Good morning,
Temptations. We all hate to be tempted. What we do when we are tempted demonstrates our spiritual condition. Obedient to God or obedient to Satan. We choose.
We will explore 1 Corinthians 10:13, David’s sin with Bathsheba, David confronted with his sin, and Psalm 51, David’s repentance, plea for mercy, request for cleansing, and willingness to teach others about God’s righteousness.
2 Samuel 12:1-14
Story of the rich man and the lamb (1-6)
And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.4 And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:” 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
Nathan declares, “…Thou art the man…” (7)
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
Punishment (8-14)
“8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.”
David seems to really not realize that his behavior with Bathsheba was wrong. He is now confronted with his sin. The consequences are great. He finally understands and repents.
When we sin, there are consequences. God knows what it will take to bring us back to Him. He executes His punishment. We again have a decision to make. Repent or continue to walk away from God.
To continue in sin does not meet the common sense test. We need to repent of our sin, ask God’s forgiveness, plead for His mercy, and move on.
Tomorrow we will look at Psalm 51 and see how David prayed for forgiveness.
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001
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