Before David dies, he charges his son Solomon to take care of a number of loose ends that remain from his time as king. Let’s take the case of Joab for example. No doubt Joab took advantage of his high military position in Israel to take personal vengeance in a couple of cases (2 Samuel 3:27; 20:10). These killings were outright murders. Given that it was David’s responsibility as king to ensure the execution of justice in Israel, it was therefore a great injustice for him to leave these crimes undealt with. It is not surprising, however, that David did not deal with these crimes himself. It was Joab who was charged by David to have Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, killed. It would have seemed hypocritical therefore for David to personally stand in judgement over Joab. However, so long as this crime remained unpunished, there remained a dark cloud over Israel and David wants to ensure that there is nothing to mar his legacy. By every means make sure that you never leave wrongs behind without doing everything you can to make things right. If you have hurt someone, don’t just leave it in your past, reconcile with them. If you have taken something from someone, go back and make amends. Do those things that you have left undone. Cleanse your past, as much as possible, and you will clear the way for your future ahead. Unresolved issues of the past inevitably become roadblocks to the future.
Ask God to bring to light things in your past that you need to deal with.
Read 1 Kings 2
