I've been reading through David's life in both I Samuel and II Samuel( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2010&version=NIV) and am struck by the practice of polygamy. Can you imagine? It's hard for a man to try to make us happy and love one wife, how miserable for those poor women . I can't imagine a life in which I am treated like an object with one purpose only. I Samuel talks about David's first wife Michal (Saul's daughter) that David must have cared something about, because after Saul gave her to another man, David went back after her. Or, women were basically like property then , so David just wanted what was rightfully his. Then, there was the wife of Nebal, Abigail, who David married after killing her husband for his greed. There were many, many more, including Bathsheba, that David married after basically raping her and having her husband killed. When I compare my married life today with that of these woman, I count myself as truly blessed!

I love my husband passionately, which I believe God made us as women to do. I, at times, find the respect part what I struggle with. I can't imagine desiring my husband and easily respecting him as King, however having little to no relationship with him and/or sharing that intimate relationship with many other women.

What can I learn from the wives of David? I guess, first of all, I can learn to look on my marriage with a sense of gratitude to God that He allowing me to be part of a monogamous marriage. Second, I can learn that we all have issues in our relationships, none are perfect, and that I need to seek out the good to dwell on each and every day; rather than dwell on the parts I'd like to change. Third, I need to learn how to truly be a servant to him. Of course, I mean a servant in the biblical sense of the word, not the earthly way we so often think of (treat) a servant. And lastly, I can learn how to respect my husband through all circumstances, even when I don't understand his ways (or His ways) or agree with his reasons.

God's Word truly is new every morning. I'm so thankful I live in a country that (for today) allows me the freedom to read my Bible openly, write a blog about Christ on a public forum, go to church and worship as boldly as I choose.....I pray that for today, I will show God how grateful I am.