DEVOTION
2ND SAMUEL
INNOCENCE AND LOVE
2 Sam 3:28-39
28 Later, when David heard about
this, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the LORD
concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 29 May his blood fall upon the head
of Joab and upon all his father's house! May Joab's house never be without
someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls
by the sword or who lacks food." 30(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered
Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.) 31
Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, "Tear your clothes
and put on sackcloth and walk in mourning in front of Abner." King David
himself walked behind the bier. 32 They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king
wept aloud at Abner's tomb. All the people wept also. 33 The king sang this
lament for Abner:
"Should Abner have died as
the lawless die? 34 Your hands were not
bound; your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before wicked
men."
And all the people wept over him
again. 35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was
still day; but David took an oath, saying, "May God deal with me, be it
ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!" 36
All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did
pleased them. 37 So on that day all the people and all Israel knew that the
king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner. 38 Then the king said to
his men, "Do you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen in
Israel this day? 39 And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and
these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer
according to his evil deeds!"
NIV
We can see the heart of King David,
a man who is after God’s own heart. He is filled with grief over the death of
Abner, a man with whom he had made an agreement and sent on his way in peace.
But Joab would have nothing to do with Abner being alive after he killed his brother.
David declared his innocence but also put this curse on the house of Joab. This
is a difficult passage to deal with because of the harsh treatment of Joab and
his household, although murder should not go unpunished. Perhaps that is one of
the lessons we could learn because Jesus made that parallel about hatred being
the same as murder. The truth is that we are supposed to love our neighbor as
we love ourselves. The question then could be asked, “Who is my neighbor?” and
we know that answer, for we are all God’s creation, all the same, all neighbors
on this earth, sharing the same space and time. The fact remains we can only be
divided in two ways: those who have responded to the conviction of the Holy
Spirit and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, and those who have yet been
convicted or have refused to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. In essence, the
saved and the unsaved are all still creations of God in their image. Then
are assignment from the Lord is to be a person who loves everyone. That may be
easier said than done. We think we fail at times when we have those feelings of
unforgiveness because someone hurt our feelings. We may fail when we are not sensitive
to someone and say or do or don’t say or do the right words or deeds, and thus
cause them to become angry or upset. Then what about when we become impatient
with someone we are supposed to love? It all comes down to that definition given
in Corinthians thirteen about what love is. However, evil does get repaid for
evil, but that is not up to us, for the Lord will judge all people, and he alone
will repay evil for its deeds. On the other hand, we are supposed to live a life
of love, being innocent of evil or wicked thoughts and deeds. At the same time,
maybe we should lament over the effects of evil deeds or the wicked people do
against their fellow man. This, too, would be the effects of living a life of
innocence and love.
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