19:24 - We see that Mephibosheth has been mourning for David since David left the city. He has remained faithful to David, though Ziba told the king otherwise. David continues to honor his covenant with Jonathan and Mephibosheth.
19:43 - Even though the men of Judah are right in what they say to the men of Israel, they speak out of anger with harsh words. Thy let their emotions spill over and explode and it leads to yet another rebellion. Words spoken out of anger, even when they are right, do not honor God and generally bring negative consequences.
20:9ff - Joab must be bi-polar or something. He switches back and forth from wise advisor who is willing to speak hard truth to David (often disrespectfully) to murdering psychopath...I can't really figure this guy out. Here he comes us to David's commander Amasa as if to greet him with a kiss and rips his guts open with a sword! He ignores the wishes f the king...refuses to think about what is best for the kingdom and only thinks of revenge and getting his position as army leader back. I guess you can say he is a man of action...every time he decides that something needs to be done - he does it. I hope that you and I consider what is best for our king and His kingdom before we make rash decisions.
20:19 - Great picture of how to deal with a hostile environment...take time out first to make sure that everybody understands what is going on...you might find out that here is a misunderstanding. This wise woman says, "Hey, we have always been good people, why are you trying to destroy us?" Joab tells her and the next thing you know...a severed head s flying over the wall ad all is well. Clarification is key to getting to the bottom of problems.
21:5 - I know this seems crazy - David is offering up the grandchildren of his friends (Like Barzillai) to the Gibeonites for retribution. But there is a concept here that needs to be understood. The sins of the father have been passed down...there is bloodguilt on the house of Saul. The Gibeonites do not ask for money, and they don't even ask for equal lives in return (Saul tried to exterminate their people - so he killed hundreds maybe thousands more)...they ask for 7 men in the line of Saul to cover the bloodguilt. Seven is the number of completeness. More than for revenge's sake, they ask for the lives of these seven men for the sake of the kingdom...for the public good. The famine will not end until this sin has been paid for. It reminds me slightly of the debate about capital punishment. One of the reasons we kill violent murderers is for the good of the public. They pay the price that has been assigned by the ruling authorities, and that is exactly what happened in this chapter.
21:14 - As on last act of honor for the house of the anointed king Saul and David's covenant friend Jonathan...he buries their bones and the bones of their descendants together with great honor...with honor that s worthy of a king.
2 comments:
I am constantly amazed at David as we progress throughout his life. David has been through events that could have ended his reign (making decisions against God's will) and yet he always seems to comeback to lay down yet another example on why he is a Godly man. In a conversation with a buddy the other day, we talked about the differences between Saul and David and came to the fact that David always accepted his faults, did what was necessary to make amends, and made an effort to not repeat. Saul never really repented. The key to being a Godly man or woman is not how we avoid sin, but how we respond to it.
Thanks Ish...good point.
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