Bible Chapter: II Samuel 19 & 20

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    The trials that faced David continued.  Yes, he had a military victory and he should have been rejoicing.  And yet, he was distraught at the death of Absalom.  His lament over the death of his son caused the soldiers who gave David a victory feel ashamed of what they had done.  Joab went to King David and said the people feel that you would have been happier if Absalom had lived and they had died.  David went to apologize and bring the people back to his camp.
    These two chapters have a amazing back and forth narrative.  It can be confusing and challenging to read.  Who was supporting the king?  Who was against him?  Did they stay supporting or opposing the king?  I had to read it a few times to try to follow what was going on.  My thoughts again go to the confusion that reigned because of David’s failure to follow God’s path.  He slid down to a low application of God’s moral laws.  I am seeing that happen in churches today.  People are accepting sin as acceptable.  How sad that is.  I wonder if people realize the impact they will have and the consequences they will face because of the moral choices they make.  The way to avoid many problems is to do things God’s way.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    People must go beyond having a knowledge of what God wants them to do.  Information is good.  Application is even better.  I think of the old story that says: five frogs were sitting on a log floating in a lake. Four of them decided to jump off.  How many were left on the log?  The answer is five.  This is because deciding to do something is different than actually doing it.  I’m sure that the principles in this story never intended to do really bad things.  But, deciding to do what is right does not mean that they actually did what was right.  What can I apply?  Take the knowledge I have and do what is right.

3.  How can I help someone?
    Life is filled with so many attractive activities.  They look like so much fun.  I want to help people look beyond the first few inches of their decisions to see the long-term implications of their choices.  Probably most things start out fun.  They don’t all end up that way.  We must see what God says and how events we are tempted to participate in line up with God’s ways.  This helps to prevent problems and enable the blessings of God.