Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Shape up or you're not going to have a kingdom left

2 Samuel 19: 1 - 8 - 1 Joab was told, "The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom." 2 And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, "The king is grieving for his son." 3 The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried aloud, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!" 5 Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. 6 You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. 7 Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the LORD that if you don't go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come upon you from your youth till now." 8 So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the men were told, "The king is sitting in the gateway," they all came before him. Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes.

It's sort of funny the different things you notice each time you read a book, especially the Bible. I've read it before, in different editions, and it never really occured to me that the above passage is David getting chewed out by Joab. It makes them more real, in a way. I mean, this is something you'd expect to occur between two friends. One of them is misbehaving, messing up, and the other is taking him to task.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...