2 Samuel 21:10-14 – Devotion that changes the outcome of life

These verses describe the devotion of Rizpah. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth, two of the seven members of Saul’s descendants who were handed over to the Gibeonites to be impaled. She was not allowed to take down her two sons and give them a descend burial. If she did so, she would be violating the king’s edict. But her love and affection for her sons whose lives were given on account of Saul’s sin, drove her to do the next best thing. She laid out a sackcloth somewhere near the hanging bodies and kept watch over them. Rizpah wanted to make sure that those bodies were not ravaged by birds in the day nor beasts in the night. She resolutely kept watching over those bodies until the first drop of rain fell, the famine ended, and the land restored.   

On learning of what she had done, David was deeply moved. He then gave two orders to honor her dedication. He first instructed that the bodies of Jonathan and Saul, who were buried by the people of Jabesh-gilead to be moved, and be buried in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father.  Secondly, he ordered the bodies of the seven impaled members of Saul’s household to be buried in the same tomb. After the men were given a proper burial, God was moved by their prayer for the land.  David's action brought closure to the whole matter. Saul and Jonathan’s bodies were finally brought to their respectable resting place.

Rizpah’s action leaves behind a valuable lesson. Even in her most trying moments in life, she chose to act rightly. There was no hint of her being bitter by what David did to her two sons. She instead did her best by keeping watch over the bodies. Her devotion to her sons and the other impaled bodies moved David so deeply that he had the bodies of Saul and Jonathan brought back from Jabesh-gilaead to be buried with Kish, the father of Saul. David also had the bodies of the seven men buried together at the same place. Rizpah’s devotion had brought about a reconciliation that she did not even anticipate. The healed relationship then brought about the condition for God to hear and answer the prayer of the nation. So we read in verse 10 that God heard the entreaties and was moved to heal the land. Her action had changed the outcome of the nation. What happened to her tells us that there is no need to live an embittered life even in the most trying of circumstances. Choosing to act rightly, she had unwittingly influenced a positive outcome not only in her life but that of the nation. Like her, we can choose to adopt the right attitude and action and experience a positive change to the course of our lives. God is good all the time! He is the rewarder of right living!