Day 139: Reparation to the Gibeonites

2 Samuel 21:1-14 A famine resulted from a sin committed by Saul that is not recorded in Scripture elsewhere: The killing of the Gibeonites. David sought reconciliation with the offended nation, and his act severed the genealogical line of Saul except for his grandson Mephibosheth.

Psalm 40 (My personal favorite 😉) I waited patiently...my cry: The Holy Spirit inspires us to pray with the firm hope that our patient prayer will lead us to the true joy of knowing Christ. The hope of the Jewish people was for a messiah who would liberate them from the oppression of their enemies; Jesus the Messiah has already won our salvation, and now we joyfully await his Second Coming. This expectation is a central hope expressed in the Mass:

“We proclaim your Death, O Lord,

And profess your Resurrection

Until you come again.”

Blessed is the man...false gods: Faith involves the free assent of the will to the truth of all that God has revealed. We cannot believe in God and at the same time doubt his Word. To believe means something far superior than the faith we have in another person; God is perfection and truth, who can neither deceive or be deceived, whereas people are prone to falsehood and are never completely reliable in all that they say.

I delight to do your will: The Epistle to the Hebrews puts these words on Christ’s lips as a sign of his complete submission to his Father’s will (cf. Heb 10:5-7). By uniting his human will with his divine will, Christ fulfilled the will of the Father to perfection. (CCC 150, 462, 2657, 2824)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Let’s go in reverse again 😁

• 1 Chronicles Ch 26 tells about the Divisions of Gatekeepers

• What are the Gatekeepers?

• They will play a very big role when we get to 2 Chronicles

• As people are coming to the Temple in Jerusalem, they have strong men aka ABLE MEN 

• Basically these are men who might be able to be “BOUNCERS” (for our international brothers and sisters, a BOUNCER is like a doorman at a bar or club who maintains order and allows people into the venue and also deals with unruly behavior from those waiting in line and even expels people from the venue for behaving badly)

• So we get a list of a number of the “Bouncers” who would come to the Temple in Jerusalem and keep the peace

• If there were any ruffians, unwelcome people, or objects trying to get into the Temple, they would stop them

• It’s very practical but it isn’t a small thing

• They are going to be PROMINENT

• These groups of families are going to be very necessary at the end of 2 Chronicles when under the high priest Jehoiada and Hezekiah and Josiah who will need these Gatekeepers to maintain peace and order at the Temple

• In Psalm 84 it says, “I would rather be the doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

• It says my ONLY JOB is to be the one who is guarding the door to the TEMPLE OF THE LORD

• THE HOUSE OF GOD

• I’d rather do that than live ANYWHERE ELSE

• This is something REMARKABLE

• God would give such HONOR to these strong men who are there to simply GUARD THE DOORS

• In the history of the Church, we have so many SAINTS who had that CALL

• Their primary occupation as monks or brothers in a MONASTERY was to be a PORTER

• The PORTER is the person who WELCOMES PEOPLE AT THE FRONT DOOR

• There was a man from Superior, Wisconsin who went to Stillwater, Minnesota and his name is Blessed Solanus Casey

• At one point, Blessed Solanus Casey became a RELIGIOUS aka a MONK aka a BROTHER

• One of his main jobs was to simply ANSWER THE DOOR

• Numerous SAINTS have had this role just like the men in 1 Chronicles Ch 26

• When this role was done FAITHFULLY, even though it could be MENIAL in so many ways, is SANCTIFYING

• EVERYTHING WE DO, WHEN WE DO IT FOR THE LORD IT IS SANCTIFYING

•  Whether that is ANSWERING THE DOOR

• Whether that is PICKING UP A SCREWDRIVER

• Whether that is DELIVERING MILK

• Whether that is PICKING UP THE GARBAGE

• Whether that is TEACHING A CLASS

• WHATEVER IT IS THAT WE ARE DOING IF WE DO IT FOR THE LORD IT IS ALWAYS SANCTIFYING

• Psalm 40 shows OBEDIENCE is the GREATEST GIFT we can give to The Lord

• Giving that YES to The Lord

• So we went through the list of Gatekeepers in this list 

• Also there were other Levitical servants in the Temple

• The gatekeepers were NOT Levites, however

• The Levites were overseeing the treasuries of the House of God

• Over the course of history in Israel, whenever Israel defeated someone in battle, they brought all the spoils of battle to the Temple to be used in the House of the Lord

• So that’s what the OVERSEERS did

• 2 Samuel Ch 21 we have a strange occurrence where rain didn’t fall and there was a famine

• So finally David inquired of The Lord

• Here is a physical phenomenon and it wasn’t as if David immediately thought there was a spiritual cause

• That’s pretty normal for a lot of us

• We don’t seek a SPIRITUAL CAUSE for every single physical phenomenon (but in this day and age, maybe we should? 🤔)

• So finally, David inquires of The Lord

• The Lord answered that actually at some point Saul, in his bloodthirsty house, killed the Gibeonites

• Now, this event was NOT WRITTEN ABOUT in 1 Samuel or recorded elsewhere in The Bible

• BUT IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE CASE

• Remember that the Gibeonites were NOT members of the People of Israel

• But in Joshua Ch 9 (around 400 years prior to David’s reign) Israel had SWORN not to harm the Gibeonites

• God expected Israel to KEEP ITS PROMISE even though the Gibeonites entered into that promise through TRICKERY (please see Day 83 for a refresher on what happened 😉)

• What did King David do?

• He called the Gibeonites and says, “I realize this happened. What do you want me to do for you?”

• He does NOT say, “Here is what I’m going to do. Saul killed all these people of yours so I offer you this.”

• HE ASKED THEM WHAT HE COULD DO FOR THEM

• Here is King David who approaches the Gibeonites NOT AS THE KING, but AS SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO SERVE THEM

• King David, EVEN WITH ALL HIS FLAWS, does highlight and express that he is IN MANY WAYS the FORESHADOWING OF JESUS

• TYPOLOGY!!

• Jesus said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve.”

• The Gibeonites say silver and gold won’t help

• Killing men of Israel won’t help

• But they do ask for 7 members of Saul’s family to be delivered to them to be executed

• SO THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS

• You may look at that and think it’s messed up

• But there is an element of JUSTICE to this

• There is also an element of RESTRAINT to this

• Now it isn’t JUST in the sense that these are Saul’s DESCENDANTS

• They are NOT SAUL

• But remember yesterday when we learned that OTHERS SUFFER BECAUSE OF OUR SINS?? (I just had an epiphany, Jesus took ALL THAT SUFFERING caused by our sins on HIMSELF to SAVE US 🤯)

• So that’s what happens here, OTHERS ARE GOING TO SUFFER BECAUSE OF SAUL’S SINS

• David is entering more and more into battle

• We learn about David’s next battle with those pesky, precarious Philistines

• David’s Mighty Men face many giants

• David is growing WEARY in battle

• David is growing old

• There is something SO POWERFUL that David is STILL WILLING to go into battle

• Remember in the beginning of 2 Samuel Ch 11 David AVOIDED BATTLE

• He AVOIDED doing what he was CALLED TO DO

• But even in his old age David goes into battle because THAT IS WHAT HE OUGHT TO BE DOING

• David can REPENT

• David is LEARNING HIS LESSON

• David can GO BACK INTO BATTLE

• BUT…

• Here is another case where HUMAN WEAKNESS is on display

• David is NOT the man he used to be

• David used to be a MIGHTY WARRIOR

• David has to come face to face with the fact that HE IS NOT THE MAN HE WAS

• David does not have the STRENGTH he used to have

• David does not have the ABILITY TO FIGHT that he used to have

• David does not have the ABILITY TO SUSTAIN HIS FIGHTING IN BATTLE that he used to have

• That is something SO POWERFUL for so many of us

• As we continue to GROW

• As we continue to MOVE FORWARD

• Fr. Mike, when he was a young priest, he would start the day early and end the day really late

• People would tell him that he wouldn’t be able to keep that up

• Fr. Mike knew this, but the time had yet to come where he isn’t able to keep that schedule

• But now, that day has come 😉

• We realize, “Ok Lord some of the strength of my youth is gone. Some of the battles you called me to fight as a younger person I am not able to do as an older person.”

• There is something HUMBLING about that truth

• There is also an opportunity for HUMILITY in ourselves to recognize that TRUTH

• “I am going to do what I can do because I can’t do what I can’t do.”

• David is a great example here

• His Mighty Men tell him to not to lead them into battle this time

• He can direct them from behind a place of safety

• That humbling note of, “You are not the man you used to be.”

• The humility to say, “You’re right. I will only do what I can do because I can’t do what I can’t do.”

• That is ALL OF US

• EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

• That is ALL God expects of us

• With God, we can do ALL things

• But without God, we can do NOTHING

• WE NEED THAT GRACE

• WE NEED THAT HELP

• WE NEED THAT HUMILITY 

• To TRULY know

• WHAT CAN I DO, LORD? 

• I’LL DO THAT

• WHAT CAN’T I DO, LORD?

• I’M NOT GOING TO BE BOTHERED BY THAT

• I WILL HUMBLY SAY, “LORD, THY WILL BE DONE.”

• OBEDIENCE OVER SACRIFICE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we thank you and we give you praise. And it is true that sacrifice and offering, you do not desire. You have given an open ear and an open heart. What you desire is obedience. What you desire is for us to have a heart like yours. What you desire is mercy, not sacrifice; obedience, not sacrifice in so many ways. That when we do offer you sacrifice, it is only out of obedience. It is always simply a gift to you and done in response to your invitation. Lord God, we ask that you please always, always make us obedient to you. Help us to always say yes to you and to never ever stop saying yes. And even in the moments of disaster, even moments where we have said no to you, even moments of great sin in our lives, help us in that moment to take the very next good step and that next good step being to simply say yes once again. Help us to say yes to you and to never stop saying yes. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”