Chapter 21 again stresses the importance of keeping covenants (and not entering into them lightly)! From this commentary...
David's dealings with the Gibeonites, at its roots, is a matter of keeping covenants. Israel had made a covenant with the Gibeonites. Even though this covenant was 400 years old, it was still to be honored. Saul broke that covenant by trying to rid the land of them. No matter how good his intentions might have been, the covenant must be kept. The breaking of that covenant had serious consequences. It cost Saul and his sons their lives. It brought a famine on the land of Israel. There were other covenants involved as well. Much of what is described in our text looks like the fulfillment of God's warnings for breaking the Mosaic Covenant in Deuteronomy 28-30. In addition, David's covenant with Jonathan had to be honored, so Mephibosheth was not handed over to the Gibeonites.
God deals with men in terms of covenants. Time does not weaken these covenants. Covenants are to be kept. Even when men do not take their covenants seriously, God does. He expects us to keep our covenantsOne covenant that society takes way too lightly these days is the covenant of marriage. Divorce is acceptable and commonplace, and sadly takes place in Christian circles as well, sometimes simply because they are no longer in love and believe God wants them to be happy and therefore it is ok. This should not be. We need to honour our covenants!
Tomorrow's passage: 2 Samuel 22, Psalm 18
1 comment:
agreed. I am deeply saddened by the rising divorce rates among Christians and marriages dissolving in my circle of friends and family. It makes me even more scared for my children and whether their marriages will be long or disposable.
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