1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21-22; Psalm 30

2 Samuel 24

24Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

²So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”

³But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

⁴The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.

⁵After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer.

⁶They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon.

⁷Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.

⁸After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.

¹⁰David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord , “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord , I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”

¹¹Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:

¹²“Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’ “

¹³So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come upon you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

¹⁴David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord , for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

¹⁵So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

¹⁶When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord , “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”

¹⁸On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

¹⁹So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad.

²⁰When Araunah looked and saw the king and his men coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord , that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

²²Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.

²³O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

²⁵David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

1 Chronicles 21-22

21Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

²So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.”

³But Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

⁴The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem.

⁵Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.

⁶But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him.

⁷This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.

⁸Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”

⁹The Lord said to Gad, David’s seer,

¹⁰“Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’ “

¹¹So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice:

¹²three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord -days of plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

¹³David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord , for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

¹⁴So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.

¹⁵And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁶David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.

¹⁷David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O Lord my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.”

¹⁸Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁹So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord .

²⁰While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves.

²¹Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.

²²David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord , that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.”

²³Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.”

²⁴But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”

²⁵So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site.

²⁶David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord , and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

²⁷Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

²⁸At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there.

²⁹The tabernacle of the Lord , which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon.

³⁰But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord .

22Then David said, “The house of the Lord God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

²So David gave orders to assemble the aliens living in Israel, and from among them he appointed stonecutters to prepare dressed stone for building the house of God.

³He provided a large amount of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed.

⁴He also provided more cedar logs than could be counted, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought large numbers of them to David.

⁵David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.

⁶Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord , the God of Israel.

⁷David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God.

⁸But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.

⁹But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

¹⁰He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹“Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the Lord your God, as he said you would.

¹²May the Lord give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

¹³Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

¹⁴“I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them.

¹⁵You have many workmen: stonecutters, masons and carpenters, as well as men skilled in every kind of work

¹⁶in gold and silver, bronze and iron-craftsmen beyond number. Now begin the work, and the Lord be with you.”

¹⁷Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon.

¹⁸He said to them, “Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not granted you rest on every side? For he has handed the inhabitants of the land over to me, and the land is subject to the Lord and to his people.

¹⁹Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the Lord .”

PSALM 30

¹I will exalt you, O Lord , for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

²O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.

³O Lord , you brought me up from the grave ; you spared me from going down into the pit.

⁴Sing to the Lord , you saints of his; praise his holy name.

⁵For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

⁶When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”

⁷O Lord , when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

⁸To you, O Lord , I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹“What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

¹⁰Hear, O Lord , and be merciful to me; O Lord , be my help.”

¹¹You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹²that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

Psalm 95, 97-99

PSALM 95

¹Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord ; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

³For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.

⁴In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.

⁵The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

⁷for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,

⁸do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert,

⁹where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.

¹⁰For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.”

¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest.”

PSALM 97

¹The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

²Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

³Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.

⁴His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.

⁵The mountains melt like wax before the Lord , before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

⁷All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols- worship him, all you gods!

⁸Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O Lord .

⁹For you, O Lord , are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

¹¹Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

¹²Rejoice in the Lord , you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

PSALM 98

¹Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

²The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout for joy to the Lord , all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;

⁵make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,

⁶with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn- shout for joy before the Lord , the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,

⁹let them sing before the Lord , for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

PSALM 99

¹The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.

²Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.

³Let them praise your great and awesome name- he is holy.

⁴The King is mighty, he loves justice- you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right.

⁵Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

⁶Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the Lord and he answered them.

⁷He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

⁸O Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.

⁹Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

2 Samuel 22-23; Psalm 57

22David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

²He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

³my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior- from violent men you save me.

⁴I call to the Lord , who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵“The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁶The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

⁷In my distress I called to the Lord ; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears.

⁸“The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry.

⁹Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.

¹⁰He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.

¹¹He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

¹²He made darkness his canopy around him- the dark rain clouds of the sky.

¹³Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth.

¹⁴The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

¹⁵He shot arrows and scattered the enemies , bolts of lightning and routed them.

¹⁶The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the Lord , at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

¹⁷“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁸He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

¹⁹They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.

²⁰He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²¹“The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord ; I have not done evil by turning from my God.

²³All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.

²⁴I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.

²⁵The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.

²⁶“To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

²⁷to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

²⁸You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

²⁹You are my lamp, O Lord ; the Lord turns my darkness into light.

³⁰With your help I can advance against a troop ; with my God I can scale a wall.

³¹“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

³²For who is God besides the Lord ? And who is the Rock except our God?

³³It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

³⁴He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.

³⁵He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶You give me your shield of victory; you stoop down to make me great.

³⁷You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.

³⁸“I pursued my enemies and crushed them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

³⁹I crushed them completely, and they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.

⁴⁰You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet.

⁴¹You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.

⁴²They cried for help, but there was no one to save them- to the Lord , but he did not answer.

⁴³I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁴⁴“You have delivered me from the attacks of my people; you have preserved me as the head of nations. People I did not know are subject to me,

⁴⁵and foreigners come cringing to me; as soon as they hear me, they obey me.

⁴⁶They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁷“The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!

⁴⁸He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me,

⁴⁹who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me.

⁵⁰Therefore I will praise you, O Lord , among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.

⁵¹He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”

23These are the last words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel’s singer of songs :

²“The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.

³The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God,

⁴he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.’

⁵“Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?

⁶But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns, which are not gathered with the hand.

⁷Whoever touches thorns uses a tool of iron or the shaft of a spear; they are burned up where they lie.”

⁸These are the names of David’s mighty men: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.

⁹Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated,

¹⁰but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.

¹¹Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them.

¹²But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁴At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.

¹⁵David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

¹⁶So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord .

¹⁷“Far be it from me, O Lord , to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

¹⁸Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three. He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three.

¹⁹Was he not held in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander, even though he was not included among them.

²⁰Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

²¹And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

²²Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men.

²³He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁴Among the Thirty were: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem,

²⁵Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa,

²⁷Abiezer from Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

²⁹Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin,

³⁰Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai from the ravines of Gaash,

³¹Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

³²Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan

³³son of Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite,

³⁴Eliphelet son of Ahasbai the Maacathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

³⁵Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

³⁶Igal son of Nathan from Zobah, the son of Hagri,

³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,

³⁸Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite

³⁹and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.

PSALM 57

¹Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

²I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills [his purpose] for me.

³He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; Selah God sends his love and his faithfulness.

⁴I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts- men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

⁵Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

⁶They spread a net for my feet- I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path- but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

⁷My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

⁸Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.

⁹I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.

¹⁰For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

¹¹Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

Psalm 5, 38, 41-42

PSALM 5

¹Give ear to my words, O Lord , consider my sighing.

²Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.

³In the morning, O Lord , you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

⁴You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.

⁵The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.

⁶You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.

⁷But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.

⁸Lead me, O Lord , in your righteousness because of my enemies- make straight your way before me.

⁹Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.

¹⁰Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

¹²For surely, O Lord , you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

PSALM 38

¹O Lord , do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.

²For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.

³Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin.

⁴My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

⁵My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.

⁶I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.

⁷My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.

⁸I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.

⁹All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

¹⁰My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.

¹¹My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.

¹²Those who seek my life set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception.

¹³I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear, like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;

¹⁴I have become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.

¹⁵I wait for you, O Lord ; you will answer, O Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, “Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”

¹⁷For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.

¹⁸I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

¹⁹Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous.

²⁰Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good.

²¹O Lord , do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God.

²²Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.

PSALM 41

¹Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.

²The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.

³The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.

⁴I said, “O Lord , have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

⁵My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die and his name perish?”

⁶Whenever one comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁷All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying,

⁸“A vile disease has beset him; he will never get up from the place where he lies.”

⁹Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But you, O Lord , have mercy on me; raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹²In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.

¹³Praise be to the Lord , the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

PSALM 42

¹As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

³My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

⁴These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

⁵Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and

⁶my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon-from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

⁸By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me- a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

¹⁰My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

¹¹Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

2 Samuel 19-21

19Joab was told, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.”

²And 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.”

³The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle.

⁴The king covered his face and cried aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵Then 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.

⁶You 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.

⁷Now 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.”

⁸So 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.

⁹Throughout the tribes of Israel, the people were all arguing with each other, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies; he is the one who rescued us from the hand of the Philistines. But now he has fled the country because of Absalom;

¹⁰and Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”

¹¹King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: “Ask the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace, since what is being said throughout Israel has reached the king at his quarters?

¹²You are my brothers, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to bring back the king?’

¹³And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my own flesh and blood? May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab.’ “

¹⁴He won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man. They sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your men.”

¹⁵Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan. Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal to go out and meet the king and bring him across the Jordan.

¹⁶Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

¹⁷With him were a thousand Benjamites, along with Ziba, the steward of Saul’s household, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed to the Jordan, where the king was.

¹⁸They crossed at the ford to take the king’s household over and to do whatever he wished. When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell prostrate before the king

¹⁹and said to him, “May my lord not hold me guilty. Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king put it out of his mind.

²⁰For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first of the whole house of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the king.”

²¹Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this? He cursed the Lord ‘s anointed.”

²²David replied, “What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? This day you have become my adversaries! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Do I not know that today I am king over Israel?”

²³So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king promised him on oath.

²⁴Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.

²⁵When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”

²⁶He said, “My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, ‘I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.’ But Ziba my servant betrayed me.

²⁷And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever pleases you.

²⁸All my grandfather’s descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?”

²⁹The king said to him, “Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the fields.”

³⁰Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has arrived home safely.”

³¹Barzillai the Gileadite also came down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and to send him on his way from there.

³²Now Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years of age. He had provided for the king during his stay in Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man.

³³The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me and stay with me in Jerusalem, and I will provide for you.”

³⁴But Barzillai answered the king, “How many more years will I live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king?

³⁵I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of men and women singers? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

³⁶Your servant will cross over the Jordan with the king for a short distance, but why should the king reward me in this way?

³⁷Let your servant return, that I may die in my own town near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever pleases you.”

³⁸The king said, “Kimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever pleases you. And anything you desire from me I will do for you.”

³⁹So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and gave him his blessing, and Barzillai returned to his home.

⁴⁰When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham crossed with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel had taken the king over.

⁴¹Soon all the men of Israel were coming to the king and saying to him, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal the king away and bring him and his household across the Jordan, together with all his men?”

⁴²All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is closely related to us. Why are you angry about it? Have we eaten any of the king’s provisions? Have we taken anything for ourselves?”

⁴³Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king; and besides, we have a greater claim on David than you have. So why do you treat us with contempt? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the men of Judah responded even more harshly than the men of Israel.

20Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted, “We have no share in David, no part in Jesse’s son! Every man to his tent, O Israel!”

²So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

³When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and put them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but did not lie with them. They were kept in confinement till the day of their death, living as widows.

⁴Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.”

⁵But when Amasa went to summon Judah, he took longer than the time the king had set for him.

⁶David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bicri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your master’s men and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and escape from us.”

⁷So Joab’s men and the Kerethites and Pelethites and all the mighty warriors went out under the command of Abishai. They marched out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bicri.

⁸While they were at the great rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his military tunic, and strapped over it at his waist was a belt with a dagger in its sheath. As he stepped forward, it dropped out of its sheath.

⁹Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

¹⁰Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

¹¹One of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!”

¹²Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road, and the man saw that all the troops came to a halt there. When he realized that everyone who came up to Amasa stopped, he dragged him from the road into a field and threw a garment over him.

¹³After Amasa had been removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bicri.

¹⁴Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maacah and through the entire region of the Berites, who gathered together and followed him.

¹⁵All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maacah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down,

¹⁶a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.”

¹⁷He went toward her, and she asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he answered. She said, “Listen to what your servant has to say.” “I’m listening,” he said.

¹⁸She continued, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Get your answer at Abel,’ and that settled it.

¹⁹We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the Lord ‘s inheritance?”

²⁰“Far be it from me!” Joab replied, “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy!

²¹That is not the case. A man named Sheba son of Bicri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand over this one man, and I’ll withdraw from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown to you from the wall.”

²²Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bicri and threw it to Joab. So he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.

²³Joab was over Israel’s entire army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites;

²⁴Adoniram was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;

²⁵Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

²⁶and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

21During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord . The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

²The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.)

³David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the Lord ‘s inheritance?”

⁴The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.” “What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.

⁵They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel,

⁶let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul-the Lord ‘s chosen one.” So the king said, “I will give them to you.”

⁷The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

⁸But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

⁹He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed and exposed them on a hill before the Lord . All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.

¹⁰Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds of the air touch them by day or the wild animals by night.

¹¹When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done,

¹²he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken them secretly from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)

¹³David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

¹⁴They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.

¹⁵Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted.

¹⁶And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword , said he would kill David.

¹⁷But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.”

¹⁸In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.

¹⁹In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.

²⁰In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot-twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha.

²¹When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.

²²These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

2 Samuel 16-18

16When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.

²The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the desert.”

³The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?” Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather’s kingdom.’ “

⁴Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” “I humbly bow,” Ziba said. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.”

⁵As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul’s family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out.

⁶He pelted David and all the king’s officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David’s right and left.

⁷As he cursed, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel!

⁸The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!”

⁹Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.”

¹⁰But the king said, “What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’ “

¹¹David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.

¹²It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.”

¹³So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt.

¹⁴The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.

¹⁵Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.

¹⁶Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s friend, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

¹⁷Absalom asked Hushai, “Is this the love you show your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”

¹⁸Hushai said to Absalom, “No, the one chosen by the Lord , by these people, and by all the men of Israel-his I will be, and I will remain with him.

¹⁹Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.”

²⁰Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”

²¹Ahithophel answered, “Lie with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench in your father’s nostrils, and the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened.”

²²So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

²³Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.

17Ahithophel said to Absalom, “I would choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David.

²I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king

³and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.”

⁴This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

⁵But Absalom said, “Summon also Hushai the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say.”

⁶When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.”

⁷Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time.

⁸You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter; he will not spend the night with the troops.

⁹Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first, whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’

¹⁰Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.

¹¹“So I advise you: Let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba-as numerous as the sand on the seashore-be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle.

¹²Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him as dew settles on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive.

¹³If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a piece of it can be found.”

¹⁴Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

¹⁵Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so.

¹⁶Now send a message immediately and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords in the desert; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’ “

¹⁷Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel. A servant girl was to go and inform them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city.

¹⁸But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left quickly and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

¹⁹His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it.

²⁰When Absalom’s men came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman answered them, “They crossed over the brook.” The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹After the men had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, “Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you.”

²²So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

²⁴David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

²⁵Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Jether, an Israelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.

²⁶The Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim

²⁸brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils,

²⁹honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry and tired and thirsty in the desert.”

18David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.

²David sent the troops out-a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”

³But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”

⁴The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.” So the king stood beside the gate while all the men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands.

⁵The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

⁶The army marched into the field to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.

⁷There the army of Israel was defeated by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great-twenty thousand men.

⁸The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword.

⁹Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.

¹⁰When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

¹¹Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt.”

¹²But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lift my hand against the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake. ‘

¹³And if I had put my life in jeopardy -and nothing is hidden from the king-you would have kept your distance from me.”

¹⁴Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree.

¹⁵And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.

¹⁶Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them.

¹⁷They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.

¹⁸During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.

¹⁹Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.”

²⁰“You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.

²²Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.” But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.”

²³He said, “Come what may, I want to run.” So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.

²⁴While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone.

²⁵The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the man came closer and closer.

²⁶Then the watchman saw another man running, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!” The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.”

²⁷The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”

²⁸Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king.”

²⁹The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.”

³⁰The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there.

³¹Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has delivered you today from all who rose up against you.”

³²The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”

³³The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you-O Absalom, my son, my son!”

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

Psalm 3-4, 12-13, 28, 55

PSALM 3

¹O Lord , how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!

²Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah

³But you are a shield around me, O Lord ; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

⁴To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah

⁵I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

⁶I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.

⁷Arise, O Lord ! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah

PSALM 4

¹Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

²How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame ? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods ? Selah

³Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him.

⁴In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah

⁵Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord .

⁶Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord .

⁷You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord , make me dwell in safety.

PSALM 12

¹Help, Lord , for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.

²Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception.

³May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue

⁴that says, “We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips -who is our master?”

⁵“Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the Lord . “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

⁶And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.

⁷O Lord , you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever.

⁸The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

PSALM 13

¹How long, O Lord ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

²How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

⁴my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord , for he has been good to me.

PSALM 28

¹To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.

²Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.

³Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts.

⁴Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back upon them what they deserve.

⁵Since they show no regard for the works of the Lord and what his hands have done, he will tear them down and never build them up again.

⁶Praise be to the Lord , for he has heard my cry for mercy.

⁷The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

⁸The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

⁹Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.

PSALM 55

¹Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;

²hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

³at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me.

⁵Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest-

⁷I would flee far away and stay in the desert; Selah

⁸I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”

⁹Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.

¹¹Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.

¹²If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him.

¹³But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,

¹⁴with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

¹⁵Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the grave, for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶But I call to God, and the Lord saves me.

¹⁷Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.

¹⁸He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.

¹⁹God, who is enthroned forever, will hear them and afflict them- Selah men who never change their ways and have no fear of God.

²⁰My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.

²¹His speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.

²²Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

²³But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

2 Samuel 13-15

13In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

²Amnon 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.

³Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man.

⁴He 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.’ “

⁶So 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.”

⁷David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.”

⁸So 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.

⁹Then 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.

¹⁰Then 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.

¹¹But 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.

¹³What 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.”

¹⁴But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

¹⁶“No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.” But he refused to listen to her.

¹⁷He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of here and bolt the door after her.”

¹⁸So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing a richly ornamented robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore.

¹⁹Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornamented robe she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.

²⁰Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

²¹When King David heard all this, he was furious.

²²Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

²³Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there.

²⁴Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his officials please join me?”

²⁵“No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go, but gave him his blessing.

²⁶Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.” The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?”

²⁷But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.

²⁸Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Have not I given you this order? Be strong and brave.”

²⁹So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.

³⁰While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.”

³¹The king stood up, tore his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

³²But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s expressed intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar.

³³My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

³⁴Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill.”

³⁵Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons are here; it has happened just as your servant said.”

³⁶As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his servants wept very bitterly.

³⁷Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned for his son every day.

³⁸After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years.

³⁹And the spirit of the king longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.

14Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom.

²So Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead.

³Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, O king!”

⁵The king asked her, “What is troubling you?” She said, “I am indeed a widow; my husband is dead.

⁶I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him.

⁷Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir as well.’ They would put out the only burning coal I have left, leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth.”

⁸The king said to the woman, “Go home, and I will issue an order in your behalf.”

⁹But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “My lord the king, let the blame rest on me and on my father’s family, and let the king and his throne be without guilt.”

¹⁰The king replied, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not bother you again.”

¹¹She said, “Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.” “As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”

¹²Then the woman said, “Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” “Speak,” he replied.

¹³The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?

¹⁴Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.

¹⁵“And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps he will do what his servant asks.

¹⁶Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from the inheritance God gave us.’

¹⁷“And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in discerning good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’ “

¹⁸Then the king said to the woman, “Do not keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you.” “Let my lord the king speak,” the woman said.

¹⁹The king asked, “Isn’t the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant.

²⁰Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom like that of an angel of God-he knows everything that happens in the land.”

²¹The king said to Joab, “Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

²²Joab fell with his face to the ground to pay him honor, and he blessed the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that he has found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his servant’s request.”

²³Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

²⁴But the king said, “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.

²⁵In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.

²⁶Whenever he cut the hair of his head-he used to cut his hair from time to time when it became too heavy for him-he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels by the royal standard.

²⁷Three sons and a daughter were born to Absalom. The daughter’s name was Tamar, and she became a beautiful woman.

²⁸Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king’s face.

²⁹Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So he sent a second time, but he refused to come.

³⁰Then he said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

³¹Then Joab did go to Absalom’s house and he said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”

³²Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent word to you and said, ‘Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there!” ‘ Now then, I want to see the king’s face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death.”

³³So Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.

15In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.

²He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

³Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.”

⁴And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.”

⁵Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him.

⁶Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord .

⁸While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron. ‘ “

⁹The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’ “

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter.

¹²While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept on increasing.

¹³A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword.”

¹⁵The king’s officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.”

¹⁶The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace.

¹⁷So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at a place some distance away.

¹⁸All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.

¹⁹The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland.

²⁰You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your countrymen. May kindness and faithfulness be with you.”

²¹But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.”

²²David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him.

²³The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the desert.

²⁴Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.

²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord ‘s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again.

²⁶But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”

²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Aren’t you a seer? Go back to the city in peace, with your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan son of Abiathar. You and Abiathar take your two sons with you.

²⁸I will wait at the fords in the desert until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up.

³¹Now David had been told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “O Lord , turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

³²When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head.

³³David said to him, “If you go with me, you will be a burden to me.

³⁴But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel’s advice.

³⁵Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king’s palace.

³⁶Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear.”

³⁷So David’s friend Hushai arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

Psalm 32, 51, 86, 122

PSALM 32

¹Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

²Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

³When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

⁴For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord “- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

⁶Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.

⁷You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

⁸I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

⁹Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

¹⁰Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord ‘s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.

¹¹Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

PSALM 51

¹Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

²Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

⁵Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

⁶Surely you desire truth in the inner parts ; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

⁷Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

⁹Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

¹⁴Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

PSALM 86

¹Hear, O Lord , and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

²Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.

³Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.

⁴Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

⁵You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.

⁶Hear my prayer, O Lord ; listen to my cry for mercy.

⁷In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

⁸Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.

⁹All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.

¹⁰For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

¹¹Teach me your way, O Lord , and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

¹²I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.

¹³For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

¹⁴The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life- men without regard for you.

¹⁵But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.

¹⁷Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord , have helped me and comforted me.

PSALM 122

¹I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord .”

²Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.

³Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.

⁴That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord , to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel.

⁵There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure.

⁷May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”

⁸For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.”

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about man?
3. Is there an example to follow?
4. What does God want me to believe?

2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 20

11In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

²One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,

³and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

⁴Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.

⁵The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David.

⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going.

⁸Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.

⁹But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

¹⁰When David was told, “Uriah did not go home,” he asked him, “Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

¹²Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.

¹³At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

¹⁴In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

¹⁵In it he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

¹⁶So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were.

¹⁷When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

¹⁸Joab sent David a full account of the battle.

¹⁹He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle,

²⁰the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall?

²¹Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth ? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’ “

²²The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say.

²³The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance to the city gate.

²⁴Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

²⁵David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”

²⁶When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

²⁷After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord .

12The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.

²The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle,

³but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

⁶He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁸I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.

⁹Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

¹⁰Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹¹“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.

¹²You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ “

¹³Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord .” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.

¹⁴But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”

¹⁵After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

¹⁶David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground.

¹⁷The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

²⁰Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

²¹His servants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

²²He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’

²³But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

²⁴Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him;

²⁵and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.

²⁶Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel.

²⁷Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply.

²⁸Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

²⁹So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it.

³⁰He took the crown from the head of their king -its weight was a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones-and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city

³¹and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. He did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

1 Chronicles 20

20In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and left it in ruins.

²David took the crown from the head of their king -its weight was found to be a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones-and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city

³and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

⁴In the course of time, war broke out with the Philistines, at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaites, and the Philistines were subjugated.

⁵In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.

⁶In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot-twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha.

⁷When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

⁸These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.