Chronicles and Psalms (142, 52, 54, 56)

Psalm 142

David complains that no one helps him in the cave, but ends with saying that he trusts God, not people.

Psalm 52

David chastises a "great warrior" (Doeg the Edomite?) for not trusting in God. This Psalm seems like a curse, more than a prayer of worship.

1 chronicles 12:8-18 - brave warriors from Gad joined David when he was in the wilderness. They were skilled in spear and shield

Psalm 54 - David calls upon God after the Ziphites betrayed his location to Saul. In contrast to Psalm 52, David does not chastise them for not trusting in God.

1 chronicles 12:1-7 - expert archers from Benjamin (relatives of Saul) joined David in Ziklag.

1 chronicles 12:19 - men of Manasseh defected from Saul's army to join David when David mustered along with the Philistines. Also, the stated reason for the Philistines dismissing David was that the commands thought they would be executed if David switched sides during the battle with Saul's army.

In 1 chronicles 12:20-22, David squires huge numbers of them (groups of 1,000) while "returning to Ziklag". So, was this before or after Saul's death? If after, it sounds like the Israelite army is disbanding and joining David. If before, then David did not set out with these when he went after the Amalekites that took Ziklag when he was away, because David only had 600 men at the time.

Psalm 56 - I think the chronological reading has this one out of order. David complains about being alone when the Philistines seize him in Gath.

1 chronicles 10 - this recounts the last battle and death of Saul. The heads of him and his son were mounted on the wall of the temple of Dagon.

2 Samuel 23/ 1 chronicles 11 - these recount many of the heroics of David's soldiers. A number of them single-handedly won battles and killed 100s of enemy soldiers at once. David had a group of "Thirty" close soldiers. There actually 37 of them, one of whom was Uriah the Hittite.