COMMENTARY

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
In a battle with the Philistines King Saul and his sons lost their lives. An Amalekite soldier describes how Saul died. Saul was severely wounded and asked the Amalekite to kill him. Though Saul requested the Amalekite to kill him, David ordered one of his men to kill the Amalekite for slaying the Lord's anointed. Then he sang a lament for Saul and Jonathon.

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
In chapters 8 and 9 Paul discusses the stewardship of money. The pressing need of the day was the poor and hungry in Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas were planning to take the funds to Jerusalem. He asks the Corinthians to match the generosity of the Macedonian church and thereby prove their love is genuine. Christ is the example for their giving in that he, bein…