2 Samuel 13

2 Samuel 13

Vernon McGee - David is angry about what happened but does nothing about it. David was like many other men in Scripture: he was an indulgent father who raised a bunch of kids who were bad. That has happened again and again. It started with old Eli, God’s high priest. His sons were not only immoral, they were godless and had a religious racket going. Then we come to Samuel. Since he was raised in the same atmosphere as Eli’s sons, you would think Samuel would be more of a disciplinarian and that he would have maintained some authority and control over his sons. But his sons turned out to be corrupt and dishonest. Next we come to David. He knew Samuel, and he knew Samuel’s sons. You would think he would have been more strict with his children, but he was not. He too was an indulgent father. He was angry about what Amnon did to his sister Tamar. But, after all, what kind of an example has David set for his boys? The chickens are beginning to come home to roost.....Another strike against David is the fact that he had multiple wives and many children. As a king with many heavy responsibilities, how much time do you think he spent in rearing his children? The problem with many of us who have been in Christian work is that we probably have neglected our families for the sake of the work....Christian parents need to realize that they need to spend time training their children. Don’t get the impression that you are raising a little angel. There are many parents who treat a child as if he were a cross between an orchid and a piece of Dresden china. They believe that if they apply the board of education to the seat of knowledge they will break him in pieces or he will come apart. Proverbs 23:13 says, “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.” Rich Cathers - Inaction can lead to trouble. I can certainly understand David’s place. Sometimes you just don’t know how to respond to a situation, and so you don’t do anything. It could be that David can’t stand to think of what he should be doing. Lev 20:17+ "And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity." Being “cut off” could be taken to mean banishment, or it could be taken to mean death. I imagine that neither of those sound acceptable to David. It could be that David is thinking of his own life.He committed adultery and tried to cover it up with murder. And God spared his life. How could he turn around and have his own son put to death? The problem is that David’s inaction will bring about a simmering bitterness in Absalom, one that will result in murder. One recalls that the priest Eli had also failed to punish his sons for their egregious sins as priests (read 1Sa 2:12-17, 22-25+), and then had to suffer the consequences with the death of his two sons for their sin and neglect of his duty to punish them (prophecy - 1Sa 2:34+, fulfillment - 1Sa 4:17+), which would be exactly what would happen to David! Swindoll on David was very angry - That’s all! Classic passivity. Incredible paternal preoccupation. His head is somewhere else. It has been for a long time. These kids have raised themselves, without the proper parental authority and discipline. As we discussed earlier, this is just another consequence of sin in David’s life. F B