Do you have a famine in your life? 2 Samuel 20-24

2 Samuel 21:1 (NASBStr)

 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

We all have times of "famine" in our lives.   Others see that famine and think it is because we have done something wrong and sinned against God.  See our servant Job for an example of such false accusations.   There are times, of course, when that is correct.   But, as we see above, there are times when that is not correct.  Like Job, David in this section had a famine in his life because of something outside his own walk with God.   In this case it was because his predecessor, Saul, had mistreated the Gibeonites.   God had known about Saul's lack of mercy and justice in his life.  As a result, God must enact justice for that.   David's kingdom was where God enacted His justice.   Sometimes the famine in our lives is the result of the sin that is in the world.  We often want to affix blame for things and take it upon ourselves.  There are times when famine is just famine and we need not analyze it to find the source in ourselves.  We should first look there to assure we are walking with God.   In the next chapter (22) David did something wrong and that brought a curse on his kingdom.   But, in this chapter the curse was not because of his conduct but of another.   Famine in our life is a good time to do some reflection.   But, the reflection ought be be done according to these examples and principles of God's Word.