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The Beginning of the End: 2 Samuel 13
This is the beginning of the worst period of David’s life. The effects and consequences of this rape and his response to it plague him and the whole nation for the rest of his life. His adultery with Bathsheba set in motion a series of events that in one way or another corrupt his house and the nation until they go into captivity hundreds of years later. You know the phrase “A Simple Twist of Fate”? What might well have been an isolated act has a ripple effect no one could have predicted and in every generation afterwards it only gets worse. We think of “crimes without victims” and fail…
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An Unremarkable Life
Listen to “An Unremarkable Life” by Fred Smith I re-publish this every few years to honor my father and grandfather. They were so different and each found it difficult to love and understand the other. Fathers and sons. I know something about that. If all I knew about my grandfather was what I read in his 1952 diary I might think he was a man whose life was a monotonous string of colorless days. My grandfather, Bunyan Smith, was a pastor in one of the poorest sections of Nashville, and I knew enough about his life as a preacher to expect that his diary would not likely be thrilling. However, I…
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David and Bathsheba
1. If I did not know this story was from Scripture, I would think it was one of the morality plays popular in the 16th century. In them, the main character was surrounded by good and evil influences and the tension was what choices they would make – good or bad. There are many tragic stories in Scripture but, for me, this is the one with the greatest sense of loss – not only for David and Bathsheba and everyone involved for the remainder of David’s life. Nothing goes right. Nothing is ever the same. Camelot shuts down and the stage goes dark with only a few moments of light…
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The Museum of Me
Listen to “The Museum of Me” by Fred Smith Two of our best friends are moving away so we had one last dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Among so much else, we talked about the emotional difficulty of deciding what to keep and what to throw away. We all face that when we move but there is something about what feels like the last move that makes everything seem more final and serious. It’s not just tossing trash and the normal detritus we’ve accumulated. Much of that has been dispatched in previous moves but now we are down to what really matters. These are things that define us…
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God’s Promise to David: 2 Samuel 7
1. We read that David was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him. He says to Nathan, the prophet, “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” Nathan replies to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.” That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house…
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Ties That Bind
Listen to “Ties that Bind” by Fred Smith In his address to the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Westminister Hall last month, Tim Keller tells the tragic story of the shooting of ten little Amish girls in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in 2006. It is a remarkable account of forgiveness and grace on the part of the families. In fact, over half of those in attendance at the killer’s funeral were Amish. Three scholars of Amish history and culture were prompted to write the book “Amish Grace” that exposed many for the first time to the deeply rooted practice of forgiveness in Amish spirituality that is an everyday part of…
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The Soil of Partial Truth
Listen to “The Soil of Partial Truth” by Fred Smith A humorous article on Christian music included this quote from Joe Bob Briggs: “Christian music is bad songs written about God by white people.” My friend, Steven Garber then at the Washington Institute and now at Regent College, messaged me back with a piece he and Charlie Peacock had done at the Art House in Nashville. It began with the question “Can you sing songs shaped by the truest truths of the universe but in a language that the whole world can understand?” In the course of our back and forth Steven passed along this observation from writer Walker Percy…
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The Murder of Ishbosheth
1. This is a story that is in the news all the time. It’s a constant theme in politics and power. It’s about loyalty, political maneuvering, intrigue, and the normalization of dangerous behavior. “When Ishbosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed.” So much is packed into that one simple phrase! We know the background. Saul’s general, Abner, had set up Ishbosheth as King of Israel as Saul and his two sons had been killed in a battle with the Philistines. While David was anointed, Ishbosheth is merely appointed and we soon see what a difference it makes. Abner had…
