Serving our King behind enemy lines, we need to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Mt 10:16). “Meanwhile” (2 Sam 16:15), back at the palace in Jerusalem, Absalom is getting ready for his council of war. “When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom,…Hushai said to Absalom, ‘Long live the king!’” (v […]
The story of David and his Great Son overlap so seamlessly, often we can barely tell the difference! We read “the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number” (2 Sam 15:12). Especially painful was Ahithophel’s defection, David’s chief counselor. And why? A little research shows he was Bathsheba’s grandfather! Poison […]
There’s an old Russian proverb: “It’s better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie.” Kisses carry messages; they are the secret code of the soul. We know of Orpah’s goodbye kiss (Ruth 1:14) and kisses between family and friends (Ex 18:7; 1 Sam 20:41). There are romantic kisses (Song 1:2) and […]
Was David too harsh or too soft in bringing Absalom back? Either way, it didn’t work out well. For three years, Absalom had hidden in Geshur after his murder of Amnon. “And King David longed to go to Absalom” (2 Sam 13:39). Joab, the master of palace intrigue, decided to break the deadlock. Six miles […]
It’s always better to be the one wronged than the one doing wrong; God will side with you! I suppose we could skip this story today on one condition: No need for its lesson if we’ve never desired to get back at someone. “It isn’t fair,” we say, and think the best way to fix […]
Lust is like hugging a live grenade to your breast. When it explodes, it wreaks havoc everywhere. Remember why these stories were selected to be in the Bible. They aren’t there to promote gratuitous violence or excite prurient interest. Positively, “whatever things were written before were written for our learning” (Rom 15:4). Negatively, “these things […]
As they say, good friends are like a tea bag; their real strength shows up when we’re in hot water. If only we could edit our lives after the fact. This section (2 Sam 12:26-31) would have been ideal without the previous sad story. Oh, to draw a red line through the last phrase of […]
About 78 million children worldwide (including abortions) died before their fifth birthday last year. It’s a truth often forgotten: we get to decide real life choices, but not the consequences of those choices. This is the fallacy of the Pro-Choice movement. The choice happens long before the pregnancy! Once that choice is made, the baby’s […]
Read More… from January 12, 2024 — One Baby Dies; One Baby Lives
David saw her, sent for her, sinned with her. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Joab knew that the strategy used to kill Uriah was foolhardy. Concerned that David would criticize him in front of the messenger, he schemed, “If it happens that the king’s wrath rises, […]