Day 58 Reading Schedule: 2 Samuel 9-13

2 Samuel 9: David Shows Grace to Mephibosheth

[Summary]

David was not only a man of faith in God, but also a man of great character. This chapter introduces David’s beautiful character. In history, it was a common practice for new kings who became kings through civil wars to kill all of the previous king’s family in order to eliminate future troubles. However, David remembered Jonathan, with whom he had shared true friendship, and wanted to show grace to his descendants. When David heard from Ziba, Saul’s former servant, that Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, was alive, he brought him in and gave him all of Saul’s territory and showed him the grace to eat at his own table (verses 1-8). He also gave him a servant and ordered Ziba to serve Mephibosheth with his entire family. From then on, David treated Mephibosheth like his own son, the prince (verses 9-13). 

[Explanation]

This chapter beautifully introduces David’s noble character and faith. David remembered the covenant he had made with Jonathan and sought out Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son. He then showed him kindness. David’s actions like these are enough to move our hearts. And through this incident, we see how faithfully David fulfilled the covenant he made with Jonathan. 

2 Samuel 10: David Defeated the Ammonites

[Summary]

This chapter deals with the war between David and the allied forces of Ammon and Moab. However, this war was different in nature from the war of conquest described in 2 Samuel 8. Rather, the war broke out when the allied forces of the Canaanites first opposed David. When the king of Ammon died, David sincerely sent a messenger to offer condolences, but Hanun, the king of Ammon, doubted his sincerity and insulted the messenger and sent him back. After this incident, Hanun feared David’s anger, so he gathered mercenaries and went to war first (verses 1-8). However, they were defeated by Joab's army, which David had dispatched (verses 9-14). The Aram army, which had been defeated in the first battle, reorganized its ranks and went into battle, but this time they were defeated by David's army (verses 15-19). 

[Explanation]

This chapter is the second story of David's conquest war, following 2 Samuel 8, and introduces the story of David's army's victories in conquering Ammon and Aram. The apparent reason for the outbreak of this war was the evil deeds of Hanun, the king of Ammon, who mocked David's condolence delegation. However, behind the scenes, there was also the check of the surrounding countries, who were wary of the growing power of the Judah Dynasty. 

2 Samuel 11: David's Crime

[Summary]

This chapter records the famous incident of David and Bathsheba's adultery. David, who sent the Israelite army led by Joab to the war to conquer Ammon and stayed in the palace, found Bathsheba bathing, took her to him, and slept with her (verses 1-5). After that, when Bathsheba conceived, David called Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband who was on the battlefield to hide his sin, and had him sleep with him. However, when Uriah refused (vv. 6-13), he sent a letter to Joab and ordered him to kill him in battle (vv. 14-21). In the end, Uriah died in battle due to Joab’s scheme, and David brought Bathsheba to the palace and made her his wife (vv. 22-27). This chapter shows that humans are helpless and weak sinners through the sins of David, a saintly king. 

[Explanation]

This chapter is the turning point of this book. That is, David’s prosperity, which had continued until now, begins to decline from this chapter. This chapter introduces David’s sin that cannot be washed away in his life, where he had a deep and noble relationship with God as a man after God’s heart. That is, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, and caused Uriah, a loyal subject, to die in battle. 

 2 Samuel 12: Nathan's Rebuke and David's Repentance

[Summary]

This chapter shows David's rebuke by the prophet Nathan for committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband, Uriah, and his repentance. The prophet Nathan, sent by God, rebuked David for his crime through a parable (verses 1-12). David sincerely repented before God and received forgiveness. However, as punishment for his crime, he lost his first son born to Bathsheba. After that, God showed him grace and allowed David and Bathsheba to have Solomon (verses 13-25). In this way, we can see that David's sincere repentance, despite his crime, was the basis for receiving God's grace. Meanwhile, Joab successfully completed his second war of conquest by conquering Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites (verses 26-31).

[Explanation]

The entire chapter describes David's terrible crime. This chapter deals with David repenting for his crime. God sent the prophet Nathan to David who had committed a crime and rebuked him for his crime. As a result, King David repented. God forgave David for his sins when he truly repented. And God bestowed grace on King David. 

2 Samuel 13: Amnon's Incest

[Summary]

From this chapter, the misfortunes that continued for David's family began. They had to reap the results of their sins. Through this, this chapter shows the justice of God who repays even a little for sins. David's eldest son, Amnon, suffered from lovesickness because of his half-sister Tamar. When his friend Jonadab found out about this, Amnon raped Tamar (verses 1-14). After raping Tamar, Amnon hated her and abandoned her. Tamar's brother Absalom secretly plotted revenge (verses 15-22). Two years later, Absalom invited all the princes to the sheep-shearing day and killed Amnon as he had planned (vv. 23-29). When David heard this news, he wept bitterly, and Absalom fled to Geshur to escape David's anger and hid there for three years (vv. 30-39). 

[Explanation] 

In the battlefield, God said that He would bring disaster upon King David's house in order to punish him for his sins. This continues from this chapter to 2 Samuel 20. This chapter first shows the incident where David's eldest son, Amnon, rapes his half-sister Tamar, and Tamar's older brother, Absalom, kills Amnon as a result.