"59989","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":56118,"related_cahpter":"269","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Where Saul stumbled, David danced - and established his kingdom forever","content":"

After determining that it was safe to restore the Ark to the City of David, David accompanied the Ark from the house of Oved to Gitite by \u201cwhirling with all his might\u201d (v. 14). Yet his wife Michal sharply critiques her husband for having debased himself and his position as king. David responds that not only did he not lower his status in the eyes of the people, but he even elevated his stature by leading the people in celebration. The chapter goes on to make it clear that David\u2019s actions were indeed appropriate, and Michal\u2019s rebuke unwarranted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet it is not clear why Michal was judged harshly for her seemingly legitimate critique. Further, David\u2019s response to her critique is uncharacteristic: \u201cIt was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father and all his family and appointed me ruler over the Lord\u2019s people Israel! I will dance before the Lord\u201d (v. 21). For someone who constantly goes out of his way to defend the house of Saul, this is odd, to say the least. Since when does David \u201cthrow Saul under the bus\u201d and trumpet his own rise to power in place of Michal\u2019s deceased father?<\/span><\/p>\n

To better understand this episode, we might return to the underlying reason for Saul\u2019s loss of the kingdom, and the implicit contrast to David\u2019s mode of behavior. The genesis of Saul\u2019s downfall is difficult to pinpoint, because Samuel twice tells him that his sins have led to the loss of the kingdom: first, after he violates the words of the prophet and offers a sacrifice before the time is due; and second, after he refuses to completely destroy the people and animals of Amalek. How is it that Saul loses the throne twice? It would appear that the two episodes evince the same underlying shortcoming on the part of Saul: he allows other considerations, whether it be acceding to pressure from the nation or compassion toward King Agag and the Amalekites, to trump his absolute devotion to the word of God. At their heart, these two sins are truly one.<\/span><\/p>\n

David, by contrast, refers to himself as the \u201cservant of God\u201d (Psalms 118). He prioritizes his commitment to obey the word of God over other considerations. The ‘flipside’ is that David is willing to embarrass himself before the people while acting with devotion to God. This is the basis for his response to Michal, and why he stingingly critiques her father: God chose David precisely because he demonstrated a level of devotion, even to the point of social embarrassment or discomfort, that Michal\u2019s father was unable to summon. David reminds us that service of God takes ultimate priority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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