It’s interesting here that the Chronicler goes out of his way to give us a fairly detailed genealogy of the Saul, Israel’s first King. Saul failed as king because he was what people wanted as they looked at a king from “the outside.” He had all the qualities, but didn’t have what it took on the inside. Thus, David is strongly contrasted with Saul, when God chose him and said, “God looks at the hearts” of men, rather than at their appearance. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. Saul and David are frequently contrasted in the scriptures.
In the genealogy of Saul we see in verse 29 that his father, Kish, was the son of a Gibeonite. Gibeon was the first resting place of the Ark. It’s interesting that Saul didn’t claim that connection, but rather the connection of being a Benjamite was more important to him. In some ways it appears that he attempted to disassociate with that part of his heritage. We might see that as symbolic of his movement away from God’s presence rather than towards it.
David writes in Psalm 27 about his desire to be in Gibeon where God’s presence was manifested. If you’d read Psalm 27 you’d see that our confidence in the Lord is based on our closeness to the Lord. This was written before the construction of the temple in Jerusalem, so the primary place of worship was at the ancient tabernacle in Gibeon. The tabernacle represented the presence of God among His people, and here David refers to the Tabernacle as: (1) The house of the Lord; (2) the temple; (3) His pavilion; (4) His tabernacle. He is saying: “If I could only do one thing in life, I’d just move to Gibeon and live there near the tabernacle and fellowship with God all day and all night.” In other words, “Lord, I want to dwell with You, to live in Your presence, to be hidden in Your care day and night.”
Chuck
“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2(NLT)