2 Samuel 7-8

(July 7, 2014)

                We tend to think that we need to live our spiritual lives in houses of cedar.  We want to be perfect, and free of iniquity (an admirable goal).  But we also want the trappings of righteousness – the perfect calling, the perfect image, the perfect family, the perfect history.  When these things are messy and difficult, we find ourselves feeling discouraged or stressed.  But what we must remember is that while we should strive to build a spiritual house of cedar, the temporal things (even important temporal things, or temporal things related to our spirituality) can get along quite well in a tent.

1 Nephi 4

(July 7, 2014)

                There are things that don’t seem plausible to our modern ears, and which would not have seemed plausible to 19^th Century ears, but which ring true to what we know about ancient Israel.  For example, why didn’t Zoram recognize Nephi?  Was it because Nephi’s face looked like Laban?  Not likely.  Far more reasonably, Zoram had likely never seen Laban up close, but rather only from a distance.  When Laban needed something from the treasury, he didn’t walk down and get it himself in the usual course of things, but rather he would send a servant on his behalf.  Zoram might have seen Laban at some function or another from a distance, but never close enough to make out Nephi in the darkness.  He may have had his suspicions, which might have prompted the number of questions (an odd fact), but he clearly couldn’t be sure Nephi wasn’t Laban.

2 Samuel 4-6

(July 6, 2014)

                I cannot help but wonder what happened between David and Michal to cause such a rift.  At one point, she stood by him and even defied her father in order to protect and save David.  And yet, by this point she hates David and condemns him for being pleased at the return of the Ark.  What intervening event explains this?  The only thing that I can imagine is that she cared for her second husband (whether he could rightfully be called that or not), and hated David as a consequence.  

                Such hatred of David, of course, had consequences that were not to her benefit.  But it is sad to see when a person becomes so angry that they choose to condemn someone for trying to follow the Lord and rejoicing in Him.

1 Nephi 3

(July 6, 2014)

                When we read this chapter, our minds tend to be drawn to Nephi’s statement of faith (“I will go and do”).  But equally interesting is Lehi’s reaction to this display of faith (“for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord”).  Notice the tense of the verb – not that Nephi would be blessed, but rather than he had been blessed.  Do we see that in our own lives?  As we struggle with our challenges and as we face up to difficult trials, do we see the faith and confidence with which we approach those trials as the blessing and the gift that it is?  Facing an impossible situation, Nephi bravely trusted in the Lord.  This trust was the blessing that he “had been blessed” with and the Brass Plates became the blessing that he was ultimately blessed with in the future.

                Sometimes, and I am struggling with this now, we face a set of circumstances that seem to tax us to the very limits of what we feel we can do.  In those circumstances, our ability to go on in faith is a blessing, and in following the commandment to remember the Hand of the Lord in all things it is important that we express gratitude for that gift.

2 Samuel 2-3

(July 5, 2014)

                As can be expected, my mind was drawn to the accusation against Abner.  Whether it was false or not, I don’t know.  But it is clear that Ishbosheth was wrong to condemn Abner for pretentions to the throne (which was clearly his worry in regards to Abner) – after all, had Abner truly set his sights upon the throne he could have acted well in advance of this time period.

                But what struck me was the destruction that this caused.  As a direct result of Ishbosheth’s accusations against Abner, the kingship of Saul’s line came to an end, and additionally Abner and Ishbosheth were also killed.  I have learned in the last several weeks how destructive accusations can be – there is a reason why Satan is described as the Great Accuser.  I can only hope the Lord protects me and my family from a similar destructive fate.

1 Nephi 2

(July 5, 2014)

                As I read this chapter, I was impressed by the thought that every bad thing that Laman and Lemuel feared would happen actually happened.  They were dragged out into the wilderness, where periodically they starved.  They were forced to leave their riches, and lived a life of hardship and deprivation rather than one of comfort and ease.  Whether they were righteous or wicked, they would have had that difficult life.  But because of their lack of faith and personal righteousness, they suffered through all of those trials in a way that did not lead to personal growth.  They had the trial, as each of us will, but they did not receive the blessings that are available for going through the trial in faith.

                In our lives, we are going to face trials and struggles regardless of how we live our lives.  Do we face these trials and struggles with faith and with a dedication to do what we can to be righteous?  Or do we curse our fate and turn away from the Lord?  That is what it means to be Nephi or Laman.  Both were starving in the wilderness – the challenges came to the righteous and the wicked.  But only Nephi was humble and faithful enough to profit from his trials.

2 Samuel 1

(July 4, 2014)

                My reading of this chapter indicates to me that the Amalekite wasn’t the actual killer of Saul, but rather thought that he would be rewarded for claiming to be.  David’s example here is instruction – our enemies will be destroyed in the own due time of the Lord, but there is no reason for us to either rejoice in that destruction nor to contribute to it.  David, justifiably, protected himself but beyond that he did not lash out at his enemies and he protected and worked to preserve his enemies.  Even the death of his enemy (and we see this again with Absalom, although there was a family relationship there) causes him a great deal of grief.

                David was a good man.  I know he has fallen from his Exaltation, but I hope that he was able to find some measure of peace in the hereafter.  What’s more, the fact that David was such a good man only gives me greater pause to know that vigilance is absolutely necessary at all times to keep from falling – no matter how well or poorly we feel we have been living our lives to that point.