2 Samuel 15:13-16:14; Ps. 7

So Absalom usurps the throne & David comes back strong, right?  Nope, he runs away.  Now, before you begin judging him for being weak - he leaves the city in order to preserve it.  David is not thinking of himself, but of the people in his care.  I love that he puts his future in God's hands in verse 25, "Carry the ark of God back into the city.  If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place."  David then goes to the Mount of Olives to seek the Lord's guidance in this matter.  David also sends Hushai back to counsel Absalom.  In this way he will stay apprised of Absalom's plans & Hushai might be able to talk some sense into Absalom.  David also leaves vengeance to the Lord in verses 5-14 of chapter 16.

There are times when life will deal us a low blow.  It may seem unfair and unwarranted.  Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world full of sinful men willing to take what they want without regard for anyone else.  Remember, it all comes down to freewill.  If God interferes with one man's freewill, then freewill no longer exists for anyone.  However, God does help us through the storm.  All we need to do is rely on him & realize what is important.  Is it your position, your power, your wealth, the opinion of others?  No - what matters is your relationship with God.  When you focus on that, all things work out for good.  As we continue to read through the events of Absalom's betrayal, we will see how beneficial relying on the Lord can be.

2 Samuel 15:1-13

Absalom wasn't only prideful and haughty, he was patient and crafty.  He determined to take the throne from his father and he was willing to wait years in order to set up this coup.  He started taking a great show of wealth and power to the city gates.  Then he would stop people and cast doubt in their hearts regarding the king, all the while setting himself up as the compassionate leader.  And it worked - not immediately, but after four years Absalom won the hearts of the people.  He declared himself king in Heron.  Remember, this is where David was originally anointed as king.

I find it interesting that Absalom was able to do this for four years!  Once again, he is taking advantage of his father's weakness when it comes to family.  Once again, we see that a parent must do what is right for his children, not what they want.  David was slow to discipline his children.  He offered forgiveness without repentance.  This allowed his children to continue to make poor choices that affected the entire kingdom.

As parents, we need to learn from David's mistakes.  Parenting a child is one of the hardest things you will ever do.  It takes diligence, compassion, wisdom, and the willingness to discipline in love.  Sound impossible?  It's not.  In fact, we already have a great role model - our Heavenly Father.  God treats us with compassion and mercy; yet, He does what is right for us, not what we want.  He disciplines in love so that we will learn to make good choices that benefit not only ourselves, but those around us.

2 Samuel 14

Joab knows the heart of his king.  He also knows how to best talk with David regarding his wishes.  David is very capable in handling the problems of the kingdom, but not so much when it comes to his own family.  So, Joab presents a problem to David.  Since David is not emotionally vested in the issue, he is able to clearly see the solution.  Thus, David is able to apply that solution to his own problem.

I love the transparency of the Bible.  People are just people.  Yes, they are leaders, kings, prophets.  Yes, they have strong relationships with the Lord.  But they are still people.  They still struggle with the world.  They still occasionally make mistakes.  Being a Christian doesn't mean you are suddenly perfect.  It doesn't mean you have all the answers.  It doesn't mean that you won't make mistakes.  What matters is how you deal with the mistakes.  Do you learn from them?  Do you grow closer to the Lord?

We end the chapter with Absalom.  He is vain and prideful.  When he doesn't get what he wants, he turns to violence.  Obviously, these flaws in his character will lead to destruction.

2 Samuel 13

In 2 Samuel 12:11, Nathan spoke the words of the Lord stating, "I will raise up evil against you out of your own house."  So, what is going on?  Others watch our actions ; "if he did it, so can I."  David's actions with Bathsheba were witnessed by his children.  Our children watch every thing we do - good and bad - and they repeat it.  This, once again, is why our actions are so very important.

So, David's son, Amnon gets a crush on his half-sister.  He fixates on her to the point that he is making himself physically ill.  He takes some bad advice from a wicked friend and makes the choice to take what he wants.  Notice that his mind is made up - he's taking what he want regardless of the consequences, regardless of Tamar's pleas.  He is willing to ruin this woman that he "loves."  After the act is done, his "love" turns to disgust.  Why?  Because it was never about Tamar.  There was no love there, simply lust.  Once his lust was sated, he blames the victim.  Those who justify their sinful behavior will always make their sin someone else's fault.  If she wasn't so beautiful and unavailable, he wouldn't have had to do this horrible thing.

Absalom, Tamar's brother, takes her in and cares for her the rest of her days.  Because of Amnon, she will never be married or have children.  Notice, David is angry, but he does nothing to take care of the issue.  Amnon is his eldest son and he lets him get away with this sin.  Unfortunately, this favoritism breeds hate and resentment within David's large family.  Absalom waits two years, building hatred in his heart, until he finally takes matters into his own hands by having Amnon killed.  Absalom then flees to Geshur for three years.  During this time, David longs for his sons return.

So, what can we learn from this?  Once again, it all comes down to choices.  We are faced with temptation every day - are you going to give into it or are you going to walk the other way?

2 Samuel 12:26-31; 1 Chronicles 20: 1-8; Ps 60

The siege of Rabbah was last mentioned in 2 Samuel 11:25.  Here we learn that David and Joab were successful in their campaign.  Remember, this war started when the new Ammonite king humiliated David's ambassadors.  The climax of the war was the defeat of the Ammonite capital and David's coronation as the Ammonite king.  After this another war broke out with the Philistines, but David was also successful in defeated these people.  The reference to giants deals with the Rephaim mentioned in Genesis 14:5.  These were a race of very large humans.

So, why is this here?  It shows a chronicling of the political history of Israel.  War is not new.  There will always be people that seek to take by force other's wealth and power.  Were these ancient times more violent than our own?  I don't think so.  In America we are pretty sheltered from the violence of a fallen world; however, the United States military is fighting or helping in 74 civil conflicts according to this source:  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/05/u-s-currently-fighting-74-different-wars-that-it-publicly-admits.html    There are 24 countries in Africa, 15 countries in Asia, 8 countries in Europe, 8 countries in the Middle East, 5 countries in the Americas involved in some sort of conflict.  http://www.warsintheworld.com/?page=static1258254223

War is everywhere.  So how do we not lose hope?  We believe in a God that offers us something better than this fallen world.  As I've been reading the Bible and blogging over the last year or so, I've come to realize that a lot of the issues we deal with boil down to choice.  In a world of free will (free choice) there are people who will choose themselves over the greater good every time.  Maybe I should restate that, "We will all choose ourselves over the greater good some of the time."  These choices lead to conflicts both great and small.  Selfishness, greed, and pride hurt others.  So, why doesn't God stop it?  Because He gave us free will.  He allows us to choose.  If He stops one choice, there is no longer free will.  We are no longer in a relationship with God, but a forced servant-hood.  However, God isn't removed from our troubles.  He gave us a conscience, He gave us the Holy Spirit, He gave us His Word.  He gave us love,joy,  peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control, even through the storm.

David relied on God and he was successful in life.  Did he sometimes make poor choices and have consequences to deal with?  Absolutely.  However, David continued to learn from his mistakes.  He continued to repent and to draw near to the Lord.  The relationship made him successful.  You can be successful too.  Simply draw near to God and line up your choices with His Word.

2 Samuel 12:1-24

So, David thinks he got away with it.  Sure, a man is dead, but Bathsheba is now his wife and every one will simply think she became pregnant after the fact.  But then Nathan the prophet pays him a visit.  Nathan tells a little story of lies and greed.  David is outraged!  How dare a rich man steal the lamb of a poor man, he should be put to death!  He should pay the man back fourfold.  Wise king David is able to make an accurate judgment upon this man, yet he is blind to his own sin.  It takes Nathan to point out the obvious.  

Sound familiar?  How easily do we sin?  How easily do we deny our sins, push them under the rug, hide them from everyone including ourselves.  Yet, we have no trouble pointing out the is in others.  We judge, we gossip, we confront.  All the while, we are guilty ourselves.  Ever heard the saying, "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?"  How about, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone?"  or "Judge not, that you be not judged?"  

Nathan continues with his message from the Lord - the Lord is enraged by David's actions.  Then David repents and the Lord states that David has been forgiven, but there are still consequences for his actions.  Just as there are consequences for our actions.  Now, the question of the death of the child is difficult to understand, the following statement by Daniel F. Case sums up my thoughts better than I can myself.  

"The death of David’s newborn son seems, at first look, to be a cruel and unfair punishment of an innocent child. There are many commentaries that see this from other perspectives, including that the child would have lived a painful and disgraceful life, as an illegitimate son, and his death as an infant was merciful. Others have commented on the possible ramifications of this illegitimate child becoming king. Still others see the example of atonement, an innocent life being given to redeem the life of the guilty. Frankly, I don’t have a definitive answer. The child’s death does, however, underscore an important truth; our sin affects not only ourselves, but also those around us. The long-reaching effect of a moment of sinful self-indulgence can be disastrous. We seldom pause to consider that factor in a moment of temptation. If we could see the results of our actions clearly, we’d say “no” more often."  (www.case-studies.com/david4)

I would add one more thing to this statement, God is known to make big gestures when dealing directly with his people, especially in the Old Testament.  Each of these big gestures or harsh consequences is used as an example for the people.  David's sin was a big deal.  He was the anointed king of Israel, the spiritual leader of his people.  If David can sin with no consequences, what is to keep the people from sinning?  "If the king got away with it, so can I."  It all comes back to whether or not you trust God to make the best choice in every situation - that is what faith is.  Trusting God even when you might not agree.  Understanding that there is a big picture that we can't see, but we know that we know that God is working for the greatest good.

So, when you fall to temptation, when you sin - you might face some consequences.  Respond like David, accept the consequence, learn from your mistakes, and continue to grow closer to the Lord.  

2 Samuel 11

Is it weird that this is one of my favorite Bible stories?  It's full of lies, cover-ups, adultery, and murder.  So, why do I like it?  Well, because it shows us how powerful a simple choice can be.  See, temptation will always come knocking on your door.  Everyday you will face new choices - how will you proceed?  Will you fall into sin or will you walk away?  A lot of times, we think that giving in won't be that bad.  After all, no one will know, right?  And really, who's going to get hurt?  The story of David and Bathsheba shows us just how slippery a slope sin can be.

See, David's just taking a walk & he sees a pretty woman, a bathing pretty woman.  Now, David is faced with a choice - keep walking & stop thinking about what he just saw, or stop, stare & keep thinking.  Being attracted to the woman wasn't the sin.  Stopping and thinking about what he would like to do with the woman was the sin.  That sin led him to call Bathsheba to his room, where he committed adultery with her.  After the fact, he sent her away thinking no one knows, no harm, no foul.  He thought he could just move on.  Well, next thing he knows, Bathsheba is pregnant & there's no way the baby is her husband's, he's at war.  So David invites him home, tells him to take a break and spend some time with his wife.  He's hoping that he can claim the baby is Uriah's, not his.  But, Uriah is an upstanding man.  He refuses to rest and take comfort when his fellow soldiers are facing hardship.  So, what does David do?  He has Uriah killed in battle.  Then he takes Bathsheba as his wife.  Yikes.

So remember, where did it all start?  Not at the act of adultery, it started back when David was walking and the choice he made to fantasize about Bathsheba.  That one choice forever changed the lives of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah.  As we will see as we continue to read, even more lives will be effected by this sin.

David's sin reminds us that there is no such thing as a small sin.  So, as you walk through this week and through the rest of your life, remember that every choice is the precipice of a slope.  Are you going to throw yourself down the slope, or are you going to turn away and stay on the safe path?