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2 Samuel 21:1-14 – Praying through the Bible #104 – A Prayer for Governmental Sin
Governmental protectionism, religious zeal, national identity, political affiliation, church affiliation, family and personal pride; all these can lead to unintentional consequences caused by good intentions or even those bad. Somehow we have gotten to the diseased conclusion that what we do is no one’s business; that hurting others can only be felt directly; that zeal, even misdirected zeal, is always good because intent is all that matters. Somehow we have forgotten we are not just one, but part of a whole. We forget God hurts when we hurt; and God hurts when we hurt others.
It’s been awhile since we have seen the phrase, “David inquired of the LORD” (2 Samuel 21.1). Famine has been in the land for three successive years (21.1). So David inquires of God and I wonder why it took three years! Guess it’s common to wait longer than is good for us. Guess again it is easier to see such inadequate delinquency in others than in self. Due to spiritual blindness, how easy is it for us not to connect suffering and sin? To make that connection would mean our actions have consequences; and that God is directly involved in our lives and the life of our nation.
The nation suffers, but why? God answers, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family when he killed the Gibeonites” (21.1). Saul is dead, but his guilty family lives. This sin of Saul happened before David became king, but he and his people are just now suffering the consequences. Consequences can take years. The Gibeonites made a treaty 400 years before and their lives were then protected. Saul “had tried to kill them in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah” (21.2). The Gibeonites are innocent. Zeal for Israel, not zeal for God, is the cause. Governmental protectionism is the crime.
The Gibeonites do not ask for financial compensation. They are not interested in “suing” or being “bought off.” The Gibeonites ask for legal retribution and David grants it (21.3-6). Seven sons atone for a nation (21.3). Seven sons are put to death “at Gibeah of Saul,” the home of Saul (21.6). The payback is personal. Bloodshed for bloodshed. A sacrifice of blood is offered; not to God, but in capital punishment for a capital crime. The seven sons are hanged, impaled, apparently after first being put to death. This a post-mortem crucifixion, a humiliating display after death. Crucifixion as a death is still hundreds of years away. Invented by the Persians, and perfected by the Romans.
After David’s governmental show of might and right, there is tenderness by a mother and a king (21.10-14). There is always parental love even for the worse offenders. After this, “God answered prayer for the land” (21.14). Before all this, the nation suffers the consequences of its leaders displeasing God. God cares when the innocent are hurting.
Prayer Challenge: Pray we will not cause others pain by misplaced zeal. Pray for leaders because innocent people suffer the consequences of governmental sins.
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