Free Daily Bible Study Podcast

2 Samuel 23 | Galatians 3 | Ezekiel 30 | Psalm 78:38–72

David’s last words in 2 Samuel 23:1–7 are brief, but they are worthy of careful study. In this short speech, David gives us a summary of his reflections on his kingship—or, more precisely, Yahweh’s reflections on leadership that David prophetically speaks. In doing so, he describes the ultimate purpose for which Yahweh anointed kings in Israel: for building the kingdom of God on this earth under the ultimate Davidic king.

First, David begins his final speech with a reminder that what he says comes not as his own, personal reflections on life but as prophetic oracles of God (2 Sam. 23:1). Moreover, he insists, “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me…” (2 Sam. 23:2–3). David’s leadership is significant because David speaks the words of God himself.

Second, after establishing that these words are prophetic oracles from God, David speaks generally of the purpose of kings, which is to rule justly. God intends for our leaders to spread justice and righteousness as a gift of common grace throughout the world, so that a just ruler “dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth” (2 Sam. 23:4), in addition to putting away the wicked from doing harm (2 Sam. 23:6–7). For those of you with authority over others, do you see your authority in terms of your power or in terms of the blessing God has called you to be?

Third, David acknowledges that his reign has served a larger, eternal purpose. He asks, “For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?” (2 Sam. 23:5). Through the everlasting covenant he had sworn to David in 2 Samuel 7, Yahweh was preparing and ordering the world for the coming of David’s greatest descendent, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus, God spoke to us with finality (Heb. 1:1–4), revealing the fullness of himself through the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Through Jesus, God will restore justice—and not merely for one lifetime, but Jesus will restore justice for the rest of eternity. Jesus will serve as the righteous ruler whose justice shines like the sun and nourishes like the rain. Jesus, however, will also go so far as to remake creation itself to heal the world’s brokenness so that we may dwell here with God for all eternity. Put your hope not in David but in the Son of David who is coming again to save you on the last day.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 22 | Galatians 2 | Ezekiel 29 | Psalm 78:1–37

The song David composes in 2 Samuel 22 reflects on the story we read yesterday at the end of 2 Samuel 21. There, David had gone out to battle with the Philistines, but as the battle stretched on, “David grew weary” (2 Sam. 21:15), and Ishbi-benob, a descendent of the giants, nearly killed David, until Abishai rescued him. When the battle was over, then, David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel” (2 Sam. 21:17). While David as a young boy at the beginning of his career killed the giant Goliath with ease in 1 Samuel 17, now another giant nearly extinguishes David on the battlefield at the end of his career here in 2 Samuel 22. We will look at three principles arising from this story.

First, whether David is young or old, strong or weak, 2 Samuel 22 demonstrates that David never forgets Yahweh. He does not compose a song to praise Abishai, since he sees that it was none other than Yahweh who saved him. David’s example stands in marked contrast to the many Israelite kings who begin their lives well only to make shipwreck of their faith later on—including David’s own son Solomon.

Second, this story reminds us that there are real considerations that leaders must make for how to transition their ministries later in their lives. Remember the words of Charles Wesley: “God buries his workmen, but carries on his work.” God buried Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Samuel—and God will soon bury David as well. David’s men are wise to recognize David’s limitations and to forbid him from going back into battle, even though he has been their valiant leader all these years. In the same way, no one is too important to keep in ministry even a day too long.

Third, the better we understand the first principle of this story, the easier it will be for us to follow the second principle. That is, the more we remember that David was strong because of Yahweh, the easier it will be to let the Davids in our lives pass on when their times have come.

Focus on the final line of David’s song: “Great salvation [Yahweh] brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (2 Sam. 22:51). Remember that Yahweh has brought great salvation and shown steadfast love to his people, not only through David but through David’s greater offspring, the Lord Jesus. Yahweh buries all his leaders, but he has only raised up one leader from the dead—for now. For this reason, let us praise Jesus among the nations and sing praises to his name (2 Sam. 22:50) as we wait to be raised up with him on the last day.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 21 | Galatians 1 | Ezekiel 28 | Psalm 77

Back in Joshua 9, the people of Israel entered into a covenant with the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites had lied to Israel, claiming to have arrived from far off. In fact, they were among the peoples whom Yahweh had instructed Israel to drive out of the land of Canaan, but Israel did not ask Yahweh for guidance. In today’s reading, however, we discover that King Saul actually violated the terms of the covenant by putting Gibeonites to death (2 Sam. 21:1). Interestingly, this revelation surfaces only because Yahweh has sent a three-year famine, prompting David to seek Yahweh’s face (2 Sam. 21:1). When David asks the surviving Gibeonites how he could make the situation right, they ask only to put seven of Saul’s sons to death for Saul’s bloodguilt.

Now, this puts David in a difficult position, since David had sworn in a covenant with Saul’s son Jonathan to protect Jonathan’s house (1 Sam. 20:12–17). Moreover, David had sworn to protect Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 9:7). To navigate this difficulty, David hands over seven of the sons of Saul to the Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21:8–9), but he specifically spares Mephibosheth “because of the oath of the LORD that was between them” (2 Sam. 21:7). Then, after the bloodguilt from Saul’s house is satisfied, Yahweh responds to the plea for the land by ending the famine (2 Sam. 21:14).

This is a fascinating story on many levels. In this passage, deep guilt has brought a curse upon creation itself, so that the king must hand over people to die sacrificially—although, importantly, David does not hand over the one who had committed the sins but rather the sons of the guilty one. Furthermore, we see that one of the offspring of the guilty man was spared on the basis of David’s covenant.

How can we possibly overlook the long shadow of Jesus cast over this story? Like the sons of Saul, our Lord took upon himself our guilt, not through his own sin, but by becoming the offspring of another sinner: Adam. Then, Jesus shed his own blood to heal the curse that had settled upon creation because of the sin of our race. Even more, Jesus died to spare you and me—the crippled, broken offspring of Abraham, with whom Yahweh had sworn a special covenant (Gen. 15).

And through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, Yahweh is healing the curse of sin by ushering in a new creation, in which we will dwell with God for all eternity. Therefore, let us groan along with creation “as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:23), praying in the Holy Spirit for the Lord Jesus to come quickly to heal the physical and spiritual famine of this world.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 20 | 2 Corinthians 13 | Ezekiel 27 | Psalms 75–76

As we read yesterday in 2 Samuel 19, David replaced Joab as his commander with Amasa because Joab had ignored David’s command not to harm his son Absalom. This demotion does not sit well with Joab, who finds an opportunity to murder Amasa in the middle of putting down yet one more rebellion against David’s reign, led by Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite (2 Sam. 20:1).

The background of Sheba’s rebellion stems from the time of Absalom’s rebellion, when David had sought refuge east of the Jordan with a man named Barzillai in Gilead (2 Sam. 19:31). At the end of 2 Samuel 19, then, after things returned (momentarily) to normal, the ten tribes become angry that David would leave them to return to his people in the land of Judah, wondering, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?” (2 Sam. 19:41). The people of Judah, however, deny that they have received any special treatment from David (2 Sam. 19:42).

During this tumult, Sheba blows a trumpet to gather all the ten tribes to himself with this call to arms: “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!” (2 Sam. 20:1). In the confusion—while David is still trying to put his own house back in order (2 Sam. 20:3)—Joab betrays Amasa with a kiss, pretending to greet him, but stabbing him with a sword and leaving him to wallow in his blood on the highway (2 Sam. 20:9–12). Joab immediately retakes command of David’s armies back to himself, pursues Sheba, and works with a wise woman in the city of Beth-maacah to see Sheba’s head thrown over the city wall to avoid even more bloodshed (2 Sam. 20:14–22). At the end of 2 Samuel 20, then, we read this summary: “Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel” (2 Sam. 20:23).

Although Joab represents a significant failure of David’s leadership, we should also see in Joab a dark foreshadowing of the fact that David’s greater Son would necessarily face betrayal by those closest to him. Our Lord Jesus faced opposition from the religious leaders of his day but also from his own disciples: Peter three times denied even knowing Jesus (Matt. 27:75), and, more severely, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, just as Joab betrayed Amasa (Luke 22:48).

David’s sufferings continue because Jesus would also become a man of sorrow, well acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3). But while the sufferings of David stem from his failure of leadership, the sufferings of Jesus came about because of his great, sacrificial love for you.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 19 | 2 Corinthians 12 | Ezekiel 26 | Psalm 74

During the uprising of Absalom, Israel’s previously unwavering loyalty to David fell apart. Now that Absalom is dead, David must sort through what to do with the people who supported him, the people who betrayed him, and the people who did both. Today, we will look at three interactions in 2 Samuel 19 that have important ramifications for the rest of the Bible’s story.

First, Joab continues his awkward, controversial relationship with David. Remember that Joab had already murdered Abner (2 Sam. 3:27) and that Joab was the one who disregarded David’s order and executed Absalom (2 Sam. 18:14). In 2 Samuel 19, Joab confronts David about mourning the loss of Absalom, insisting that David dishonors those who went to battle for David (2 Sam. 19:1–8). David listens to Joab’s advice, but he also replaces Joab as commander of his army with Amasa (2 Sam. 19:13).

Second, David pardons Shimei, the Benjaminite from the family of Saul who had cursed him in 2 Samuel 16:5–14. Shimei acknowledges his sin before David and pleads for his life. David spares both Joab and Shimei here, but he later asks his son Solomon to execute them both on his behalf in 1 Kings 2:5–9.

Third, in a touching story, David is reconciled with Mephibosheth. Ziba had slandered Mephibosheth, saying that Mephibosheth had seen an opportunity to betray David during the uprising of Absalom (2 Sam. 16:3), so David had given all of Mephibosheth’s land to Ziba (2 Sam. 16:4). When David learns the truth, David decides to allow Ziba and Mephibosheth to split the land; however, Mephibosheth isn’t interested in his land as long as David has returned. Instead, he exclaims, “Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home” (2 Sam. 19:30).

Arguably, Mephibosheth is the man who had lost the most in life—not only an eventual claim to the throne as the son of Jonathan (that is, the grandson of King Saul), but also the use of his legs through a childhood injury. Yet, while Joab seeks to maintain his status and influence even through murder, and while Shimei grovels for his life, Mephibosheth simply rejoices in being reconciled to his king.

Those who know they are weak often have a far easier time understanding the goodness of God’s grace than the proud, strong, and rich, which is why King Jesus also chooses the weakest among us as his own. Mephibosheth had experienced the kindness of the king, even feasting at David’s own table, so that he no longer cared about wealth or influence—he only wanted his king.

If Jesus has invited you, like Mephibosheth, to feast at his table, why do you, like Joab and Shimei, cling to the other things in this world as though those things are all you have?

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 18 | 2 Corinthians 11 | Ezekiel 25 | Psalm 73

There is a tragic irony to the way Absalom dies in 2 Samuel 18. Certainly, one of the core components to Absalom’s winsomeness as he stole the hearts of Israel (2 Sam. 15:6) was his physical appearance—including the five pounds (two hundred shekels) of hair that he grew annually (2 Sam. 14:25–26). But his full head of hair turns against him by becoming entangled in the branches of a tree, keeping Absalom suspended helpless in mid-air (2 Sam. 18:9), an easy target for Joab to put him to death (2 Sam. 18:14). The same hair that helped Absalom win support among the people becomes the means of his own demise.

Both Absalom and Saul (1 Sam. 9:2) became popular because of their physical appearance, but yet Yahweh rejected them. Instead, Yahweh insisted that the king of his choice was a man after his own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). Yahweh instructed the prophet Samuel, “Do not look on [Eliab’s] appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). Although David was also handsome (1 Sam. 16:12), Yahweh had chosen him for his heart and not his appearance.

Still, as we get deeper into the story of David to assess more and more of his life, we might question whether David’s heart really does follow after Yahweh. After all, this is a man who abused his authority to seduce a woman and murdered her husband to cover up his sin. Then, because he lets his own children literally get away with rape and murder, he ends up facing a mutiny from one of his own sons. What is it that Yahweh sees when he looks upon David’s heart?

Ultimately, David represents not a perfect man but a man who entrusts himself entirely to Yahweh. When Nathan confronts him with his sin, David repents (2 Sam. 12:13). When David and Bathsheba’s baby becomes sick, David fasts and prays (2 Sam. 12:16). When Absalom stages a coup, David prays for deliverance (2 Sam. 15:31). When Shimei curses David, David entrusts justice to Yahweh (2 Sam. 16:12).

Some people live—and die—by their beauty or their strength or their wealth. David, on the other hand, gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to have a heart that follows after the Lord. It doesn’t mean that we are perfect but that we consciously live our whole lives before God. When we sin, we repent and trust Jesus to forgive us our sins. When we suffer, we pray for God’s mercy. When others revile us, we wait for God’s justice. Rather than depending on our outward appearances, our hearts must trust in Yahweh.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 17 | 2 Corinthians 10 | Ezekiel 24 | Psalm 72

Back in 2 Samuel 15, David’s friend Hushai wanted to flee Jerusalem with David. Instead, David instructed Hushai to stay and pretend to join Absalom. In this way, Hushai could help David from inside Absalom’s inner circle to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel (2 Sam. 15:32–37). This was no small task, since “in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom” (2 Sam. 16:23). For this reason, as David was departing Jerusalem, he also sought God’s help in this task, praying, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (2 Sam. 15:31).

In today’s reading from 2 Samuel 17, then, Hushai gets his opportunity to help David by persuading Absalom to consider the counsel of Ahithophel as foolishness. So, as Absalom calls his counselors together, Ahithophel delivers the best plan, which is to overwhelm David quickly, before David has a chance to regroup and plan his defense (2 Sam. 17:1–3). He proposes the idea with matter-of-fact certainty, “And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel” (2 Sam. 17:4).

Hushai, however, counters Ahithophel’s plan with a strategy secretly designed to give David the time he desperately needs to prepare himself for battle. He eloquently argues that Absalom should wait until he has gathered all Israel to himself to join him in battle against David in order to assure the victory, and all the people of Israel believe Hushai’s counsel to be better than Ahithophel’s (2 Sam. 17:14).

Certainly, part of the reason Hushai’s counsel is better received lies in the fact that he uses imaginative phrases and descriptions, speaking, for example, of David as a bear robbed of her cubs (2 Sam. 17:8) and about gathering a giant army of Israelites “as the sand by the sea for multitude” (2 Sam. 17:11).1 But ultimately, Yahweh himself answers the prayer of David: “For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm to Absalom” (2 Sam. 17:14).

The way David and Hushai integrate strategic planning with prayerful trust in Yahweh is wise. We ought to avoid the kind of scheming that ignores Yahweh’s sovereign role in ordering the events of human history, but we also should avoid passive, fatalistic thinking that prevents us from taking careful, strategic action in our lives. Following Jesus as his disciples requires us to act as wisely as serpents—albeit with the innocence of doves (Matt. 10:16)—but also to pray unceasingly (1 Thess. 5:17).

How would Jesus redirect your life today? By prodding you out of passive inactivity, or by teaching you to trust him in prayer?

1 Warren W. Wiersbe, Preaching and Teaching with Imagination (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1994), 15–48.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 16 | 2 Corinthians 9 | Ezekiel 23 | Psalms 70–71

If we began to see the suffering of David at the hand of Absalom in 2 Samuel 15, each of the three scenes in 2 Samuel 16 ratchets up David’s suffering even further, one misery at a time. These scenes are important not only to underscore the treachery of Absalom but also to establish a clear pattern that God’s anointed king must suffer.

First, in 2 Samuel 16:1–4, Ziba deceives David into believing that Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan to whom David showed extraordinary kindness, had betrayed David during Absalom’s uprising. David had brought Mephibosheth into his house and fed him from his own table all the days of Mephibosheth’s life (2 Sam. 9:13), so this news must have been a dagger to David’s heart. Our Lord Jesus also faced betrayal from one of his own disciples who had feasted at his table. Judas, in fact, departed directly from Jesus’ table to go betray his master (John 13:21–30)—the very table where Jesus had given his disciples the bread of his broken body and the blood of the new covenant that he would pour out for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:26–29).

Second, in 2 Samuel 16:5–14, Shimei causes David to suffer, heaping insults on top of what David must have thought to be his death march. Rather than allowing Abishai to execute Shimei, however, David entrusts himself to Yahweh’s justice. In the same way, Jesus faced curses and insults while he was being crucified, and he prayed for his Father to forgive his executioners (Luke 23:34). He did not revile in return or threaten anyone, but he instead entrusted himself to his Father, who judges justly (1 Pet. 2:23).

Finally, in 2 Samuel 16:15–23, Absalom claims Jerusalem, even going into David’s concubines in the sight of all Israel, making himself a stench to his father. All of Absalom’s acts were calculated to proclaim without any ambiguity that Absalom was the new king who had fully replaced David. And make no mistake—when Satan stirred up the people of Jerusalem to murder Jesus, he did so as a claim to the kingdom of this world. Once the Son was dead, Satan could claim the kingdom as his own inheritance (Matt. 21:38).

But this isn’t the end of David’s story, and that wasn’t the end of Jesus’ story either, even though Jesus actually died through the suffering of the cross. As we will discover over the next few chapters, David is laying down the pattern that Jesus would bring to ultimate completion—the Messiah must suffer, but God vindicates his Messiah in the sight of all people in order to establish his Messiah’s kingdom forever. Through the weakness and suffering of Jesus, God would powerfully save all his people, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the world.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 15 | 2 Corinthians 8 | Ezekiel 22 | Psalm 69

The unresolved problems arising from David’s reluctance to discipline those around him—whether in his capacity as a king or as a father—combine to create a dangerous situation in 2 Samuel 15, where we find Absalom conspiring to steal the throne of Israel from his father. To begin, we read that “After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him” (2 Sam. 15:1). In other words, Absalom is building an army—the act of a king. In fact, the prophet Samuel had warned Israel about the consequences of gaining a king by addressing specifically a king’s royal prerogative to draft Israel’s sons to his chariots and to run before his chariots (1 Sam. 8:11).

Even more treacherously, Absalom manipulates the most vulnerable in Israel, who had come to the king to resolve their difficult situations (2 Sam. 15:2–6). Absalom convinces people that there would be justice if only he were in charge, stealing the hearts of Israel one by one (2 Sam. 15:6). From this point, it is a small step for Absalom to sneak away to Hebron to declare himself king (2 Sam. 15:10).

There are two main lessons to learn from this story. First, it is always better to deal with our problems directly rather than to allow them to linger unresolved. We may make ourselves feel better by seeking our own version of justice through acts of passive-aggression or by seeking refuge in our idolatry of comfort through avoiding the situation altogether, but those solutions do not actually resolve problems. Eventually, such problems grow to the point that we have our own version of David’s Absalom story. It is far easier to nip such problems in the bud. Are there situations that you need to address completely and honestly with the grace of the Lord Jesus in your life today, before those situations grow any larger?

Second, this story is an important part of the suffering narrative of David. David had been persecuted relentlessly by Saul before he had become king, and now he is persecuted by his own son Absalom during his reign. Through this story we see a characteristic of Yahweh’s anointed: the Messiah, like David, will suffer. And, while only some of David’s suffering comes to him despite his own innocence, Yahweh’s ultimate Messiah will suffer despite his complete innocence.

And because Jesus suffered, we can have the confidence to face our greatest challenges directly, since Christ has conquered sin, death, and the devil through his death and resurrection. Even more, it is through the suffering we undergo with Christ that God proves to us that he has adopted us as sons (Heb. 12:8) and that we stand to be glorified with Christ (Rom. 8:17). In your suffering, take heart: Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 14 | 2 Corinthians 7 | Ezekiel 21 | Psalm 68

By allowing Absalom to return to Jerusalem, David, as we will see, is making a catastrophic mistake—a mistake so serious that it will eventually bring David’s entire kingdom and even his life into jeopardy. The problem isn’t so much that Absalom comes back but that David brings Absalom back without any demand for his repentance or even a plan to shepherd his spiritual growth. Because of these mistakes, Absalom returns entirely unchanged, setting up the bloody, treacherous story that will unfold over the next few days of readings. In today’s meditation, we will examine how David could have made such a disastrous mistake.

First, David allows Joab to manipulate his emotions. Just as Nathan captured David’s imagination through a parable to confront David about his sin, so now Joab uses a parable, spoken through a woman pretending to be a widow, to manipulate David into bringing Absalom back (2 Sam. 14:1–21). But for the next two years, David refuses to see Absalom, even though Absalom has returned to live in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 14:24, 28).

Second, David fails to recognize several red flags suggesting that Absalom has not, in fact, changed in the least. Absalom burns down Joab’s field to gain Joab’s attention (2 Sam. 14:28–32), but instead of being disciplined for this reckless, foolish act, Absalom gets exactly what he wants: an audience with his father. Then, David proceeds to pardon Absalom without any requirement that he change (2 Sam. 14:33). In all of this, David foolishly refuses to confront his son—and, as we will see tomorrow, the consequences for failing to discipline Absalom will be dire for David.

It is not uncommon that we too should be afraid of the hard work of discipline. Confronting and disciplining sin in those around us is difficult, awkward, messy work. The gospel, however, gives us all the resources we need to confront sin as we should. The gospel insists both that we are sinners and that Jesus nevertheless loved us enough to die for us. Furthermore, the gospel announces that any who come to Jesus through faith will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to begin the process of change.

What this means, then, is that in Christian community we don’t simply sweep sin under the rug and hope for the best in people. Instead, the gospel compels us to address the sin in our community with rigor and with grace, refusing to allow people to remain untransformed but instead taking up the mandate of Jesus to shepherd people for the sake of their souls, the glory of Christ, and the good of the church. This story is a warning to us: if we fail to discipline an Absalom today, we will certainly reap the bitter fruits of our negligence tomorrow.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.