In today’s section, we read about:
David is sent home by the Philistines only to find his home ransacked
Saul and his sons are killed, Israel’s armies are destroyed. David mourns
David is crowned king by the tribe of Judah, the others follow Saul’s son Ishbosheth
David becomes king over all Israel
The Ark of the Covenant is moved to Jerusalem
God’s covenant promise to David
David defeats all his enemies
David commits adultery with Bathsheba and Nathan comes to confront him
Some things that struck me today:
When David gets sent home from the Philistine army, the king who knows him best readily admits that he has never had cause to complain about David at all – “as far as I am concerned, you’re as perfect as an angel of God”.
1 Sam 30:4-6 - they return to find their families carried off, they weep until they can weep no more (v4), and there was even talk of stoning David. But what does David do? “David found strength in the Lord his God”.
As Jane McB commented, before practically every decision, David asks the Lord before he commits himself to action
1 Sam 31:11-13 is a salutary reminder not to think we are the only ones following God, as even Elijah though (1 Ki 19:14 an 18). David recognises this (2 Sam 2:6)
2 Sam 1 again reminds us how David shared God’s view of Saul even if Saul himself did not.
2 Sam 3:1 says this was the beginning of a long war between those who were loyal to Saul and those who were loyal to David. Yet it doesn’t seem particularly long in the context of the rest of the book, and also presumably it was 7 and half years out of a 40 year reign.
Is Abner a goodie or a baddie? He follows Ishbosheth and kills Asahel, yet he is instrumental in bringing unity to Israel by sending out messengers to David, admittedly out of pique because of Ishbosheth having a go at him over one of Saul’s concubines.
2 Sam 3:29 – the curse of David on Joab and his family is not that dissimilar from what awaits David in 12:10. “By your own measure….”
2 Sam 5:24 – “When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of poplar trees”, what would that have been like?
2 Sam 6:6-7 – I feel sorry for Uzzah, because he was surely only trying to stop the Ark falling off the cart and get smashed.
2 Sam 6:21-22 – David is so lost in worship for God that he forgets everything else. I, on the other hand, am far too self-conscious.
2 Sam 7 is the most amazing two way conversation between God and David (albeit via a vision to Nathan, but David knows the voice of the Good Shepherd, recognises it and listens to it).
2 Sam 7:25-26 reminds me almost of marriage vows, where the bride has heard the vows from the groom, and in repeating them she not only claims them for herself, she also commits herself to the arrangement. I really like 7:27 “your words are truth”, and 7:29 “when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing.” Cf 2 Cor 1:19-20 “For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No”. He is the one whom Silas, Timothy and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes”, he always does what he says. For all God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”
2 Sam 9 is a wonderful expression of David’s kindness. We saw it in his treatment of the Egyptian slave wandering on his own (1 Sam 30:11). Here he fulfils the promise he made to Jonathan (1 Sam 20:15).
The mood changes so markedly in ch11, starting with the opening line “in the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war... David stayed behind in Jerusalem”. Was it that he didn’t go out to war, or was it that by doing so, he laid himself open to lots of temptations, which he otherwise would not have done, and to which he succumbed whole-heartedly.
David tries everything to cover up his sin, but he knew what he had done was wrong – his behaviour proves that.
2 Sam 2:9-10 – again it is clear that sin, although it may be horrific against other people, it is above all rebellion against God – “why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? … you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.”
1 comment:
Chap 11 shows how when you enter into sin it can so easily become a spiral downwards into more and more sin. David, a man with an incredible heart of worship, slips so easily into sexual sin, lies, deceit, murder. Having read on into chap 12 though, he understand that there there needs to be consequences for our sin. Once brought to his senses through Nathan (amazing that he should need this challenge but then how often do we need to be corrected by those around us?) he shows a repentant heart.
Remarkable that on hearing of the death of his son, the first thing he does is to worship God. He has regained a Godly perspective. Last week I heard the expression "We can choose our actions, but we cannot choose the consequences". I think David understood this and was putting his faith and trust back into God.
Post a Comment