Title: The Seeds Of Sin / Topic: Compromise

Subtitle: How Many Wives Does One David Need?
[Today's post is on the long side. Sorry, but I couldn't figure a way to say it in fewer words.]

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 3; 1 Chronicles 12; Matthew 15

Scripture: 2 Samuel 3:2-5, 13-16
2 Sons were born to David in Hebron:
His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam [1] of Jezreel;
3 his second, Kileab the son of Abigail [2] the widow of Nabal of Carmel;
the third, Absalom the son of Maacah [3] daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith [4];
the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital [5];
5 and the sixth, Ithream the son of David's wife Eglah [6].
These were born to David in Hebron...

13 "Good," said David. "I will make an agreement with you [Abner]. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me." 14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, "Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins."
15 So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. 16 Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go back home!" So he went back.

Observation: This passage has always bothered me. David's stock is soaring -- Saul's is plummeting. Saul is dead and all but one of his sons are dead while David is adding sons like arrows to his quiver. David is taking over (as he should) as the remnants of Saul's failed kingship are fading away. Verses 2 through 5 (above) give a list of not only David's first six sons, but of the fact that each comes from one of six different wives. (Up until this point, we were only aware of two of David's wives. But now we learn of four more for a total of six.)

Now, Abner, Saul's Chief-of-Staff, has made an overture to come over to David, but David makes a demand of him that seems quite odd, especially in light of the immediate context. David demands another wife. He wants Michal, the daughter of Saul that was promised to him but later withdrawn and given to another man, even though David completed the quest required for her hand in marriage. Saul did David wrong in the situation with Michal.

But David has clearly moved on -- he has taken other wives, six to be exact, and Michal has moved on as well, having a husband, and with him looking forward to having children of her own.

But there it is: this odd and troubling request by David. "Bring me Michal!" The order is given and Michal is torn away from her husband, Paltiel, to be given to David. The clear implication in the text is that Michal is Paltiel's only wife and that he loved her dearly and is distraught as she is ripped from their home. It's a shame. Paltiel had done nothing wrong to David -- David's quarrel was with Saul. But David wants Michal. He certainly has some grounds to claim her, but even so, there are other grounds in favor of Paltiel's claim. And the fact that David already has six other wives, I mean... "How many wives does one David need?"

It is important to note also that the rivalries between David's sons - half-brothers as they were - brought many griefs to David later on. And as David takes Paltiel's wife, Michal, and we know that he already has another man's wife (Abigail, former wife of Nabal), we are reminded that David is heading toward future disaster when even all the wives he has aren't enough for him and he takes Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and eventually murders Uriah, to complete the deed. We are seeing the prelude to the fall of David.

Application: Sin is progressive. It starts with little seeds. Things that we can justify. But these tiny seeds of sin plant themselves in our lives and send down roots and grow bigger and bigger. David's practice of taking a wife from another man didn't seem like anything bad at all when it was the dead fool, Nabal, whose wife he took. And here with Michal, it does have some validity. But these are seeds of a besetting sin that will eventually grow to take over David's life and take down his kingdom. Watch out for the little seeds of sin. When you find yourself justifying something that deep down you know to be wrong, watch out! Get rid of it. Or it may get rid of you.

Prayer: Lord, make us aware of the little seeds of sin that we allow in our lives. Help us to always be cultivating the soil of our hearts to remove those seeds and the seedlings as they sprout. May we walk without compromise and with full integrity before You and others always.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.