Rightly Responding to Value
2Sam 3:22-31
Synopsis 2Sam 3:22-31 11/20/2018
Abner decided to switch allegiance to David. David ruled as king over Judah in the city of Hebron. So, Abner met with him there. Together they formed a covenant to peacefully bring David to power over all of the tribes of Israel.
David made a celebration feast for Abner. And then, he sent him on his way to begin the process of securing the kingdom.
Just after Abner’s departure, Joab returned from a successful campaign. He had brought back a large amount of plunder to give to David. And then Joab heard that Abner had just been there. So, he asked David the purpose for the meeting. But Joab did not wait for an answer. Instead he left David. And then he sent messengers and called for Abner to return.
When Abner returned, Joab killed him. When David heard the report, he grieved. Unsurprisingly, he mourned Abner’s death. And he instructed Joab and all of Judah to do the same.
David Responded To Value Rightly
David put on sackcloth and ashes. He grieved Abner’s death. It was a bitter pill personally. But it was also a loss for the nation. And even more than that, it was contrary to what God had begun to accomplish both in Abner’s life and in the reunification of the nation. And so, he followed the bier on the way to bury Abner. He felt the loss of the general officer over the army of the Chosen People.
Rightly Responding to Value
The experience of Abner’s death remains all around. People injure and kill one another. It happens so often and in so many varied ways, that I have become numb. The television is too big. The internet is too complete. I honestly can’t take it all in. I can’t “feel it” all in. My affections are overwhelmed.
Yet, here is a fundamental Christian claim – the value is there whether I experience it or not.
Still I have a role to play. My job is to find a way to slow down and experience value as it is given.
“God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.” Gen 1:31
