The Good Book Club: Week 20
David finally gets the throne, and then promptly blows up his own life
This Week
We are reading:
2 Samuel 1-21
Psalms 18, 89, 60, 51, 3, 37, 38
Summary
We made it. David is king.
What could go wrong?!
A lot, actually.
This week we read most of 2 Samuel and watch David go from the highest highs — dancing in the streets with total abandon for the Lord, giving his wife the ultimate ick — to the lowest lows — a near-refugee fleeing his own son in a coup and trying to keep the kingdom together.
The Psalms are again ever relevant, including David’s song of deliverance (Psalm 18) and the tale of him fleeing his own son (Psalm 3).
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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:
Day 131 — Monday, 5/11 — 2 Samuel 1-3, Psalm 18
Day 132 — Tuesday, 5/12 — 2 Samuel 4-6, Psalm 89
Day 133 — Wednesday, 5/13 — 2 Samuel 7-9, Psalm 60
Day 134 — Thursday, 5/14 — 2 Samuel 10-12, Psalm 51
Day 135 — Friday, 5/15 — 2 Samuel 13-15, Psalm 3
Day 136 — Saturday, 5/16 — 2 Samuel 16-18, Psalm 37
Day 137 — Sunday, 5/17 — 2 Samuel 19-21, Psalm 38
Day 131 — Monday, 5/11 — 2 Samuel 1-3, Psalm 18
News of Saul’s death reaches David via an Amalekite messenger who claims to have dealt the final blow himself because he is expecting a reward. Instead, David has him executed. Whoops! Shouldn’t have bragged about killing God’s anointed one.
David is anointed king over Judah first, not all Israel. Saul’s surviving son Ishbosheth is proclaimed as the King of Israel, a rival — and civil war breaks out.
Day 132 — Tuesday, 5/12 — 2 Samuel 4-6, Psalm 89
Ishbosheth is assassinated in his bed by two of his own men, who bring his head to David expecting praise. Again, David has them executed.
David is anointed the king of Israel and captures Jerusalem, making it the capital and naming it the City of David — a culmination of the Exodus effort to flee Egypt and settle in the Promised Land
David wants to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem but on the way Uzzah accidentally touches it and is struck dead on the spot. David is afraid and doesn’t try again for three months. When the procession resumes and the ark finally enters Jerusalem, David dances before the Lord with everything he has — and his wife Michal watches from a window, gets the ick, and never has children with him.
Day 133 — Wednesday, 5/13 — 2 Samuel 7-9, Psalm 60
David, living in his cedar palace, doesn’t like that the ark is still in a tent. He wants to build God a house — but God says no, your son will build me the temple. This results in the Davidic Covenant — the promise that David’s line will result in an unconditional, eternal kingdom, culminating in the arrival of the Messiah
For Jonathan’s sake, and as an act of covenant loyalty, David restores all of Saul’s land to his grandson, Mephibosheth, and insists he eat at the king’s table for the rest of his life.
Day 134 — Thursday, 5/14 — 2 Samuel 10-12, Psalm 51
David starts slipping. He has an affair with Bathsheba (because remember, his wife has the permanent ick) and gets her pregnant. David calls her husband, Uriah, back from battle tries to get them to sleep together to cover it up, but Uriah refuses because his men are at war. David sends him back to the front and puts him in harms way so he dies, and David marries Bathsheba.
Nathan the prophet comes to David and tells him a parable of a rich man who takes a poor man’s only beloved lamb rather than slaughter one of his own. David is furious at the man in the story. Then Nathan tells him “You are the man.”
David’s child with Bathsheba dies, but they have another and name him Solomon.
Day 135 — Friday, 5/15 — 2 Samuel 13-15, Psalm 3
David’s family falls into dissaray. His firstborn son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar, she flees to her brother Absalom’s house, who waits two years then has Amnon killed before fleeing. The estrangement between Absalom and David festers into a full blown political coup.
Absalom begins systematically stealing the hearts of Israel. He sits at the city gate, intercepts anyone coming to the king for justice, tells them “if only I were made judge.” Finally, he launches his rebellion from Hebron and David flees Jerusalem with his household, barefoot and weeping up the Mount of Olives.
Day 136 — Saturday, 5/16 — 2 Samuel 16-18, Psalm 37
As David flees, a man named Shimei — from Saul’s clan — follows along hurling curses and throwing stones. David’s men want to cut his head off. David says no. “Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.” The humility of it is remarkable. He receives the cursing as discipline.
Absalom enters Jerusalem and, on Ahithophel’s counsel, very publicly has sex with David’s concubines on the palace rooftop.
Ahithophel advises Absalom to pursue David, but he listens to Hushai instead. While Ahitophel has a better plan, God’s plan is ultimately to thwart Absalom. Hushai then warns David to escape.
David’s army wins in the battle in the forest of Ephraim, and Absalom, riding a mule through the forest, gets his famous hair caught in a tree — and hangs there. Joab drives three javelins through him despite David’s explicit orders that Absalom be kept alive. David is devastated when he learns his son has died.
Day 137 — Sunday, 5/17 — 2 Samuel 19-21, Psalm 38
Joab confronts David and tells him his grief is demoralizing the army. David pulls himself together and resumes his kingship. The return to Jerusalem is complicated.
A new rebellion rises almost immediately, followed by a famine resulting from a treaty Saul violated decades earlier.
This week’s readings end with yet another battle between the Israelites and giants — and these ones explicitly have 6 fingers and 6 toes.
Whew. A lot going on this week. What are your thoughts? Share below and in the chat.