2 Samuel 2:12-3:39, John 13:1-30, Psalms 119:1-16, Proverbs 15:29-30
Today is the 23rd day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you today as we gather once again around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward together in the Scriptures, and in our lives. And we just started the book of second Samuel. And today will be our second day in second Samuel. So, we’re just getting moved in. And, so, that’s the territory that we are in. And as we mentioned as we began second Samuel, we’re now focusing our attention on David, who is the king of Judah, but not the king of Israel yet. But let’s pick up the story. Second Samuel chapter 2 verse 12 through 3 verse 39 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in second Samuel today we kind of have this showdown between Ish-bosheth, who is Saul’s heir, so the next in line for the throne of Saul and then we have David, who has been anointed the king of the tribe of Judah. And David is gaining traction among all the people, and he had been throughout his whole life which is one of the things that was making Saul so paranoid. Even though David had no intention of ever touching the Lord’s anointed his influence, his fame, his power was rising. So, now Saul has been killed and his son Ish-bosheth, the next in line because his brothers Jonathan, Abinidab and Malkishuah all died with their father in battle with the Philistines. So, Ish-bosheth is the king. And Ish-bosheth has a general whose name is Abner and David as a general who happens to be his nephew and his name is Joab. Joab has a couple of brothers. All of them have gone over and are serving David now. So, Joab David’s general and his brother Abishai and his other brother Assail. That’s a lot of people to keep track of, but they all come together opposing one another trying to figure this David Ish-bosheth monarchy thing and they decide to have a showdown and there is a showdown and all of the people who are hand and combating from each side die which then starts a battle and the battle is determined in David’s favor. David’s men prevail over Ish-bosheth men. And let’s remember, David’s general was Joab and Joab had a brother named Assail who was a fast runner and was running after Abner, Ish-bosheth’s general. And Abner had to ultimately kill him in battle, which would leave Joab and Abbashi with a blood vendetta against Abner. And we could be like, okay hang on a second. This is a tedious story, are we going somewhere? Like does this go somewhere? And it does go somewhere. It goes to the character of David. What happened here is that Abner eventually was going to deliver all of Israel into David’s hands. Being an influential general, he met with David and then Joab found out about it and in a time of peace and not war murdered, assassinated, Abner the general, like one…the most powerful person among the tribes of Israel. That cast all of the light and all of the shade on David. Did David have something to do with the assassination of one of the most influential people in all of the tribes of Israel, the general Abner? And that’s we see David’s character shine through. He mourns for Abner. He writes a song for Abner. He is innocent of what happened to Abner. Even though he has gotten very used to being blamed for all kinds of things he is innocent and the people they see that by his character, by his behavior. They see that this wasn’t his doing. He didn’t assassinate Abner. And he wins their hearts through this. And will continue to watch David’s actions and the people watching David’s actions and his character shining through as the people are knit together under his leadership.
And then we turn over the gospel of John, one of the most riveting scenes in the ministry of Jesus, and for that matter, in all of the Bible, at least in my opinion. Jesus asked His disciples a question. Do you understand what I have done to you? And He’s asking the question at the Last Supper after He gets down on his hands and knees and washes their feet. And this is so vital and so poignant for our lives. People walk around all the time in the first century, right? They walked everywhere. There were no gas powered engines, electric powered engines, nothing like this. You could be pulled around on a cart of some sort. You be carried around maybe, if you were rich enough, wealthy enough, powerful enough, but for most people walking was the way to get anywhere. And walking around in sandals was the norm. And, so, people could take a shower and…but from their knees down at the end of the day they’d be dirty. They had to walk everywhere that they went so they need to wash their feet. And what is being washed from their feet is the dirt, right, that they’ve accumulated throughout the day, the grime and the dirt of where they had been. And Jesus, God made flesh, God humbled Himself before His friends and washed the filth of where they had been from their feet that day. A very uncomfortable scene among all of them. And we get that from Peter going like, you’re not gonna wash my feet and Jesus saying, if I can’t wash you then you don’t have anything to do with me. We can see that this is making them uncomfortable because this is a position where the master is becoming the servant. And, so, that makes the actual service very uncomfortable. Like what’s going on here? And that’s when Jesus asks, do you understand what I have done to you. And then He explains. And may this come washing into our lives in a way that changes things about today and the rest of our lives. Jesus said, “you call me teacher and Lord, and truly that is who I am.” And, so, I think all of us are on the same page at this point. We called Jesus Teacher and Lord because that’s who He is. And then Jesus goes on. “So, if you’re Lord and teacher washes your feet then you should wash one another’s feet. I am your example. Keep doing what I do. I tell you the truth, a servant is not greater than the master. Those who are sent are not greater than the one who sends them. If you know these things and if you put them into practice, you will find happiness.” So, number one Jesus is saying here is the example from your master. This is what your life should look like. You should be washing the filth and the grime of where people around you have been. You should serve them. You should humble yourselves and serve them as I, your master has served you. But Jesus goes on to tell us a pretty big secret. “If you know these things and if you put them into practice, you will find happiness.” So, in other words, if we seek, we will find and if we want to find happiness then what we seek is humility and service in the way of the master, wiping away the filth of where we’ve all been. What does that look like for you today? I’m thinking the same thing. Like what does that look like for me today? And not just today. Like today, yes, what does that look like for me today but what does that look like for me, period, like as a lifestyle? This is the path to happiness. It flies in the face of so much of our culture. And, so, it gives us so much to think about today.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. What does it look like to follow in Your footsteps and be the servant of all, humbling ourselves and washing the grime of the miles that our brothers and sisters have traveled all around us. How do we participate in what You are teaching us? What does that look like for us today and what does that look like for us as a lifestyle? Come Holy Spirit into our unique mind into our unique experience into our unique story and show us how to live it out as we follow You we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Coming soon…