Monday, February 24, 2014

Joab Reproaches David (2 Samuel 3:22-25)

8/26/2010 7:49:48 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Joab reproaches David

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Samuel 3:22-25

            Message of the verses:  “22 ¶  And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23  When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace." 24  Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone? 25  "You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to learn of your going out and coming in and to find out all that you are doing.’”

            I think for me to try and understand all that is going on here I must realize that there was a civil war going on in the nation of Israel and that the parties who were involved in this civil war are David, Joab, Abner and Ish-bosheth, who was Saul’s son and king of Israel at this time.  Joab was a deceitful man who wanted to avenge the killing of his brother Asahel even though it seems to me was killed by Abner during a period of war and therefore it seems to me that the rules were different during times of war.  Abner wanted David to understand that he wanted revenge for the death of his brother while David wanted the nation of Israel to be at peace and this was why he had meet with Abner.  I suppose the one thing that I don’t understand is why David kept Joab as his general all of his days.  Part of the answer was that Joab was the son of David’s sister and therefore he was family.  With all of the wives and children that David had it is no wonder that he had so much family trouble, and it would get worse too.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I guess that the thing that I can take out of this passage is that I have a choice of acting like one of the players in this drama that played out during the time of ancient Israel.  I can be like David who was being a peace maker for the good of the nation of Israel, or I can be like Joab who only wants revenge from the wrong that he sees was done to him, or I can be like Abner who himself was deceitful and was trying to get the best deal that he could get.  There is one more player Ish-bosheth who was the weak king or puppet king of Israel.  By God’s grace I will be like David and live my life with integrity and seek to be a man’s after God’s own heart.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Trust the Lord to show me the steps that I am to take to honor Him in the situation that I find myself.


8/26/2010 8:30:52 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment