2 Samuel

Yes, I admit it. This is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Reading through the stories here, I wonder how people come to believe the Bible is boring. Clearly, they've never taken the time to read 2 Samuel.

David has a deep love for his Heavenly Father.  Not only courageous and faithful slaying Goliath in 1 Samuel, we see David become King, in 2 Samuel. He writes and sings songs to God, is a gifted musician - a worship leader at heart!

To make things a bit more focused, I wanted to discuss one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It can be found in chapters eleven and twelve: David & Bathsheba.

Everytime I read this story, I hope things will turn out differently. As King David comes out in the evening and watches Bathsheba bathe, I want to warn her to cover up. There are theories about whether or not she knew she was aware the King was watching her. Maybe it's my police background, but I have a hard time giving her victim-status. I'm not laying blame solely on Bathsheba, she was summoned by the King, not something you can refuse. 

Once she sends word that she is pregnant, King David does what many of us do when we've sinned - we cover it up. He calls for Uriah the Hittite, one of his thirty-seven mighty men of valor. Uriah was a man's man, and definitely the King's man. Loyal, faithful, and wholly devoted to his king. But, we see King David's plans to get Uriah drunk so he will lay with his wife come to a disastrous ending. Trustworthy even while drunk, Uriah refuses to defile himself while his men are at war. Marching back into battle, this mighty man of valor will carry his own death warrant. 

King David who we had grown to love, succombs to lust and sins against God. He is not pleased. Instead of confessing, repenting of his iniquities, he does what we all have done and tries to cover it up. And, just like is the way of God, without confession and repentence, there is consequence.

King David marries Bathsheba and their son dies. Not long after, the prophet Nathan comes and shares a story with the king about a precious lamb that was stolen and killed. King David is furious and wants the thief killed.

Nathan reveals, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.  Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
2Samuel 12 7-12
God will not be mocked. What we do in the dark, in secret, will be revealed in the light. As a Christian, I need to remember I am being watched. The moment it is revealed I am a follower of Christ, people look for signs of authenticity. I represent the Lord.  I need to make sure I live in a way that is God-honoring. Even his most precious David will suffer the consequences of watching this prophecy of Nathan come to pass.

But, this story doesn't end with consequence. It ends with redemption. King David confesses his sin against the Lord and we see later is blessed with a son by Bathsheba. It is their son, Solomon, who is asked of God to build His temple. Their child is the redemptive gift from a forgiving God who loves His children deeply.

A Few Thoughts to Ponder 

• Sin can trip up even the most solid believers. Confess any lusts of your own heart today. Don't allow sin to trip you up.
• It always surprises me how the very sins I struggle with look worse on someone else. Have you ever thought of that before?
• God had even more for King David. Yet, his sinful desires changed God's plans for him. Our Heavenly Father desires to give us more than we can ask or think. What a God we serve!
• Sin never effects just one person.

1 Samuel

As we begin the book of 1 Samuel, we are introduced to Hannah. Her name in Hebrew means - grace or favor.


Elkanah had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. 1Samuel 1:2

By the looks of this introduction to her life, she doesn't seem very favored at all. She was unable to bear children, unable to fulfill the greatest desire of womanhood.

...but Hannah had none. Those words are physically painful, if you're a woman who has experienced the heartache or inability to have a child.

We learn Hannah is tormented and ridiculed for years, by Elkanah's child-bearing wife, and immediately we are drawn to her pain. This happened year after year, whenever Hannah went to the Lord's house, Peninnah would make her miserable...1Samuel 1:7

There are quite a few take-away points that come to mind when I examine the life of Hannah.

• Prayer - Hannah took her unfulfilled dreams of motherhood to the throne-room of God. Too often, Hannah becomes the sainted poster child for prayer. Please don't put her on a pedestal. Like you and I, she was not perfect.  She struggled with bitterness and resentfulness. Though she was resentful (bitter), she prayed to the Lord while she cried. 1Samuel 1:10 What sets Hannah apart, is what she did with this bitterness of heart. She took it to the Lord in prayer.
• Peace - Once Hannah surrendered her most treasured desire to the Lord, peace was evident in her life. ...if you will look at my misery, remember me, and give me a boy, then I will give him to You for as long as he lives...(v.11), Then the woman went away and ate. She was no longer sad. (v.18)
• Promise -  Hannah promised God her son and followed through with that prayerful vow. I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. In return, I am giving him to the Lord. He will be dedicated to the Lord his whole life. 1Samuel 1:27-28a I'm really good at reminding God of His promises to me. Yet, how often do I make a promise to the Lord and keep it? Hannah gave the Lord her only child. Meditate on that for a moment.
• Praise - Hannah rejoiced in the Lord, the very day she placed her son Samuel in the care of Eli the priest.  Hannah prayed to the Lord. My heart finds joy in the Lord. My head is lifted to the Lord. My mouth mocks my enemies. (I wonder if she's thinking of Peninnah here!?) I rejoice because you saved me. 1Samuel 2:1

A Few Questions to Ponder

1. As a child of the One true and living God, do you realize you are favored?
2. Is prayer a first-response during a bitter trial, or a last resort?
3. Friends, where chaos reigns, God does not. If you are not feeling peace in your home, in your life, in your marriage...take your concerns to the Lord. 
4. Have you promised God something? Have you followed through with that promise? Make today the day you confess your procrastination and begin again.
5. Where can you praise God, before your blessing? Rejoice in Him, regardless of your circumstances.

**Reading for next week - 2 Samuel**

66 Love Letters - Chapter Eight - RUTH

I Have The Cure

"You're problem runs deep. You value what I can give you more than you value the privilege and delight of knowing Me and being radically changed by the experience."

Dr. Larry Crabb

A season of Valentine’s Day is the right time for the book of Ruth!

Ready for the gospel preached in advanced?

Who is your Kinsman Redeemer???


The book of Ruth is set in the time of Judges and we get a close up look at 3 lives during this period.

Naomi – A mother-in-law empty and in a season of great loss (husband and 2 sons died) returning for food alone at Passover to the House of Bread (Beit Lechem-Bethlehem). She knows that God has brought this too her and that His hand is against her. She fails to remember just as everyone in Judges failed to do, that if she turns and repents that she will be blessed as promised.

Ruth – Called to minister and care for a bitter, empty, hungry woman that will not repent nor believe in the goodness of God. Ruth decides to glean leftovers from the field edges for food for them both as less than a servant.

Boaz – The Kinsman Redeemer. If you don’t know that word… you need to know that word because Boaz plays out a divine roll for us in this story. This story tells not only of our eternal salvation but enlarges our idea of the Messiah and of God’s plan of redemption to it’s fully intended design.

There are two Hebrew words for redeem, redeemer, redemption in scripture. One is Padah (Pa-Daw) and the other is Go’ol (Go-all). To redeem with the word Padah is to redeem a living thing a person or an animal. To redeem as this word Kinsman Redeemer is the word Go’ol. This word is absolutely HUGE!!! It means to redeem through payment from bondage and exile and it also means to avenge. This means that the plan of redemption is not just to buy YOU back and give you eternal life… it is to buy back every spiritual thing concerning you.

You have a past, life experiences, spiritual giftings and a future meant to be walked out with God. Each part of this is meant to be bought back from where it has been taken by the enemy or that we have sold off on purpose. God is meant to work in our daily lives today and tomorrow not just someday in Heaven.

Jesus Christ is your Messiah, your Go’ol, and your Valentine… He is not just your Padah, He is your Go’ol and He can and will redeem as well your entire spiritual God-given inheritance ground… today!

A Few Questions to Ponder

• Have you allowed the love of God as your Go’ol to invade and buy back every part of your past and every experience that was destroyed or stolen by the enemy? Have you relied on and trusted him as your Go’ol to avenge all wrongs against you?

• Have you allowed God to come for every bit of ground you have given up searching to be filled? Have you sold yourself too cheaply in the past when you were meant to be a treasure of God? Have you ever made the decision to glean left-overs? Have you allowed God to redeem all those choices?

Jesus came and died for you, the ultimate Valentine gift. Have you accepted eternal salvation from Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf? Is He your Padah?

The Bock Family with their precious Ruth.

Kimberly Bock

*Reading for this week; 1Samuel!

66 Love Letters - Chapter 7 - Judges

Sin is in you lodged deep.

So, I'm left with the question: will You really change me? If I face what is so awful about me, will You fix it? And if so, how?


"I can and I will, in My way and in My time. I AM able." 66 Love Letters -Dr. Larry Crabb


When I began the Book of Judges, I thought I was in for some deep reading about some pretty righteous characters. I wanted to be like those appointed by God to keep order in His Holy Name. I hadn’t read too many chapters before I remembered that God uses people just like us to do His will. As is so often in our humanness we fail, of course, and I was in for one disappointment after another.

What spoke to me, however, was that God is eternal love and God answers the cries of His people. How many times? In Matthew 18, God’s wish is that we forgive one another seventy times seven. God, however, forgives us eternally. Thank goodness!

In Judges Chapter Seven, God used a timid and uncertain man named Gideon to defeat the Midianites. Gideon had quite an army following him; over 32,000 men. God told Gideon that there were too many men to go into battle so He began paring them down. Finally, 300 remained and God sent them out. While 32,000 soldiers might have certainly defeated the army of the Midianites, God wanted His people to understand that He is in control, not Gideon, not the army. By paring Gideon’s army down to 300, impossible odds, the Lord was glorified in the seemingly impossible victory. And how amazing that none of Gideon’s men, not even the 300, had to lift a sword to help. But, by chapter eight, the people were at it again, falling by the wayside only to realize they needed another judge.

So often, throughout the Book of Judges, the author states “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord……” Don’t you want to look into the invisible camera and say “Really…?” or “Are you kidding me? Again?” Yet, God understands. God forgives. And, God loves His people.

He offers hope in a world where there is little to be found. So many of God’s appointed judges were sent at the pleas of His people. Breaking God's laws and showing little reverence to the Lord seemed to be a generational trait. Is it only hopeless situations when God hears our pleas and answers us? Or is it because our most desperate times are when we finally call on God? Either way, God is faithful and loving and holds on to us even when we don’t hold on to Him.

A Few Questions to Ponder

• Do you cry out to God only at times of desperation? Or, do you speak to Him daily and feel comfortable to share with Him every grievance?

• Are you hanging on to God or is God the one that has you in His grip?

• Do you understand the importance of passing along your knowledge of God’s love and reverence to your own family?

• Do you feel like you’ve been tumbling in an eternal “fluff cycle” of your own life?

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