Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 23-24.

I am not sure when relative to the other things which happened during David’s reign the things in today’s passage occurred.  It begins by recounting David’s last words.  I will state that I am unsure if we are meant to understand these to be the last words he spoke before he died, or a statement David desired to be repeated after his death about his life.  The passage goes on to recount some of the exploits of David’s mightiest warriors and then lists the name of those warriors.  Finally, the passage contains the account of David’s census and the plague which followed.  It tells us that this plague led to David building an altar where Solomon would later build the temple.  Interestingly, it contains what at first appear to be two different accounts about how the plague ended.  First, it says that as the angel delivering the plague was about to strike Jerusalem God commanded it to stop.  Second, it says that Gad told David to build an altar at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place where it first said the angel was when God commanded it to stop.  In the second part it tells us that God stopped the plague after David offered sacrifices there.  After giving it some thought, I think we are supposed to see these two things as being together.  David built the altar at the place he saw the angel and offered sacrifices which led God to stop it from continuing to spread the plague, and God stopped the plague at that place so that David would know where to build the altar.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 20-22.

Today’s passage contains a psalm of David which has some great imagery.  First David describes God as his rock, his fortress, and his deliverer.  He extends that description by saying that God is the one in whom he takes refuge.  The way David words this makes clear that each of these is intended to be an alternative description of the same characteristic, where each word is incomplete.  A rock is solid and impenetrable, but enemies can go around it and get at you from behind.  You can go inside a fortress, so your enemies cannot come at you from any direction, but a fortress has weak points which an enemy can exploit.  By combining the idea of rock and fortress, David communicates that God is an impenetrable fortress with no weaknesses for an enemy to exploit.  Then there is the word, deliverer.  Deliverer indicates that God comes to us when we are in danger and delivers us from our enemies, or whatever danger threatens us.  So, God is an impenetrable safe haven which will come to us and protect us from danger of any sort.  There is one final point to this word picture David draws.  He says that he takes refuge in God.  That means that he actively seeks God’s protection.  That indicates that sometimes we need to actively seek God’s protection.  While God will come to where we are in danger, we must seek his protection.  Just as we can choose to leave a physical fortress, we can choose to leave God’s protection.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 18-19.

The first thing which I thought about as I read today was where the passage tells us, after recounting Absalom’s death, that Absalom had built a monument for himself.  We are told that he built this because he thought that it would preserve his name even though he had no sons.  Yet back in chapter fourteen it says that Absalom had three sons and a daughter.  I have read several commentaries which suggest that even though Absalom’s monument was not mentioned until after his death it was probable built before the birth of his children.

After the death of Absalom the men of Israel debated whether or not they should call David back as king.  David reached out to the tribe of Judah, which called him back to be their king before the rest of Israel made up their minds what to do.  Along with the men of Judah, Shimei led the tribe of Benjamin to bring David back to be king.  The same Shimei who had cursed David as he fled from Absalom.  Ziba, who was the steward of Saul’s household and who had brought David supplies when he was fleeing Absalom, accompanied Shimei and the other men of Benjamin to greet David and escort him back to Jerusalem.  Then we learn that Mephibosheth also came to greet David at the Jordan as he returned.  What makes this interesting is that Ziba said that Mephibosheth had remained in Jerusalem as Absalom advanced because he hoped to be made king, yet here we are told that Mephibosheth had acted similar to a man in mourning since the moment David had left Jerusalem.  David who, when Ziba brought him supplies, had given Ziba all of the properties he had earlier given to Mephibosheth, with Ziba to manage them for Mephibosheth, now splits those properties between Mephibosheth and Ziba.  As best I can understand the situation when Ziba first came to David as he fled, David chose to reward Ziba for his support and punish Mephibosheth for his perceived betrayal.  Here, David retracted the punishment of Mephibosheth, but maintained the reward without acknowledging that Ziba had lied to him.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 16-17.

The first element of today’s passage is the account of Ziba, whom David had placed as manager over the property which had been Saul’s and which David had given to Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son.  Ziba brought supplies for David and his men as they fled Jerusalem.  When David inquired after Mephibosheth, Ziba told him that Mephibosheth was staying in Jerusalem because he thought the Israelites would make him king.  From what we are told when Mephibosheth greeted David on David’s return to Jerusalem, we know that this was not true.  I am noting this in because I may go into more detail about that when we get to the passage about David’s return.  The next element is the account of Shimei cursing David as he left Jerusalem.  Joab’s brother, Abishai, requested David’s permission to kill Shimei for cursing David.  Abishai was probably, at least in part, seeking to take out his anger about being forced to flee from Absalom on Shimei.  David however told Abishai that, since his own son was seeking his life, perhaps God had told Shimei to curse him.  I have always wondered why David reacted so strongly to Abishai.  It occurred to me today that perhaps after needing to flee from his own son, and then the apparent betrayal by Mephibosheth, the son of his best friend, David felt like he deserved to be cursed.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 14-15.

Joab’s actions led to Absalom’s rebellion.  Joab thought he was acting in David’s interest when he convinced David to bring Absalom back from exile.  However, if he had not done so, Absalom would never have been able to set his rebellion in motion.  Even then, if Joab had not interceded with David to allow Absalom to come to his court, Absalom still would have been unable to gain traction for his rebellion.  So, while Joab thought he was doing what was best for David by reconciling him with Absalom, by doing so he allowed Absalom to set in motion his plot to usurp the throne.  One thing which is not clear to me is why Absalom attempted to usurp the throne.  If he had just waited for David to die, it seems likely he would have inherited the throne instead of Solomon.  Or, perhaps, he thought that David intended to choose Solomon.

In any case, Absalom’s actions in endearing himself to the people before he initiated his actual attempt to seize the throne gives us great warning against evil people who desire leadership roles.  Absalom put on a show and told people that he would have sided with them if he had the power to decide their case when they came to Jerusalem.  But, he never went to his father and offered his services to actually preside over such cases.  Rather than actually work to help people by taking on responsibilities, he told people that he would do what they wanted if he had the power.  If Absalom had asked David to give him authority to judge these cases, it seems likely that David would have done so.  This is a sign of a leader not to be trusted.  They are quick to tell everyone what is wrong with the current system, but make no effort to fix it.

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