Verses 2-3 of 1 Peter 2 says:
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Do I long for God, do i long to spend time with Him, to get into His word? Babies know that they need milk and are dependant on it. I am dependant on God but live as though I'm self-sufficient. When we taste and see that the Lord is good, we want more. The more time I spend with Him in prayer or reading His word, the more I want, the more I recognise my need. I just forget very quickly when I'm out of the habit! I need to recognise that I will shrivel away and die without that pure spiritual milk!
the first chapter of 1 peter talks about suffering and trials testing/refining our faith in the same way as gold is refined in the fire. When things are going fine for me, I may be under the impression that I'm doing a good job. When things get difficult and I suddenly start losing my temper or doing something else, it reveals something that was in my heart all along. The suffering/persecution that we endure is not God's original, perfect plan, because sin is not part of that, but like the heat of the fire brings the scum to the surface of the gold so it can be removed, God can use our suffering to bring sin to the surface and deal with it. Suffering can be a way that God works on our hearts.
Saul dies, and some men risk their lives to rescue his body, showing that in Israel, Saul was probably viewed as a good king. We read all the stories of him turning his back on God and think of him as a rarf, but for your average man on the street at the time, who didn't have the insight we have from the Bible, he was probably a hero. Saul had approval from the people but missed the most important thing - God. How much of the time do I put people's approval ahead of my relationship with God. The position of my heart towards God is the most important thing.
It's difficult to imagine what the situation was like when David and his men found out their wives/children had been kidnapped. 600 fighting men weeping until they had no strength left to weep! That included David and then on top of the that the people want to stone him. God has barely been mentioned in the last few chapters, David has made some questionable decisions, and now this. David knows that there is only one thing to do - turn to God. He "strengthens himself in God" (v6). This is the definition of what it means when we say that our weakness is His strength. There was nothing and no-one that could possibly strengthen David here, other than God. And God answers, restoring everything back to the men.
It's easy to read the 2nd half of the chapter and think that's it a simple lesson of how we should share things with others and be fair. While there's nothing wrong with that, it involves us picturing ourselves as the men who went into battle with David. In spiritual terms, we are the men who stayed behind. The men too weak to do anything, unable to help ourselves, depending on someone else to go into battle for us. Jesus did. He went into battle and gave us everything when we deserved nothing.
