The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 33, David's Plans Fail To Make Uriah Think He Is The Father Of Bathsheba's Unborn Child

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and now she is pregnant. It's impossible for the child to be her husband Uriah's, for he has been away with the army besieging the Ammonite city of Rabbah. Uriah has no idea anything inappropriate has gone on between David and his wife but he soon will know his wife has been unfaithful if he cannot be fooled into thinking the child is his. David quickly sends for Uriah on the pretext of asking how the fight is going but his real intention is that Uriah would spend a night at home and sleep with Bathsheba. She is probably no more than four or five weeks pregnant and can still get away with making Uriah think he's the father, especially if she pretends the baby is a little bit early when its born. This is how David wants things to go. This is not how they will go. 

"So David sent this word to Joab: 'Send me Uriah the Hittite.' And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, 'Go down to your house and wash your feet.' So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his own house." (2 Samuel 11:6-9) Uriah is not an Israelite but is a convert to the God of Israel, as we shall see shortly, and he is a faithful soldier in the army of Israel. David encourages him to go home and be comfortable, knowing the pleasures of home will include enjoying Bathsheba's company in the bedroom. But Uriah doesn't do as David expected. He sleeps in his bedroll in the same area where David's servants who are "on call" are sleeping that night.

It's hard to imagine that at least some of these servants don't know about Bathsheba's visit to the palace. One or more of them may have been involved in summoning her there on David's instructions. Several of them probably saw her arrive in the night and leave in the morning. As the saying goes, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. The message that one or more of them sends to David indicates they were aware he wanted Uriah to go home and that he will be unhappy to learn Uriah didn't go home. "David was told, 'Uriah did not go home.' So he asked Uriah, 'Haven't you just come from a military campaign? Why didn't you go home?'" (2 Samuel 11:10) I picture him trying to maintain the appearance of calmness while concealing his anxiety and exasperation with this situation. It makes no sense to him that a man on furlough from the army would not go straight home as soon as he could, especially when that home contains a young and beautiful wife.

Uriah reveals a heart dedicated to the Lord and dedicated to his fellow soldiers. He states that he could not, in good conscience, enjoy the pleasures of marriage while his men are camped far from their wives. He could not, in good conscience, enjoy the comforts of his nice home while his fellow soldiers and the Ark of the Covenant are housed in tents. "Uriah said to David, 'The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!'" (2 Samuel 11:11) Uriah's reply suggests that the army has taken the ark to their camp with them, for although the ark does have a tent in the city of Jerusalem, his words indicate that the tent it currently occupies is in the army camp of Israel. He speaks of the ark as if it is with the soldiers. So he's saying something like, "How can I go home when the ark is not at home? How can I avail myself of my marital rights when my commander Joab and all my fellow soldiers cannot be with their wives at this time? There's no way I could enjoy being in my house, eating a homecooked meal, and sleeping in my own bed with my beautiful wife while knowing these other men are sleeping in tents, eating army rations, and missing their wives."

David makes one more attempt to get Uriah home with Bathsheba. In a moment he's going to insist that Uriah dine with him at a meal where the wine will flow freely. If Uriah is under the influence of alcohol, perhaps he will lose his steely resolve to continue enduring hardships like the other men of the army. David hopes the wine will mellow Uriah enough that he will say to himself, "Oh, what can it hurt if I go home and sleep with my wife? Wouldn't most men on leave from the army do the same? Why should I feel guilty for enjoying a few comforts before going back to the battle? Suppose I get killed in battle and never see my wife again! Wouldn't it be a shame if I didn't take this opportunity to see her one last time?" 

"Then David said to him, 'Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.' So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home." (2 Samuel 11:12-13) It is a high honor to be invited to eat and drink with the king. Even if Uriah wanted to refuse the invitation in order to get back to his regiment, he could hardly do so without offending the king. During the meal I picture David repeatedly filling Uriah's cup, perhaps filling it far fuller than his own cup. David may have made numerous toasts in which Uriah was expected to participate. While the drinking is going on he may have made many references to how nice it must be for Uriah to be back in Jerusalem, eating fine food and drinking good wine, and how nice it must be to know he has a wife waiting for him at home. I wouldn't be at all surprised if David repeatedly made references to how lonely Uriah must be when he's with the army and away from his wife.

But none of this works. Uriah sleeps in the servants' area yet again and David has no legitimate reason to keep holding him in Jerusalem. He must send him on his way, and he does, but in tomorrow's text he'll send him on his way with a sealed message to Joab that seals Uriah's doom. David will actually cause Uriah to carry what amounts to his own execution orders, though Uriah will be unaware of the contents of the message. David's nephew and army commander Joab will unquestioningly do exactly what David wants. And, sadly, what David wants is the death of a man who has proven himself trustworthy, honorable, and brave.

The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 32, David And Bathsheba

Israel is at war with the Ammonites but a halt to the conflict had to be called during the rainy winter season. This was typical in that time and in that region of the world. But when spring comes and the army of Israel can go out to battle again, David doesn't go with his troops as the Bible says kings typically did. Instead he remains in Jerusalem where idleness causes him not to rest well at night. This restlessness leads him to pace the rooftop of his palace where he sees a sight he didn't expect to see. When he doesn't react in a godly manner to this unexpected sight, he commits a sin he likely never imagined himself committing---a sin that leads to the commission of another, deadlier deed.

"In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem." (2 Samuel 11:1) I believe I've said before that whenever the Bible uses the word "but" in regard to something a person does, it's often in a negative connotation. In this instance it seems clear that the author believes David should have been with his troops but he wasn't. When the word "but" is used in regard to something God does, it's usually used in a positive connotation. For example, things can be going very badly for one of the Bible characters or for Israel as whole but God takes action on their behalf and turns the situation around.

In David's case, the fact that he is at home and not out with the army leads him to make a series of bad decisions. These bad decisions begin with him seeing a sight he didn't expect to see and reacting in the wrong way to this unexpected sight. "One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing." (2 Samuel 11:2a) In this fallen world we can't always help seeing something that isn't good for us to see. What we can help is how we react to what we see. When from his high vantage point on the palace roof David spots an unclothed woman, he has the option of turning away from this sight. But he doesn't.

The woman is very beautiful and very shapely. David keeps standing there looking at her and thinking lustful thoughts about her. This prolonged looking and thinking leads to him taking the next step. "The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her." (2 Samuel 11:2b-3a) David doesn't know who she is. He doesn't know whether she's married or single. He already has a number of wives and concubines in disobedience to the Lord's command for kings not to take many wives, but at this point he may be thinking that if she isn't already married he can offer to make her part of the royal harem and then he can lawfully sleep with her. 

David didn't turn his eyes away from her and that led him to asking about her. But now he has another opportunity to let the matter go. The person he sent to find out about her returns with the news that she is a married woman. "The man said, 'She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.'" (2 Samuel 11:3b) We'll learn later in the book of 2 Samuel that Eliam is one of David's mighty fighting men. 

Finding out that she's a married woman doesn't dissuade David from his ungodly course of action. Uriah, as we'll find out later in the book, is also one of David's fierce and loyal warriors. Even if David had no regard for the institution of matrimony at all, and even if he didn't know that the word of God forbids adultery, David should have respected Uriah enough not to consider anything improper with his wife. But David has looked at her too long. He has thought about her too long. He has visualized in his mind what he would do if he were alone with her. He sends for her. "Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her." (2 Samuel 11:4a)

Did David think he could just spend a few hours in this woman's company without making sexual advances toward her? Some scholars have suggested that, in his boredom and sleeplessness, he intended only to wine and dine and converse with this beautiful woman. I'm not discounting the possibility that he really believed he wasn't going to sleep with her. But if David thought he could spend the night in the presence of the current object of his lust without committing adultery, he was wrong. He played with fire by putting himself in a position to sin. He put Bathsheba in a position to sin too; I don't believe that he forced himself on her. I think she willingly went to bed with him but I also think that if any other man in Israel had asked her to come alone to visit him in his house, she'd have been outraged by the very idea of it. She'd have refused to go without even having to think about it. But this is the king of Israel! And David, as we've been told before, is a handsome man. He is probably in his late forties to around fifty by now, but how many male Hollywood stars around that age are still incredibly handsome? A lot! I think David is still incredibly handsome too, along with still being in impressive physical condition. In my opinion, Bathsheba would probably not have been disloyal to her husband with anyone else but the king. Both of them are to blame for what happened but in my opinion the blame is not quite equal. He is in a position of great authority and influence and I feel that gave him an unfair advantage where seduction is concerned.

The author of 2 Samuel is careful to let us know that Bathsheba could not have been in the early days of a pregnancy when she went to the palace. She had just finished having her monthly period. The bath that David happened to see her taking may have been a ritual bath, but that is an irrelevant point in the scheme of things. The main reason the author says what he says next is so we will know, without a doubt, that when she realizes she's conceived a child it cannot be anyone's child but David's. "(Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, 'I am pregnant.'" (2 Samuel 11:4b-5) 

Several weeks go by before David receives this message and he thinks he's gotten away with committing adultery. He may not have even thought any more about Bathsheba, or about their passionate night together, since she left his palace. Now he receives this message because Bathsheba thinks, since he is the king, he can fix the situation for her. And indeed he tries to fix it. Her husband has been away with the army, fighting the Ammonites, but in tomorrow's text David sends for him immediately on the pretext of wanting to find out how things are going with the war. I don't know whether this strikes Uriah as odd, since David could have sent for literally anybody in the army to ask about the fighting. He could even have just sent a messenger from Jerusalem to Rabbah to see how things are going. He didn't have to call one of his top fighting men away from the front lines. But David wants Uriah home so Uriah can sleep with Bathsheba. Then Bathsheba can pass the baby off as her husband's. 

David's plans will go horribly wrong, not once but twice. Time is wasting. The pregnancy isn't advanced enough to be evident but it's quickly becoming too advanced to fool a man who can count, and we have no reason to think Uriah could be fooled into thinking a full-term child is a preemie. As a last resort, David commits a sin I believe he could never in a million years have envisioned himself committing. In fear that the truth will come out if Uriah cannot be tricked, and in fear that Uriah will demand justice for the sin that's been committed against him, David sets him up to be killed in battle. David doesn't kill Uriah with his own hands but he might as well have. He's responsible for the death of this good and honorable man. 

You may have heard the expression, "It doesn't hurt to look," in regard to married people gazing lustfully on people they find attractive. But David's case proves this isn't true. Looking does hurt. Looking leads to thinking and then thinking leads to acting. Many a man and many a woman has fallen into this trap.

The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 31. War With The Ammonites, Part Two

As we closed yesterday's study we found David sending his army commander, Joab, out with all the fighting men to the Ammonites' capital city of Rabbah. The Ammonites wanted to make war with the Israelites so the Israelites have brought the war to their doorstep. But Joab finds himself and his soldiers surrounded as all the Ammonites spread out in battle array in front of them and the Ammonites' 33,000 hired Aramean soldiers spread out in the field behind them.

"Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops of Israel and deployed them against the Arameans." (2 Samuel 10:9) Job expects the Aramean mercenaries to be more difficult to fight than the Ammonite soldiers. He is going to lead the charge against them himself with his fittest, most experienced soldiers.

He puts his brother Abishai in charge of the remaining men. "He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites." (2 Samuel 10:10)

Now Joab makes a short but inspiring speech. "Joab said, 'If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in His sight.'" (2 Samuel 10:11-12) 

He says something like, "Let us do our best and let God do the rest. If you, Abishai, and your men see the Arameans getting the upper hand over me and my troops, you are to come to our aid. If I see the Ammonites prevailing over you and your troops, my men and I will come to your aid. We must be brave for there is much at stake here. If we lose this war, we lose our status as a sovereign nation. We will no longer be free but will become a vassal-state of the Ammonites. Fight for your king and country! Fight for your wives and your children! Fight for your homes and your livelihoods! Fight like men who know Almighty God is on your side!"

After being reminded of all they have to fight for---and all they stand to lose---the men charge toward the enemy soldiers. "Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city." (2 Samuel 10:13-14a) The soldiers-for-hire quickly abandon their employers when they see the ferocious men of Israel charging at them in the confidence of their God. When the Ammonites realize their paid fighters have fled, they retreat inside the walls of their city. The Bible doesn't say that the Israelites had to fight anyone on this occasion and I think it's very likely they didn't.

"So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. After the Ammonites saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer's army leading them." (2 Samuel 10:14b-16) In Chapter 8 we were told that Hadadezer was the king of Zobah (an Aramean kingdom) and that he had gone down to the Euphrates River to strengthen his control over that area. Instead David and his men fought and defeated Hadadezer's soldiers in battle by the Euphrates and David gained control of that region. Many more Arameans came out to help Hadadezer after his men lost the battle but the Aramean soldiers were defeated. It could be that Hadadezer's forces were so easily overwhelmed because he had spread them too thin; Chapter 8 informed us that at the same time he was also at war with the king of Hamath. But after the Ammonites and their mercenaries lose the battle at Rabbah in our current chapter, they regroup and King Hanun of the Ammonites teams up with King Hadadezer and hires his army to help him make another attempt to defeat the army of Israel.

"When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore." (2 Samuel 10:17-19) The Ammonites are too few in number to face down the army of Israel all on their own. They need allies and extra soldiers to successfully wage war. But their war with Israel has so far been disastrous. Their hired soldiers keep running from battle. They keep losing their vassal states who are now placing their allegiance with David. Instead of defeating Israel in battle and making Israel a vassal-state of the Ammonites, the nation of Israel has gained new vassal-states of its own. 

The fame of King David is known far and wide. The fear of the army of Israel is spreading far and wide. This may be why David commits such a shocking sin in the next chapter. When the rainy season ends and the army of Israel is able to get back to the work of completely defeating the Ammonites, David doesn't go out to war with his army as kings typically do. Joab and his men were so successful in routing the Ammonites in Chapter 10 that David doesn't think they need his guidance. He becomes overconfident, not only in automatically assuming that the Lord will always fight on his people's side but in assuming he is strong enough to fight spiritual battles on his own. He stays behind in Jerusalem and gets in trouble. 

We've noted before that spiritual lows often follow spiritual highs. One of the reasons for this---perhaps the main reason---is that this is when we're most likely to let our guard down. I think David lets his guard down, which leads him to the deepest spiritual low of his life.

The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 30, War With The Ammonites, Part One

In the first portion of Chapter 10 we found David sending a delegation to King Hanun of the Ammonites to express his sympathy for the death of Hanun's father King Nahash. But Hanun's commanders gave him bad advice by telling him David was only pretending to extend his sympathies when in reality he wanted to spy out the city to plan an attack on it. Hanun accepted his commanders' opinion and treated David's men shamefully, cutting off half their beards and cutting their robes off immodestly before sending them away. 

David was horrified by the treatment of his men. The Bible doesn't say whether he planned to do anything to retaliate against King Hanun. I think it's likely he planned to turn the other cheek and just simply accept that he cannot be friendly with Hanun as he was with Hanun's late father. I think David would even have accepted an apology from this very new and possibly very young king. I believe Hanun could have salvaged the friendliness between his house and David's house if he'd shown sincere sorrow for his actions. Instead he prepares for war. We don't know whether he makes this decision on his own or whether he again allows himself to be led by older, more politically crafty men. "When the Ammonites realized they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob." (2 Samuel 10:6) 

The Ammonites realize they went too far. If they were suspicious of David's men they could have turned them away at the gates instead of deliberately humiliating them. Refusing to see the men would have still been an insult to David's integrity but it would not have made the Ammonites so abominable in the Israelites' eyes. The Ammonites expect David to attack them because that's what they would do if they were in his shoes. They amass an army to go on the offensive and it's only when David hears about this army that he prepares his own army for war. This leads me to believe he may have intended to do something his son King Solomon would later regard as a virtue: "A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense." (Proverbs 19:11)

"On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country." (2 Samuel 10:7-8) David doesn't wait for war to come to him; he brings it to the Ammonites. He knows the king does not intend to relent. He knows there is no choice now but to see this thing through to its bitter conclusion.

When David's army commander Joab and all his fighting men arrive at the city, the Ammonites line up in front of David's army to defend their city from invasion while their hired soldiers line up to attack the Israelites from the rear. They think they have the Israelites surrounded and trapped---that fighting them will be as easy as "shooting fish in a barrel" as the saying goes. But they've misjudged the loyalty of the mercenaries they've hired. They've misjudged the bravery of the soldiers of Israel. And most of all, they've misjudged the power of Israel's God. Joab's forces may be surrounded by an enemy army but they are also surrounded by the protection of the Lord. Join us tomorrow as Joab makes a short but encouraging speech of faith before sending his men into battle and we find the enemies of Israel fleeing from them as fast as their legs and their horses can carry them. The Lord promised the Israelites that if they would love and obey Him, He would send their enemies fleeing from them in seven directions. (Deuteronomy 28:7) In tomorrow's text we'll see an example of this promise coming true.

The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 29, King Hanun Of The Ammonites Makes Himself David's Enemy

In Chapter 10 we will study the war between the Israelites and the Ammonites. This is a war that did not need to happen. This is a war that happened because the king of the Ammonites accepted bad advice. 

From our study of Genesis we learned that the Ammonites are the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot. When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, only Lot and two of his daughters escaped. Lot's daughters, through lack of faith, believed the whole population of the world was being destroyed and that the human race would die out because there were no men for them to marry. They crafted a sinful plan to get their father so drunk he wouldn't know where he was or who he was with, then they each slept with him and conceived a son. One was named Moab and one was named Ben-Ammi. Genesis 19:36-38 tells us that Moab was the father of the Moabites and Ben-Ammi was the father of the Ammonites.

As our chapter opens we find David sending a message of sympathy to King Hanun of the Ammonites. Hanun has just ascended to the throne upon the death of his father, King Nahash. We must keep in mind that although the Ammonites are heathen idolaters and have not always been friendly toward the Israelites, they are not one of the groups of the promised land that the Lord told the Israelites to destroy. On the contrary, He said, "When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot." (Deuteronomy 2:9) Because of the relationship between the Israelites and the Ammonites, the Lord did not give the Israelites permission to take their land. However, that doesn't mean the Lord won't allow them to defend themselves against the Ammonites. For example, King Saul defended his fellow Israelites at Jabesh Gilead when they were besieged by the Ammonites in 1 Samuel 11. David will defend his people in 2 Samuel 10 when the Ammonite king takes bad advice and believes David's message of sympathy is an attempt to spy out his city to plan an attack. 

"In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. David thought, 'I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.' So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father." (2 Samuel 10:1-2a) The Bible doesn't tell us when or how Nahash showed kindness to David. Nahash hated King Saul because his forces were defeated by him, so perhaps he supplied aid to David when he was on the run from Saul. Nahash may have been motivated more by spite against Saul than by sympathy toward David but nevertheless David feels he owes a debt of gratitude toward the house of Nahash. 

David's heart is in the right place. He feels genuine sadness at the news of Nahash's death. He feels compassion toward Hanun who has lost his father and who has had the heavy mantle of leadership placed upon his shoulders at the same time. I believe David knows what it's like to lose a father. Jesse has not been mentioned since the early years of David's exile and this indicates both he and David's mother are deceased. If they were not deceased we would have found David moving them into his royal city of Jerusalem, but we last heard of them when he sent them to Moab out of the reach of Saul in 1 Samuel 22:4. In addition to knowing what it's like to lose a father, David knows the heavy responsibility of being a king. He understands the pressures Hanun is now under. David's intention is to express sympathy and to wish the new king well but Hanun's officials accuse him of ulterior motives. "When David's men came to the land of the Ammonites, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, 'Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn't David sent them to you to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?'" (2 Samuel 10:2b-3)

Why are these men so suspicious of David? It is believed that the Ammonites were vassals of Israel after Saul's defeat of them in 1 Samuel 11, so it could be that they are seeking an opportunity to make war with Israel in hopes of winning and no longer having to pay tribute to Israel. Or it could be that Hanun's advisors are such crafty and wicked people that they can't accept that David's friendly overture is not a crafty and wicked ruse. We don't know Hanun's age but he may have ascended to the throne in his teens and this could have caused him to be easily influenced by older, more experienced officials. Perhaps these men hope to turn him into a puppet king, led by them. They may be taking advantage of his youth, his inexperience, and the grief he's feeling due to the death of his father. 

Whatever their reasons for prejudicing Hanun against David, Hanun accepts their advice without taking time to think things through. Instead of automatically believing that the Ammonite commanders are correct in their assumptions, he could have thoroughly questioned the men David sent to him. He could have had all their belongings searched for weapons or for notes and maps regarding the layout of his city. If he was so afraid of them, he could simply have turned them away at the gates and had no dealings with them at all. But that's not what he does. Instead he does something deliberately offensive.

"So Hanun seized David's envoys, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away." (2 Samuel 10:4) This is intended to shame the men deeply and that's what it does. This delegation came to King Hanun in an attitude of respect and honor, accompanied by a caravan loaded down with fine gifts, expecting to be received with courtesy. Instead they are taken into custody and treated disgracefully. Imagine their shock. Imagine their embarrassment at being sent back down the roadway with half a beard and not enough material in their robes to modestly cover their bottoms. This is a horrifying turn of events and David is horrified when he hears of it. "When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, 'Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, then come back.'" (2 Samuel 10:5)

The problem with their beards is more difficult to solve than the problem with their clothes. The servants of these men could quickly have bought some new robes at the next town or David, upon receiving a message regarding the men's predicament, could have sent them fresh clothing immediately by return messenger. But beards take some time to grow out. Depending on how long they typically wore their facial hair in David's day, it would have taken several weeks at minimum to grow their beards back to normal length. David doesn't want the men to endure any more humiliation than they've already endured so he instructs them to remain outside of Jerusalem until their appearance is normal again. It's bad enough they were treated so shamefully while on a mission of peace; he will not subject them to any further embarrassment. 

In tomorrow's text Hanun realizes he's made a grievous error. But instead of humbling himself, apologizing, and trying to make peace with David, he hires soldiers of fortune to help his forces fight the army of Israel. I believe it's highly possible that David would have accepted a sincere apology, especially if Hanun is a young and inexperienced leader who is being taken advantage of by older officials who are using him to pursue their own agendas. But once Hanun amasses forces with which to fight David's soldiers, he has gone too far to turn back. His course is set and the outcome is war---a war he will lose.

We must always compare any advice we receive with the word of God. We must consult the Lord about our every big decision. If only Hanun had done that, he could have had a valuable ally in David. But instead he's made David his enemy. No matter how much we respect the person who is giving us advice---even if it's our church pastor---we must run it by the Lord to see if this is what He wants us to do. Even if the thing is something we really want to do and the thing is not sinful in itself, it may not be the Lord's will for us. That is why we are cautioned in Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."

The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 28, David Restores A Wounded Spirit, Part Two

In the first half of Chapter 9 we found David wanting to show kindness to any surviving relative of his late friend Jonathan. He learned that Jonathan has a son named Mephibosheth who is living in the frontier region of Lo Debar in the household of a man named Makir. This is where Mephibosheth has been ever since the day he received a debilitating injury at the age of five when his nurse fled King Saul's capital city with him on the day King Saul and his three oldest sons died in battle with the Philistines.

We don't know Makir's connection to Mephibosheth but from my background study it looks like it's generally assumed that Makir is a close relative of Mephibosheth's mother. Makir might be one of her brothers, for example, but we are never told what their connection is. During the time Mephibosheth has lived in Makir's household, he has become a grown man and has married and has had a son of his own, as we'll see later on. 

David has Mephibosheth brought to the palace at Jerusalem. "When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, 'Mephibosheth!' 'At your service,' he replied." (2 Samuel 9:6) I can't help hearing David exclaiming, 'Mephibosheth!' in a delighted tone of voice. He's happy to know his departed friend Jonathan has a son to carry on his family line. He's happy to be able to do something for Mephibosheth to honor the memory of Jonathan.

"'Don't be afraid,' David said to him, 'for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.'" (2 Samuel 9:7) David tells Mephibosheth not to be afraid because Mephibosheth is afraid. He is the grandson of the former king of Israel and he is the son of Jonathan who was once considered Saul's successor. In other nations of the ancient world, a new king would often massacre all the male heirs of the former king. This prevented any rivals to the throne from rising up against the new king. Mephibosheth fears David considers him a rival and that he has had him brought to Jerusalem to execute him.

David quickly puts those fears to rest. He doesn't want Mephibosheth dead; he wants to make Mephibosheth's life better! He wants to treat this young man as if he is a prince of the royal household. David cannot heal Mephibosheth's physical injury so that he can stand on his own two feet but David can heal his wounded spirit so that, figuratively speaking, he stands on his own two feet. Mephibosheth will no longer live on someone else's estate but will have an estate of his own. He will have his own house, his own crops, and his own livestock. He will eat at the king's table as if he is one of the king's own sons. This will give him something he's never had before: a feeling of being a "somebody" rather than a "nobody". We can clearly see he considers himself a "nobody" as we look at his reply to David. "Mephibosheth bowed down and said, 'What is your servant, that you would notice a dead dog like me?'" (2 Samuel 9:8)

A dog that is alive can perform valuable services for its master. It can provide companionship. It can provide protection. It can perform tasks such as herding sheep. But a dog that is deceased can do none of those things, so when Mephibosheth refers to himself as a "dead dog" he is saying, "Why would you be so generous toward me when I can do nothing for you in return? I can't even come into your presence or bow before you without using canes or having a servant help me get up and down. I'm of no use to you. Why do you want to be so good to me when I can't repay your kindness?"

I am sure Mephibosheth can be of value to David; just because he can't walk doesn't mean he can't be David's friend or that he can't hold some type of administrative office in David's government. But David isn't being kind to him because he expects Mephibosheth to do anything for him. He's being kind to him because he wants to be. He's being kind to him out of respect for the late Jonathan who was David's best friend, who took David's side against Saul, who wanted to see David crowned king someday even though Jonathan was the heir-apparent to the throne, and who saved David's life from Saul's murderous plots. David is being good to Mephibosheth because it pleases him to be good to him, not because he needs Mephibosheth to do anything for him.

In this same way, it pleases the Lord to be good to us. The Lord doesn't need us; He created the universe and everything in it without our help and He holds everything together without our help. He existed all the way back into eternity past before He ever made us, so He doesn't need our companionship either. But He wants a relationship with us. He wants to do us good. He wants to redeem us from lives crippled by sin. He wants to bring us into His royal household as His children, just as we find David bringing Mephibosheth into the royal household and treating him as if he is his own son. The Lord wants to restore our wounded spirits so we no longer feel like "nobodies" or like "dead dogs", just as David wants to restore Mephibosheth's wounded spirit and give him his dignity back.

David sets about doing exactly what he told Mephibosheth he would do. "Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's steward, and said to him, 'I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.'" (2 Samuel 9:9-10a)

Ziba has a large family, large enough to be able to accomplish what David is asking of them. "(Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) Then Ziba said to the king, 'Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.' So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons." (2 Samuel 9:10b-11) Mephibosheth is now a man of standing in Israel. Since the age of five he has been pitied. He has been looked upon as someone incapable of accomplishing much of anything. He has probably been treated as if he is mentally handicapped as well as being physically handicapped, for until modern times (and sometimes even in modern times) those who have physical disabilities are ignored or dismissed as if they don't have the same intelligence and the same feelings as everyone else. David took Mephibosheth out of a backwoods town and gave him what would have been his rightfully inherited landholdings if the kingship had not changed families. David changed Mephibosheth's view of himself as a "nobody" and made him feel like a "somebody". He will eat at the king's table just as if he is one of the king's biological sons. It won't matter that he has two lame feet under the table; he will be treated like everyone else. 

"Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table; he was lame in both feet." (2 Samuel 9:12-13) This too is a picture of the way the Lord deals with His children. He saves us from the life we had before but we will always need His help to victoriously live our new lives. Mephibosheth has been saved from his old life but he is still lame in both feet. If David had not given him Saul's land and had not commanded Ziba and his family and servants to work the land, Mephibosheth would have had no way of making a living from the land. But because David is his helper, he will have a comfortable living from the land he now owns. When the Lord saves us, our hearts and souls are changed but we are still mortal human beings living in a fallen world. We will still need His help every day to live in a way that honors Him and to live in a way that reflects our new status as children of the King. Just as Mephibosheth could not have eaten every day of his life at the king's table if David had not extended love and mercy to him, we would not have a place at the King's table if the Lord had not extended love and mercy to us.

The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 27, David Restores A Wounded Spirit, Part One

In our previous chapter we studied many of the military victories of David. The events of our current chapter likely took place after some or all of those victories because we find Mephibosheth, the son of David's late friend Jonathan, is a grown man now. The last time he was mentioned he was only five years old on the day his father Jonathan and his grandfather King Saul were killed in battle. 

Jonathan did everything possible to protect David from the murderous King Saul, even though this meant taking David's side instead of taking his own father's side. In return for his friendship toward David, Jonathan asked that David would "not ever cut off your kindness from my family---not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth". (1 Samuel 20:15) David made a covenant with Jonathan at that time and now, a number of years later, he is in a position to fulfill it.

"David asked, 'Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?' Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, 'Are you Ziba?' 'At your service,' he replied. The king asked, 'Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness. Ziba answered the king, 'There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.'" (2 Samuel 9:1-3) You'll recall that Mephibosheth suffered a debilitating injury on the day Saul and his three oldest sons died in a battle against the Philistines. Mephibosheth's nurse was running away with the five-year-old child because she feared the Philistines would slaughter the whole family of Saul. She fell while carrying him and he was rendered unable to walk from then on. The Bible doesn't describe Mephibosheth's exact injury but it's generally believed it was either a spinal injury or that the smaller bones of his lower legs were broken so badly that they couldn't heal in an era when surgical repair was not possible.

It makes sense that David would not be aware that Jonathan had a son. Mephibosheth was only five years old when Jonathan died, which means he was born during the years David lived in exile. Since the day Mephibosheth's nurse fled Saul's capital city with him, he has been living in a frontier region called Lo Debar in the household of a man named Makir, as we'll soon learn. David has never met or even heard of Mephibosheth until now. 

It's interesting to note that when asked if anyone related to Saul is still alive, Ziba doesn't simply say, "Jonathan has a surviving son." Instead Ziba adds, "He is lame in both feet." In my head his reply comes across like this: "Yes, there is one close relative of Saul remaining. It is the son of Jonathan, but he is lame in both feet." I can't help wondering if Ziba thinks Mephibosheth will be of little use to David because of his disability. I feel like Ziba doesn't still expect David to send for Mephibosheth once he learns this information. 

The reason I think this is because, in the second half of our chapter tomorrow, it's clear that Mephibosheth considers himself of no use to David. I believe that's because so many people have looked down on him or felt sorry for him. Mephibosheth may be the grandson of the first king of Israel, and he may be the son of one of Israel's greatest army generals and the man who was once the heir-apparent to the throne, but his inability to walk has made people pity him and think of him as less than a man. We've already talked previously about his disability being the probable reason he was never considered a candidate for the throne, although he'd have had a strong familial claim to it. But instead we found Saul's general, Abner, declaring Ish-Bosheth king---a man who could walk but who was very weak of character and unsuited for the role of king. Ish-Bosheth may not even have been a son of Saul's chief wife but the son of a concubine, meaning Mephibosheth had a stronger claim to the throne as the son of Jonathan who was formerly considered the crown prince of Israel. Upon Jonathan's death, Mephibosheth became his successor, but at no time has anyone thought him capable of assuming a position of power due to his disability.

Learning that Mephibosheth is unable to walk doesn't deter David from sending for him. I think it makes no difference to David. It's not as if he sends for Mephibosheth so he can lead a company of soldiers into battle; he sends for him to honor the memory of Jonathan and to keep his promise to him. "'Where is he?' the king asked. Ziba answered, 'He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.' So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel." (2 Samuel 9:4-5) David would have shown kindness to the memory of Jonathan even if Mephibosheth's disability had been a devastating brain injury that rendered him incapable of even understanding who David is. David would still have done whatever he could to provide for Jonathan's son and to make sure he got the best of care. He's not sending for Mephibosheth so Mephibosheth can do something for him. He wants to do something for Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth, as we will see, is crippled more in spirit than in body. But David's kindness toward him will change how he sees himself. 

This reflects a heart like the Lord's. He called for us even when we were incapable of doing anything for him. What use were we to Him when we were lost in our sins---crippled by our sins? The Lord called for us because He wanted to do something for us. In doing something for us, He changed us for the better. In tomorrow's passage we'll see that when David helps Mephibosheth, he changes him for the better. David's actions reflect a heart like the Lord's because he loves and helps someone who, at this time, doesn't know or love David and is incapable of helping David. In this same way, the Lord called us out of darkness into light in a time when we didn't know Him, didn't love Him, and were of no use to Him. As the Apostle Paul phrased it in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The Lord called us while we were still sinners. Then He transformed our lives. David calls for Mephibosheth while he is still crippled in spirit. Then he transforms his life.