Last week we learned that God makes
all things work together for our good. Good things and bad things.
He will use all things to enrich us in the end that good will come
out of it. We might not understand it now, but continue to trust
God and love Him; in the end you will see it. God blessed David
with a very special son, Solomon and He helped David to conquer
Ammon and to be enriched in the process. All because David
continued to love God and to honor and worship Him.
Now David had many wives and as a
consequence of that he had many children too. And there was not
much love between all these children. God never wanted anyone to
have more than one wife. God made Adam and Eve, one on one. He
didn't intend that any man have more than one wife, as He knew the
trouble that it could bring. Plus marriage is a picture of Jesus
and His bride. So if God wanted more than one for mankind, what
does that say of Jesus? That we must share His love with others?
No, God ordained, one man and one woman. And He especially told the
kings that, because He knew that they will do whatever they pleased
due to their ranking:
"Neither shall the king
multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away: nor shall he
greatly multiply silver and gold for himself." Deuteronomy
17:17
But David didn't heed God's Word
and here all his trouble began. The first crises began because
Amnon fell in love with his half-sister, Tamar. Amnon followed the
advice of his evil friend and pretended to be sick. He asked David
to send his sister to him to care for him, which David did. She
came and he raped her. She tried to talk him out of it, to rather
let him marry her, but he wouldn't listen. Afterwards she still
asked that he marry her, for it was shameful not to be a virgin
anymore, but his love for her had turned into hatred and he sent
her away. He had done a despicable thing. The Bible tells us David
was very angry at what happened but it is clear that David didn't
do anything about it. He didn't discipline Amnon for his actions.
And this was a big mistake. The Word tells us that we must
discipline our children:
"He who spares his rod hates
his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly." Proverbs
13:24
David didn't discipline Amnon for
this despicable act. And this resulted in a lot of heartache and
pain. For Absalom, Tamar's real brother, hated Amnon for doing this
to his sister and decided to take revenge. We will have a look at
it next week. The point is David could have spared so many lives if
he had just disciplined Amnon. The events following this rape are
truly sad, and so many innocent people were hurt in the
process.
We must learn from this and
discipline our children when they have done wrong. They need to
learn the right ways of God. And you as their parent are the best
person to do it. You need to show them the way of life, so that
when they grow up, they will not depart from it. Otherwise if you
leave your child and not discipline him/her, they will grow up
hurting many innocent lives in the process. It is your job to teach
them and to lead them unto the way everlasting. Start when they are
small, then they won't deviate when they are bigger. Do not make
the same mistake as David. You will be so glad that you disciplined
them.
Father, thank you so much for the
children in our lives. Thank you that You have blessed us with
them. Help us to teach them right from wrong and to lead them unto
Your pathway for them. Amen