Leigh used our good friend John Carney (faithful follower of this blog) to stage this picture. Leigh’s real goal was for me to snap the picture when George Strait was in view over their shoulder. Mr. Strait was sitting at the table behind us at dinner. Mission accomplished.

2 Samuel 13

Back in chapter 12 as part of the consequences of his sin, Nathan said to David, “Thus says the Lord, ‘behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household…”. Now for the next several chapters, we are going to read about the fulfillment of God’s words directed toward the consequences of David’s sin. This is not good devotional reading. I have read chapter 13 a couple of times now. It’s the story of David’s daughter Tamar, being raped by her half brother. It’s an ugly story.

Why?

Why did God put this story in the Bible? From the context it appears that God wanted to inform us of the ugly consequences of wicked and evil sin. Like I said in previous posts, this isn’t very devotional but God thought it was important to inform us and warn us of the dire consequences of wickedness. Yes, David was forgiven. There is no condemnation for those in Christ, whether in the New Testament or the Old. But the gravity of David’s evil actions carried with it heavy consequences.

The plot

Tamar was the beautiful full sister of Absalom, David’s son. Amnon was also the son of David from a different wife and half-brother of Tamar. Amnon was consumed with Tamar’s beauty such that he couldn’t think straight or think about anything else. But, this wasn’t puppy love. As the story progresses, Amnon was consumed with his lust and none of Amnon’s feelings had anything to do with love. Amnon, pretending to be sick, orchestrated a scenario that put them alone in his bed chamber. Amnon asked his virgin half-sister to lie with him. Tamar said “NO” and she appealed to him with logical reasons why they shouldn’t do this evil thing. So Amnon overpowered her and raped her. Immediately afterward, Amnon’s lust turned to hatred and he threw her out. This was an evil act followed by throwing Tamar out which gave the appearance that Tamar did something wrong, which is a doubly evil act.

Revenge

Absalom, Tamar’s full brother, discerned what happened and hated Amnon for it. Absalom stayed away from him and avoided him for now. But his plan was revenge. David eventually found out and was angry, but there’s no indication he did anything. After two years, Absalom devised a plan whereby his servants would kill Amnon. Absalom fled and became a fugitive. That’s pretty much the end of the story for now.

Consider the contrast

As a point of devotional reflection, let’s consider a contrasting principle to the ugliness we see in this story.  Psalms 32:10 says, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.“ What a contrast. Lord, your instructions are filled with your kindness to protect us from evil consequences. I love your law because it protects me. Please keep me on the path of righteousness. Keep me from turning away from you. May I be humble, seek goodness, serve you and live! Amen.