Should All Scripture Be Inspiring?

THURS., NOV. 16, 2000, 9:59 AM
OFFICE, PULLIAM

Your answer to this question, after reading and discussing this narrative titled II Samuel, is pretty much NO. David was one chosen by Me for special services during the era in this Book. He was “perfect” because I chose him and because he repented with the fullness of his spirit when he “messed up.” So, yes, David was both a Hero and a Tragedy (well, almost). He was My Man, for shepherding, for reigning, and for killing.

By criteria usually used for determining “inspiring,” this story, that you now are considering, doesn’t seem to “measure up.” Consider Me, as Yahweh God, in it. I punish, and I reward, but most instances of each can be interpreted both ways. I reward the Jews by killing their enemies (either directly or by seeing that David’s forces conquer and kill). I punish the Jews by letting them be killed… or humiliated. I want them to be “true” to Me, and it isn’t clear what I want from the Philistines… or that they have value in My Eyes!

But you also could say that David is, all in all, a pretty good servant of Mine, and I guide him to be quite a good king. He has many wives, as a king at that time should, but Bathsheba seems to be the one most favored in this II Samuel story. (It would be good for you to find a longer, more focused story of her, looking for why she was “chosen”… if more than looking fine naked.)

One aspect of “inspiring” is personal and situational. That is, several conscientious people could read these passages now being considered, and each might find them more… or less… inspirational. You have, as I want you to have, a positive perception of and feeling for David. Therefore you tend to perceive his actions and words as more inspiring than would someone who just read this narrative with no previous, positive view of David.

And… such a “reader” might have trouble perceiving Me as inspiring, given My Words and Actions. It should be inspiring that I had such favor for the Jews… and less so that I was so angered at Uzzah for bumping the Ark, that I favored the killing of him. David “messed up” quite a bit, but, remember, he came into this lengthy story as a young shepherd boy who felled the giant Goliath with a stone flung from a sling and then beheaded him… quite a feat for a very young man!

If you accept My favoritism for the Jews, then My actions in defending them and empowering them to prevail in skirmishes, is inspiring. If someone attacked your wife… or, say, littlest grandson John Isaac, and you stepped in and prevented the harm to your loved ones but maimed or killed the assailant, would this be “inspiring”? Some would say Yes… others No.

In the Middle East at this time there are present-day skirmishes between Jews, the spiritual ( 10:49 / 10:55) descendants of David, Jonathan, and Saul, and Moslem Arabs, who know and worship Me as Allah. And, of course, you Christians relate to Me in another way, revering Me as Jesus, of the House and Lineage of David (by way of Mary, the Favored Mother).

New Testament Scriptures tend to be more directly inspiring, with My Actions and Teachings as Jesus. My sacrificial death on the cross, and the Letters of Paul and some other chosen servants. All of this took place over something more than 50 years, much less than the Old Testament story. How do I compare these Testaments? They represent different kinds of “inspiring.” And you know I love diversity.