O. G. DAVID

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After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. And the young man who told him said, "By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my Lord." Then David called one of the young men and said, "Go, execute him." And he struck him down so that he died. And David said to him, "Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the Lord's anointed.'"
2 Samuel 1:1‭-‬2‭, ‬6‭, ‬10‭, ‬15‭-‬16 ESV

¶David was original gangster, playing off one local gangster warlord (Saul) against another (Achish), just as Israel had to play off Assyria against Egypt against Babylon. What made David so original, though, was the presence of God walking with him. David could be badass, warsome, dealing in violence, taking his revenge as readily as any gangster. This is the world into which God inserted Himself. These were the people with whom God initiated a covenant relationship. This is the world into which Jesus came. This is our world too, complicated, inequitable, and dangerous, and loved by God.

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