2 Samuel 8-12

Day 98

Oh my....warmer days make it hard to get here! We were outside so early today!! Now we've all had naps and are getting ready to head back out!  Spring might show up before summer!

Chapter 8  So...David has victories.  Are we surprised?  No.  David fights.  David wins.  David reigns over all of Israel.  And he did was what just and right!  There's the surprise!  Most of them don't.

Chapter 9  This was sweet! David seeks out Jonathan's crippled son, Mephibosheth.  Surely he was scared at first....being summoned by the king and all.  But the king's motives were good and were "for Jonathan's sake."  David restores the family estate (v. 7) and treats the boy like his own son (v. 11).  

Chapter 10  Now...I never thought about cutting off someones robe halfway up so as to expose their booty!  THAT was funny! I must say.  Hanun seizes the moment to humiliate the men by doing  this AND cuts half their off....probably the right or left half!!!  Not just the length! And hair is a sing of their personal dignity and freedom.  So they are embarrassed and humiliated. 

Chapter 11  Oh David and Bathsheba!    Is that why her name is "BATH"sheba?  That is what she was doing when David saw how beautiful she was  and sent for her!  She didn't resist and wasn't being inappropriate in her bathing....she was in her own house. The events the follow this -- the adultery and murder--are the watershed in David's life.  From this point on he reaps the bitter harvest of his sin.  Although all seemed to be going according to plan, "the Lord was not pleased with what David had done!"  A sin is like a spark of flame...it spreads and it engulfs others!  And its not just a sin against another human being.....above all, its a sin against God!  And sadly, David discovers the progression of the sin tooooo late!  The more he tries to cover it up, the more he sins.  

Chapter 12  Uriah is dead. The wedding is over.  The child born.  David thinks he has a secret but don't look now.....here's comes Nathan the prophet to "out" you!!!  God forgives David but he is punished and so is the son that David pleaded for; he dies.  But Bathsheba is not rejected but out of her grief and comforting comes another life, Solomon and "the Lord loved the boy." (v. 24-25).

Lessons learned:  love God and be humble....humility  goes a long way.  A sin is a sin is a sin.  Don't try and cover it up.  Go before the Lord!  

Tomorrow:   chapters 13-15