2 Samuel 19: Equal Shares of Mercy, ☧ David Returns

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 19. “You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you.” Joab’s not wrong. Although David’s grief reflects his unconditional love and forgiveness towards his children, in chapter 19 he goes too far the other way, failing to show gratitude for the men who have bled and died for him. We too sometimes idolize health or family to the point of neglecting our church, our community, or our country. When David returns as king, he grants equal measures of mercy to all, potentially upsetting loyalists. This is however how Jesus Christ shows God’s love, which is less concerned with fairness than with repairing relationships and restoring unity.