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

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Today’s passage begins with what the writer says are the last words of David.  It always seemed strange to me that the last words David spoke were such a carefully crafted psalm.  Then it occurred to me that what the writer likely means is that these were the words David wrote as his last words to be spoken after his death as a reminder to the people of Israel about his faith in God, and the faith which they should have in God.  So, we are not to understand this as the very last words David spoke before he took his last breath.  Rather, we are to understand that these were the words which David composed to be read after his death.

I find the listing of David’s mighty men interesting, but I am going to skip over that today and go to the account given here about David’s census.  The writer says that God’s anger was kindled against Israel, so God put the idea into David’s mind to take a census of Israel and Judah.  Joab tried to talk David out of it, but David was king, so his word carried the day.  The passage does not tell us why God was angry with Israel, just that He was.  When David realized that he had done wrong by ordering this census to be taken, he repented of his sin and prayed to God begging forgiveness.  God sent the prophet Gad to offer David three possible consequences.  David’s answer is interesting.  Rather than explicitly choose one of the options David said, “Let us fall into the hand of the Lord,…,but let me not fall into the hand of man.”  I find it interesting that David said that considering what the writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote,“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” I think it unlikely that the writer of Hebrews was not explicitly thinking about what David said here when he wrote that.  So, while it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, it is still better than if He allows us to fall into the hands of men.  I would rather suffer what God thinks I deserve for my sins than what human beings think I deserve.

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.

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After describing the war against Sheba the writer summarizes those officials who were closest to David.  After that he lists events in no particular time order.  For example, we do not know if the incident with the Gibeonites occurred before or after Absalom’s rebellion.  The same is true of the wars against the Philistines.  We don’t know if those were before or after Absalom rebelled.  For that matter, we do not know if the incident where Abishai saved David’s life occurred before or after the incident with Bathsheba.  I bring it up because it is one of several examples throughout these accounts about the debt which David owed to his nephews Abishai and Joab.  Despite his repeated frustrations with them, Joab and Abishai served David well for most of his life.

However, I want to focus on the song of David recorded here.  I love the images David draws with his words.  They make me wish I had the talent to produce illustrations.  They evoke powerful and awe inspiring images in my mind.  The first couple of lines makes me see a castle on the side of a cliff overlooking the sea, with waves crashing against the base of the cliff.  David writes, “I call upon the Lord,…, and I am saved from my enemies.”  And then he writes, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears.”  Both of those speak of how God may seem far away, but He will respond to our cries out of His love.  Then David writes a series of lines which tell us how God’s anger over the abuse of those He loves causes earth and heaven to tremble.  How He marshals the forces of nature to come to those who rely on Him in trouble and save them.

All of that strikes me every time I read this passage, but today I saw something else, but at first it bothered me.  After those wonderful images, David writes, “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness:…”  He says that in a couple of different ways, implying that God saved him because he was such a good man.  Which seems to run contrary to the teaching found elsewhere in the Bible that none are righteous, that all have sinned.  He then talks about how God shows His goodness in response to our goodness and shows Himself two steps ahead of those who think to outsmart Him.  Then David comes to the part which makes it make sense.  David writes that God is a shield for those who take refuge in Him and that it was God who made his way blameless.  David tells us that the righteousness which he ascribes as the reason God saved him was a gift from God Himself.  David was not righteous because he was better than others, David was not righteous because he did not sin.  David was righteous because God made him righteous.

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.

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When David learned that Absalom had been killed, he went into a room and wept.  As his warriors returned from battle and learned that he was in mourning for Absalom, they came into the city quietly rather than rejoicing over their victory.  Joab pointed out to David that by doing so David was communicating that those who had fought for him ought to be ashamed for being happy that they had lived.  Further, Joab told David that if his men had failed to defeat Absalom, the rest of David’s sons would have been killed, as would have David’s wives.  If Absalom had won everyone else David loved would have died.  David needed to put aside his personal feelings for the good of those who had supported him.  We need to be willing to do likewise.  We need to be willing to put aside our personal feelings for the good of others.

I had mentioned in yesterday’s study that what Ziba told David about Mephibosheth when David was fleeing Jerusalem was not consistent with what Mephibosheth said upon David’s return.  I misspoke partially when I said that we are not given any basis to know who was telling the true story.  In today’s passage the writer tells us that Mephibosheth had not taken care of himself from the time David had fled Jerusalem until he returned.  That suggests that Mephibosheth was genuinely distraught by Absalom’s coup and the danger which David was in.

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.

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I am always struck by Ziba’s conversation with David.  I know from having read this passage and those which follows repeatedly that when David returns after defeating Absalom Mephibosheth denies what Ziba says about him here.  We are never given any basis to figure out which one lied and which one told the truth.  Which brings me to my thought, why did ZIba say what he did about Mephibosheth?  Did Mephibosheth actually say what Ziba claimed he said?  Or, was ZIba merely taking advantage of the situation to ingratiate himself to David?  If the latter, why did he not instead attempt to ingratiate himself with Absalom?  Perhaps, Mephibosheth did something which Ziba misinterpreted to meaning what he said to David.  I will note that Ziba’s contribution was important to David’s eventual success against Absalom.  Without the food and donkey’s which Ziba brought, David’s forces would have been weakened and slowed down.  If they had been slowed down, Absalom’s forces may have overtaken them.

I sort of feel sorry for Abishai, David’s nephew.  He was offended by Shimei cursing the king, the Lord’s anointed.  I think he was applying here the lesson he had learned from his experience when he accompanied David into King Saul’s camp while Saul was hunting David.  On that occasion, David refused to allow him to kill King Saul because King Saul was God’s anointed.  Here, Abishai thought Shimei deserved to die for cursing God’s anointed.  David was angry with Abishai because Abishai thought the solution to every problem was to kill someone (oversimplifying a bit by saying that).  David knew that God was having Shimei curse him for a reason.  So, he remained humble and did not allow Abishai to kill him.  Perhaps, David’s problem with Abishai and Joab was that they tempted him to lose his humility and vent his anger.

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.

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I am going to start writing about when David was fleeing from Absalom.  As he was fleeing the city the passage tells us that David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives weeping, barefoot, and with his head covered.  David went up to the Mount of Olives in mourning.  Additionally, it tells us that God was worshiped on the summit of the Mount of Olives.  As I read that I made the connection to Jesus going there to pray after the Last Supper.  I had always thought that Jesus went there because it was a place where he could pray in relative privacy while He was in Jerusalem.  I had never made the connection with God being worshiped there historically by the Jews, nor with the Old Testament prophecies which referred to the Mount of Olives.   In Ezekiel, the the Mount of Olives was where the glory of the Lord stood when it left the temple and the city shortly before Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians. And in Zechariah, the Mount of Olives was where the Messiah would stand to fight  the nations when they battle against Jerusalem.  Here, in today’s passage.  David weeping and mourning foreshadows Jesus doing likewise the night before His crucifixion.

When I began writing I was not sure if I was going to write about anything else, but I have decided I do want to touch on another element of today’s passage.  When I read today’s passage, I wonder whether the unintentional role Joab played in enabling Absalom’s rebellion factored into David’s hostility toward Joab and his brother.  If not for Joab, David would not have brought Absalom back from exile.  Further, if Absalom had not convinced Joab to go to David on his behalf, Absalom would not have been able to charm the people of Israel to support his claim to the throne.  Joab did both of these things because he knew that David mourned his estrangement from Absalom.  However, I wonder if Joab was also thinking about the succession, about what would happen when David could no longer rule.  If perhaps Joab thought that Absalom would make a good king to follow David, or perhaps just supported him as the next king because he was David’s oldest living son.  One final point just occurred to me, although I know I have thought about it before.  I wonder if Absalom plotted his rebellion against David because he blamed his father for Amnon raping his sister Tamar, or perhaps just resented David for not punishing Amnon for it?

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 12-13.

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God sent Nathan to rebuke David for what he did with Bathsheba, and to Uriah.  Nathan brought the rebuke home by telling David a story which David at first thought was true.  When Nathan pointed out to David that what he had done was at least as bad as the villain in the story, David recognized, and repented, of his sin.  Nathan told David that God would forgive him this sin, but that David would still face the consequences.  The consequences began immediately when the first son born to Bathsheba and David became sick and died.  David actually models something important for us in dealing with this.  While the child was sick David fasted and prayed to God, seeking healing for the child.  Once the child died, David resumed his life (having mourned the child during his sickness).  David recognized that he would join the child again, but that the child would not return to this world.  Those of us who love Christ know that we will be reunited with our loved ones who also love Christ once more.  Death is not the end for those who trust and obey Christ.

David began to experience other consequences when Amnon, David’s first born son, raped his half-sister Tamar.  Followed again two years later by Absalom, Tamar’s full brother, killing Amnon for raping his sister.  Every time I read this I think that David was a poor father to both Amnon and Absalom.  It seems to me that David had failed to teach Amnon that bad behavior has consequences.  And if David had forced Amnon to marry Tamar (which Mosaic law prescribes for this sort of situation), Absalom would likely have been mollified.  Or, would have at least been reluctant to murder his sister’s husband.

We also get two insights into the intrigue of David’s court in this passage.  First, Joab tells David that he had better come out from Jerusalem and lead the final battle against Rabbah, or people might start seeing Joab as a rival to David rather than as his subordinate.  An example of how Joab seems to look out for David’s interests.  It suggests to me that while Joab liked being the commander of the army, he did not want to be king.  The second is the role Jonadab played in Amnon’s actions and later close knowledge of Absalom’s plot.  Jonadab was another nephew of David.  His involvement in advising Amnon in how to seduce/rape Tamar and later knowledge that Absalom had only killed Amnon suggests that he was a confidant of both men.  I have long wondered what Jonadab’s agenda was in this situation, but we learn nothing more about 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 8-11.

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Every time I read this passage I wonder what led David to kill two thirds of the Moabites (I am assuming there were the same number of people in each of the lines David had them form).  This seems strange since David’s great grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite and he had put his parents into the care of the king of Moab while he was on the run from King Saul.  The only thing I have seen which explains this is a Jewish tradition which says that the king of Moab either killed his parents, or turned them over to King Saul, who killed them.

This year when I read the passage I wondered about something else.  When David asked after anyone left of the house of Saul that he could show kindness too, why did they only mention Mephibosheth?  After all, in a few chapters we will learn that, in addition to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, there were two sons and five grandsons of King Saul still alive.  I will be perfectly honest, no sooner had I begun to wonder about this than I realized the answer.  David said that he wanted to show kindness to this descendant of Saul for Jonathan’s sake.  The logical answer was therefore Jonathan’s son.  Is it possible that David was made aware of the rest of King Saul’s descendants who were alive at this point?  Absolutely, but since they were all healthy and did not need assistance, he chose only to show special kindness to the crippled son of his dear friend, Jonathan.

Finally, I want to touch on something else I noticed for the first time with this reading.  I have read/heard some people suggest that Bathsheba was on the roof bathing in an attempt to catch King David’s attention.  I always felt that was taking a position which was not supported by the text, but I could not say that they were wrong.  Except that today I noticed that the text says that Bathsheba had been “purifying herself from her uncleanness”.  I am sure that was included to indicate that she was particularly fertile at the time David took her, but it also explains why she was bathing at that time.  Bathsheba was not bathing in order to get David’s attention and “trade up”.  She was bathing because Mosaic law called for her to bath after the end of her menstrual bleeding.  So, Bathsheba was not bathing in order to attract David’s attention.  Rather she was doing so to return to a state of ritual cleanness.

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 4-7.

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I want to focus on David’s actions while he brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem.  As the ark was being transported, David danced and shouted before the Lord with all of his might.  The passage makes a point that David was wearing a linen ephod.  I want to note that when the priestly garments are described in Exodus it specifies that the priest is to wear undergarments to “cover their naked flesh” under the priestly ephod.  David is wearing an ephod because it is a garment with associations with worship, but he did not take it into account in his enthusiasm.  Michal, David’s first wife and the daughter of King Saul, saw David dancing enthusiastically and exposing himself (accidentally) and looked down on him for being “undignified”.   Michal’s criticism of David was not just that he had exposed himself, but that he had done so in front of people below his “station”.  When she confronted David about this, he replied that he was celebrating before God, and would be willing to suffer even greater embarrassment in order to praise God.   Further David was not willing to consider those among whom he celebrated God to be below his station.

David ignored social censure in order to praise God fully.  We should do likewise.  He was not embarrassed by what he had done, and was willing for those who were embarrassed on his behalf to be even more embarrassed, as long as he was serving God.  We should allow the spirit of worship to enter into us and not allow ourselves to be embarrassed by what we do in the moment of praising God.  David did not consider what others thought of his actions while he was dancing before the Lord, and when it was pointed out to him that others were embarrassed by his actions his response was, “If you thought that was bad, wait until you see what I do next.”  The point is not that he raised the level of his behavior to further embarrass Michal.  Rather, his point was that he was not going to even entertain the idea that he should worry about what others think of his actions praising the Lord.

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 1-3.

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Today’s passage divides into three parts.  First, it tells us about David learning of the death of King Saul and his son Jonathan.  Second, it tells us about David becoming king over Judah and his war against the House of Saul.  Finally, it tells us about Abner’s attempt to bring all of Israel over to David and Joab’s murder of Abner.  People often claim a contradiction between the account of Saul’s death given here by the man who brought the news to David and the account of Saul’s death given at the end of 1 Samuel.  The problem is that there is only a contradiction if you believe that the passage here intends for you to believe that the man who brought the news was telling the truth.  As I read it, it reads to me as if this man, an Amalekite, brought the news, and told it the way he did, in order to gain favor with David.  David’s action in killing the Amalekite who brought him news of King Saul’s death, and who claimed to have delivered the death blow, is consistent with his repeated refusal to take opportunities to kill Saul while Saul was hunting him.  David received power because God delivered it into his hand, not because he sought it out.

It reads to me like the war between David and the House of Saul was more because Abner tried to set up Ish-bosheth as ruler over all of Israel, rather than because David tried to expand his power base.  While Joab’s murder of Abner prevented Abner from ending that war. it was effectively over from the time Abner came to David to negotiate peace.  We see in that ending, and in David’s reaction to Abner’s murder, how David relied on God to establish his kingship.  Our ambitions should be similar.  Our ambitions should be to do God’s will, and if God desires for us to be leaders, He will direct us into that role.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 28-31.

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I struggle to interpret the story about the woman of En-dor who summons Samuel’s spirit (ghost?) for King Saul.  The description of it actually being Samuel who was summoned runs contrary to my understanding from other parts of the Bible about what happens when a medium actually produces results (as opposed to those mediums who are just charlatans).  However, I do not want to get too caught up on that because the point of the story is that King Saul went into his final battle with the Philistines knowing, and feeling, that he had been abandoned by God.  Repeatedly throughout his life, Saul turned to God for aid when things looked bad, but he did not truly turn from his sins.  King Saul sought God’s guidance to deal with problems he could not deal with on his own, but he did not seek God’s guidance in the rest of his life.  So, God finally stopped answering his requests for guidance.  Let us not let ourselves come to that point.

In contrast to that we see what happened with David at almost the same time.  While Saul was visiting a medium to consult Samuel’s spirit about what he should do, David was coming into the Philistine camp.  David had spent his time among the Philistines making it seem like he was attacking his fellow Israelites while actually raiding other peoples in the area (which lends an interesting insight into the peoples of the area at the time).  Now, his deception has led him into a place of prominence in the Philistine order of battle with the Philistine lord under whose protection he had placed himself.  However, the other Philistine lord’s remembered how in the battle involving Goliath the Hebrews who were in their army turned against them.  Therefore they told Achish to send David away.  They did not want David in their order of battle.  This shows God working to spare David from having to go against his own people in this war.  So, while Saul was seeking God’s guidance and not finding it, God was working to put David in the right place at the right time.

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