2nd Samuel 1:10-16

2nd Samuel 1:10-16, “So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou?  And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed? And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him.  And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.”

This young Amalekite told King David that he killed Saul. David was horrified. The Amalekite, a member of a heathen nation, sincerely thought that David would be happy and thankful that he killed Saul. Everybody and their dog knew about the conflict between Saul and David. Everybody knew that Saul was hunting for David, wanting to kill him. The Amalekite no doubt expected to receive a great reward from the king, but he didn't understand God's ways. David knew that it was wrong to raise up one's hand against God's anointed man. The naïve young Amalekite didn't understand such things. To his horror, the young Amalekite learned that instead of being hailed as a hero, King David saw him as an evil villain of the Lord. The Amalekite even handed over Saul's crown and bracelet to David, corroborating his story.

The shocking amazing thing about this story is that the Amalekite LIED to David. In fact, Saul committed suicide and was not slain by the Amalekite...

1st Samuel 31:4-5, “Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me.  But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.”

1st Chronicles 10:4-5, “Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.  But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid.  So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.”

Wow! What a lesson to be learned from this true story! The young Amalekite saw a golden opportunity (so he thought) to hit the big time and make a lot of money. He very likely anticipated that David was going to throw a party for him, give him a big bag of gold, and become buddies with him for killing David's enemy, Saul. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Let this be a lesson to all of us, that having even the most noblest and sincere of intentions can still go horribly wrong! Some of the worst ideas in history have been done with the best of intentions. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.