04.22.2016 Old Testament: 2Sa 4.9–12

To read the Bible in a year, read Second Samuel 4–6 on April 22, In the year of our Lord 2016

By Don Ruhl

Two men killed a descendant of King Saul while the man slept in his bed. Then they brought the news to David, thinking that it would make him happy, since that eliminated competition to the throne of Israel,

But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, when someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth?” So David commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron (2 Samuel 4.9–12).

Those men only sought their own glory, but David did not seek his glory. He sought the Lord’s glory and the glory of Israel. Therefore, their news did not bring joy to him, but anger and they lost their lives, the very opposite of what they had hoped.

Questions:

• Why is a certain event good news to you and why is another event bad news to you?
• Do you seek the glory of the Lord and His church even if it means that you suffer?