2 Samuel 13 -- David's Sins Come Home To Roost

David's firstborn son, Amnon, was the apparent legal heir to the throne, but he had a problem.  "Perhaps he felt he had privileges that the other sons didn't have," my commentary said.  "He nurtured an abnormal love for his half sister and he should have stopped feeding that appetite the moment it started ... Amnon's imagination worked overtime as he thought about her," my commentary said.  His cousin Jonadab stoked his illicit feelings as well.  "Anybody in our lives who makes it easy for us to sin is certainly not much of a friend," my commentary added.

Amnon schemed with his cousin to get Tamar alone with him.  "Perhaps Amnon was thinking, 'If my father committed adultery and murder and got away with it, surely I can get away with rape.'"  Amnon arranged to be alone with Tamar and forcibly raped her.  "What he thought was love was really only lust, a passion that so controlled him that he became like an animal... After he committed the shameful act, he hated Tamar vehemently and wanted to get rid of her! ... In his sensual cravings, Amnon confused lust wit love and didn't realize that there is a fine line between selfish love, lust, and hatred ... After he sinned, he couldn't get rid of her fast enough."

Tamar told her brother Absalom about the rape, but Absalom told her to wait for him to act.  He wanted to scheme to avenge his sister, murder his older brother, and set himself up as as heir to the throne; he waited two years but finally got his wish.  Absalom then had to go into exile with his mother's parents outside of Israel until David cooled down.  "It was five years before father and son saw each other face-to-face."

Father, please give me wisdom and strength to guide my sons and help them to become men after Your own heart.  I don't want to make the mistakes that David did.  Help me finish raising them, Father.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford