Month: November 2018

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 15:25-26

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“Then the king instructed Zadok, ‘Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor with the Lord, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its dwelling place. However, if he should say, “I do not delight in you,” then here I am — he can do with me whatever pleases him.’”  (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever tried to squeeze a goldfish? Or how about a wet bar of soap? Or it could be just about anything else small and slippery. It’s not an easy thing to do. The tighter you get, the more likely the thing is to slip out of your hand. There are things and positions in our lives that are like this too. The tighter we try and hold on to them, the more likely they are to slip away from us. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 6:20-21

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“And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, ‘How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!’ And David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord —and I will make merry before the Lord.’”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

The Scriptures don’t give us a truly inside look at very many of the lives of the various characters who appear in it. We get even fewer inside looks into the marriages it presents. What we see here is a rare thing in the Scriptures. The tension between David and Michal here is thick. Emotions are running high. They both thought they were right and were upset at the other. If you’ve been married longer than, say, a week, this is no doubt a situation you have experienced in kind if not in detail. What should we make of it? Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 13:21

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“When King David heard about all these things, he was furious.”  (CSB – Read the chapter)‬‬

We live in a rage culture today, don’t we? With the echo chamber effect created by social media, the smallest offense can get all whipped up into a senseless frenzy. Politicians seem to campaign with the intent of getting their supporters angry. After all, if they’re angry, they’re more likely to be motivated to go out and do something about their anger like vote. But here’s a question that we don’t seem to stop and think about nearly as often as we probably should: Is all this anger actually solving any problems? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 6:7-9

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“And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord come to me?'” (ESV – Read the chapter)‬‬

Have you ever set out to do what you were convinced was the right thing only to have it blow up in your face? Odds are, if you’ve experienced this, it only served to feed your willingness to buy into the truth of the cynical proverb, “No good deed goes unpunished.” In this moment, David would have understood how you felt. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 13:15

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“So Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that the hatred he hated her with was greater than the love he had loved her with. “Get out of here!” he said.”  (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever wanted something really badly, got it, and then discovered it was not nearly what you thought it would be? I know I’ve made a few purchases that would qualify for this category. How about this, have you tried to satisfy yourself with something other than God before? How’d that go for you? It certainly didn’t turn out the way Amnon thought it would. Read the rest…