Daily Devotional For Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Good day Southside! Today, we draw our devotion from the One Year Chronological Bible’s reading. There is a saying that has been around for years that comes from author Sir Walter Scott’s poem “Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field.” It goes like this: “Oh what a tangled web we weave/ When first we practice to deceive.” In our devotion for today, deception at its worst. We see this in 2 Samuel 13, where one of David’s sons, Absalom had a beautiful virgin sister named Tamar.
She had a half-brother named Amnon who became obsessed with her. The Bible makes it clear that all Amnon wanted to do was to have sex with her. His lust, like his father David, grew to the point where he developed a plot to get her to rape her. The apple didn’t fall far from this tree.
Bible scholar Matthew Henry writes this: “Godly parents have often been afflicted with wicked children; grace does not run in the blood, but corruption does” (Source: Matthew Henry). We definitely see this in the house of David. His children exceeded their father’s sins and worse, they never repented like David did. They never felt remorse or sorrow. This is how hardened their hearts were to the Lord and His Word.
Amnon had a crafty cousin named Jonadab, who helped Amnon plot to trap Tamar into caring for her half brother. When Tamar realizes Amnon’s true intent, she begs him to wait and ask their father for permission for them to marry. If he rapes her, her shame would go with her the rest of her life. He refuses and rapes her anyway. Once the deed is done, the Bible tells us this in 2 Samuel 13:15:
“Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. ‘Get out of here!’ he snarled at her” (NLT).
We are not told why Amnon was so obsessed with his half-sister, Tamar. The Hebrew word translated as “virgin” is [בְּתוּלָה, betulah]. It can mean virgin as we typically think, but it can also refer to any young mature woman of marriageable age. So, did Amnon lust after Tamar because she was still a virgin and he desired to take that from her or did he lust after her because she was single and of marriageable age?
The Bible does not tell us that but the Bible and the Old Testament Law was clear about the prohibition of incest (Lev. 18:9, 11; Lev. 20:17; and Deut. 27:22). It seems Amnon did not care about what the Mosaic Law stated. We hear her protests in 2 Samuel 13:12-13: “Such a thing is not done in Israel. God’s people do not act like this! Don’t do it, Amnon. It is wicked! It is wrong, Amnon! Don’t do it. Think about the effect on me! Don’t do it! Think about the effect on you! You will reduce yourself to the level of a wicked fool.” Her word for fool would remind readers the fool Nabal was who would not listen in 1 Samuel 25.
Tamar is desperate to stop her half-brother Amnon and her attempt to get him to ask their father, Kind David, for permission to marry, may have been a last minute attempt to divert Amnon’s attention. She knew her father would not approve this, thus this would hopefully put an end to it. Amnon will not listen. He rapes his sister and had incest with her. Once the deed was done, he discarded her like trash.Old Testament scholar John Woodhouse writes this:
“At the center of this terrible story is the violent horror “and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her” (v. 14b). Physical strength prevailed. Any possible doubt about Tamar’s role in this assault is removed. “Violated” is a word that speaks of humiliation, oppression, and subjugation. It refers to Amnon’s physical overpowering of Tamar against her will. There was a fight . . . The language is brutal and brief, as was the act. Amnon discovered, to his own and to Tamar’s terrible loss, the deceitfulness of temptation, particularly sexual temptation. Only a little while ago he had said to Jonadab, ‘I love Tamar’ (v. 4). What were his feelings now toward Tamar? (Source: John Woodhouse, Preach The Word, “2 Samuel: Your Kingdom Come,” p. 344).
He now has a hatred against her that was more intense than his original love for her. Why? To see her was to see his own shameful and sinful crimes. Thinking if he forbade her to be in his presence, that would eliminate his guilt, was only a lie to himself. The guilt would stay no matter what he did and revenge by her full-blooded brother, Absalom would come 2 years later. Two years later Absalom had his soldiers kill Amnon.
David is beginning to experience the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba, murdering her husband and his best friend, Uriah. David is only beginning to experience the punishment of the Lord as spoken to him through the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12:10-12. This is the last we hear of Tamar, living in shame under the protection of her brother, Absalom. No telling how many times David thought and wished he could turn back time and undo what he started.
Reflection Assignment: If you could go back in time and undo some sin you committed, what would it be and why? We all live with regrets. Some are worse than others. Some plague us for years. Some we may never get over at all. Some, others will never let us forget. Oh, they may say they forgive, but they do not. Over time they will bring it up at different times which reveal they did not forgive you of the wrong you did against them because they are still brewing over it. Absalom for 2 years let this desire for revenge brew until he acted on it. Is there anything in your life you to this day still brew over and over? Give it and leave it with the Lord.
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 13:5, “Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I have many regrets. There is nothing I can do about the past, but with Your grace I can live in the present and learn lessons from it that will impact my life in the future for Your glory. I do not want to end up as a resentful person who is consumed with grudges, bitterness and hatred towards others. Please forgive me. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly