Summary of the Prayers in Second Samuel

As we have noted before,¹ First and Second Samuel and First and Second Kings are one continuous narrative divided into four “books.” This four-volume story relates certain events of Israel’s history from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian Exile. Part of the story is the transition from judges and prophets to kings. Second Samuel relates events from the reign of the second king, David. David offers many of the prayers in Second Samuel, many seeking God’s in for important decisions, others during times of betrayal and crisis, and some during times of David’s own sins and failures.

When King Saul and his son are killed, David seeks God’s guidance on how he should proceed. We learned that prayers can be both formal and informal petitions.² David also sought guidance when he attempted to capture Jerusalem to make it the capital city of Israel.³ Later, when he was forced to flee his own city, and many friends and family had betrayed him, he turned to God for help.⁴ After most of the crisis with enemies are won, a lengthy famine comes upon the land, and David asks God why He allows it.⁵

David also offers several blessings, as he did upon the people who gave Saul a proper burial (even though this could have upset some of David’s own followers).⁶ The prayer raises the question of whether our own prayers might sometimes be self-serving. A woman offers another brief blessing upon David—she is part of a plan to help him see his failure to deal with the rape of Tamar.⁷ Is it permissible to use a blessing to manipulate someone into doing the right thing? (A prayer-vow by Absalom may also show this problem—he uses the excuse of fulfilling a vow to leave the palace and foment a rebellion against his father, the king.)⁸ Another blessing, offered upon God by a messenger to David, speaks a word of truth about rebelliousness when David is only concerned about his own pain. Can we use prayer as bold speech to speak truth into a difficult situation?⁹

There are curse-prayers in Second Samuel, too. David’s errant son, Abner, pronounced a prayer-curse upon himself should he not follow through with his (selfish) plan.¹⁰ This demonstrates the importance of our prayers (and our actions) being genuine. David pronounces three curses during the time after Abner’s defeat.¹¹ The first is upon Joab for killing Abner. Though Joab acted against the king’s wishes, the curse flows from David’s own personal feelings and not for the good of the nation. A second curse-prayer is by David upon himself if he does not keep a vow he made; a third is upon anyone who might act badly. In all these, we learn that, while curse-prayers are a part of our prayer arsenal, there is a great danger that they can be self-serving and against the will of God.

David offers two lengthy prayers pf praise that show his love for God, his humility, and his desire to honor God in all things (though he sometimes failed in the latter).¹² The first is an example of how different types of prayer can be interwoven: praise to thanksgiving to petition and back to praise. The second praise-prayer comes after David has finally defeated all foreign and domestic threats and unified the nation. It is a soaring psalm of praise, and an excellent example of how to offer prayers of pure praise.¹³

Finally, the last prayer in Second Samuel is a confession by David. The story begins with a blessing by Joab upon the king, but he also questions about why David wants a census taken. David soon realizes that he had focused on his own victories and strengths and less on God’s role. His prayers of confession are excellent models for our own confessions of our sins.¹⁴

In addition to these things we have learned about prayer, there are two larger lessons. The first is the importance of seeking God in all things. We may sometimes fail, we may be self-serving, but seeking Him in prayer will keep us on the right path over our entire lifetime, just as it did for David.

Second, we see that prayers can be selfish. It may be difficult for us to discern this in ourselves—after all, we are praying: “I am being spiritual!” Yet Second Samuel shows us that no one is free from this temptation, whether it be “the man after God’s own heart” or selfish and evil people. Such a problem with prayer is subtle, and shows our need for spiritual friends who will speak frankly with us, just as Joab and others spoke boldly to the king when he needed to hear a difficult truth about himself.

Like many of the books we have studied, Second Samuel offers a rich variety of prayers set in quite human stories of triumph and failure, victory and loss, betrayal and faithfulness.

1. “Introduction to the Prayers of First Samuel,” “Introduction to the Prayers of Second Samuel.” ↩
2. “Formal and Informal Petitionary Prayers (2 Sam 2.1).” ↩
3. “Inquiring of the Lord—Good and Bad (2 Sam 5.19, 23).” ↩
4. “Praying in Times of Injustice or Betrayal (2 Sam 15.31).” ↩
5. “Choosing the Right Type of Prayer (2 Sam 21.1).” ↩
6. “Self-serving prayers? (2 Sam 2.5–6).” ↩
7. “Taking Prayer for Granted (2 Sam 14.17).” ↩
8. “The Privilege of Prayer (2Sam 15.7).” ↩
9. “Prayer as a Revolutionary Act (2 Sam 18.28).” ↩
10. “Let Your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and Your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ (2 Sam 3.9).” ↩
11. “Wrestling with Prayers That Curse (2 Sam 3.29, 36, 29).” ↩
12. “The Interconnectedness of Prayer (2 Sam 7.19–29).” ↩
13. “My Rock and My Fortress Part 1 (2 Sam 22.2–51),” “My Rock and My Fortress Part 2 (2 Sam 22.2–51).” ↩
14. “The Power of Confession (2 Sam 24.3, 10, 17, 23).” ↩

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