Bible Text: 2 Samuel 3:7, 2 Samuel 21:1-14 | Preacher: Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Crawford | Series: Unraveled | This week we explore the story of Rizpah from 2 SAMUEL 3:7; 21:1-14, as she mourns her sons. It is a story of Public Grief that Inspires Action. A famine strikes the land and the world falls apart around Rizpah, one of Saul’s secondary or low-status wives. Her sons are murdered, offered as human sacrifices in an effort to end the famine. Instead of receiving a proper burial, they are lynched on a mountain and left there to rot. In response, Rizpah publicly laments their death, staying with the bodies at the top of the mountain for months, enduring the rainy season. When King David hears about Rizpah’s public display of grief, he retrieves the men’s bones and buries them properly with Saul in Saul’s family grave. How do we grieve in the wake of unthinkable injustice and loss? Rizpah shows us an honest, unapologetic grief and persistent strength in honoring the innocent lives of those taken from her. Her public unraveling motivates the king to amend, as best he can, some of his wrongs.

In worship we use the ancient method of Visio Divina as a way to interpret and experience scripture through looking upon a related image.