Content related to 2 Samuel

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2 Samuel 15:1-22

Comments and Observations David’s sudden and dramatic turn from king to fugitive did not come out of the blue. A whole series of consequences from David’s actions – and inactions – now come to a terrible convergence. Perhaps it started with David’s sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. David had known that Bathsheba was married, but…

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2 Samuel 13:1-22

Comments and Observations: I love the TV show The Brady Bunch.  In almost every episode there is a problem that can be neatly wrapped up in 30 minutes or less.  Whether it’s a broken vase, a bruised nose, an injured ankle, or a changing voice; the problem is never insurmountable.  There is no crisis that…

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2 Samuel 23:1-7

Proper 29B

Comments and Observations: The so-called “last words of David” are curiously placed.  For one thing, there is quite a bit more action involving David in the balance of even 2 Samuel.  But there will be more words and more narrative to come in also the opening portion of 1 Kings.  It’s as though the author…

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2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Proper 14B

Comments and Observations: I have this theory that although the actors who win the Academy Award earn the award for the entirety of their performances in the movies in question, there is often (maybe always) one key moment in those films that really cinch things.  So in Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks is impressive throughout but…

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2 Samuel 11

Proper 13B

See the OT commentary for 12B which covers both weeks: https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2015-07-20/2-samuel-11/

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2 Samuel 11

Proper 12B

This commentary is for both 12B and 13B: In a memorable sermon on this text, Haddon Robinson said that this difficult chapter in the David saga is a good example of what can happen in middle age when we let our defenses down and become maybe a bit too full of ourselves, a bit too…

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2 Samuel 7:1-14a

Proper 11B

Comments and Observations In his commentary on I and II Samuel Walter Brueggemann makes the bold claim that this text from II Samuel 7 is the centerpiece to the whole of the Samuel corpus and is a crucial text for the church to pay attention to in this day and age as well.  In the…

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2 Samuel 6:1-5; 12b-19

Proper 10B

One of my students once preached a sermon from Joshua that was, shall we say, downright “edgy.”  He began by quoting a comedy routine done by a non-practicing Jew in which this comedian tackled—without knowing he was doing so—that great question long ago raised by Marcion: why does the God of the Old Testament appear…

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2 Samuel 5:1-10

Proper 9B

Some years ago the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible was published, illustrated by the well-known artist, Barry Moser.  I had the privilege of hearing Moser talk about his work some while back and since I am not the most astute observer of art, listening to the artist describe what he did in his various black-and-white drawings opened…

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2 Samuel 1:1,17-27

Proper 8B

You can see why the Revised Common Lectionary wants you to jump from verse 1 to verse 17!   There is an act of violence here in the skipped-over portion that tempts a Scripture reader to end the line “This is the Word of the Lord” in something of an interrogative mood: “The Word of the…

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