I have been absent for the past 7 weeks. Life took over, the day-to-day got in the way and I let my daily (or weekly) discipline slide off the back end of the desk. But I am back!
At any rate, I sat down yesterday and read through the entire book of 2 Samuel. It was like sliding into a warm bath. I really enjoyed following David through his adventures from the beginning of the book right through to the end. I thought it might be a bit daunting, but when I opened the pages I lost track of time and it flew by. I realize now what a profound effect the discipline of reading scripture has on me. I feel calm today, grounded and secure. I felt the umbilicus of my connection to God plump up with deep red spiritual lifeblood, I felt the flow wash my insecurities and worries out through my feet. I did not realize how much I missed this peace until it was in me again. I was quenched and did not even know I was parched! And what a companion, to have David to sing and dance me back into the embrace of God was remarkable.
2 Samuel 1:
An Amalekite brings Saul’s crown and armlet to “his king” David after a battle on Mt. Gilboa. The Amalekite confesses to killing Saul at Saul’s request and witnessing the death of Jonathan. David and his men tear their clothes and mourn for the fallen King of Israel, for Jonathan David’s beloved friend and for the people of Israel who died in battle. It strikes David after he overcomes some of his grief that the Amalekite has confessed to killing God’s anointed and so puts him to death. The killing of a messenger loyal to Israel and to David for killing Saul at Saul’s own behest shows how David follows the rules of God. No matter the circumstance, no matter the intent behind it (here the Amalekite was acting out of loyalty and benevolence to Saul) should a man kill God’s anointed, he will be put to death. The literal interpretation of this seems difficult to reconcile with real-life circumstances, rarely is day to day living so clear cut. David, perhaps in his youth and folly, prefers to take his life and err on the side of obedience to God’s laws. If I pull this idea forward into my own life all that remains in my mind is the debate between literalism and liberalism. I wonder, does this change for David as he grows older, sins and repents, and strives further toward God?
David sings of his love for Jonathan and of Jonathan’s great love for him, “surpassing the love of women” in his lamentation for Saul and Jonathan. Would this kind of love between two men be circumspect if it were two young Canadian infantrymen on tour? Times of war, conflict and trial bind people to one another, but I wonder about whether this deep love comes from the saving of one another’s lives amidst chaos or if it comes through the bond that the Lord has set between them. Is this a mortal bond? Is this something of war stories shared over beer at the Legion in an attempt to overcome the turmoil of PTSD upon the return of a soldier? Or is this a holy thread that binds the hearts of these two men closer to one another than to anyone else on Earth? Is it both?
2 Sam 3: The house of Saul grew weaker over years of warring as the house of David grew stronger and stronger. Abner defected to the house of David because Ish-bosheth accused him of taking one of Saul’s concubines. After all that Abner had gone through to faithfully serve Ish-Bosheth and the house of Saul, I find it hard to believe that one accusation like this would be enough to throw Abner into such a fit as to defect to David’s house and to bring all the rulers of all the tribes of Israel around to crown David as their King. Abner alludes to the fact that for some time all of Israel was trying to get out from under the thumb of the House of Saul, this is borne out by the quick way that the leaders of the tribes threw their loyalty and support behind David’s promised reign. I wonder if they slowly came to realize that David was, in fact, God’s true anointed over the years of war that increased David’s strength and diminished the house of Saul. Did they take this weakening as evidence of God’s will, or were they merely tired of being on the losing team? As tribal leaders they would be responsible for the welfare of the nation of Israel as a whole, for all God’s people. The tribes were suffering at the hand of Judah under David’s rule, if they aligned with the stronger tribe, there would be peace and relative prosperity. Abner came to David’s house and David accepted him, but Abner brought the bad blood of Asahel’s death with him. Joab took it upon himself to kill Abner; it was to avenge his brother, but he claimed to David that it was to protect him, that Abner was a spy. David was no fool, however, and did not succumb to politics (as evident in the killing of the Amalekite messenger). David cursed the house of Joab and placed all the blame squarely on Joab’s shoulders.
2 Sam 3:36 “ And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people”. David mourns Abner by refusing to eat until the sun goes down on the day that he was buried despite the protests of the people of Israel. This statement shows how beloved David was by the people of Israel and how eager they were to be led by him. It seems that for the first time Israel is getting what it wants, a king that they love. All along God has been appointing people to rule over Israel, all along God has been responding to the grumblings of Israel with strong men, good men and faithful men. Israel has not always appreciated their leaders, this time, however, it may be different. I have been wondering about why David’s anointment wasn’t immediately the end of Saul’s reign. God could do that, God can do anything, we know that because we’ve seen it. Yet God chose to wait on David’s reign and to leave a fearful and jealous man to guide and rule Israel all the while trying to kill David, God’s true anointed. Perhaps God was waiting so that Israel would see that David is a good and true leader. Maybe the waiting was so that Israel would see the wisdom of God’s choice. But maybe, God waited until Israel was convinced it was their own idea to have David as their king, waited until they loved him on their own before he bade them to serve. This is another loving gesture by God showing how much he appreciates our human need to be right, secure and to come to terms with the world around us. God could have struck down Saul and made Israel love David from the start, but God is patient and so is His love. After 7 years as King of Judah, David is crowned King of Israel. He reigns for 33 more years.
2 Sam 6:
David brings the Ark of the Covenant into the City of David, along the way Uzzah, one of the men bringing the Ark reached out and touched it to steady it because the oxen carrying it had stumbled. God killed Uzzah for touching the Ark, and the celebration of the moving Ark stopped. David was afraid of God and of the Ark and sent it to a nearby city instead, to be in Obed-edom’s house. After three months, God blessed Obed-edom and David brought the Ark into the City of David with rejoicing, music and dancing. Michal, David’s first wife from the house of Saul (for whom he paid a bride price of 1000 Philistine foreskins) had been brought back to him by Abner before she was killed. In summoning her, David broke her marriage to another man, and as she saw him dancing before the Ark celebrating it’s arrival she boiled with hate. After feasting and celebration, Michal confronts David, calling him vulgar and shameful for dancing uncovered before the people of the city. David famously replies that he was uncovered before the Lord and that he was exalting in God, celebrating and loving God and would do worse in order to praise God. David makes it plain that worship can look foolish, ugly, strange and vulgar but, if it is pure and dedicated to God, we should not be ashamed. This rings true for me every Sunday at St. Andrew’s Wesley. I love to sing and I love to dance. I find it difficult, however, to sing a lot of the hymns in our Voices United and More Voices hymnals. They are often too high in pitch and I don’t have enough musical education to understand how to read the notes. To top it off, I am usually overcome with emotion by the hymns and the voices of the singing devoted around me and so my throat constricts and I end up sounding like a wounded wild animal, off tempo and often on the wrong note. But it is my offering to God. In that moment what matters is that I sing, not that I sing well or that the people around me are impressed by my talent, but that God hears me lift my voice up in praise to Him and that I am offering something of myself in celebration and gratitude for God’s glory. “Make a joyful noise unto God” is something I live by here. This call is not for melody, or style but for noise and joy; I have both in spades. And poor Michal is cursed to be barren for her efforts.
2 Sam 11 & 12:
A war is raging and David is in Jerusalem walking on his roof, he spots Bathsheba and has to have her. David, knowing she is married, summons her from her house and sleeps with her only to send her back to Uriah the Hittite (her husband)’s house. David plots to have Uriah killed in battle, but only after showing him hospitality in the King’s house. He instructs Joab that Uriah is to be put at the forefront of the fighting and abandoned to die at the hand of the enemy. Uriah is killed and David takes Bathsheba for his wife. She bares a son, and none is the wiser, but God. And God is disappointed. God is angry and sends Nathan to David with the story of the rich man, the poor man and the poor man’s lamb. David is enraged when he is told about the slaying of the poor man’s beloved lamb by the rich man to feed a traveler. He is indignant and orders the rich man to restore the lamb fourfold. Nathan reveals that David is the rich man, Uriah is the poor man and Bathsheba is the beloved lamb. David realizes he has sinned gravely against the Lord and the price is the life of the child that Bathsheba will bear to David. The power in this story for me, is the acknowledgement of our ability as human beings to lie to ourselves, to bend our own morals and evade our own sense of justice when we are drunk with the possibility of “more”. David, by all accounts, is a brave and just man that lives to follow God and grow closer to Him. The mere sight of beautiful Bathsheba is enough for him to abandon all that he is and all that God wants him to be so that he can take another wife. The battle of addiction comes to mind here. Knowing that what you crave will be your utter defeat and pursuing it with all of your might despite the consequences. The temptation as a child to steal candy from a friend who was not at home one sunny afternoon while knowing that stealing is wrong. Our human minds and our free will can spin us around until we are hypocrites and we are defeated by ourselves and our worldly ambition. It’s why soap operas are so popular. Is this why Jesus rebukes the Philistines who blindly follow rules? Is it the same mistake? David insults God by breaking two of the Ten Commandments out of lust and greed and pays with the life of his baby. I wonder what will keep David from re-offending; the grief over his lost child or the grief over his betrayal of God? If we are to blame, do we as humans mourn ourselves and our lost innocence more than we mourn for the loss of others in our lives?
2 Sam 13 – 18:
The incestuous rape of David’s daughter Tamar by her half brother and one of David’s first-born sons Amnon begins a whirlwind father-son rivalry for the reign of Israel. Tamar is avenged by her full brother Absalom, Amnon is murdered and Absalom is banished for 3 years. Joab, David’s servant, persuades David to allow his son Absalom to return to Jerusalem, but David refuses to see his son even after he returns to the city. Absalom plots to take the crown from David by winning the hearts of the people of Israel and usurping the throne at Hebron. David becomes aware that fickle Israel now loves Absalom and so David flees to the Jordan. In David’s absence both Absalom and Mephisbosheth are vying for the throne. Mephisbosheth (Jonathan’s son with lame feet) claims that David’s flight is a sign from God that the Kingdom of Israel will be returned to the House of Saul through him. What has David done? He has forgiven his son and allowed him to return to Jerusalem and has restored property and title to the son of his most beloved friend Jonathan. These are both good deeds, why then has all of this been set in motion against David’s God-anointed throne? I don’t know, but more importantly, neither does David. A man named Shimei of the house of Saul comes out to see David passing on his way fleeing Jerusalem. Shimei curses David and stones him but David forbids his servants from killing Shimei. The reason that David gives is that perhaps God has told Shimei to curse and stone, maybe God has a greater plan here and will see my courage and humility in the face of trouble and take pity. These words and reasoning make David seem confused and disconnected from the God he so passionately loves. This devastating realization that it may now be God’s will that his Kingdom is taken away would definitely put David to questioning, sadness and disbelief, yet he does not strike out. He doesn’t curse God, his son or Israel. David continues to trudge toward the Jordan in tears with his head covered, putting one foot in front of the other and doing what he can to live in God’s will for the moment. This is a man, who from the midst of the wreckage of his life, still has faith that God watches what he does, notices the tears on his wet cheeks and will take into account his acceptance of God’s will.
David prevails with God’s blessing and is returned to the throne of Israel; his son Absalom dies in the battle.
2 Sam 22:
David’s Song of Deliverance begins with a beautiful proclamation of God’s grace and His love for His children:
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my saviour; you save me from violence.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, as I am saved from my enemies.”
I have never been to war and I hope never to go, so I don’t understand the feeling of God delivering me from the hands of enemies in battle. I do find strength in David’s song, though. We all have enemies within ourselves; jealousy, despair, craving, selfishness. I know my internal struggles to stay on the path I am on, I have fought to become who I am and I continue to wrestle with the darker elements of myself. My enemies in my struggles are fierce combatants and often are at their strongest when I am most tired and in need of rest. At times like these, God gives me strength or respite as it is needed, He protects me and holds me in the palm of his hand sheltering me from the harsh winds that I often turn upon myself.
“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears.”
May we all call upon God to guide us and protect us in the challenges we face, may we be humble in our acceptance of His will for us and in our striving toward Him and may we praise Him in offering gifts of ourselves with abandon. May we go forth in this pentecost season with full knowledge that we are held close by the Lord, both to Him and to one another. Amen.
