How to Offer Petitionary Prayers (2 Sam 2.1)
David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” “To which shall I go up?
Background
The book of 1 Samuel opens with a messenger telling David that he found an injured Saul on the battlefield. Saul had asked him to kill him, and the man did so. The messenger was not an Israelite, but an Amalekite living in Israel. The messenger’s recitation of events is a bit different from that told at the end of 1 Samuel, where Saul fell on his own sword. Whether Saul did not die from that act, or whether the Amalekite is lying (and was robbing the battlefield), is unknown. Either way, David has the men executed for admitting that he killed the king—another example of David’s loyalty to the office of the king, despite Saul’s actions against God.
David then laments for Israel and the tragic end of its first king, but the lament is not a prayer. Prayer-laments are directed at God and “lament” that God has allowed suffering or tragedy, and all the associated disheartenment that follows. Verses 17–18 tell us that David wrote a song as a tribute and had it distributed to all the people of Israel. It is a public hymn commemorating the event.
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