2 Samuel: The Suffering Chosen One

2 Samuel 16-18

A big theme in the Bible is Israel’s search for God’s anointed one, who will lead Israel to live the way God intended from the beginning. In reading the story of king David, it occurred to me it’s not just about this chosen one’s qualities, it’s about the suffering the chosen one will endure. David spends most of his life fleeing from enemies.

He fled from Saul for what seemed like decades, and now he’s fleeing from his own son, Absalom, who is trying to take the throne. Often I think being the chosen one would be fun. You get to have an adventure and save the world, and everybody loves you, right? Not in the Bible. The chosen one is not accepted by his nation. He spends most of his life in the wilderness.

This seems like a perverse law of human nature. The more adventure and meaning in your life, the more suffering you have to endure. David seems to believe this. As they are fleeing, David and his men meet a man from Saul’s family. The man throws rocks and curses David, saying, “The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul” (2 Samuel 16:8). Of course, that’s not true. David had two opportunities to kill Saul, and he didn’t. Still, this man blames David for the destruction of Saul’s household.

David responds surprisingly. He says that God told this man to say those things. He allows the man to continue yelling and throwing rocks, even though any respectable king would have the man arrested or killed. David says, “It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today” (2 Samuel 16:12). Very odd. Apparently, David willingly endures suffering he could easily avoid because he thinks God will help him.

Previously, Nathan cursed David because of David’s sin of adultery and murder. Presumably committing adultery was very fun, but the results were bad. Being pelted with stones is not fun, but David hopes the results will be good. It’s tempting to think the Bible is telling us that pleasure is bad and suffering is good. I don’t think that’s what’s happening. Marriage can be just as pleasurable as adultery, but one is good, and the other is bad. Pleasure is not the problem.

This story reminds me of Joseph, who endured suffering at the hands of his brothers. They threw him into a pit, then he became a slave and a prisoner in Egypt, but he ended up saving the entire land from a famine. Near the end of his life, Joseph reassured his brothers, saying, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).

Joseph suffered because of the sin of his brothers, but God turned it into salvation for many. David is suffering from his own sin and the sins of his sons, but he’s hoping it will lead to something good. There’s no way this has nothing to do with Jesus. The chosen one will suffer because of sin, and that will lead to something good.

It’s worth mentioning Psalm 3 at this point. The introduction to Psalm 3 says “A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom”. The psalm is all about how David will not fear ten thousand men, because God will bring deliverance. I wonder what it feels like to have that kind of confidence. To know that God is taking care of you. Twice while David is fleeing, people bring gifts of food for him and his men. In one case, people brought “couches and basins and earthenware, and wheat and barley and flour and parched grain and beans and lentils and honey and curds from the flock and cheese from the herd” (2 Samuel 17:28-29, Robert Alter’s translation).

David doesn’t fear death by the sword, nor death by starvation. In Psalm 3, it’s all because God protects him. In 2 Samuel, God seems to work through people, because there’s no obvious magic happening.

It’s reminding me of the wilderness wanderings in the book of Numbers. In Numbers, Israel fled Egypt through the wilderness, like David fleeing Absalom. In Numbers, food miraculously appeared on the ground, like people bringing David food. Also, a random phrase, “commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds” occurs three times in numbers, and once in 2 Samuel. In Numbers, the people sinned, so God made them wander the wilderness for an extra 40 years. David also sinned, so now he has to wander through the wilderness for the second time in his life.

In the book of Numbers, we were learning how God implements his justice and mercy. The famous line from Exodus, “slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Exodus 34:6-7). He keeps his promises, he punishes, and he forgives. Even though he promised to bless the entire world through Israel, he punishes them when they sin. And even though he promised to make David the anointed one, he punishes David for his sin.

More importantly, he forgives. In Numbers, he forgave Israel for their sin. He should have killed them for their sin, but instead they only wandered the desert. He should have killed Cain too, but instead he protected him and made him wander in the wilderness. Adam and Eve were also told they would die if they ate from the wrong tree. God doesn’t kill them, he only makes them wander outside of Eden, in the wilderness. Come to think of it, according to Biblical law, David should be killed for the murder of Uriah, but he only has to wander in the wilderness.

Wandering in the wilderness is a substitute for the death penalty. Being in the wilderness is a lot like death, after all. No walls for protection, no farms for food, and lots of dangerous animals. But even in the wilderness, God still protects you and provides for you. You still have a chance of getting back to the promised land, or the garden, or Jerusalem. Wherever your heaven-on-earth spot is. David, the anointed one, hopes the suffering he endures in the wilderness, which is like a miniature death, will be the punishment that leads to forgiveness and a return to his heaven on earth.