Tag: Justice

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 12:13-14 Part 2

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“David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.””  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

These are two of the hardest verses I’ve yet encountered in this slow walk through the history books of the Hebrew Bible. In the first part of this note I began sharing about what has given me such trouble. I started out fairly easy. Here I will get into the real problem for me (and possibly you too). As I said before, here goes… Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 12:13-14 Part 1

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“David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.’”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

I have put off writing this note for several days. I’ve resisted because I haven’t been sure I’ve wanted to wade into this mess. I’ve read this passage before many times because I’ve read this story many times. But, I’ve struggled with it this time in ways I haven’t before. Rather than just sitting on it, though, I decided to let you in on the struggle. Here goes… Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 12:5, 7

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“Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. . .Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of the easiest things to do is recognize sin and injustice in someone else or a situation other than ours. Our vision of right and wrong is never so clear as when we are looking outside of ourselves. One of the hardest realizations we will ever face is when our own sin is firmly set before us. David was sitting confident and proud in his judgment on this other man, blissfully unaware that he had just pointed a finger firmly in his own face. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 1:14-16

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“David said to him, ‘How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord ‘s anointed?’ Then David called one of the young men and said, ‘Go, execute him.’ And he struck him down so that he died. And David said to him, ‘Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, “I have killed the Lord ‘s anointed.”’”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

I’ll be honest: I’ve been wrestling with this little story. I’m still not totally sure what to do with it. There are several different things to consider when trying to make sense of it. The truth is, though, sometimes even after we’ve considered all the different factors, we still can’t fully get our heads and hearts around a particular hard passage, and that’s okay. Here’s what I have so far. Read the rest…