I apologize
for my delay in posts. Preparing for the Womens Ministry Spring Tea put me
behind. I’ll quickly catch us up. Last week gave a historical overview of David’s
reign and focused specifically on his early years as King. The major theme was
that, “David did exactly as the Lord commanded.” Although he was King, although
he was wise, although he had to consult no one, David ruled with complete
dependence on God. The Psalms scattered throughout our reading show us that
David held an unwavering faith. Last week was a week for us, as children of God,
to look at this man’s example and realize that his relationship with God is the
kind of relationship we are to seek. This week picks up in 2 Samuel 7 when
David finally resides in his palace. What I love about David is that he
experienced every human emotion and life experience possible. His story this
week begins with a good desire; he wants to build a temple for the ark. We saw
last week where David was overcome with pure joy at the return of the ark. His
heart is right. He simply wants to build a home worthy of the presence of God. Thank
goodness for the Nathan’s in our lives. God sends Nathan to tell David “no.” It
wasn’t that David’s desire or motive was wrong. It just simply wasn’t God’s
timing or plan for David. Goodness, what wisdom we as Christians could learn
from just this one day of reading. So often we have such good intentions,
desires and motives. Yet what we tend to do is fail to hear the Holy Spirit, or
wise people in our lives like Nathan, who say “not yet.” We end up jumping
headlong into this good thing for God, but God is saying “Um, no I don’t want
you to do that.” Good intentions, even for God’s glory, can be out of His will.
We have to stop and seek Him before we pursue anything. We cannot just assume
that if something is for God, that it’s ok for us to just go ahead with it. Let’s
continue on with our reading. I wish I could spend days talking about the
Psalms. I am so deeply thankful that God gave us David’s pure, raw emotion. His
heart is entirely abandoned to God. David is a successful, respected, powerful
king; the result is victory. What an easy position to become prideful, arrogant,
self-seeking and self-sufficient. David, however, returns all the glory, credit
and praise to God. What a man. What an example. Sadly, though, even the most
Godly can fall. You know, it’s hard for me to read this part of David’s life
because I just want him to have a spotless legacy. Up until this point, David
leads his army. This time, David stays and sends them out. There are many
assumptions we could make. Maybe he was tired. Maybe things were really bad
with his other wives (after all we saw what a nag Micah was last week). Perhaps
he just simply trusted Joab or he could have just been having a flesh, lazy
moment. Whatever the case, it was a bad decision. Something else is different
here, as well. He acts impulsively, which is not normally in his character. He
consulted God on even small things. Here he just jumps right in to the affair.
No thought. No hesitation. Not only does he take another man’s wife, but he
tries to cover the sin and when that doesn’t work, he has her husband killed.
David stays and Uriah pays. Oh, ladies, this is such an important truth that we
cannot miss. Usually, what we focus on is the fact that David should have gone
to battle and none of this would have ever happened. That’s true and very
important for us to see. I would take that a step further and point out that it’s
clearly evident that David and God have a deep, intimate relationship. David
knew to turn his head but he didn’t. There really are no excuses for him. What
I want us to see, though, is that it wasn’t just David that suffered
consequences for his actions. Bathsheba had no say in the matter. She was
subject to the king. As a result of his sin, she was publically humiliated,
lost her husband and a son. Shame and disgrace became her reality. Uriah lost
his wife and his life. The household of David went into a chaotic frenzy. One
man makes one decision and so many pay the prices. Ladies, our sins cause pain for
others. It will never just affect us. When we take on that Christ-like characteristic
of thinking of others before ourselves, many of the bad decisions we are
tempted to make will be thwarted. That mindset will bring things to a screeching
halt because we will stop to consider how this one decision might hurt those
around me. This can apply to every type of situation. Back to David. Isn’t it
just like God to bring good from such a horrible tragedy? God gives David and
Bathsheba a second son, Solomon who would be the king to build the temple of
God. Have you ever stopped to consider that it was Bathsheba who said Proverbs
31 to her son Solomon? What a woman, who rose above the disgrace and lived as a
Godly wife and mother rather than a resentful woman. Let me end with pointing a
few things about David that we usually miss, but that I deeply respect. First,
when David was confronted with his sin, he immediately repented. He did not
excuse himself. He didn’t play the “I’m the king card.” He called it like it
was and said, “I have sinned against God.” His response was not about the
embarrassment of getting caught. We read Psalms 51, his song of repentance and
see the true heart of repentance. This isn’t David’s final lesson for us this
week though. He goes back out to battle. Do you see the significance of that?
He screwed up, I mean in the worst way. But, he entered back into a right relationship
with God and he didn’t stay down. So many times, when we or someone we know
blows it, we believe the lie that we are done; that God is done with us. David,
however, got back to what he should have been doing to begin with; leading his
army. Did you notice verse 13 in his Psalm of repentance (Psalm 51)? He said
that he would “teach the rebellious Your ways.” David was not going to waste
his mistake but use it to allow God to teach others. There is much to learn
from this one man.
No comments:
Post a Comment