Psalms 8:1, and 16:2; add 31:1-3a

My Shepherd met me wandering aimlessly in His green pastures and directed my attention to 2 Samuel 13. Verses 13-15 arrested my attention:

2 Samuel 13:13 And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.

2 Samuel 13:14 Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.

2 Samuel 13:15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.

The rape of Tamar by her half-brother Amnon is one of the most tragic stories in Scripture, and it marks a pivot point in the lives of so many characters in the story of David.*

From this incident and David’s failure to exercise sound judgment regarding Amnon’s sin came the bitterness in Absalom’s heart that bore the fruit of treachery and tragic treason. I wept when I read Tamar’s plea: “And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go?” And wept again when I read the humble offer of herself to him, if only he would not “take” her, but ask the king for her hand, she would willingly be his (2 Samuel 13:13).

Along the still waters, as I reflected on this story, I asked what made Amnon hate Tamar, whom he professed to love. The answer is that love is always destroyed by lust, and nothing desired that is taken by force yields satisfaction to the taker.

For one example, those who take power over others are deprived of the pleasure they thought would be their prize. Now they are exposed as wicked, selfish, and vile. They see their own pathetic wretchedness in the face of those they abuse and are filled with hatred of themselves, and direct that hatred toward the ones they used to get the power they abused.

It explains a lot!

In the valley, shadowed by the Cross, I saw the most sublime of examples. The Jews loved the promise of the promised king and pined for the kingdom. But when He arrived, they sought to take the kingdom by force, though He offered it to them for the asking. In their lust for what they “loved,” they crucified the promised son of David, Who was the Son of God. They thought that by this they would secure the kingdom (Matthew 21:33-44). Taking sides with the power of darkness (Luke 22:53), they “raped” the promise of the “love” they sought. All they had to do was ask, and the kingdom would be granted. And so thereafter, they hated Him.

But Jesus knew where to take the shame and where to leave it: the Cross.

He said to me, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, the nail-printed hands anointed my head with His oil of gladness (Hebrews 1:9; Acts 1:8), and when I held up my cup to Him, He measured out His sufficient grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). Goodness and mercy hurried to follow us into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v7clh16-shepherds-pasture.html

[*Tamar (consigned to a life in undeserved shame and reproach), Amnon (the firstborn son of David, vengefully executed by her brother), Absalom (David’s favorite son, banished from the throne, later restored, only to be killed in an act of treason), David (Driven from his throne, compounding the loss of his daughter’s affection (assumed), and the loss of two sons, now the kingdom itself, and very nearly his life). We could add Jonadab, known to history as the wicked “friend” of Amnon, whose evil counsel made him a coconspirator in the wretched deed. And what about the horror that blew a permanent hole in the hearts of Maacah, mother of Absalom, and Ahinoam, mother of Amnon? This event nearly brought the kingdom to ruin.]