2 Samuel 18:1-19:8

Ever since the Fall, thorns and thistles have been a part of our lives and relationships in this world.  Although the outworking of God’s justice is not pleasant in the moment, it is a good thing that he is at work delivering us from sin.  Following the death of his son Absalom, Joab challenges the mourning king David to be disciplined so that he can be the king the people need him to be.  This looks forward to king David’s greater son Jesus who came to be our redeemer king

2 Samuel 17:1-29

Counselor Hushai displayed faithfulness to King David and took action to enact his plan, even though he didn’t know how that plan would unfold.  At the end of the chapter, David and his followers got a foretaste at Mahanaim of future shalom and flourishing, even while more conflict lies down the road ahead for them.  We who follow Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor and true Prince of Peace, also look forward to that day when Christ consummates his plan to restore all things.

2 Samuel 16:1-23

Today’s text shows David as a king who is unemotional in the face of cursing against him, as he is confident in the sovereignty of Yahweh to accomplish his purposes through — or in spite of — external forces. We learn today that even through the twisted motives of sinful man, God is able to work for his own glory. The fullest display of his glory comes through the incarnation of his Son Jesus, who tabernacled (“pitched a tent”, John 1:14) among his people as our true king.

2 Samuel 15:1-37

The narrative of Absalom’s conspiracy against David juxtaposes two types of faith.  For Absalom, it’s a perfunctory, pragmatic approach that takes kernels of truth but twists them toward his own agenda, at the risk of great damage to the kingdom.  Such is also the approach of many cults, whose deception can never sustain one in the wilderness.  In contrast, the functional faith of David seeks the Lord’s glory and creates covenant community that is able to carry us through conflict in the midst of the wilderness.  While there is no guarantee that we’ll be insulated from weeping along the way, the role of functional faith in the life of a believer is to direct our gaze toward Christ who promises to complete his purposes in us as he sends us on mission for his glory.

2 Samuel 14:1-33

At times, the plans and actions of man can be difficult to sort out.  What may initially seem wise, or outwardly appear godly, might not always be in accordance with God’s purposes.  Yet the Lord looks not on outward appearances but on the heart.  Followers of Christ are called to not simply go through the motions of the Christian life, but rather to be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).  Walking in humility with the prayer “not my will but thine be done”, we may be confident that Yahweh is sovereign over the schemes of man, for his glory and our good.

2 Samuel 13:1-39

There’s no escaping the realization that darkness has entered our fallen world as we consider today’s narrative.  Sin perverts wisdom, it defaces the imago dei in others with its exclusively self-focused and insatiable appetites, and it leads to fleeing and hiding from justice instead of moving toward reconciling shalom through the blood and righteousness of Christ.  Praise God that he laid the shame of our sin upon his Son at the cross and counts us as perfectly righteous because of Jesus’ atoning work there, the place where we encounter perfect wisdom, love and justice.

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Following David’s tremendous sin in last week’s text, today we see the Lord sending his prophet Nathan to confront the king. Even while being confronted and chastised for his own failure, we clearly see how Yahweh is extending his grace to David. Moreover, God’s grace takes what is dark and damnable and redeems it for his glory. Truly, where sin abounds, Yahweh’s grace changes abounds all the more. May we not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord (Hebrews 12:5).

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Ever since the first sin in the Garden, the consequences of the Fall have dwelt in the human heart.  In today’s sad narrative, we witness the grave sin of King David that reflects the reality that our sin comes from within us.  Once we start down the path of sin, it deceives us into growing ever more comfortable with it, growing and progressing until it produces its fruit of coldness, deadness and grief.  The most profound and grievous result of our sin is that it displeases the Lord.  May we fully understand the weighty consequences of our sin, and resist setting foot on the early path toward small sins, as we look with hope to the great grace and mercy of our God.

2 Samuel 10:1-19

In today’s text, King David used his power and authority to cover the shame of his people. Our God is in the business of covering our shame, beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden, to the prodigal son, up to the current day with you and me. It came at the price of his Son suffering shame on our behalf, who invites us to extend this grace to our brothers and sisters. Moreover, our God goes on to conquer his enemies as we trust in him to do what seems good to him. He calls us, his people, to have courage as we resolutely engage the powers of darkness as we look to him, and to our family of faith to hold us up when we grow weary.

Psalms 89:1-52

Psalm 89 is a psalm about the gap between the promises of God as written in Scripture and our present experience of those promises. Reflecting upon 2 Samuel 7, the Psalmist praises God for his covenant promises to David, but expresses confusion, grief, and discouragement at the present situation in which God’s promises appear to have failed. The psalm teaches us to take our doubt, confusion, grief, and frustration to God in prayer and, in the larger context of the New Testament, to trust that God has, is, and will fulfill his promises in Jesus in his own time.