On the third day a man arrived from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor. - 1 Samuel 1:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 3, 2022):  2 Samuel 1

"Are you sitting down?" No one can hear those words without feeling at least a little dread in the pit of their stomachs. Whoever is asking the innocuous question usually carries news that we don't want to hear. Something has happened that we didn't want to happen. The words are a warning shot, indicating that we need to steel ourselves against the news and prepare ourselves for what lies ahead in our immediate future. Occasionally the warning is given against good news, but usually, the revelation we are about to hear will be bad. The idea is likely that if we are sitting down and we faint because of the impact of the news, we won't fall as far.

A man comes to David from the war. And as he approaches David, David already knows that he is carrying bad news. His clothes were torn, and there was dust on his head. But David knew that this wasn't because of the circumstances from which the man had emerged. This was a self-inflicted sign of mourning. The man had torn his own clothes and poured dust on his head as an ancient indication of severe loss. The Prophet Job had done something similar when he was notified that his children had died,

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
    and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
    may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:20-21).

Job's reaction was a variant of the more prominent custom of mourning, one that Job's friends followed. "When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads" (Job 2:12).

So as soon as David saw this man approaching with torn clothes and dust on his head, he knew that something bad had happened. It was a physical version of the more contemporary phrase, "Are you sitting down?" David steeled himself against the news that he was about to receive. Information that would tell him that the King, and his best friend, the King's son, had died in the fight against the Philistines.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 2

Personal Note: Happy 107^th birthday to my grandmother, Aura Baker. She is an amazing lady who we love and appreciate and who has made an incredible difference in the lives of all who know her.