Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 21:1-14.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

2 Samuel 21:1a (NIV) 
1 During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. 

On verse 1:   David seeks God after 3 long years of famine.  Was this the first time during the famine that David sought the Lord?  Knowing David, probably not.  Still, let this be a reminder that if you are facing a difficult situation, don’t wait 3 years, or 3 months, or even 3 days to inquire of God.  Go to the Lord for help and insight today.  He will give you what you need.

2 Samuel 21:1b (NIV) 
1…The LORD said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 

On verse 1b:  David inquires of God as to the reason for the famine.  God explains that it is because Saul tried to wipe out the Gibeonites despite the Israelites having already entered into a peace treaty with the Gibeonites centuries before (Joshua 9:15-18).  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 20:14-26.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

2 Samuel 20:14-22 (NIV)
14  Sheba 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.
15  All 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,
16  a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.”

On verses 14-22:  Being chased by David’s army, Sheba hides in the city of Abel Beth Maakah (v14).  David’s army starts a siege against the city of Abel Beth Maakah.  They build a siege ramp and use a battering ram to try to knock down the city wall (v15).  A wise woman from Abel Beth Maakah calls out to Joab, leader of David’s army, and questions him on why they are trying to destroy their peaceful city (v16-19).  The wise woman and Joab agree that Joab’s troops will withdraw from the city if the people of Abel Beth Maakah will hand Sheba over to them (v20-21). The people of Abel Beth Maakah then execute Sheba, cut off his head and hand it to Joab, who commands the troops to leave the city alone (v22).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 20:1-13.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

2 Samuel 20:1-2 (NIV) 
1 Now 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!” 
2 So 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.

On verses 1-2:  Just as Sheba led a revolt against David by convincing the people that David was not for them, so Satan wants you to believe that God is not good, that He is not for you but against you, or that you simply don’t need him.  If you believe those lies, you will end up deserting Jesus the Son of David, just like all the men of Israel deserted King David (v2).  May we be like the men of Judah who “stayed by their king all the way” (v2).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 19:16-30.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

Here we see how David deals with two men who had hurt David badly while David was going through one of his most difficult seasons.  So much so that these two men both deserved death, and yet David shows them mercy.  Let’s learn how God’s mercy toward us exceeds even David’s mercy toward these two men.

2 Samuel 19:16-23 (NIV)
16  Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
17  With 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.
18  They 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

On verses 16-23:  When David was leaving Israel because his son Absalom had usurped the throne, Shimei hurled stones at David, called him a murderer and a scoundrel and told him to get out.  At that time, Abishai the brother of Joab offered to cut off Shimei’s head, but David told him not to (2 Samuel 16:5-14).  Now that David has returned to Israel and reclaimed his throne, Shimei begs David for mercy, and a similar scene takes place: Abishai suggests that Shimei should be put to death (v21), but David again has mercy on Shimei (v22-23).