I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    I really needed David’s song of praise today. My wife and I need to find another place to live soon and we have been having trouble finding the right place. So, David’s words reinforced my faith at a time when I needed that reinforcement.

But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I cried to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry reached his ears.

I needed that reminder that God has indeed heard my cry of desperation. The imagery which follows that quote portrays the power which God applies to answering our cries for help culminating in verse 17

He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

and then in verse 20

He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.

That last truly struck me. God will lead my wife and I to a place of safety. The Lord does indeed light up my darkness. He is my Rock. I am so thankful for this passage today.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    I find it educational to look at the advice Absalom accepted and the advice he rejected. When Ahithophel advised Absalom to sleep with David’s concubines where everyone would know he had done so, Absalom did not hesitate or question the advice. He immediately followed it. On the other hand, when Ahithophel advised Absalom to put 12,00 men under his command and send him out after David, Absalom chose to consult Hushai. Hushai advised Absalom to wait, gather the full army, and lead them himself.

    Paying attention to why Absalom followed the advice he chose can give us insights which will help us choose what advice we follow as well. When Ahithophel advised Absalom to sleep with David’s concubines it appealed to Absalom’s pride and lust. Then when Hushai advised him to wait and gather the entire army, leading it himself, in order to pursue David, Hushai played to both Absalom’s insecurities and to his ego. In addition, Hushai’s advice was to “play it safe”. Good advice may sometimes tell us to reduce risk, but it never claims there are no risks.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    I find it interesting that Joab conspired to bring Absalom back from exile. Perhaps he did this because he saw that David was suffering because his son was in exile. Or, perhaps he did it because he thought it bad for the kingdom for David’s now eldest son to be in another kingdom. However, despite the fact that David had Joab bring Absalom back to Jerusalem, neither David nor Joab talked to Absalom for two years after his return. I do not know what role David’s cold shoulder played in Absalom’s decision to attempt to overthrow his father, but it can’t have helped the situation. Every time I read these stories it strikes me that David was not a very good father. Three of his sons (Ammon, Absalom, and Adonijah) came to a bad end because David did not discipline them.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 12-13.

    I was going to write about Nathan’s message to David, God’s judgment on David, and David’s failings as a father. However, as I re-read the passage in order to compose my thoughts, I was struck by David’s reaction to the illness and death of his son by Bathsheba. While the child was sick, David fasted and prayed. He laid on the bare floor and pleaded with God for the boy’s life. He did this to such a degree that his advisers and servants were afraid to tell him that the boy had died. However, when David realized that the boy had died, he got up, cleaned himself, got dressed, and went to worship God. Then he came back and ate. David’s advisers did not understand his actions.

    However, as Christians we should understand David. While the child was alive, David fasted and prayed. He had hope that God would be gracious and return the boy to health. However, once the child had died David knew that he was suffering no more. The child was with the Lord, where David could join him one day. The message of this passage really strikes home to me right now. In the last week my family held a funeral for a cousin who died after a long, painful struggle with cancer and celebrated my Mom’s 90th birthday. We should fast and pray for our loved ones when they are sick, asking God to end their suffering by healing them. However, if and when they die, we should rejoice because God has ended their suffering and one day we will be reunited with them in His presence. This is easier said than done.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    The story of David and Bathsheba shows us how one small mistake can lead us to make ever greater mistakes. David’s first mistake was to send the army out to war without going with it. There are two places where the author expresses his unhappiness with David’s decision not to lead the army. In chapter 11, verse one the author writes

In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight…

Then later the author expresses his dissatisfaction with David in the reason which Uriah gives for not going home to his wife. Having failed to do his duty, David was exposed to the temptation of seeing Bathsheba bathing. David succumbed to that temptation, then, to cover it up, he conspired to have her husband killed. It is worth noting that Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband was one of David’s most loyal followers.
    I want to make one last point. I have seen some people suggest that Bathsheba knew what she was doing when she went out to bathe that night when she caught David’s attention. While this is certainly possible I want to point out that nowhere in the Bible does any writer condemn Bathsheba for her affair with David. This is despite the supposedly misogynistic (anti-woman) characteristics of the Old Testament.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 4-7.

    When word reached Ishbosheth’s camp about Abner’s death, two brothers, who were minor commanders in his army, slipped into Ishbosheth’s house while he napped and killed him. They took Ishbosheth’s head to David, apparently expecting him to reward them for killing Ishbosheth. Rather than reward them, David ordered them executed. Throughout his career David consistently rejected the idea of punishing people solely because they were his enemies. When the people of Israel learned that Ishbosheth, the last of Saul’s sons, had died, they made David their king. I do not know if anyone else has ever noticed, but sometimes when I write this blog I write whatever comes to my mind hoping that God (or perhaps just my mental processes) will inspire me with a spiritual message from the passage. Some days that inspiration never comes. However, today is not one of those days…

    When David moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem he loaded it on a cart. This was contrary to the instructions which God had given the Israelites concerning how to move the Ark. As a result, when one of the men accompanying the Ark reached out to steady it, God struck him down. This may seem unfair, since a mere two generations earlier the Philistines had returned the Ark to the Israelites by sending it on a cart. However, the lesson here for us is that God holds those who know better to a higher standard. Or, perhaps a better way to say this is, God holds those who instruct others on right and wrong to a higher standard. We see time and again stories about people who tell others about how God wants us to live our lives getting caught up in a scandal, or otherwise having their life fall apart because they did that which they told others was wrong. If you feel called by God to tell others to live righteously make sure that you yourself are living up to your standard of righteousness, or, at least, be open about your failure to live up to what you believe is right.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 1-3.

    When a messenger came to David with news of Saul’s death, the messenger claimed to have killed Saul, at Saul’s request. I am not sure why the messenger claimed to have killed Saul, perhaps he thought David would reward him. Yet he appears to have been aware that the news would not be greeted with unmitigated joy by David, since he was careful to make clear that he only killed Saul at Saul’s request. David had the messenger killed for claiming to have killed Saul. It is not clear to me why David did this. However, David was sending a clear message that he had not been behind Saul’s death. He also sent a message that not only would he not reward people for assassinating his enemies, he would hold them accountable for doing so.

    In the story of Abner coming over to David we see the weakness in David’s approach to governing. When Joab killed Abner, David was unable to do anything about it because he needed Joab’s support. While Joab claimed to have killed Abner because Abner had killed Joab’s brother, there is reason to believe that Joab killed Abner because he saw Abner as a threat to his position as commander of David’s armies.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 25-27.

    We see in this passage the beginnings of how David built his power base. While David was in the wilderness hiding from Saul he had gathered men who followed him. In order to support those men, David could have turned bandit, stealing supplies from the wealthy. Instead of doing so, David set his men to protecting the property of men like Nabal from bandits. David then expected the men whose property his men had protected to provide them with some support. Over time, the majority of people to whom David provided such protection would have become fond of David.
    The root of David’s power base contrasts with that of Saul. David rose to power by building good will among powerful people. Saul had risen to power on the basis of raising and leading an army to defeat a cruel enemy of the Israelite people. Saul’s power relied on his control of the army. As a result, he viewed anyone else who developed a power base as a threat. David, on the other hand, was always dependent on maintaining the loyalty of various people who controlled independent power bases.