I appreciate the humanity of David. Sometimes when we look at heroes from the Bible there is a tendency to see them as larger than life. Not so with David. In fact, I'm not sure if there is any other character in Scripture who shows more emotion. How would you feel if your son killed another one of your sons? How would you feel if ... [Continue Reading]
God can ‘ t be controlled (2 Samuel 13-15)
In the sad aftermath of David's sin there are a number of tragic circumstances that came up: His daughter, Tamar, was raped by her half-brother, Amnon Amnon was killed by his half-brother, Absalom Absalom tries to form a coup to take his father's throne The last tragic circumstance forced David to flee from Jerusalem for protection, and as he left, the priests ... [Continue Reading]
The nature of true repentance (2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 20)
What is true repentance? Is it saying you're sorry? Is it confessing sin to God? Or is it more than that? A friend of mine and I were discussing repentance one time, and he commented that the problem with genuineness of repentance is that the individual receives the benefit of his or her sin. For instance, a high schooler who lies to ... [Continue Reading]
Good intentions (2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 19)
When my brother was younger he worked for a guy who used to say, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." I'd like to think that Hanun's advisors (the princes) had good intentions in the advice they gave to their leader, but their advice was dead wrong. Unfortunately it's not enough for a person to have good intentions with what ... [Continue Reading]
Dining with the king (2 Samuel 8-9; 1 Chronicles 18)
I can't imagine what Mephibosheth must have felt like when he was called into David's presence. Surely he must have thought that his life was at stake and that the new king was going to exterminate the former king's offspring to prevent any potential overthrows of the throne. But Mephibosheth did know the nature of the promise made between his ... [Continue Reading]
A paradox of leadership (2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17)
There is a very interesting paradox of leadership that exists and is visible in and through David: notoriety. David was not at all concerned about making his name great; he was concerned with pleasing God. This wasn't the case with Saul. Isn't it ironic that Saul, the one who cared so much about being remembered, was forgotten and that David, ... [Continue Reading]
Deja vu (1 Chronicles 15-16)
The repetitiveness of the past several readings has really made me think a lot about the experience of bringing the Ark back to Israel and giving it a more permanent home. It seems so funny to me that, in the midst of celebration by so many, Michal, David's wife, watched the situation in disgust. In fact, she went so far as to despise David in her ... [Continue Reading]
An unfortunate event (2 Samuel 5:11-6:23; 1 Chronicles 13-14)
In some respects it is hard to understand why Uzzah was struck dead by God for attempting to keep the Ark of the Covenant from falling over. After all, it seems like his intentions were good. David, likewise, had a hard time with this because his fear of the Lord increased as a result. Why did God do it? That might be a question we will never ... [Continue Reading]
The reason for Saul ‘ s death (2 Samuel 5:1-9; 1 Chronicles 10, 11:1-9)
There is, within this portion of the narrative, an important characteristic of spiritual leadership that was lacking in Saul: seeking guidance from the Lord. Since the goal of the spiritual leader is to lead people into a growing relationship with God, it seems obvious that such a leader would need to be in tune with God himself. The sad reality, however, is ... [Continue Reading]
An undeserved loyalty (2 Samuel 1-4)
Did I miss something here? Wasn't David being pursued by Saul? Wasn't Saul trying to kill him? Is David even human? Because if he is, then I don't understand how in the world he could possibly have mourned over Saul's death. After all, it was his turn to shine; he finally got to be the king! The Bible records, ... [Continue Reading]
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