Day 109: 2 Samuel 16-18

 After a long struggle with passivity, how does David now so effectively differentiate between what to passively accept as God’s chastisement (the cursing of Shimei, 2 Samuel 16:10) and work against (his prayer against the counsel of Ahithophel which God answered—2 Samuel 15:31-32)? We don’t have to wonder in the dark about David’s thought process, even if the narrative doesn’t provide it. Psalms 38 and 51 reveal the brokenness David feels. He begged God not to take His Holy Spirit from him, as He did from Saul - he knew it was possible, and that God had even sent an evil spirit to harass Saul. I tried to imagine the enormous pressure on Saul. Imagine the pressure David is under here. He’s being confronted with opportunities that could be help or hindrance; he has to make rapid decisions about thorny issues. He entrusts himself to the Lord. What else can he do?

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