Scripture Thought (What I Learned):
Chapter 21: The Lord Sends a Famine
The Lord
sends a famine to Israel, while King David reigned, the famine lasted for 3
years. David went to the Lord and inquired of the reasoning behind the famine.
The Lord responded by saying that it was because of Saul and what he had done
to the Gibeonites. So David goes to them and asks them how he can atone for
what Saul had done. They respond by telling him that they want nothing more
than the sons of Saul to be hanged unto the Lord. So David sends all of the
children of Saul, except Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan who was the son of
Saul.
7 of the
children of Saul are delivered to the Gibeonites and are hanged on the first
day of the barley harvest. Rizpah, who was the mother of two of Saul's children
held a vigil over the dead bodies until it rained. This means that the famine
was over and justice had finally been brought to Israel. David finds the bones
of Saul and Jonathan and takes them along with the seven to give them a proper
burial.
During a
battle with the Philistines, David grows weak and is almost killed by one of
the descendents of Goliath, but Abishai saves him. David grows older and older,
but with the help of his other three servants; Sibbechai, Elhanan, and
Jonathan... Israel is able to continue in power! By the hand of David and his
servants, they killed Goliath and all his giant offspring.
Chapter 22: The Lord Blesses Those Who Trust
Him
David
sings a praise to the Lord. The entire chapter has a Psalm sort of feel to it,
so I will include the verses that I felt most important in my reading.
"In
my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my
voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter unto his ears" (2 Samuel
22:7) - Some people believe that God has abandoned them in their times
of trouble. On July 8, 1838, Joseph Smith was in distress. He along with other
leaders of the restored church of Jesus Christ were locked up in prison (for no
reason). Joseph Smith was hungry, tired and sick. Not only were Joseph and his
leaders suffering in prison, but members of the church all over were being
persecuted, raped and murdered! He cried out to the Lord; "O God, where art thou? And
where is the pavillion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand
be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the
wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with
their cries? Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful
oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels
be moved with compassion toward them?" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-3)
The Lord responded; "My
son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but
a small moment; And then, if thou endure well, God shall exhalt thee on high;
thou shalt triumph over all thy foes" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8).
So what do we learn here? We learn that even in the darkest of hours, the Lord
is with us. Often times we do not fully understand the "WHY", but the
Lord does and he needs us to be patient and endure well. Maybe he is training us
for something worse, or setting us up for something better. We never know, but if
we are loyal to him, we will have the power to triumph over all our foes.
David continues
with his Psalm; and says that "With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and
with the froward (deceitful, perverted or crooked) thou wilt she thyself unsavoury."
(2 Samuel 22:27). Essentially if we are good and follow God's commandments,
we will always see the good in God and feel of his love and warmth. But if we are
deceitful, perverted or crooked, we will always see God in a different light and
we will think of him as bad. Why? Because those who are perverted or crooked, will
never feel the warmth and love of God, like those who love God and show their love,
by following his commandments!
"It
is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me" (2 Samuel
22:48). Essentially, we must sometimes give up our hate and just love our
enemies and let God deal with their mis-deeds.
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