Absalom – Household Words:

You Reap WHERE You Sow: David’s Sin Turned His Home into a Battleground. 2 Samuel 19:2.

Picture generated by A.I. Relationships around a throne are treacherous because of deceit, violence, and murder. Diplomats and courtiers may taste the delicacies of kings and queens, but the metallic smell of blood is never far away. Everyone is watching everyone else, looking for weaknesses, creating alliances, destroying the careers and lives of enemies andContinue reading “You Reap WHERE You Sow: David’s Sin Turned His Home into a Battleground. 2 Samuel 19:2.”

Prophets and Parables: the Indirect Approach. 2 Samuel 14:1-13.

Following King David’s great sin, the prophet Nathan came to him with a story about a rich man with flocks of sheep who took from a poor family its lone, pet sheep and ate it. David was outraged and Nathan famously said to him: “Thou art the man” 2 Samuel 12:7. Why did Nathan createContinue reading “Prophets and Parables: the Indirect Approach. 2 Samuel 14:1-13.”

Layers.

Childhood emotions come in single syllables: mad, sad, glad. You laugh, cry, pout, fume. Adulthood is complicated. You feel pensive, ambivalent, bittersweet. Adult emotions have more layers than a wedding cake. David understood. This poet who killed giants, this warrior who was a music therapist, this military tactician who cuddled lambs—David understood complex emotions. ForContinue reading “Layers.”

David Lost the Moral High Ground.

Who was David’s greatest enemy? Goliath? King Saul? The Philistines? How about Absalom? David’s own son staged a coup, taking his father’s throne and forcing David and his armies into the streets, running for their lives. His son? What happened? David had children by so many wives that there were half-brothers and half-sisters all overContinue reading “David Lost the Moral High Ground.”