David, you are this man. David, God entrusted you with the care of God’s people, and you failed. David, your reign has turned rotten; instead of protecting the vulnerable you are now preying upon them. Instead of sacrificing your life for your people, you’ve demanded sacrifices laid at your feet. David, you’ve become a pharaoh. “David,” Nathan says, “why have you despised the word of the Lord?”
1 Samuel
“Is it You, Lord?”
Not everyone who calls you by name actually knows you. My inbox is full of emails that begin with lines like: “Hi Benjamin, Thanks for your recent order!” “Greetings Benjamin! The bill from your recent visit is now due.” “Benjamin, If you upgrade now, you can get free carry-on bags…” “Benjamin – It’s urgent that […]
Covid 1: With me
The prophet Samuel has gone through a lot at this point in the story. If we rewind a bit, he first told the people that a king would be a bad idea. They didn’t need a king, he said. A king would abuse power. But they got a king anyway, and Samuel anointed him—that was […]
Voices
We’re great at eavesdropping, at reading other people’s mail. That’s what we do when we read the Bible, our holy scriptures, all the writings complied in this book, letters and stories written to other people, ancient peoples in faraway lands. But in these words, in these stories, we’ve come to hear echoes of God’s voice—God […]