Day 97 of the podcast, reading 2 Samuel 8-11 NET, read along at:
https://netbible.org/bible/2+Samuel+8-11/
This is day 97 of our journey.
As David continues to consolidate his power, God continues to give him victory in every direction. Any nation that defies Israel is defeated. As he establishes his rule, he seeks out a descendant of Saul in order to honor his promise to Jonathan. He brings Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan into his household and treats him as a son. He also returns all of Saul's property to Mephibosheth and his family. In a stark contrast to Saul, David is reigning in righteousness and justice with the law of the Lord as his guide. All of Israel is blessed due to the king's faithfulness.
However, at the peak of his power, David slowly becomes complacent. When war comes, David sends the army to fight without him. He stays home and, in this time of idle complacency, he sins. He sees a beautiful woman bathing, her name is Bathsheba and she is the wife of Uriah, one of his trusted officers. He commits adultery with her and gets her pregnant. Then, not wanted to be found out, he has Uriah murdered on the battlefield. After a period of mourning, David takes Bathsheba as his wife. The reading ends with God's judgement of the situation: "what David had done upset the Lord."
Join me in 2 Samuel 8-11 to see David in his highs and his lows.
Key verses:
2 Samuel 8:15
David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.
2 Samuel 9:7
David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. I will give back to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will be a regular guest at my table.”
2 Samuel 10:19
When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subjects of Israel. The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.
2 Samuel 11:1
In the spring of the year, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, David sent out Joab with his officers and the entire Israelite army. They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
All Scriptures are from the NET.
