Day 53- Playing by the Rules
📖Daily Reading
2 Samuel 1-5
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
2 Samuel 4: 9-11
But David said to Recab and Baanah, “The Lord, who saves me from all my enemies, is my witness. Someone once told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ thinking he was brining me good news. But I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That’s the reward I gave him for his news! How much more should I reward evil men who have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed? Shouldn’t I hold you responsible for his blood and rid the earth of you?”
So the word respect kept coming up in my mind the first few several chapters of 2nd Samuel. David seems to have a good understanding of not only the concept of respect, but who is running the show. He is not making decisions and judgements based on his own common sense or by who has offended him personally. He is more concerned about offending God and others offending God. The other characters or players on the field to use a sport analogy are concerned about doing things for David himself and impressing David, vs God.
I am going to do my best to use a sports analogy today. Let’s pretend God is the coach and maybe David is the referee. The players are the other characters mentioned in the 2 Samuel chapters 1-5; the Amalekite, Joab, Recab and Baanah. They have been given the rules and the plays of the game by their coach, God. Then a few go off on their own and take matters into their own hands. They forget to respect the coach and the plays. They mistakenly think that they are playing a different game and playing for a different coach or even the referee. They mistake David for being the coach. They are trying to impress the wrong ‘man’ on the field.
David throws a flag on the field. They are standing their pleading their case, ‘but see what I did for you?!’ ‘Now you will surely win the game and put me in the starting line up because I did this great thing for you’! David is correcting them and reminding them who the coach is and who is really in charge. He say’s ‘you are outa here’.
In the first example in chapter one the Amalekite, thinks he is in for a reward - he brags to David, I killed Saul, ‘I saw him on the battle field dying and he begged me to finish him off. So I did. Isn’t that great?’ David shakes his head and says ‘who do you think you are? You can’t kill the anointed one of God’. Not only was he caught lying, but he was caught by his own disrespect of God, by trying to contrive a story he though would impress David. David is not impressed, in fact he has this man killed for this penalty against the Lord.
The second example is in chapter 3 Joab, one of Davids’ commanders, is holding resentment and looking for a chance to avenge his brothers death. He chases after Abner, even though David told him not to. He murders Abner, he took matters into his own hand. Abner had previously been a commander for Saul. So Joab thought that this was ultimately also something that would be rewarded by David. David once again demonstrates respect and understanding for who the coach is and the rules they are to play by. He curses Joab and his family.
The third example is in chapter 4. Ishbosheth one of Saul’s remaining son’s was taking an afternoon rest. Now the writing was on the wall that David was wining the war and those who had remained loyal to Saul were close to defeat. Two of Ishbosheth’s own captains, Recab and Bannah, came to his house and saw what they thought was an opportunity to get on King David’s good side, they could kill the son of his enemy Saul. While Ishbosheth was sleeping they killed him and cut off his head and proudly brought it to David. Saying ‘see look what we did for you’. Again, David demonstrates respect for God and how we are to conduct ourselves and not take matters into our own hands and not follow the rules or the playbook! These two Recab and Baanah are put to death as a consequence.
David did not let things go to his own head, let his position and favor from the people change his heart for the Lord. He didn’t allow himself be impressed by these men trying to impress him and do these great things ‘for’ him and for recognition from him. He instead reminded them to have respect for God and by doing these things they were going against God and not playing by the rules. They were getting it backwards! They were trying to take matters into their own hands and trying to impress the wrong ‘person on the field’.
In the moments where I get my ‘vertical’ relationship right, the horizontal ones work themself out, when I prioritize pleasing people over God, I suffer and so to others.
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
Is there a situation you are taking into your own hands or people in your life that you care about impressing? If you take a moment and shift, refocus and re-engage and play by the rules and respect your ‘true coach’ how do you think you might benefit?
📖Tomorrows Reading
2 Samuel 6-24
Coaching Opportunity
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