DCLM Daily Manna 30 June 2026: Large Heartedness
KEY VERSE: “And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness” (2 Samuel 3:39).
TEXT: 2 Samuel 3:31-39 KJV
And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.
32 And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.
33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?
34 Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him.
35 And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.
36 And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.
37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner.
38 And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?
39 And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
READ OTHER DCLM DAILY DEVOTIONAL HERE
In 1918 when racism was very rife in America, in the back woods of Mississippi was Lawrence Jones, a Negro teacher and preacher. He was about to be lynched by an excited mob. He was thought to have been inciting other Negroes to rebellion. As he stood on the heap of faggots about to be hanged and burnt, he was given the privilege of speech. His speech so swayed the mob that they started there and then to raise funds for his project, Piney Woods Country School. Asked thereafter how he felt about the people who dragged him out to be killed, he replied, “I have no time to quarrel… no man can force me to stoop low enough to hate him.” He had a great mind.
David was also a man of a great mind. His reaction to the murder of Abner by Joab and the dirge he composed on that occasion bore testimony to his innocence. Beyond that, he was too preoccupied with weightier issues to harbour resentment. The late Abner was at the head of the rebellion against David’s kingship and had single-handedly installed Ishbosheth as king over Israel. He had just fallen out with Ishbosheth and made reconciliatory overtures to David with a promise of helping to extend David’s rule over all Israel. Joab, the captain of David’s army, would not countenance such a move – the same Abner had earlier killed his brother. He sought to get even by murdering Abner in cold blood. This brought genuine grief to David, who perhaps for the powerful influence of the sons of Zeruiah, could not punish Joab for this evil. He could only place a curse on them indirectly.
The large-heartedness displayed by David here was not an isolated case. He did that at the death of Saul and Jonathan, Ishbosheth and Absalom, some of whom were after his life.
It is betoken of a Christian to have such a great mind, too occupied with nobler concerns than to harbour bitterness, resentment, grudge, retaliatory thoughts and hatred. Be like Stephen and our Lord, who interceded for their assailants
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Nobility shines most when under test
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Bible Malachi 1-4
DCLM Daily Manna 30 June 2026
