Wednesday – History

Reading – 2 Samuel 3-4

Highlight Verse:

“This pleased the people very much. In fact, everything the king did pleased them!”
‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭3‬:‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

It would be very easy to take this verse out of context.

Let’s face it, the context was on the wild side.

We start out with a list of 6 children of David from 6 different women. Okay, so polygamy wasn’t so unusual in those days. But still…

Then we have Abner getting ticked off at Saul’s heir because Ish-Bosheth had confronted Abner about his affair with Saul’s concubine. Getting stranger…

Then Abner plans to put David in power over the whole nation. That’s good. But…

Joab kills Abner to avenge his brother. Dang!

Then Recab and Baanah kill Ish-Bosheth, cut off his head and bring it to David. Double dang!!

David brings swift justice, showing that he stands for what’s right (if a bit brutally).

What can I say. The truth is stranger than fiction. Old Testament standards were brutal and violent?

Let’s leave it at this – David remained a humble but tough leader. He refused to go to battle to win the full kingship, but when it was open, he wasn’t afraid to step into the role.

Despite his harsh justice and crazy marital situation, he remained a man of integrity doing what he believed the Lord had called him to do.

Do honest renditions of history like this make you wonder what they were thinking?
Are you able to maintain your integrity in the midst of this crazy world?