“The Lord’s anger burned against Israel again, and he stirred up David against them to say: ‘Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This is a really uncomfortable chapter. It raises a couple of really hard questions. I’ll treat them as they come starting with this one: Why would the Lord cause David to do something for which He then punished him? How is that just or fair or right or good or whatever other adjective you want to throw in there?
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“And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
What David says right here reflects a pre-Jesus understanding of how God operates toward us that is rooted in the Mosaic Covenant. Under that system, if someone kept the Law or at least had offered the proper sacrifices, they could consider themselves clean before God. And God allowed this to be the case even though they weren’t totally right. Their sins had been covered, but they weren’t forgiven. Once Jesus came, He revealed David’s thinking to be right, but his confidence to be very much wrong.
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“When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Suicide is increasingly being recognized as a national epidemic. It is the tenth leading cause of death in our country. Among folks under age 34, it is the second leading cause of death. The chances are good that you either know personally someone who committed suicide or at least know well someone who does. This is a big deal.
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“So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Unresolved issues become the fuel for future conflicts. There’s an old adage about conflict resolution that heralds time as a kind of universal problem-solver. Far from being true, though, this idea is nothing more than a dangerous fantasy. When we face a conflict or even a tension in a relationship, if things are not brought to a resolution, we should not consider the matter resolved. Time is no healer of wounds. Conflicts which are not resolved, but rather are simply left alone do not solve themselves. They become festering pools of bitterness that eventually threaten to poison everything around them and become the lens through which we view everything else in our lives.
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“But the king said, ‘What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, “Curse David,” who then shall say, “Why have you done so?”’ And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, ‘Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)
How do you respond when you’ve been cursed? Let’s broaden that out: How do you respond to a perceived insult? Do you immediately seek to respond in kind? Do you nurse a grudge that eventually becomes a sullen hatred? Do you begin plotting how you will get your revenge at some point in the future? Being insulted is tough. It’s even tougher when the person insulting you is someone over whom you have some measure of authority. That’s what David experienced. What would you do? Read the rest…
The Nexus 