A second pretender rises against David, but is quickly despatched when a woman from the city he was using as his base cuts his head off and throws it off the wall. David praises God.

Indeed Psalm 32 might have been written around the same time as it starts off… Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered…

We are then instructed: “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle else they will not come near you….”

“He who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.”

Dear God, Thank you for all your mercy to me. I have committed many sins over the years, daily in fact, yet you forgive me and hold me close. Please create in me a clean heart and mouth, and please let me be loyal to you, and look to you first in good times and bad. In Jesus’ name, Amen.