1 Chronicles 10 records the death of King Saul and his sons in battle. The record is virtually the same as the one found in 1 Samuel 31. The details vary slightly, but the gist of the account is the same.
1 Chronicles 11 and 12 start with the announcement of David becoming the king and moving to Jerusalem. But the remainder of these two chapters backtrack a bit, listing the names and backgrounds of David’s mighty men, and telling us when they came to him. The focus seems to be more on showing God’s favor on David as he developed a following and then became king, that we found in 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel gives much more background about the transition of the kingdom of Israel to David after Saul died, and has much greater detail about the fighting that went on between David and Saul’s sons, before David ultimately became the king of all Israel.
As we turn to Matthew 14, we read the account of King Herod telling others Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead. We are told of Herod arresting John, and then executing him, because of his step-daughter’s request that he do so. The request came after Herod had promised to give her anything she asked, even up to half of his kingdom, because she entertained Herod and his guests at a party. Herod had no idea, she would be prompted by her mother, Herodias, to ask for John’s head on a platter, but when the request came Herod fulfilled it rather than be viewed as a liar by his guests. When Jesus heard of John’s execution, He withdrew to an isolated place to pray. The ever-present crowd heard of Jesus’ whereabouts, and came to Him with their sick and demon-possessed. As usual, Jesus healed them. Then when it was evening, Jesus told the disciples to feed them. Because they had no food, Jesus multiplied the little they had. We are told Jesus fed 5,000 men and women and children in addition to that with five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. After this Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to pray, and sent the disciples on ahead by boat. Jesus often withdrew to pray after a major “success” in His ministry. The wisdom of this is obvious. The devil doesn’t only tempt us when things are challenging for us. He pushes us to display pride, when we go through positive events. Later, Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. They thought He was a ghost, but He assured Him it was He. Peter told Jesus if it was He, to call him to come out on the water. Jesus did. Peter walked on the water, but eventually, he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, Save me!” Jesus did. I’ve always been comforted by that brief prayer, and Jesus’ immediate response to it. Sometimes we have such an urgent need, all we can say is “Lord, Save me!” He does. We simply need to remember to turn to Him instead of to our own solutions in such moments.