The Ploy

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

THE PLOY

2 Sam 13:1-14

13:1 In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David. 2 Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her. 3 Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 4 He asked Amnon, "Why do you, the king's son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won't you tell me?" Amnon said to him, "I'm in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister." 5 "Go to bed and pretend to be ill," Jonadab said. "When your father comes to see you, say to him, 'I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.'" 6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, "I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand." 7 David sent word to Tamar at the palace: "Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him." 8 So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. 9 Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat. "Send everyone out of here," Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand." And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me, my sister." 12 "Don't, my brother!" she said to him. "Don't force me. Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don't do this wicked thing. 13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you." 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

NIV

What do we do with this awful thing that was done by Amnon? What can we learn for our lives from this immoral act, no, actually a criminal act of rape against his own sister? It was a sinister plot, a ploy to get her alone in his chamber so that he could fulfil his sinful lust for his sister. This may be the truth we are sensing regarding plots or ploys to achieve a goal we have in mind. We might want to consider our plot as more of a plan of how we will get what we want. The word plan seems less offensive than a plot. We wonder, because of the gender differences, that the plot or the ploy we use could be different. We have observed women might try some methods men would never conceive, while we men have our own secret ploys or cunning plans or actions designed to turn a situation to our own advantage, to achieve our way. Then we should consider how we live in this world and how many of our days are filled with our own plans or plots to gain success in our endeavors to achieve goals for monetary or material accumulation. Do we forget that the Lord knows our thoughts are not his thoughts, nor are our ways his ways. Should not we always be looking for his ways, his thoughts about what we are going to do, or how we are going to respond or interact with others? No plot, plan, or ploy should be part of our relationship with others. Should we not just be honest, which means we need to be able to express ourselves freely, and accept others' feelings as well as responses, so we need no ploy to get our way? Let us be careful not to use a ploy.