2 Samuel

I've always admired the prophets. Their job of truth-telling required such courage and personal sacrifice. Yet they never held back. They spoke the truth no matter the consequences. I imagine they were lonely, then. Who could stand their challenging company for very long?

Personal relationships, however, weren't the prophets' priority. Their job was to tell God's truth in a way that would be heard.

I've always admired the prophets. Their job of truth-telling required such courage and personal sacrifice. Yet they never held back. They spoke the truth no matter the consequences. I imagine they were lonely, then. Who could stand their challenging company for very long?

Personal relationships, however, weren't the prophets' priority. Their job was to tell God's truth in a way that would be heard.

I've always admired the prophets. Their job of truth-telling required such courage and personal sacrifice. Yet they never held back. They spoke the truth no matter the consequences. I imagine they were lonely, then. Who could stand their challenging company for very long?

Personal relationships, however, weren't the prophets' priority. Their job was to tell God's truth in a way that would be heard.

I've always admired the prophets. Their job of truth-telling required such courage and personal sacrifice. Yet they never held back. They spoke the truth no matter the consequences. I imagine they were lonely, then. Who could stand their challenging company for very long?

Personal relationships, however, weren't the prophets' priority. Their job was to tell God's truth in a way that would be heard.

My husband came home one night confused and needing to talk. A friend of his had blown him off at work, and Dan couldn't figure out why. "I was standing there, waiting to talk to him, and he just walked away!" My husband was hurt and remorseful.

In this week’s reading, Bathsheba, the woman David drew dripping out of her bath and into his story, is not named.

In this week’s reading, Bathsheba, the woman David drew dripping out of her bath and into his story, is not named.

In this week’s reading, Bathsheba, the woman David drew dripping out of her bath and into his story, is not named.

In this week’s reading, Bathsheba, the woman David drew dripping out of her bath and into his story, is not named.

I don’t want to identify with David, with this king who knows no limits. But why, pray God, does his arrogance feel so familiar?

Perhaps there is a connection we shouldn't miss between David's dancing with all his might--uninhibited, unclad, unaware of disapproval--and the generosity with which he blesses and distributes food to all the people. Both are extravagant gestures that turn love into action, withholding nothing.

I've never knowingly visited purgatory or fairy land, but I have set foot in a few small places that, once entered, prove to be larger.

God’s word to Nathan and Gabriel’s word to Mary hold a tension that’s at the heart of biblical faith.