Thy Strong Word from KFUO Radio

Rev. Brian Thieme, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 15.“Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place.” Absalom repays his father’s kiss of peace with a kiss of betrayal, buying his way into the hearts of Israel. His actions are ungrateful and underhanded, but in 2 Samuel 15 King David does not respond in kind. Like Jesus Christ, he entrusts himself to God and patiently endures the injustice, knowing that God will restore his throne if it is His will, in His own time.

Rev. Curtis Deterding, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Florida, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 14.“Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. And he sent a second time, but Joab would not come. [...] So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.” What kind of persuasive technique is that?! Chapter 14 shows the boldness of relationship. Whether it’s Absolom starting a fire in Joab’s field or Joab disguising someone as a widow in mourning, these characters don’t worry about the consequences of their audacity because they have faith in their relationships. Similarly, people seeking healing boldly broke through roofs, seized Jesus’s clothing, and trapped Him in His own words because of their faith. God’s Son Himself boldly took on the ‘disguise’ of human flesh as He mediated between God and man.

Rev. Doug Minton in Blaine, Minnesota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 13.Are we in love with a person, or an idea? When King David’s son Amnon falls in love with his half-sister Tamar, it’s not self-giving unconditional love, but infatuation with an “impossible” forbidden fruit. Jonadab, “a very crafty” snake of a man, merely stirs the pot—like the serpent of Eden. Guilt rests squarely on man, not God or anything else. David set a poor example for his sons with his power-crazed lust, even as he closes the chapter lamenting that his firstborn will never inherit his throne. The real tragedy however is that of Tamar, who like the first Tamar, only tries to make the best out of an impossible situation. In her suffering she is the most like Christ, willing even to marry the one who has most heinously wronged her. God’s love for us is even greater than our faithless wrongdoing.

Rev. Mark Jasa, pastor of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Pasadena, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 12.“As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” Nathan’s story touches a nerve with David in chapter 12—the poor shepherd boy from Bethlehem lashes out at the pitiless Nabals and Sauls of his life. God mercifully uses this story of law to guide David to repentance, and when David confesses, God spares his life with Nathan’s word of gospel. There are, however, still consequences. Just as how David killed his own soldiers as collateral damage when he targeted Uriah, so too has David destroyed his own family with his murder of Uriah. Yet God works good from David’s evil, and the firstborn of David & Bathsheba atones and saves, just as God's own firstborn would later save and atone for us all.

Rev. Kevin Parviz, pastor of Congregation Chai v'Shalom in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 143.“Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” Our children’s failures are a painful reflection of our own faults. Prince Absolom sought to put his own father to death, but David acknowledges in Psalm 143 that he had no one to blame but himself. Heartbroken but unwilling to hurt his own son, David’s faint spirit is dying in the wilderness as he runs from Absolom—only God’s good spirit can bring him back to life with the water of creation. Every life will fail to justify itself before God’s throne of judgment, so with David we call on God to act for the sake of His own righteousness, which He demonstrates in His faithful Son Jesus Christ.

Rev. Warren Woerth, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Arnold, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 11.“And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’ So David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’” This one sin is the action around which the rest of 2 Samuel revolves; and it doesn’t remain one sin for long, evolving into murder and the abuse of God’s name. Chapter 11 gives a sobering warning about how sin can come seemingly out of nowhere (“in the spring [...] late one afternoon”). Like Saul, despite years of faithful service, now David also deserves to fall from power. Rather than casting blame on Bathsheba or blaming David’s circumstances, we should see our own sin in David and Joab, who foremost cared about their image and their career. It was not God’s will that David sin, but that the Savior would be born to offer forgiveness for every kind of sin.

Rev. Jacob Heine, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Topeka, Kansas, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 10.“When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, ‘Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.’” David might’ve said, “Grow thicker skin!” or “Shake those haters off!” and sent them back to Jerusalem, but instead the king himself goes out of his way to help these men deal with their shame quietly so that they might return to their families and communities without further scandal. King Jesus did the same for lepers and sinners, meeting them on the fringes to bring them back among God’s people, just as He does for us. Chapter 10 teaches us about keeping faith and keeping confidence with others. It’s not about what we think we deserve or even need, but about what “What seems good to” God.

Rev. Duncan McLellan, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ankeny, Iowa, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 9.“And David said to him, ‘Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.’” David’s mercy towards Mephibosheth is a beautiful image of God’s mercy to us in Christ. 2 Samuel 9 says that David wants to show him the “kindness [ˈħɛsɛð] of God.” Just as David gives mercy and blessing to Saul’s grandson for the sake of his fathers, so David had received mercy and blessing from God for the sake of his fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On our own, we are weak and undeserving Mephibosheth. But in Christ, who was raised up by the Father’s power to give Israel the riches of heaven’s kingdom, we are Merib-baal, because it is the LORD Himself who contends for us.

Rev. John Lukomski, retired LCMS pastor, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 Samuel 8.“Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared.” David has blood on his hands—a lot of it. Perhaps together with his excessive celebration in chapter 6, the violence of chapter 9 and others shows why God would want a man of wisdom rather than a man of violence to build His temple. Yet the narrator connects David’s actions to God’s promises, God giving “victory to David wherever he went,” as He did with Joshua, and rescuing from the hands of “violent men” who had tormented them from the time of the Judges. Despite Moabite treachery, David spares a full third out of honor and mercy, a lenient act in such evil days. But actual redemption from this evil age would only be found in Jesus the Son of David, with mercy and life for all from the age to come.

Rev. Charles Henrickson, pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Bonne Terre, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 132.“I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” The Ark of the Covenant had been captured by enemies, had brought plagues against the proud, and had bounced from place to place in fear. Psalm 132 reflects David’s promise and desire to find a permanent “place” for the Ark, a sure blessing to hold on to. Even Jerusalem and the royal line of David seemed to die at the hands of Babylon, but as faith clinged to God’s promise, it dared to hope for resurrection. Even David’s “place” was just a tent—the true temple is the resurrected body of Jesus Christ, who gives bread & clothing both physical & spiritual.