Day 138: The Effect of Sin on Others

2 Samuel 20:1-26 A Benjaminite named Sheba pulled together an army of disgruntled northerners and started a revolt that threatened to pull apart the fragile peace between Judah and Israel.

Psalm 39 This psalm expresses a desperate lamentation over suffering and apparent ineffective prayer for divine assistance and consolation. The psalmist believed death was near and sought relief and comfort. The reality of suffering and death serves as an incentive for Christians to seek union with Christ in expectation of everlasting happiness in Heaven. 

I am your passing guest, a sojourner: Everybody must realize that life on earth is transitory, but the next life lasts FOREVER. 

Look away from me: This is a plea for leniency. (CCC 1502)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• So in 1 Chronicles Ch 25 there is a really awesome connection today

• It talks about the Temple Musicians

• The sons of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman (By the power of Grayskull!! 🤓)

• This is great because not only do we have the names of their sons, but they were also SET APART for certain kinds of service

• What was this service?

• Prophecy in Song

• PRAISE OF GOD IN SONG (this really spoke to me as one of the guitarists for our parish choir 🎸)

• Then we read Psalm 39 which is a Psalm of Jeduthun 😁

• 2 Samuel Ch 19 we have another rebellion against King David

• In the previous chapter, he was hailed as the King 

• All of Israel was COMPETING with who could honor him MORE as who could carry him across the Jordan River

• They were resentful of Judah because they were able to cross the Jordan with him

• So Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite (same tribe as King Saul) tries to convince the tribes that HE IS THE REAL KING

• And a lot of them go over to follow Sheba, son of Bichri

• It goes to show the FICKLENESS OF THE HUMAN HEART

• THIS IS US

• This wasn’t just WAY BACK THEN

• THIS IS US

• Someone promises us MORE

• Someone promises us BETTER THINGS

• There is STILL this idea that NEW IS ALWAYS BETTER

• And it doesn’t go well

• They are able to defeat Bichri pretty handily

• They defeat him by going to the city of Beth Maacah

• Joab is going to tear down the whole thing

• This wise woman calls out and says that they don’t have a dog in this fight, they don’t have a horse in this race (for our international brothers and sisters “to have a dog in the fight” or “to have a horse in the race” means to have interest in the conflict 🤔)

• So if the citizens are spared, they will hand Sheba over to Joab

• So rather than having their city destroyed, they essentially kill Sheba, the revolutionary

• So the forces of David win

• The wise woman called Joab

• But why didn’t she call Amasa?

• Amasa was made the head of David’s army

• David sent Amasa to lead the battle

• Joab did not like being replaced and sneaks a knife into Amasa’s stomach and disembowels him

• This violent situation where Joab, who was used to being the right hand of the king, kills Amasa and is once again the right hand of the king

• VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE

• EVIL DOES NOT STOP WITH US

• This is a KEY THING

• There is ONE VERSE of INJUSTICE

• There is ONE VERSE of the CONSEQUENCES OF EVIL HERE

• 2 Samuel 20:3 “David came to his house at Jerusalem and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house…”

• David left these 10 and took ALL THE OTHER WIVES AND CONCUBINES with him

• While David was gone, what did Absalom do?

• He had sexual relations with the concubines on the rooftops in sight of all the people

• Absalom dishonored his father, David in sight of all the people

• Absalom raped these women in sight of all the people

• So what does David do?

• He put these concubines in a house UNDER GUARD and provided for them, but he never had sexual relations with them ever again

• It would not be lawful to have sex with them in this place

• But he did not want to put them away

• THESE WOMEN DID NOTHING WRONG

• So they were essentially sequestered until the day of their deaths

• So we read this and think, “THAT IS UNJUST”

• YES, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT

• Here are these women who are caught in the crossfire, used by these men first as concubines used by David, then as pawns used by Absalom to shame his father

• THEY DID NOTHING WRONG

• We have to realize that if there is a deeper spiritual lesson in this situation, it’s HOW OFTEN OTHERS SUFFER BECAUSE OF OUR SINS

• They are suffering because of ABSALOM’S SINS

• They are also suffering because of DAVID’S SINS

• WHAT DAVID AND ABSALOM DID WAS WRONG

• But David did not do anything wrong by caring for them 

• But David did do something wrong EARLIER

• Absalom clearly did something ABSOLUTELY EVIL

• We get to pause in Scripture and allow Scripture to SPEAK INTO OUR HEARTS

• We get to pause in Scripture and allow Scripture to CONVICT OUR HEARTS

• There are SO MANY TIMES when you and I CHOOSE EVIL

• WE THINK THOSE CHOICES END WITH US

• “IT’S JUST MY CHOICE”

• “IT’S JUST MY DECISION”

• “IT’S MY PERSONAL THING”

• But how often do OTHERS SUFFER because of MY SINS?

• How often do OTHERS SUFFER because of OUR SINS?

• So we have to tell the FULL TRUTH about Absalom

• We have to tell the FULL TRUTH about David

• We have to tell the FULL HEINOUSNESS about what BOTH OF THESE MEN HAD DONE

• But in light of that, we also get to ask the question that reveals the TRUTH of OUR OWN LIVES

• HOW OFTEN HAVE OTHERS SUFFERED BECAUSE OF MY SINS?

• If you’re honest about this, IT IS A VERY HARD QUESTION TO ANSWER

• Not because it is HARD TO IMAGINE where someone might have suffered

• It is a HARD QUESTION TO ANSWER because it is HARD TO FACE THIS TRUTH

• WE CAN ONLY DO THIS WITH GOD’S GRACE

• We can only face the TRUTH OF OUR BROKENNESS WITH GOD’S HELP

• Otherwise it is TOO OVERWHELMING

• What we need to do is NOT just face the truth ON OUR OWN

• WE FACE THE TRUTH WITH EACH OTHER

• THAT’S WHY WE PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• We hear these stories and we think of these 10 women who were VIOLATED

• Then THEY had to live the consequences of SOMEONE ELSE’S EVIL CHOICE

• Think of all the other people in our lives who endure the consequences of OUR EVIL CHOICES

So we pray, “ Lord, help us to never do that again. Help us to never make choices that hurt other people ever again. And when we do, help us to turn back to you, God. Help us to turn back to the Lord and to allow Him to make us new. That in spite of our past to give us a future. Amen”

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we thank you. We know that you love us and we know that we can trust in your love for us even in the midst of darkness, even in the midst of failure, even in the midst of discipline. Lord God, as Psalm 39 says and even when your hand is heavy upon us, even when your hand is heavy upon us in discipline, in correction, we know that we can trust you. Help us to see your Fatherhood in your discipline, to not give in to the temptation to see a tyrant when you are actually a good Father, to not see a dictator when you are actually a good Dad. But help us to receive the discipline that you allow to come our way, to receive the discipline that you bring into your lives so that we can have a change of heart, so that we can have a change of direction, so that we can become more and more like you, our God, our Father, our Dad. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”