2 Samuel 13:1-14

Sin in David's Household

2 Samuel 13:1

The law of Moses clearly forbade the union which Amnon sought, Leviticus 18:11. It was an infamous passion, and the suggestion of Jonadab, if it was any reflection of his father's character, would show why the Lord had said of Shammah, “Neither hath the Lord chosen this,” 1 Samuel 16:9. Passion is deaf to the remonstrances and pleadings of its victim, and strangles pity and honor. Let us walk in the Spirit, that he may save us from ourselves; for there is no knowing to what lengths we may go if not kept by the grace of God.

It seems difficult to believe that this was the home-life of the man that wrote the Psalms. It had been better to remain in the valley of the wild goat than amid the luxury of Jerusalem, which made so great an inroad upon the peace and purity of his home. We prosper better amid the bleak climate of the mountains than in the enervating atmosphere of the plains.

Thus David's sin began to bear the entail of misery to his own household. None of us can limit the far-reaching harvests of the seeds that we drop upon the flowing stream.