Reading: II Samuel 12 - 20
My Verse: "Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? . . .Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house . . . I will raise up evil against you out of your own house" (12:9-11).
Sin has a way of haunting us. While our patient and loving LORD God will forgive us our sins, He cannot or will not completely do away with the dreadful consequences. The truly sad thing is that those consequences do not impact the sinner only but the loved ones of that sinner. David's few moments of pleasure, his following efforts to cover up that lapse resulted in havoc in his family - his children truly reaped the consequences of David's sin.
"Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house." First his son Amnon, who raped his own sister, died by the sword when Absalom, his own brother killed him to avenge the rape (13:29). Then Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel from his father the king; tried to steal the kingdom; finally, also dying by the sword (18:15). Adonijah, David's eldest died by the sword when plotting to take the kingdom away from his brother Solomon (I Kings 2:25).
"I will raise up evil against you out of your own house." This is particularly poignant. We so want our sin to remain secret. David tried to hide his sin. "For you did it secretly" (12:12). But You, LORD God told David that the evil done against him, David, would be done openly. And so it was. Absalom, his son, openly before all Israel, went into David's concubines. "So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel" (16:22).
All this awfulness resulting from David's one adulterous act and his efforts to hide it! Throughout scripture we are warned against this sin. "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)
You, LORD God even warn us to avoid all appearances of such sin. “Now we exhort you, brethren, . . . Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:14, 22).
We can be so thankful that we do not need to be chained down by any sin. You, LORD God can give us the victory, the freedom that we all desire.
"But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57 "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:37
Our motto should ever be - coram deo! According to wikipedia the definition is "in the presence of God." R.C. Sproul goes on to say, "To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze."
I am comforted by this, especially when things are not going so well. I know I am not immune to sin or the sins of those around me. But I know, too, I can lift up my arms and ask You, LORD God to carry me through the dreadful consequences of sin.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? . . .Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house . . . I will raise up evil against you out of your own house" (12:9-11).
Sin has a way of haunting us. While our patient and loving LORD God will forgive us our sins, He cannot or will not completely do away with the dreadful consequences. The truly sad thing is that those consequences do not impact the sinner only but the loved ones of that sinner. David's few moments of pleasure, his following efforts to cover up that lapse resulted in havoc in his family - his children truly reaped the consequences of David's sin.
"Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house." First his son Amnon, who raped his own sister, died by the sword when Absalom, his own brother killed him to avenge the rape (13:29). Then Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel from his father the king; tried to steal the kingdom; finally, also dying by the sword (18:15). Adonijah, David's eldest died by the sword when plotting to take the kingdom away from his brother Solomon (I Kings 2:25).
"I will raise up evil against you out of your own house." This is particularly poignant. We so want our sin to remain secret. David tried to hide his sin. "For you did it secretly" (12:12). But You, LORD God told David that the evil done against him, David, would be done openly. And so it was. Absalom, his son, openly before all Israel, went into David's concubines. "So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel" (16:22).
All this awfulness resulting from David's one adulterous act and his efforts to hide it! Throughout scripture we are warned against this sin. "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)
You, LORD God even warn us to avoid all appearances of such sin. “Now we exhort you, brethren, . . . Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:14, 22).
We can be so thankful that we do not need to be chained down by any sin. You, LORD God can give us the victory, the freedom that we all desire.
"But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57 "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:37
Our motto should ever be - coram deo! According to wikipedia the definition is "in the presence of God." R.C. Sproul goes on to say, "To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze."
I am comforted by this, especially when things are not going so well. I know I am not immune to sin or the sins of those around me. But I know, too, I can lift up my arms and ask You, LORD God to carry me through the dreadful consequences of sin.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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