Soap - David's Reaction to His Sin

A series of Scripture that I thought was particularly wonderful and a definite blessing. The Psalm is great too! I'm going to definitely go back on that one as well...

(S): Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion."

2 Samuel 12:5-6

(O): As I read the story of David and how he took Uriah's wife and and impregnated her, I was very sad. Not only did he willingly take her, but he also set up a ploy to have Uriah killed, so as to not face him. This was David's falling point and it shows the imperfection of even the greatest of Israel's kings. This particular point in Scripture, Nathan told David a story that represented the evil David had committed against God and immediately David's reaction was both surprising but also normal.

Unknowingly, David condemned himself and basically seeing sin from the perspective of that which of how God sees it-even David was enraged at the rich man who stole the ewe from the poor man. In the same way, I feel that if we ever are to condemn sinners, we are basically condemning ourselves. David was appalled at the atrocity the rich man had committed-but how sad is it that David didn't know it was him all along.

(S): Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

2 Samuel 12:9-10

(O): How does God respond? In a just and righteous manner. Anyone can see that David messed up. Big time. God punishes David by cursing him as, "the sword shall never depart from your house..." I wonder what that actually means? Does it mean that David will never rest from war? Or does it mean that he will face his own troubles by the sword? That he should suffer in the same way? I'm not sure, I guess I have to read on. The part that got me the most was "because you have despised Me..." Oh man. This is how serious sin is. That should you sin against God, you DESPISE Him...that the very act of sin is hating God. That is truly terrible, but it makes sense-because God is an absolutely holy God and those who sin will infinitely offend an infinitely holy God who cannot commune with sin. To sin means to hate God. Crazy.

(S): Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die..."

2 Samuel 12:13

(O): The thing I respect most about David is that he didn't merely say he sinned against God-reading in the Psalm 51, he said much MORE than that. He was in anguish. His very soul was troubled to the point of agony-he was a broken and contrite man before the Lord and he humbly asked God to forgive a broken man. And so, what do I learn about my Lord? He is truly merciful and truly forgiving-here, we see a great example of how God makes good on His promises. Should his people turn away from their sins and repent, He would hear them and heal their land.

(S): So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the Lord and worshiped.

He said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, "Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.' But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

2 Samuel 12:20, 22-23

(O): After David fasted and prayed for his son, born of Bathsheba-his son inevitably died as God promised that he would surely die. But David's response is amazing in my opinion. He prayed and interceded for his child in the hopes of God being gracious-but God, being good, made good on His promise. David recognized that he received a great punishment, but also recognized that God was still God. He got up and worshiped God. In the midst of sin, repentance and mourning-David still knew who his God was, and that is why I respect king David so much.

A: Should I ever condemn in anger or in outright judgment, that I would understand I condemn myself. I can only rebuke and remind myself and others that we are all sinners-when we feel justified in condemning others for sinning, we may even see how God sees us: Blind to our own sins. I will daily remember the cross and see the incredibly huge debt that was erased.

From recognizing my sin, I will fall down before God in realization of much needed repentance. This was the only time I recall David ever sinning. I probably have to fall down before God everyday. I will also remember that God is merciful and because He sent His Son, I am forgiven.

And in His wonderful grace, I will worship Him despite my suffering. Will I mourn my sins or flinch from the discipline my Father gives? No. He is gracious and He is swift to deal with His children in correcting them. I will be obedient and submissive to His ways-as God is God.

P: Father, You are an enduring and patient God. I love that so much about You. You are also so justified and righteous. In all ways You are holy-and that is so praiseworthy. It is a wonderful thing to serve a holy and upright King-there is no one greater than You! In this time of investing myself in Your Word, I find more and more things about You that are great. I pray that it would become not just things about You, but that I would just KNOW You to greater extents.

I have unresolved conflict amongst friends and I see that I complain so much against my situations when I bring it upon myself (and yet I blame You a lot of the time). I am sorry for these things, and I will do my best to react just like David when it comes to sin-with revulsion and with repentance. For You hate sin for sin makes us haters of all that is good and holy, which is You.

God, tonight was awesome! I'm so blessed to see our three ministries gather in one place to worship You. It was truly great, but I pray there would an extended change and a newfound unity amongst Your body, God. But, I felt refreshed and I found myself wanting to be more in Your Word. Thank You so much!

Lord, I ask that I could only be more intimate with You. I feel like I'm not incredibly close to You-that these prayers feel like letters almost. But God, I want to face to face with You everyday. I want to yearn for You and desire You in ways I can't even imagine-but because You are infinite, I kind of imagine there's more than this. There must be more than this. So God, I'm going to try and do my best to chase after You-everyone always tells me that You're chasing me, so maybe we can meet somewhere in between :] But, truly, God-I want more of You. Your Word is a lamp and Your Spirit is like water. Light my way and hydrate my soul, Father-this sounds selfish, but I want to be selfish for You. I want to see and hear and feel You more-that I may sit at Your feet and dwell in Your courts, to love You and seek You. This is what I ask-all for the sake of laying down my life to honor Christ. All these things in Christ I pray, amen.

Soli Deo Gloria