Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Click Here to LIsten to the Readings Click Here to Listen to 2 Samuel 17 Yesterday Ahithophel had told Absalom to sleep with David's concubines, and today he advises him to take 12,000 men to chase after and kill King David. He even advises him to only kill and bring the rest of the men  back to Jerusalem to serve him. He is appealing to Absalom's pride.  Hushai Counters Ahithophel’s Advice Yet, Absalom remembers Hushai, who had counseled his father so well. He asks Hushai if he agrees with Ahithophel's advice. Instead of mobilizing only 12,000 men, he advises Absalom to bring all of the army of Israel because David was such a fierce warrior, and his troops were 100% loyal to him. Absalom went with Hushai's advice and rejected Ahithophel's.  Hushai Warns David to Escape Meanwhile Hushai let Zadok and Abiathar, the two priests know of the plan he had sold to Absalom. Their two sons were in hiding, but a young boy spotted them and told Absalom about it. The two sons, ...

Click Here to LIsten to the Readings Click 2 Samuel 15:23-16:23 David Escapes from Jerusalem The rest of chapter 15 is about David leaving Jerusalem under the mounting pressure and threats of his son, Absalom. There is a lot of mourning going on for the king. It is a sad day in the life of Israel. Notice David brought the Ark of the Covenant, a sign of obedience on David's part, and a sign of God's presence. David sent the priests and their sons back to Jerusalem and also his trusted advisor Hushai, who was also an advisor to King Saul. The plan was that they would greet Absalom when he arrived in Jerusalem, and then have the sons come and tell David what was going on.  David and Ziba Near the Mount of Olives, David ran into Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson that David had protected. David had promised Ziba he would inherit everything that Saul owned. Ziba met David with donkeys and food, which seemingly was of great help to David and his men. But Ziba said...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 2 Samuel 14:1-15:22 Joab Arranges for Absalom’s Return As we know from yesterday, Absalom had fled his home city after killing his half brother, Ammon. He had been there three years and presumably wanted to come and see his father, David. So Joab devised a plan to try and get David to summon his son back home. He knew a woman from Tekoa who was known for her wisdom. When he sent her to the king, she was to say she was in deep mourning from losing her husband and had also lost her son who got in a fight with his brother, and his brother killed him. Now she was in danger of losing her second son, as the family demanded retribution for him for killing his only brother. As the story went, the woman no had no one to carry on the family name if her second son was killed. David had compassion on her and agreed to protect her remaining son.  Then, she smoothly transitioned into the thing she was really after. She asked David if he was...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 2 Samuel 13 The Rape of Tamar The sexual sin that David committed with Bathsheba not only had consequences for him, but now his own daughter Tamar is the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Ammon, her half brother. It is bad enough that Ammon raped his half sister, but the way in which he did it was most aggregious. His friend Jonadab gave him the idea to fake being sick, and then have Tamar come and feed him his favorite meal. He even brought David into it, as he told Tamar to go in and feed him.  But this is was only so he could trap Tamar and have sex with her. After he raped Tamar, he got angry and sent her out of his room. Tamar pleaded with him to not dishonor in this way, but his mind was made up. When Absalom heard about what happened, he now hated his half brother. To make things worse for Tamar, because she now lost her virginity, she lived desolate in her brother's house. David found out to and he was very angry....

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 2 Samuel 12 Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Most importantly you can't fool God any time. Today God uses the prophet Nathan to call out David's sin of adultery, as well as the murder of her husband, Uriah.  Before he directly confronted David, Nathan told a short parable about a rich man who had everything and a poor man who had but one little lamb. One night a guest came to the home of the rich man but instead of taking a lamb from his own flock, he took the poor man's lamb and killed it. David was furious and said, " The rich man must die! "  Then in a famous line Nathan looks at David and says, "You are that man!"  Wow, that must have been a wake up call for David. And the consequences were steep. From this time on David's family would live by the sword. His own househol...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Listen to 2 Samuel 9:1-11:27 David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth As we have seen so far, David is a man of his promises. He had made Jonathan a promise before he died, that he would take care of his family and all of his descendants. Mephibosheth was the only remaining son of Jonathan's that was known to have survived. David called for him and told him that he would take care of him, because of his promise to Jonathan, and his respect for King Saul.  Mephibosheth was crippled, which is perhaps why he wasn't killed. David gave him all of the inheritance that would have been due his grandfather Saul, and father Jonathan. He also made sure he ate at the king's table and had servants of his own.  David is a great example of one who did not retaliate against his enemies. He allowed God to bring divine retribution to Saul, rather David lifting a hand against God's anointed One.  David Defeats the Ammonites Again David intends to...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 2 Samuel 7:1-8:18 The Lord’s Covenant Promise to David This is one of the most important chapters in the Old Testament. God had made two covenants with the people of Israel. The first covenant was with Abraham. God promised Abraham he would bless him and make his name great, and his descendants would be like the number of stars in the sky. The second covenant was with Moses, the Mosaic covenant. This was the covenant of the Law, and specifically the Ten Commandments. As Israel obeyed God's commandments, they would be blessed by the Lord, but if they disobeyed, they would be cursed. The Law also provided for the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, where the sins of the people were atoned for once a year, when the innocent lamb was sacrificed on the altar.  God makes the final Old Testament covenant with King David. It is called the Davidic covenant, or the royal covenant. In this covenant, God promises David that there wer...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Listen to 4:1-6:23 The Murder of Ishbosheth When Saul's son, Ishobeth heard that Abner had been killed, he was filled with fear wondering if the troops would support him. But two other Benjaminites named Recab and Banaah seized the opportunity to kill him when he was asleep thinking King David might give them a position of power.  Quite the opposite happens. David handles this matter similar to the man who took Saul's life thinking he was doing him a favor. Both men are killed, and David made sure Ishobeth was buried properly.  We have seen a lot of times in church history where someone claims to be acting in the interest of God only to do evil things. God knows the motives of a man's heart, and when he is doing it to glorify God according to His Word, or for himself.  David Becomes King of All Israel Finally, comes the moment when all 12 tribes are united under the kingship of David. This is the height of the Jewish mona...

Click Here To Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 2 Samuel 2:12-3:39 War between Israel and Judah The feud between those loyal to Saul did not end with David, even though he was made king. In particular his commander Abner refused to let go of his anger toward David. We know Joab was David's best commander. They were both fierce fighters loyal to their kings. This set up a showdown between the best 12 men of each person's army. It was a grisly battle and all 24 men died. Seems pretty pointless doesn't it. But as we will see, it didn't end there.  The Death of Asahel Asahel was Joab's brother and apparently very fast. He ran like a deer. In his zeal, he chased Abner down. But Abner was a formidable foe and ended Asahel's life violently. To Abner's credit he did tell Asahel he did not want to fight him because he wouldn't know what he would say to Joab if he killed him. But Asahel refused to turn back. Joab and his men chased Abner down seemingly loo...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 2 Samuel 1:1 - 2:11 As we start 2 Samuel, we now move into the reign of King David. Though he was a man after God's own heart, and the greatest king in all of Israel, we will also see he is fallible as a human being. In this first chapter, we begin with David learning of Saul's death. Ironically the message is delivered from an Amalekite, who Saul had asked to end his suffering by killing him. We might have thought David would relish the death of the man who had hunted him down and tried to kill him. But David had so much respect for the positon of the king, he mourned deeply for him and his son, his best friend Jonathan. We can learn a lot from David's example and most importantly his attitude.  "This contrast powerfully demonstrates that our hatred, bitterness, and unforgiveness are chosen, not imposed on us. As much as Saul did against David, he chose to become better instead of bitter." Guzik Yet, David i...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings   Click Here to Listen To 1 Samuel 29-31 The Philistines Reject David Though King Achish was a fully devoted believer in David, the Philistines commanders not so much. They had heard of what a ferocious warrior he was and that it was said of him, " David has killed 10,000's" . Rather than trusting in him like the king, they felt he would turn on them in the middle of battle. The king summoned David and told him how the commanders felt. Though David was upset by what they said about him, he left town back to the land of Philistines.  David Destroys the Amalekites When David and his men returned to their home in Ziklag, they discovered that the Amalekites had raided their town, burned it to the ground, taken the plunder from their families, and taken their wives, sons, and daughters. The men were furious and not too happy with David either. But is says this about David when the men were considering stoning him, " But David found str...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 1 Samuel 26-28 David Spares Saul Again Once again David has Saul dead to rights. He is sleeping with his men. and David and his fellow warrior Abishai enter into into Saul's camp. Saul and his right hand man, Abner, are fast asleep. Once again David and Abishai have the green light to take Saul's life. Instead they take his spear and a jug of water with them. While Abishai wanted to take Saul's life, once again David said he could not take the life of the Lord's anointed. When Saul finds out once again that David could have taken his life but didn't, Saul's hears his voice and says, "Is that you my Son David?"  David asks Saul why he is chasing him. Saul admits he has sinned and asks David to come back home with him. David reiterates that he did not take his life because of his faithfulness to the Lord. Saul once again affirms that David's life will be blessed by the Lord. Saul recognizes the ...

Click Here to LIsten to the Readings Click Here to Read 1 Samuel 24-25 David Spares Saul’s Life Saul's manhut for David comes to an apparent end today. Something strange happens. Saul is "relieving" himself in a cave, and David and his men are in the back of the cave. Saul was a "sitting duck" for David and his men. His men tell him this was the way the Lord was telling him that Saul was under his power. They wanted to seize the moment and kill Saul, but David shows why he was a man after God's own heart.  David cuts off the hem of Saul's robe unbeknowst to him. So when David reveals himself, he recounts the story that he could have easily have killed Saul if he wanted. He pleads with Saul that this is proof positive that he is not trying to kill him. After all he could have done it but did not.  Amazing that Saul breaks down and realizes "his son" David was indeed in the right. He could have killed him, but he didn't. This fact overwhelms ...

Click Here to Listen to the Readings Click Here to Read 1 Samuel 22-23 David at the Cave of Adullam David was like a fugitive at large and finally found himself at a cave in Adullum. The term "Adullam" means "refuge" and the city was not too far from where David had slain Goliath. The prophet told David to leave there and go to return to the land of Judah. While he was there, the king of Moab allowed his parents to come there, and 400 other men who were upset with King Saul joined him there.  Meanwhile Saul's anger kept on building, and he blasted his men and accused them of conspiring with David to sabotage his leadership. Paranoia was definitely setting in. Doeg, the Edomite, once again turns informant and lets Saul know David was at Nob. And he had consuluted with Abimelech, the priest, who gave him bread and a spear. Now Saul was even more furious and immediately sent for Abimelech.  Things did not go well for Abimelech, his family, and all of the other prie...