Reading: 2 Samuel 7 - 11
My Verse: "In the spring, when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab with his servants and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem" (11:1).
I never tire of reading the story of David. Something different always seems to rise up out of the story for me to ponder, to wonder at. "But" has an ominous sense here. It points towards something not good, not right appearing on the horizon. There is something wrong.
LORD God, you did not tell us the reason why David did not go. We are left to ponder and wonder at this seemingly incongruous behavior of David. While his entire army is at battle, he is at leisure.
The sentence starts off "In the spring, when kings go forth . . ." This was what happened in the spring. David was a king, he should have been going forth to battle. Yet he sent his army forth and "remained in Jerusalem."
Psalms 1:1 states. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers . . " Sin is a progressive thing. Rarely does one sin "out of the blue" so to speak. As Psalms 1:1 indicates, first we walk or go toward that direction, then we hang out there - thinking more about it, finally we sit amidst or engage in the sin.
David's seemingly harmless decision leads to more and more seriously bad decisions. They eventually lead to adultery and murder. This was King David, considered one of the greatest men of You, our LORD God. Yet, he too was a fallible man, as capable of the foulest sin as any man.
A phrase supposedly coined by a John Bradford in the mid-sixteenth century comes to mind here. "There but for the grace of God go I." Meaning we are all of us capable of going down that road. We are all of us capable of the foulest sin. Paul says it in Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Isaiah 53:6 says it as well. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-everyone-to his own way. . ."
So, yes, Kind David was a great man, a man after Your own heart LORD God.(Acts 13:22) Yet, here You show him at his worst. Why do You do this? Why do you let us see that even such a man as David could crash and burn? I need to remember that You tell us that all men sin - "for all have sinned" and "All we like sheep have gone astray." It is only through You that I am able stay on my feet in the midst of the worst. And David does get back up, but only after repenting. He penned that most beautiful of Psalms! Psalms 51.
"Have mercy on me, Oh God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Was me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight . . ."
David got it so right here, all sin is against You, LORD God, isn't it? Yes, we hurt others in the process but ultimately we are rebelling against You, against Your precepts.
Thank you for this lesson. How we need to guard our hearts against evil!
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it"(Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "In the spring, when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab with his servants and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem" (11:1).
I never tire of reading the story of David. Something different always seems to rise up out of the story for me to ponder, to wonder at. "But" has an ominous sense here. It points towards something not good, not right appearing on the horizon. There is something wrong.
LORD God, you did not tell us the reason why David did not go. We are left to ponder and wonder at this seemingly incongruous behavior of David. While his entire army is at battle, he is at leisure.
The sentence starts off "In the spring, when kings go forth . . ." This was what happened in the spring. David was a king, he should have been going forth to battle. Yet he sent his army forth and "remained in Jerusalem."
Psalms 1:1 states. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers . . " Sin is a progressive thing. Rarely does one sin "out of the blue" so to speak. As Psalms 1:1 indicates, first we walk or go toward that direction, then we hang out there - thinking more about it, finally we sit amidst or engage in the sin.
David's seemingly harmless decision leads to more and more seriously bad decisions. They eventually lead to adultery and murder. This was King David, considered one of the greatest men of You, our LORD God. Yet, he too was a fallible man, as capable of the foulest sin as any man.
A phrase supposedly coined by a John Bradford in the mid-sixteenth century comes to mind here. "There but for the grace of God go I." Meaning we are all of us capable of going down that road. We are all of us capable of the foulest sin. Paul says it in Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Isaiah 53:6 says it as well. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-everyone-to his own way. . ."
So, yes, Kind David was a great man, a man after Your own heart LORD God.(Acts 13:22) Yet, here You show him at his worst. Why do You do this? Why do you let us see that even such a man as David could crash and burn? I need to remember that You tell us that all men sin - "for all have sinned" and "All we like sheep have gone astray." It is only through You that I am able stay on my feet in the midst of the worst. And David does get back up, but only after repenting. He penned that most beautiful of Psalms! Psalms 51.
"Have mercy on me, Oh God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Was me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight . . ."
David got it so right here, all sin is against You, LORD God, isn't it? Yes, we hurt others in the process but ultimately we are rebelling against You, against Your precepts.
Thank you for this lesson. How we need to guard our hearts against evil!
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it"(Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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