I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 8-11.

    Once David had secured his throne by conquering most of the surrounding peoples, he remembered his promise to Jonathan and sought out any sons of Jonathan who remained alive. When he found Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, he brought him into his household and gave him the properties which had belonged to Saul. (What is it with the names Saul’s family gave their sons after Saul became king? Ishbosheth, Mephibosheth,…) There is not a lot here for us, but it shows that David was secure enough in his kingship to not feel threatened by the descendants of Saul. David was generous to Jonathan’s son in memory of his friendship with Jonathan.

    I was going to write an summary of what happened in the war against the Ammonites and then explain how that led to David’s sin with Bathsheba. However, I realized that what I really wanted to write about was how David’s decision to pass the hard work of leading the army off onto someone else led him into sin. If David had led the army of Israel out to war, as was his responsibility, he would not have been in Jerusalem to be tempted with the sins he committed. This is a lesson for all of us. Our failure to actively do the things we ought to be doing often places us in the path of temptation and placing ourselves in the path of temptation leads us to sin. Do that which God is calling you to do and you will be less likely to find temptation coming your way. If we follow Paul’s advice in Phillipians 4:8 Samuel 8-11 we will avoid situations like the one in which David found himself:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

It really is amazing how well that works to defeat temptation. I just wish I was better at doing it myself.