2 Samuel 2 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+2

There’s a poem about war by Thomas Hardy called “The man he killed.” Here’s a link to it – http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173594
The point of the poem is how strange and sad war is. You kill a man on the other side because he’s on the other side. If you knew him elsewhere, you might be friends, you might share a drink or sing a song. You might even share a pew with him at church. How much weirder when there is civil war. That is what is happening in Israel in our text. Men killing their relatives and friends. Men being forced to fight against their fellow Israelites. And why? Because they didn’t listen to God. They thought they knew better and they didn’t trust His plan. God had anointed David to be king. He had made it clear that Saul’s descendants would not have the throne. Everyone knew this. Yet Abner makes Ish-Bosheth king. Why? He thought he knew better and perhaps was distrustful of a king from the tribe of Judah since they were the largest tribe. What it really comes down to is a failure to trust God and His Word. Such an attitude often has terrible consequences. It’s a reminder to us, God does know best! When we don’t like what He has said, when we think it doesn’t make sense, when we fail to trust let us remember Christ because He’s at the center of all this. He gives us the reason of all reasons to trust God. He died for us. He’s proved His love beyond any doubt. By His work to make us right with God, we can know that God is working things as He knows best and that’s good news! So don’t go to war because you don’t trust God. Trust Him, trust His forgiveness. There’s peace there.

Prayer – Lord, let us not in pride and unbelief question your holy Word and will. Give us faith to trust and love you above all things for You have made us Your own. Amen.

In Christ
Pastor Ude