Moral clarity in the midst of political intrigue - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Samuel 4:9-11,

"David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the
Beerothite, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of
every trouble, when someone told me, "Saul is dead," and thought he
was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag.
That was the reward I gave him for his news! How much more—when wicked
men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own
bed—should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth
of you!'"

During the transition of Israel to a monarchy, a number of political
things took place. The first man to be anointed by Samuel as king was
Saul. Saul, who ordered his life, not by seeking the Lord, but by
reacting to the circumstances he found himself in did not work out.
The Lord then had Samuel anoint David as king. This eventually
resulted in a war between the camp of Saul and the camp of David. When
Saul died in his battle with the Philistines by literally falling on
his sword, Abner, the commander of Saul's army, took Ish-Bosheth,
Saul's son, and made him king over Israel.

Later, when Ish-Bosheth confronted Abner for sleeping with his
deceased father's (Saul's) concubine, Abner became angry and went over
to David's camp, who had been at war with Ish-Bosheth. After having
met with Abner, David accepted him and sent him on his way. Joab, one
of David's commanders, then killed Abner because Abner had killed his
brother. When Ish-Bosheth heard of Abner's death, "he lost courage,
and all Israel became alarmed" 2 Samuel 4:1. Because of this, two of
Ish-Boseth's raiding party leaders then killed Ish-Bosheth.

You get the picture here... a truck load of political upheaval.
However, in the midst of it all, David maintained a high level of
moral clarity (at this time anyway). He condemned (and had put to
death) the Amalekite who assisted in Saul's death for confessing, "I
killed the Lord's anointed." Additionally, he appropriately mourned
Saul's death, even though Saul attempted to kill him. David also
condemned Joab and those with him for killing Abner. Also, even though
David was at war with Ish-Bosheth, when ish-Bosheth was murdered by
his own men, David condemned the men who did it and had them put to
death.

Although David was at war with the house of Saul, he would not raise
his hand against a member of Saul's family -because Saul had been the
Lord's anointed at one time. None of the political intrigue that
swirled around him was able to take David's eye off of the godly
responses David knew to be right.

The difference between David and all around him was that David was a
man of faith and his faith (better said, the Lord himself) carried him
through the most difficult of times by David keeping his focus on the
Lord. I am reminded of Paul's admonition, "set your hearts on things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your
minds on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:1-2.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

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Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com