The Functional Atheism of Bullies and Other Sinners (Family Worship in 2Sam 2:12–3:11)

Why does Abner overestimate his likelihood of success and Joab and Judah? Pastor leads his family in today’s “Hopewell @Home” passage. In these thirty-two verses, we find a man who knows that Yahweh has sworn to give the kingdom to David, but who becomes comfortable resisting Yahweh’s king because by pushing around those men that he can. All sinners know that God is, and that He is a punisher of those who resist Him. But they lull themselves into functional atheism by a perceived ability to get what they want in the short-term.