2 SAMUEL MOMENT – (09APR19) Absalom had lost all respect for
his father. He took the advice of Ahithophel and slept with his father’s
concubines in broad daylight where all of Israel could see him. This was in
fulfillment of the prophecy that God told David would happen as a result of his
sin with Bathsheba. Everything played out exactly as God said that it would. One
can revisit the story of this happening when Reuben, Jacob’s son, slept with his
father’s concubine, Bilhah, and he lost his privileges as the firstborn son for
defiling his father’s bed (Genesis 49:3-4). Jacob cursed him for dishonoring
him. God later had Moses to establish laws regarding incestuous relationships
such as a son sleeping with his father’s wife (Leviticus 18:8). Even though a
concubine was not the exact same thing as a wife, but they had proper status and
was cared for as a wife. Whereas, Jacob placed a curse on Reuben for what he
had done to him, this was done to David as a result of what he did to Uriah the
Hittite. This scandal was surely the talk of all Israel and probably caused
much embarrassment to David. How sad must David have felt that his own son was
the one who delivered God’s righteous judgment in an unrighteous way for what
he had done? Whereas God would have shielded David from such things, God
removed his hand and allowed the evil that already resided in man’s heart to have
its way.
We can see the effects of sin every day in the lives of families,
co-workers, strangers, friends, neighbors, and even the church. For example, children
oftentimes join gangs because there is a breakdown in the family unit. Some
people have become homosexuals because an adult robbed them of their innocence.
Prison cells are oftentimes overflowing because someone did not invest into a
young person’s life. Abuse is often a first resort to handling things rather
than effectively communicating. Sexually transmitted diseases are in most cases
the result of people not abstaining from sexual immorality. And the list goes
on and on regarding sin, consequently, leading to spiritual and sometimes
physical death. Sin robs you of God’s precious gift of a peaceful life just as
it did with David, but one day, it will no longer be an issue, and that is why
Jesus came so that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. Something to
ponder…
QUESTION OF THE DAY – (09APR19) Ziba came to David when his
master, Mephibosheth, supposedly went to stay in Jerusalem hoping to become king in place
of his grandfather, Saul. David had been kind to Mephibosheth because he had
given Jonathan his word to do so. Yet, despite the kindness that David had
shown, Mephibosheth seemingly felt that he would jump at the chance to take the throne,
so David promised all that had once been Mephibosheth would become Ziba’s
instead. Have you ever been betrayed by someone you tried to help or was kind
to? Has someone ever walked over you to get where they wanted to go despite how
it may have made you feel? We are never to be self-seeking at the expense of
someone being hurt by our actions. As Christians, we are to carry one another’s
burdens, but never walk over a person to relieve our own burden. Something to
ponder…
2 SAMUEL MOMENT – (09APR19) David had given orders that no
one was to harm Absalom. Joab, David’s commanding officer, did not follow his
boss’s orders. Absalom’s hair got caught on some branches as he was riding his
donkey and he ended up hanging on those very branches – unable to get down
because his donkey kept on riding. Joab had been told that Absalom was hanging
in a tree, but asked the messenger why he had not killed him to get a reward.
The messenger had overheard what David told Joab and was not going to take any
amount of money to go against David’s wishes. Therefore, Joab and some of his
men killed Absalom where he was hanging. When David heard the news, he mourned
for his son despite all that his son had done. It has been said that the
greatest pain that a parent can feel is the lost of a child. One can possibly
imagine the pain that David experience because he first lost his son that he
had with Bathsheba, then he lost his son Amnon, and then Absalom. If David
could only go back and undo some of the things that he had done, he may have
made different choices. Sometimes we may remanence over some of the decisions
that we may have made in life and wish that we could have a redo. Unfortunately,
it is impossible for that to happen. Nevertheless, Jesus came to make things
right in our place. We may not be able to undo some of life’s decisions, but we
can have a fresh start in Christ. Every day that we wake up is a chance for us
to start afresh. After all, we are new creatures in Christ where old things are
passed away and all things have become new. Make the most of today for Christ,
because soon, this world will be over and only what we do for Christ will last.
Something to ponder…
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