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Dear Heavenly Father, Praise When David sought your face during the famine, you answered him and revealed the root cause of the problem (2 Sam 21:1). I praise you today as the God who gives light when all is dark. When things go wrong and circumstances conspire against me, you may be found when I seek you with all my heart. Praise the Lord for the mercy of clarity in hard times! Today in Your Word Today you told me about the three year famine in Israel and how Absalom murdered his older brother Amnon. The famine occurred as judgment on the land for “Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death” (2 Sam 21:1 NASB; cf. Num 35:33). The Gibeonites were servants of Israel by covenant agreement (Josh 9:16–20), but Saul in “his zeal” violated that covenant. This teaches me that it’s never right to do wrong, even to get a chance to do right. The fact that David willingly gave seven of Saul’s descendants to be executed as payment for this crime indicates that they had likely been complicit in this treacherous act (cf. Deut 24:16; 2 Sam 21:14). Amnon, David’s firstborn son, was desperately “in love” with his half-sister Tamar (Absalom’s full sister). With the help of his cousin Jonadab, he hatched a scheme to have her. This shows that if you can’t wait, what you feel is not love—it’s lust. Once Amnon violated her, he hated her and threw her out in disgrace (making it look as if she had made a shameful proposition to him). Absalom acted as though nothing had happened, but he was secretly seething with hatred. When the time was right, he murdered Amnon in revenge. The judgment prophesied by the prophet Nathan was finally coming to pass in David’s house (2 Sam 12:10). Reflection David knew Amnon had raped Tamar, yet he did nothing. Solomon, who experienced these tragic events firsthand, later observed that when we refuse to discipline our children, we hate them (Prov 13:24) and set the stage for their ultimate destruction (Prov 19:18 NIV). Request Father, help me to love my children by being faithful to discipline them. “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him” (Prov 22:15). Thanksgiving Thank you for disciplining every son that you receive (Heb 12:6–8). This demonstrates that you love me and are treating me as your child! In Jesus’ name, Amen. Suggested Hymn: “A Child of the King” — Harriet E. Buell. Meditation Verse: 2 Samuel 13:39. |