Through the Bible in 66 Days - 2 Samuel

Everybody loves a hero. King David was brave and handsome a brilliant musician, poet, leader and warrior. He was everything a good king should be. He loved God, ruled fairly, obeyed God’s commands and brought wealth, peace and joy to the people. But his story reminds me that the higher we rise the further we can fall. 

In the story of second Samuel we are confronted with the sins of David and the subsequent consequences for him and his family. He slept with another man’s wife, got her pregnant and then planned the man’s death so nobody would find out. He ended up

marrying her. His family was torn apart by these terrible choices. When He eventually repented of his sin, God forgave him but his rule as a king was never the same again. In fact, as you trace his family records we discover that the family suffered many things as a result of David’s sin.

So, what can we learn from a king whose life was a mixture of success and fear, good and bad, love and hate, inner peace and turmoil?

Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554)

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

Lady Jane Grey was a remarkable character from the history of our country.  She was known as the ‘Nine Day Queen of England’ and she died at the age of 16.  She was highly educated, very intelligent and was a descendent Henry VII the first monarch of the House of Tudor that ruled through most of the sixteenth century.  Jane was born in 1537 and died in 1554.  She had a personal tutor and was able to speak a number of languages and could converse in Greek and even correspond with intellectuals in that language.

She studied not only languages but also the Word of God, the Bible and came to a settled conviction which led her to faith in Christ.  She believed  the Gospel and knew that the only way to Heaven was through faith alone in Christ alone. She grew up with two sisters, one named Katherine who was very beautiful but not an intellectual like Jane, and Mary who had some kind of physical deformity.  Her parents were deeply ambitious and carried the hope that Jane would one day inherit the throne and become Queen of England.

Not my King!

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

The coronation of King Charles III was watched by a peak TV audience of around 20 million viewers in the UK, while many thousands lined the route of the royal procession in London, supervised by 11,500 police officers. Inside Westminster Abbey just over two thousand guests, including Presidents, Prime Ministers and Kings and Queens from other nations, respectfully watched the ceremony. The steadily falling rain could not dampen the spirits of the crowds, many of whom had camped out for hours to secure a prime location from which to get the best possible view of the pomp and pageantry.

While so many were eager to be present and show their appreciation and support for the King, there was a comparatively small but vocal number of protesters who left no one in any doubt that they had absolutely no respect for the man who was going to Westminster Abbey to be crowned King. They held their placards aloft with a simple, unambiguous message inscribed on them: “Not my King”. They wanted to make it abundantly clear that they had no allegiance to this Monarch and no love for the Royal Family. Their boos and chants were drowned out by the overwhelmingly larger numbers who joined in the singing of the National Anthem and cheered enthusiastically as the procession moved past.A similar scene was enacted almost two thousand years ago, but on a much grander scale. Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, was interrogating a prisoner in Whom he could find no fault and therefore he was unwilling to punish Him and desired to release Him. He said to the multitudes of Jews who had thronged the narrow streets of Jerusalem outside the Praetorium, the Governor’s palace where he conducted many trials, “Behold your King!” John 19.14. The immediate response, without delay or dissent, from the amassed crowds was, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him … We have no king but Caesar” John 19.15. The loud, angry voices conveyed a unanimous message of total rejection of this King, the Son of God. Shortly afterwards that innocent, sinless Man Whom the world refused was led, cross-laden and thorn-crowned, to Golgotha, to be put to death by the most cruel and violent method of execution: crucifixion. This world is stained with the blood of Christ and is guilty of His murder.