撒母耳记下

Meditative Reflection
Acknowledging God in All Our Ways

“Soon, all the men of Israel were coming to the king and saying to him, ‘Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal the king away and bring him and his household across the Jordan, together with all his men?’.” (2 Sam. 19:41)

We have seen that the men of Israel were not the most loyal subjects. Once they perceived that Absalom might have the upper hand, they flocked to join him to rebel against David (15:10-12). Then, upon the death of Absalom, they shamelessly switched their allegiance back to David again (19:9-10).

Now the tribe of Judah was the first to welcome the king back, by sending a large contingent to escort the king back from across the river Jordan. The men of Israel should not have any grounds to complain: for one, they were the traitors and also, “half of the troops of Israel had taken the king over” (19:40), albeit, they probably arrived later than the men of Judah and were made to follow them in the procession back to Jerusalem.

The interesting thing to note is that, the men of Israel took their complaint to David (19:41), and he made no attempt at all to appease them. How could he? David was the culprit in the whole matter.

After the defeat of Absalom, instead of simply marching back to retake Jerusalem, he demanded that the people make a gesture to invite him back, as if he would not return as their king without their invitation, and to play it safe, this was what he did:

- He appealed only to the people of Judah through the priests, Zadok and Abiathar: He knew they were loyal to him, and that they had great influence over the people (19:11).

- However, in order to sway any fence-sitters, he even appealed to Amasa who also betrayed him by becoming the commander of Absalom’s army. Instead of executing him for his rebellion, he appointed him to replace Joab as his commander. Later on, we read in chapter 20 that David did not really think too highly of Amasa and basically ignored him when he appeared not to be fulfilling his assignment (20:5).

In other words, for a change, instead of consulting the Lord and depending on him, David resorted to using political maneuvers to regain control of his power over Israel, and it backfired right before his face. He had caused divisions and strife among his people. It is such an important warning to all of us in that we need to heed the words of Proverbs: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6; italics mine).

Meditative Reflection
An Act of Honor

“When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and put them in a house under guard. He provided for them but had no sexual relations with them…” (2 Sam. 20:3)

Since Absalom had dishonored his father by violating the concubines of his father, it would be an abomination if David continued to sleep with them (according to the Law of Moses in Lev. 20:11). Therefore what he did to these ten concubines was indeed an act of kindness and honor:

“Jewish writers say that the widowed queens of Hebrew monarchs were not allowed to marry again, but were obliged to pass the rest of their lives in strict seclusion. So are the wives of the emperor of China. On the death of the reigning sovereign all these women are transferred from the palace to a separate mansion, where they live in seclusion during the rest of their lives (Macartney, p. 375). David treated his concubines in the same manner, after the outrage committed on them by Absalom. They were not divorced, for they were guiltless; but they were no longer publicly recognized as his wives; nor was their confinement to a sequestered life a very heavy doom, in a region where women have never been accustomed to go much abroad.”
(JFB, Vol.1, p. 266)

Meditative Reflection
The Power of Wisdom

“While they were battering the wall to bring it down, a wise woman called from the city...” (2 Sam. 20:15-16)

While not much is known about the city of Abel, and even less is known about this “wise woman” of the city, this account given by the Scriptures serves to reinforce God’s desire of peace and His displeasure with bloodshed.

Given the short account in the Bible, we know at least the following things about the city of Abel and its people:

1. It was situated at the northern end of Israel, in the land of Naphtali: Sheba was very unwise to choose this city to fight against Joab’s army, because he was far away from his home base of Benjamin, and obviously he was not supported by the people of the city of Abel who, likely, were forced to accommodate him and his rebels.

2. They were the “peaceful and faithful” in Israel: The city and its people were not known for their might and power, but for their love for peace and loyalty to the king.

3. But more importantly, the saying, “Get your answer at Abel and that settled it” shows “that Abel had formerly been celebrated for the wisdom of its inhabitant [sic]” (K&D, 674). It appeared that since the city was so far away from any capital city, whether in Saul’s or David’s time, people in the more northerly region would bring their disputes to the city and their leaders were so full of wisdom that their words would settle any dispute.

4. Such wisdom was epitomized by this “wise woman who, like Deborah, was probably a judge or governess of the place” (JFB, 208). In particular, she reminded Joab that his action potentially would wipe out “that [which] is a mother in Israel”— a well-respected and beloved city of Israel; and would “swallow up the Lord’s inheritance”— a peaceful and faithful people that belonged to the Lord.

Such words of wisdom were powerful enough to dissuade the hardest warrior in Joab, and it reminds me of this saying in Ecclesiastes: “Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city” (Eccl. 7:19).

But I find Matthew Henry’s remark in this respect most interesting: “Souls know difference of sexes. Though the men be the head, it does not therefore follow that he has the monopoly of the brains…” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, 472)

Meditative Reflection
The Avenger of Blood

“As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us, so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed…” (2 Sam. 21:5-6)

We come across here a passage about the avenging of blood that is not only troubling to the mind of the modern, but also seemingly against God’s own law in the Old Testament.

The Law of Moses clearly stipulates that “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16). Why then would God permit the killing of seven of Saul’s descendants for the sin Saul had committed? In fact, it was God who reminded David of the guilt of Saul that had yet to be dealt with through three years of famine, and at the killing of the seven descendants of Saul, the famine ended as “God answered prayer in behalf of the land” (21:14).

Matthew Henry very much sums up the defense put up by commentators on God’s behalf concerning this matter in general:

“But this case of the Gibeonites was altogether extraordinary. God had made Himself an immediate party to the cause and no doubt put it into the heart of the Gibeonites to make this demand, for He owned what was done (v. 14) and His judgments are not subject to the rules which men’s judgments must be subject to. Let parents take heed of sin, especially the sin of cruelty and oppression for the poor children’s sake, who may be smarting for it by the just hand of God when they themselves are in their graves. Guilt and a curse are a bad entail upon a family. It should seem, Saul’s posterity trod in his steps, for it is called a bloody house; it was the spirit of the family, and therefore they are justly reckoned with for his sin, as well as for their own.”
(Matthew Henry’s Commentary, 473)

Meditative Reflection
God’s Preservation

“But Abishai, son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him.” (2 Sam. 21:17)

The biblical author chooses to record how David and his men defeated four descendants of the family of Rapah in Gath, presumably this family produced some of the most famous and feared warriors in Philistine. However in the description of the battle between David and Ishbi-Benob, we learn that David was almost killed.

The biblical author appears to highlight the similarities between this battle and the battle David had with Goliath when he was just a boy (or a young man):

a. Both Goliath and Ishbi-Benob were from Gath;

b. While Goliath was a giant over nine feet tall, we have no idea how tall Ishbi-Benob was, except that he also carried a very heavy spear with its head weighing 300 shekels, i.e. almost 8 pounds — not quite as heavy as Goliath’s which was 600 shekels.

However, the similarities appeared to end here, because the boy David wore no armor and carried only his sling and stones while this king David now obviously was well suited with armor and sword and yet was exhausted. He almost got killed by Ishbi-Benob. But when you think about it, the similarities did continue, because the outcome was the same — the Philistines were slain and David was preserved, and they were both the works of God.

We tend to attribute our success to God only when something miraculous happens along the way. But when things do not work out smoothly, although the final outcome is still for our good, we tend not to attribute it to the hand of God. But this was not the way David looked at his battles: Whether it was the battle with Goliath or the battle with Ishbi-Benob, David said of the Lord, “You have delivered me…you have preserved me as the head of nations” (2 Sam. 22:44/Ps.18:43).

Meditative Reflection
Self-righteousness?

“The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.” (2 Sam. 22:21)

Basically all the commentaries I have read come to the defense of David opining that he did not really claim self-righteousness for God rewarding him with His deliverance and favor.

I think there are two issues here: (1) Whether David could claim that he was blameless, that he had kept the ways of the Lord and that he had kept himself from sin; and (2) whether such “righteousness and cleanness” was the reason for God’s deliverance and favor as his reward?

(1) Was David righteous?

We are all bothered by David’s sin against Uriah (which involved both the sin of adultery and the sin of murder), and wonder how David could claim his righteousness and cleanness, especially with the words he used in vv. 21-25? Well, let’s take a look at how the Bible itself renders the verdict on his life:

“I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you (Jeroboam, king of Israel), but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.” (1 Ki. 14:8)

“For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life — except in the case of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Ki. 15:5, when God rebuked Abijah, king of Judah)

In other words, the Bible does declare David’s righteousness in spite of his sin, because even his sin against Uriah has been taken away from him (2 Sam. 12:13). Thus the basis of his righteousness is not really what he did, but how he trusted and followed the Lord “with all his heart”. His keeping of God’s commandments and doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord issued out of his right standing with the Lord through faith — faith that enabled him to receive full forgiveness of his sin. Faith in the Lord is still the basis of his righteousness (Phil. 3:9).

(2) Was it a reward for his righteousness?

Since his righteousness came through faith, God’s favor and deliverance came as a reward of his faith in Him, and not of his works.

Personally, I believe that this was a psalm David probably wrote before he had committed the horrible sin against Uriah. Not that he would not have the same understanding of God’s favor or deliverance, but he would probably use wordings more similar to that of Psalm 103 in which he said:

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities… But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children — with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey his precept.” (Ps. 103:10, 17, 18)

Although David had kept His covenant and remembered to obey His precept, he would have made it clearer that it was “His righteousness”, not his!

Meditative Reflection
Praise is a Sacrifice

“Therefore I will praise you, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.” (2 Sam. 22:50)

In reading this magnificent psalm of David, we might easily forget that David in fact went through a life of constant struggles, calamities and strife. Some of his troubles, indeed, were self-inflicted, but most came because of his position as God-anointed. To say that his life was one of constant battles is not an over-exaggeration, and yet most of his psalms were marked by praises, including this one in 2 Samuel 22 (repeated in the Psalter as Ps. 18).

If we read carefully the words of this psalm, we will be able to see some of the troubles encountered by David:

V. 3 “from violent men you save me”: I am often reminded that whatever trouble I might be facing, my plight cannot be compared with David’s. He faced “real” enemies who were bent on taking his life.

Vv. 5-6: David did not only face “violent” men, he was almost at the point of death, many times. His metaphors of being swirled by the waves of death, overwhelmed by torrents of destruction or coiled by the cords of grave were as real as the drowning faced by Jonah (see Jon. 2).

Vv. 17-18: David also acknowledged that by himself, he was doomed, because his foes were “too strong” for him and that his enemy was indeed very powerful. If we were David, we would have lived constantly in fear.

And yet, most of his psalms were full of praises. No wonder the Bible calls “praise” a “sacrifice” (Heb. 13:15). It is easy to praise God when everything goes our way; but to praise God in the midst of trouble, it is a sacrifice — as Webster Dictionary puts it; it is a “surrender” — a surrender to the sovereignty of God.