2 Samuel 21:1-14
21:1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?” 4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” 5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab [1] the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.
10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. 11 When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. 14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that God responded to the plea for the land.
Mother’s Day is upon us. This day always makes me and I am sure you as well, reflect on your own mother and the relationship that you have or have desired with her. Unfortunately we live in a world where people don’t always have the best memories of their parents or the most ideal childhood. This started long ago with the fall of man. According to the Word, our families were the first affected by sin and they continue to be bombarded daily, and I would say, it seems at times, hourly.
This week we have had revival services at our church. The guest speaker, Paul Carter, preached an excellent sermon on the family Monday night. The passage he used though was one, however that I was unfamiliar with. As I read along, the courage and just plain gustiness of this mother spoke out so very loudly to my spirit!
Rizpah as you can read above was an extraordinary woman! She was willing to put herself in harms way, morning and night to make sure the beasts of the field and the nasty meat eating birds, did not devour the bodies of her sons…and not just for a short amount of time, but I learned that this lasted most likely, May through September!
I started considering the fact that I have a mother who has fought for all of her seven children in a similar way. No, not in the physical sense although I have no doubt had she needed to or had been given the opportunity at certain times, she would have fought just as Rizpah did!
My mother has seen each of her children go through hardships as children and as adults that have caused her to fight the “beasts” down on her knees! And BOY HAS SHE! I have heard her broken in prayer, angry in prayer, and then joyful when she knew God had granted her heartfelt prayer.
I am so very thankful to have Sherlyn Hutto as not only my mother, but as my example on how to be a mother that fights for her children’s souls, and loves with a fierce love!
Thank you Mama.
My Journey To the Heart of God. 