A strange incident arose during the reign of David. After three years of famine the Lord revealed a festering situation. Saul, in cold blood, murdered multiple Gibeonites despite an ancient promise to let them live (the Gibeonites fooled Joshua into signing a treaty and letting them stay in the promised land).

Saul’s crimes against humanity required a payment in blood. An eye for an eye. David turned over seven male descendants of Saul’s, who died at the hands of the Gibeonites. This finally appeased the Lord—after that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.

What to make of such a strange story? This incident illustrates the Lord’s requirement of blood to absolve our sin. As we read in Romans, God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.

The idea of blood shed for the absolution of sin offends our modern sensibilities. Today many cherish a therapeutic god who shrugs at our envies and immoralities and assures us it’s not our fault. Fairy gods whisper such banalities.

But the God of the Bible, of Moses and Jesus and Mary and Paul, remains a HOLY GOD. This Holy God is just, and graciously the one who justifies those who have faith in Christ Jesus.

The shedding of blood is literally the only option to settle our violations to God’s holiness. Jesus’s blood flowed to pay that debt for you and me. Believe in Jesus Christ and walk the path of righteousness open through faith in him.

Remember the requirement.

2 Samuel 21 & Romans 3 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge

I’ve known a several guys who’ve lost their head over a woman (I worked among students for many years). Most of the time things turned out pretty well, and many of these infatuations blossomed into strong marriages. But occasionally, a train wreck occurs.

Sheba, described only as a troublemaker, launched a new rebellion as David struggled to regain his footing after the debacle with Absalom. Sending his best, David’s men cornered Sheba and his boys in a walled city called Abel Beth Maakah.

As they began to batter down the walls, a wise woman called from the other side for Joab, the commander, hoping to save her city from destruction. She discovered that all Joab wanted was to get his hands on Sheba—hand over this one man, and I’ll withdraw from the city.

The unnamed woman’s response? His head will be thrown to you from the wall. Outraged at Sheba and his rebels, this woman immediately grasped how to save the innocent townspeople and her family caught in the crossfire.

The woman shared her plan with the people, who quickly chopped off Sheba’s head and lobbed it over the wall. Joab hefted the grisly trophy, the destruction halted, and peace returned to the city.

Sheba lost his head in the bargain—a small price to pay. Occasionally common sense prevails. Be grateful when it arrives. Pray for folks like this wise woman from Abel Beth Maakah to join you within your walls.

2 Samuel 20 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Jason Abdilla

Duress exposes our true nature. David fled Jerusalem just ahead of his son, out to overthrow the king. Many of David’s former supporters joined the rebellion. David’s security vanished. He journeyed to the wilderness in mourning—barefoot and head covered.

With his world crashing in, David shared this thought: If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back…But if he says, “I am not pleased with you,” then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.

Even in disaster David deferred to the Lord. What better evidence revealing David as a man after God’s own heart? Throughout this experience David turned to the Lord again and again. Rather than curse God, he clung to God.

I’m not sure I could have faced such travail and continually looked to the Lord. But many do, and I’m always impressed. May the Lord develop within me a heart reflecting these words of David’s written during his desert time:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

2 Samuel 15 & Psalm 63 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann

We’ve been told our entire lives to be careful who you go to for advice. Consider our social media universe, spouting ignorance like a rogue firehose. As I follow politics I watch people gain positions of trust who simply should not be there.

Jonadab was such a person. An advisor in King David’s court and David’s nephew, Jonadab was a very shrewd man. This word shrewd can also be translated crafty.

Jonadab connived a plan where Amnon, his cousin and son of the king, played sick in order to get his half-sister Tamar alone. With everyone out of the house, Amnon raped Tamar. This horrible tragedy led two years later to Amnon’s murder by his brother Absalom. The fallout cascaded for years.

At the time of Amnon’s murder, Jonadab still served as an advisor to the king. Somehow he slipped any responsibility associated with Tamar’s defilement. Crafty people find ways to deflect blame. They tend to stay in their positions long after the exposure of their true colors.

Maybe the family connections helped Jonadab hang around? Certainly his cagey personality served him. But Amnon’s malignancy ate away among the wise and godly people surrounding David.

Beware the slippery advisor—you’re not the person they most care about. In service of self, you’re just a means to an end.

2 Samuel 13 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Kyle Glenn