Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 12:13-23
Last week we examined the incident with Bathsheeba. It essentially goes like this: David saw and desired Bathsheeba. He got what he wanted and then tried to cover things up at first by making it look like the husband was the father, then by simply having the father/husband killed.
So we see a few “small” sins cause a lot of problems. And as we saw last week and will continue to see today these problems didn’t just affect David. Bathsheeba lost her husband and as we will look at today, her child. Uriah lost his life. Joab, the commander of David’s army lost some integrity with the troops, and probably some loyalty among them as well. For sure, his leadership ability was called into question by the soldiers. And finally, several of David’s soldiers lost their life as well.
All because David saw, wanted, got, and covered up. Sometimes this type of thing happens to us as well. Hopefully, our actions don’t escalate to the level of David’s, but they could.
The idea of last week’s lesson was that these little sins can wear down our consciences to allow in more and more sin eventually severing our relationship with God. And that is exactly what Satan wants.
Now when we do sin, and we all do, we know that we can go to God for forgiveness and He will forgive. However, that does not mean that we won’t suffer earthly consequences for our actions. And that is today’s lesson.
The story starts off at the beginning of Chapter 12 with Nathan coming to David to tell him a story. He says, there once was a rich man and a poor man. The rich man was having a dinner for a friend and took the poor man’s only lamb and slaughtered it for the meal.
As we have seen before David was the best King that Israel has ever had and he tried to be fair to all. So, David didn’t like this story about a rich man taking what little a poor man had. So he told Nathan that this rich man should be punished, in fact, he deserves to die, but the law required that the man repay 4 times the price.
Nathan replies, well David you are that man! David was the rich man, Uriah the poor man, and Bathsheeba was the lamb. Nathan used a story or parable to get his point across to David. Jesus also used many parables, the only difference is most people didn’t understand the meaning. David clearly got the message here.
It is difficult for any of us to be truly objective about our own sin. I think we all realize that we aren’t perfect, but on the other hand we also think we aren’t that bad either. We don’t want to see our sin for sin because of our ego, our pride, or maybe even out of embarrassment.
Here is David, a man after God’s own heart. God has given David everything and has promised to continue to be with him throughout his life. But David wanted something else. David wanted Bathsheeba, even though he already had his three wives and all of King Saul’s wives.
He wanted more. David thought his way was better than God’s. How many times has that happened to us? We look and saw and said we want that, rather than looking at all that we do have.
Right after this story from Nathan, David goes to God and confesses his sin. Of course God forgives him as He forgives all of us, but David still has to suffer the consequences of his actions.
David committed adultery and murder, both offenses were punishable by death. Now David was spared by God, but his ancestors were plagued with violence. As we read this morning, his son with Bathsheeba died. Later David’s son Amnon is killed, so is his son Absalom and Adonijah.
Now many people always have the question why did this child die? Why did God do this? Didn’t God say he would not punish the child for the father’s sin? I cannot answer any of these questions and I don’t believe anybody can. We do not know the mind of God.
We do know that David had to live with the death of this child on his mind for the rest of his life. Maybe some of you have experienced this. That is no doubt a very tough thing to deal with.
Anytime someone starts talking about a situation like this I jump to verse 23, But now he is dead. . . Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” That is such a powerful statement.
The death of a loved one is always difficult to deal with, but we know that if they received Jesus Christ into their life as Lord and Savior, then we too can say with David, they will not return to us, but we shall go to them!
For children there is no if statement. Children go to be with God in heaven immediately upon death. And I don’t say that just to make someone feel good. I believe it to be true based upon God’s word and obviously David does too.
We look at the death of David and Bathsheeba’s son as a very sad, upsetting, terrible thing. And it is, don’t get me wrong, but look at the lives of the rest of David’s family. This child was spared all of that.
Why does God do the things He does? I have no idea, but I know that He has a plan and it’s a good one. Sure some things may seem wrong or crazy to us, but I trust God knows what He is doing.
God is good to us, even though we sin against Him. God is indeed merciful to us even though we will suffer for our actions. God is gracious to us, even when we turn our backs to Him.
Let us truly put our trust in God’s hands. Let us submit our lives to Him knowing that He does what is best, right, and just.
Closing prayer
Lord, we thank you for our time together this morning and these past several years. We are thankful for your grace, your mercy, and your love even when we can’t understand or make sense of the things that are happening in our lives.
Help us to trust you more fully with our lives knowing that you have a plan for each and every one of us individually and collectively.
AMEN
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Facing Temptation
Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 11
Last time we left off with David bringing home the Ark of God to Jerusalem. He started off doing it his own way, but when God’s wrath was made known to them. David stopped and returned to God’s ways of doing things.
David gets the Ark to Jerusalem and decides he wants to build a temple for the Ark to stay in. God says no, but his son will do that. Instead God has much bigger plans for David.
God says to David that He will make his name great. He will give Israel a place to live. He will give David rest and make him victorious. Finally, God tells David that He will give him a son to succeed him, but also a Son that would rule forever. Of course, the immediate son was Solomon and Jesus Christ is the Son that rules forever.
After this David starts to see God’s Word come true. He is continuously victorious in battle and his name is made great. Then one day, David goes up on his roof and sees this beautiful woman and says, “I want that.” And as king, you pretty much get what you want.
We see then a bunch of what we would call small little sins continue to build up into a massive web of deceit and lies.
First our account of David and Bathsheeba starts off with David maybe being a little bit lazy or arrogant or egotistical. It is spring time and that is when the kings go off to war because during the winter it is cold and there is not as much food available. So kings go to war in the spring.
But not David. He stays back at his castle. Wakes up from a little nap and decides to go for a walk on his roof. So sin number one is David wasn’t doing what he should have been doing. He was idle and he got into trouble.
I’ve never been in the military, but I know some of you have been and I’ve talked with some of my friends who were. They would always tell me about how the Sergeant or whoever was in charge would always give them stupid ridicules things to do.
Why? Because if you have a bunch of soldiers sitting around doing nothing then they are going to get into trouble. This applies to any of us. This is what happened to David. But his sin doesn’t stop there.
David sees this beautiful women, now remember David is married already to a couple of other beautiful women, but he wants her. So David’s next little sin is desiring something that he doesn’t have.
Wow, how often has that gotten us into trouble as well. Even if we don’t act on that desire it still makes us feel bad that we can’t have whatever it is we want. David of course, being King can get what he wants, so little sin number three is David pursues Bathsheeba. Then comes sin number four, David sends for Bathsheeba, even after he finds out she was married.
Think about it. This entire situation could have been avoided if David had simply gone to war with his troops. Or didn’t look at Bathsheeba, or inquiry about her, or send for her.
Since David ignored his conscience through these little sins, he was good to go when Bathsheeba arrives at his bedroom. And that’s the point. Satan doesn’t attack us with this really massive temptation. He uses these small little sins as we call them to enable us to justify our actions.
Satan wears down our defenses and before you know it you are knee deep in some serious sin and separated from God. If you go home and read this entire chapter this afternoon or this evening you will see that God’s name is not mentioned until the very final sentence where it says, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”
And that is what Satan wants. He wants to separate us from God. He wants us to do things that displease the Lord.
So now we have David committing several little sins that lead to adultery. I would like to say that it is at this point that David gets on his knees in prayer and repentance to God, but that isn’t what happens.
Instead of confessing his sins, he tries to cover them up by sending for Bathsheeba’s husband and tries to get him to sleep with her so it will look like the child is the husband’s. But Uriah is an honorable man and will not sleep with his wife no matter how hard David tries.
So David comes up with another plan. He sends a letter to his commander to have this man Uriah killed during battle. Unbelievable isn’t it! Here we have a man after God’s own heart, lusting after a married woman, impregnating her, trying to cover it up, then killing her husband. Unreal.
As you look at this web of lies and deception that David had built you see how many people it involved. Obviously David and Bathsheeba, but also David’s servants had to know what was going on and were no doubt sworn to secrecy. The king’s commander also had to realize that something was fishy with the letter that he received to have Uriah killed.
Of course Uriah has to pay for David’s sin with his life and not just Uriah but other soldiers died during the battle as well. Finally, we see next time that David and Bathsheeba’s child dies as a result of all this as well.
This is what happens when we stray from God. There is a lesson here for all of us to learn this morning.
One author wrote, “The process works like this. First, the thought is allowed to enter into our minds. Second, the imagination is sparked by the thought. Third, we feel a sense of pleasure at the fantasy and we entertain it.
Fourth, and finally, we engage in the evil action [giving in] to its urges. This is how little by little, temptations gain entrance and overcome us if they are not resisted at the beginning. The longer we let them overcome us, the weaker we become, and the stronger the enemy [is] against us.”
There’s an old saying,
Sow a thought – reap an action.
Sow an action – reap a habit.
Sow a habit – reap a character.
Sow a character – reap a destiny.
How true that is. We need to remember that we are what we make ourselves to be. We can be children of God or we can be children of Satan. Who are we going to listen to and trust with the everyday matters of life.
Closing prayer
Lord, we come to you now seeking your guidance in our everyday matters of life. Help us to turn from our temptations that we face. And when we do happen to give in and mess up, strengthen us to not cover up our sins, but to come to you for forgiveness. Grant us the grace, mercy and peace that you desire for us. AMEN.
Last time we left off with David bringing home the Ark of God to Jerusalem. He started off doing it his own way, but when God’s wrath was made known to them. David stopped and returned to God’s ways of doing things.
David gets the Ark to Jerusalem and decides he wants to build a temple for the Ark to stay in. God says no, but his son will do that. Instead God has much bigger plans for David.
God says to David that He will make his name great. He will give Israel a place to live. He will give David rest and make him victorious. Finally, God tells David that He will give him a son to succeed him, but also a Son that would rule forever. Of course, the immediate son was Solomon and Jesus Christ is the Son that rules forever.
After this David starts to see God’s Word come true. He is continuously victorious in battle and his name is made great. Then one day, David goes up on his roof and sees this beautiful woman and says, “I want that.” And as king, you pretty much get what you want.
We see then a bunch of what we would call small little sins continue to build up into a massive web of deceit and lies.
First our account of David and Bathsheeba starts off with David maybe being a little bit lazy or arrogant or egotistical. It is spring time and that is when the kings go off to war because during the winter it is cold and there is not as much food available. So kings go to war in the spring.
But not David. He stays back at his castle. Wakes up from a little nap and decides to go for a walk on his roof. So sin number one is David wasn’t doing what he should have been doing. He was idle and he got into trouble.
I’ve never been in the military, but I know some of you have been and I’ve talked with some of my friends who were. They would always tell me about how the Sergeant or whoever was in charge would always give them stupid ridicules things to do.
Why? Because if you have a bunch of soldiers sitting around doing nothing then they are going to get into trouble. This applies to any of us. This is what happened to David. But his sin doesn’t stop there.
David sees this beautiful women, now remember David is married already to a couple of other beautiful women, but he wants her. So David’s next little sin is desiring something that he doesn’t have.
Wow, how often has that gotten us into trouble as well. Even if we don’t act on that desire it still makes us feel bad that we can’t have whatever it is we want. David of course, being King can get what he wants, so little sin number three is David pursues Bathsheeba. Then comes sin number four, David sends for Bathsheeba, even after he finds out she was married.
Think about it. This entire situation could have been avoided if David had simply gone to war with his troops. Or didn’t look at Bathsheeba, or inquiry about her, or send for her.
Since David ignored his conscience through these little sins, he was good to go when Bathsheeba arrives at his bedroom. And that’s the point. Satan doesn’t attack us with this really massive temptation. He uses these small little sins as we call them to enable us to justify our actions.
Satan wears down our defenses and before you know it you are knee deep in some serious sin and separated from God. If you go home and read this entire chapter this afternoon or this evening you will see that God’s name is not mentioned until the very final sentence where it says, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”
And that is what Satan wants. He wants to separate us from God. He wants us to do things that displease the Lord.
So now we have David committing several little sins that lead to adultery. I would like to say that it is at this point that David gets on his knees in prayer and repentance to God, but that isn’t what happens.
Instead of confessing his sins, he tries to cover them up by sending for Bathsheeba’s husband and tries to get him to sleep with her so it will look like the child is the husband’s. But Uriah is an honorable man and will not sleep with his wife no matter how hard David tries.
So David comes up with another plan. He sends a letter to his commander to have this man Uriah killed during battle. Unbelievable isn’t it! Here we have a man after God’s own heart, lusting after a married woman, impregnating her, trying to cover it up, then killing her husband. Unreal.
As you look at this web of lies and deception that David had built you see how many people it involved. Obviously David and Bathsheeba, but also David’s servants had to know what was going on and were no doubt sworn to secrecy. The king’s commander also had to realize that something was fishy with the letter that he received to have Uriah killed.
Of course Uriah has to pay for David’s sin with his life and not just Uriah but other soldiers died during the battle as well. Finally, we see next time that David and Bathsheeba’s child dies as a result of all this as well.
This is what happens when we stray from God. There is a lesson here for all of us to learn this morning.
One author wrote, “The process works like this. First, the thought is allowed to enter into our minds. Second, the imagination is sparked by the thought. Third, we feel a sense of pleasure at the fantasy and we entertain it.
Fourth, and finally, we engage in the evil action [giving in] to its urges. This is how little by little, temptations gain entrance and overcome us if they are not resisted at the beginning. The longer we let them overcome us, the weaker we become, and the stronger the enemy [is] against us.”
There’s an old saying,
Sow a thought – reap an action.
Sow an action – reap a habit.
Sow a habit – reap a character.
Sow a character – reap a destiny.
How true that is. We need to remember that we are what we make ourselves to be. We can be children of God or we can be children of Satan. Who are we going to listen to and trust with the everyday matters of life.
Closing prayer
Lord, we come to you now seeking your guidance in our everyday matters of life. Help us to turn from our temptations that we face. And when we do happen to give in and mess up, strengthen us to not cover up our sins, but to come to you for forgiveness. Grant us the grace, mercy and peace that you desire for us. AMEN.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
God’s Wrath and Blessing
Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 6 read 1-11
Last time we looked at the range of emotions that David’s men went through when they returned to their hometown only to find it burnt to the ground and all of their belongings including their families was gone.
We saw how they were at first distressed, saddened at the sight. Then they blamed David and wanted to kill him. However, they went to battle the enemy after checking in with God’s plan. They were victorious and happy and celebrating until they got back from battle and didn’t want to share the loot.
After this battle, Saul knows he is finished and David will be king. At the end of 1 Samuel, King Saul is killed in a battle against the Philistines. Not only is Saul killed so is his son Jonathan, David’s buddy.
Some guy gets this great idea to go and tell David that King Saul is dead and he is the one that did it. David listens to this man describe Saul’s death, then David has him executed for killing the King.
All of Israel mourned and fasted at the loss of their King, including David and his men. After this, David is anointed King over Judah and Israel. He also gets his first wife, Michael back and gets the city of Jerusalem. And as I have said before, they all lived happily ever after. Well not really as we see in our scripture this morning.
Everyone is once again happy and excited. God has been good to them. They are finally bringing the ark of God home to Jerusalem. They are singing, dancing, playing music. It is truly an awesome time.
But then suddenly the ox stumbled a little bit and a man by the name of Uzzah reached out and grabbed the ark of God to steady it. God struck him dead right there on the spot. The party was over. No more singing. No more dancing. In fact no more moving the ark of God.
What a shock. Here was a guy that was just trying to help out and God struck him dead. What kind of a God would do that? I’ll tell you. A holy one. A righteous one.
See way back in the book of Numbers God goes into great detail about how the ark was to be moved. The Levities were to use poles and carry the ark, not put it on a cart and have oxen pull it. So David and his men were directly disobeying God.
God also said that no one was to touch the ark. They were to use the poles to lift it. The penalty for touching the ark was death. So no matter how innocently it was done, touching the ark was in direct violation of God’s law and was punishable by death.
This rule of God’s wasn’t just made up for God’s own fun and amusement. This was a means of preserving the sense of God’s holiness and the fear of drawing near to him without proper preparation.
Think about it. How many times do you come into worship and maybe aren’t prepared for it. Or maybe you just go through the motions of the service. This was always one of my disappointments with the Catholic church. While at Saint Francis I would see many people and students just go through the rituals and traditions without actually preparing their hearts for worship.
And you can bet once the mass was over, they went right back to their sinful ways. I’m not picking on the Catholics here, I’m just saying that is what I saw. And it can happen to any of us if we just go through the motions without preparing ourselves for worship of God the way He wants.
God wants us to have a relationship with Him and we need to have that relationship on His terms, not ours.
After Uzzah is struck dead by God, David becomes very angry. At first, probably a little angry at God for killing this man who was helping out. Then David probably realizes he was at fault for not obeying God and is angry with himself.
So David decides to leave the ark of God there for a little while to give God some time to cool off, so to speak. As if that will help. The ark is placed in the house of a Levite there. God blesses this house for the next three months.
David figures God’s wrath has subsided and decides to continue the journey to Jerusalem. This time, however, he follows God’s prescribed methods. In fact, after the first six steps, David sacrifices an ox and another animal to God.
When they finally get the ark to Jerusalem, David is so thrilled that he dances for joy in the street. He also makes an offering to God and gave everyone some food to eat.
So what’s in this story for us today. Well, I mentioned a few things all ready. One of course being the fact that we need to prepare ourselves when we come before the Lord to worship Him. In fact, we need to obey Him throughout our lives.
The main idea though is that our God is a God of wrath and a God of blessing. Most people and preachers talk about God’s love for us all the time, but rarely do they mention His wrath.
The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. Sure the Old Testament saints were under God’s laws. Today we are under His love, His grace. But jump to the end of the book. In Revelation God’s wrath will be back.
God’s holiness and goodness are most clearly revealed in the cross of Christ. God’s holiness demanded the death of His Son for our sins. But His goodness and love flow out from the cross offering us acceptance, forgiveness and eternal life.
Let us truly worship and thank the God who saves us.
Closing prayer
Lord we thank you for being a God of wrath and of blessing. We sure do enjoy the many blessings that you have given to each and every one of us. However, we know that you would not and could not be a holy and righteous God without wrath upon those who reject you and disobey you.
We ask that you will continue to strengthen us through our journey in life. We ask for your forgiveness when we wrong you by disobeying you. We pray that your will shall be done in and through us.
AMEN.
Last time we looked at the range of emotions that David’s men went through when they returned to their hometown only to find it burnt to the ground and all of their belongings including their families was gone.
We saw how they were at first distressed, saddened at the sight. Then they blamed David and wanted to kill him. However, they went to battle the enemy after checking in with God’s plan. They were victorious and happy and celebrating until they got back from battle and didn’t want to share the loot.
After this battle, Saul knows he is finished and David will be king. At the end of 1 Samuel, King Saul is killed in a battle against the Philistines. Not only is Saul killed so is his son Jonathan, David’s buddy.
Some guy gets this great idea to go and tell David that King Saul is dead and he is the one that did it. David listens to this man describe Saul’s death, then David has him executed for killing the King.
All of Israel mourned and fasted at the loss of their King, including David and his men. After this, David is anointed King over Judah and Israel. He also gets his first wife, Michael back and gets the city of Jerusalem. And as I have said before, they all lived happily ever after. Well not really as we see in our scripture this morning.
Everyone is once again happy and excited. God has been good to them. They are finally bringing the ark of God home to Jerusalem. They are singing, dancing, playing music. It is truly an awesome time.
But then suddenly the ox stumbled a little bit and a man by the name of Uzzah reached out and grabbed the ark of God to steady it. God struck him dead right there on the spot. The party was over. No more singing. No more dancing. In fact no more moving the ark of God.
What a shock. Here was a guy that was just trying to help out and God struck him dead. What kind of a God would do that? I’ll tell you. A holy one. A righteous one.
See way back in the book of Numbers God goes into great detail about how the ark was to be moved. The Levities were to use poles and carry the ark, not put it on a cart and have oxen pull it. So David and his men were directly disobeying God.
God also said that no one was to touch the ark. They were to use the poles to lift it. The penalty for touching the ark was death. So no matter how innocently it was done, touching the ark was in direct violation of God’s law and was punishable by death.
This rule of God’s wasn’t just made up for God’s own fun and amusement. This was a means of preserving the sense of God’s holiness and the fear of drawing near to him without proper preparation.
Think about it. How many times do you come into worship and maybe aren’t prepared for it. Or maybe you just go through the motions of the service. This was always one of my disappointments with the Catholic church. While at Saint Francis I would see many people and students just go through the rituals and traditions without actually preparing their hearts for worship.
And you can bet once the mass was over, they went right back to their sinful ways. I’m not picking on the Catholics here, I’m just saying that is what I saw. And it can happen to any of us if we just go through the motions without preparing ourselves for worship of God the way He wants.
God wants us to have a relationship with Him and we need to have that relationship on His terms, not ours.
After Uzzah is struck dead by God, David becomes very angry. At first, probably a little angry at God for killing this man who was helping out. Then David probably realizes he was at fault for not obeying God and is angry with himself.
So David decides to leave the ark of God there for a little while to give God some time to cool off, so to speak. As if that will help. The ark is placed in the house of a Levite there. God blesses this house for the next three months.
David figures God’s wrath has subsided and decides to continue the journey to Jerusalem. This time, however, he follows God’s prescribed methods. In fact, after the first six steps, David sacrifices an ox and another animal to God.
When they finally get the ark to Jerusalem, David is so thrilled that he dances for joy in the street. He also makes an offering to God and gave everyone some food to eat.
So what’s in this story for us today. Well, I mentioned a few things all ready. One of course being the fact that we need to prepare ourselves when we come before the Lord to worship Him. In fact, we need to obey Him throughout our lives.
The main idea though is that our God is a God of wrath and a God of blessing. Most people and preachers talk about God’s love for us all the time, but rarely do they mention His wrath.
The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. Sure the Old Testament saints were under God’s laws. Today we are under His love, His grace. But jump to the end of the book. In Revelation God’s wrath will be back.
God’s holiness and goodness are most clearly revealed in the cross of Christ. God’s holiness demanded the death of His Son for our sins. But His goodness and love flow out from the cross offering us acceptance, forgiveness and eternal life.
Let us truly worship and thank the God who saves us.
Closing prayer
Lord we thank you for being a God of wrath and of blessing. We sure do enjoy the many blessings that you have given to each and every one of us. However, we know that you would not and could not be a holy and righteous God without wrath upon those who reject you and disobey you.
We ask that you will continue to strengthen us through our journey in life. We ask for your forgiveness when we wrong you by disobeying you. We pray that your will shall be done in and through us.
AMEN.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Finding Strength in the Lord
Click here for the audio message of 1 Samuel 30:3-10
Last time we saw David ready to kill not only this guy Nabal who insulted him, but all of his male servants as well. This was over nothing more than some offensive behavior. Thankfully, Nabal’s wife intercedes and stops the killing spree.
If you remember before that David had the opportunity to kill Saul, the person who was after his life. But David could only cut off a piece of Saul’s robe before his conscience got to him.
Right after this episode with Nabal, David again has the opportunity to kill Saul. This time however, David doesn’t listen to his friends. He simply takes Saul’s spear and his water jug while he is asleep.
David leaves and is given a small town to live in. More troops join David and they raid and destroy many cities. Saul comes to the complete realization that he will die and David will be king of Israel.
Of course the battle is not over though. When David returns to his home, he finds that it has been raided and burned to the ground. All of David's and his men’s possessions, their wives, their children, their livestock is gone.
All is lost. It’s hopeless. These men that have trusted David now return home to nothing. Everything they had is gone. The mood is very sad and depressed. No doubt, much of us would feel the same way if it happened to us.
David’s men become very angry at David for allowing this to happen. In fact, they become so angry that they want to stone David to death. Somehow, David manages to calm them down and seek God’s will.
David asks God point blank, “Should I go after these people?” and “Will I catch them?” God answers David in the affirmative. “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you.”
What a wonderful feeling that would have been. David returns to his men and tells them the good news and they are ready to fight for what is theirs. They come to a river that is difficult to cross so 200 men stay behind with some of the heavier baggage.
The other 400 men cross the river and slaughter the Amalekites from evening to evening. The men return victorious. They are shouting for joy because they have defeated the enemy and got all of their stuff back unharmed, including their wives, children, and animals.
But when the 400 men meet up with the 200 men that stayed behind with the baggage, they didn’t want to share in the spoils of war. David immediately steps in and says everyone had a part to play in this battle and everyone will share the spoils of war.
The emotional state of these people is amazing to me through this situation. First, they are really sad and depressed about losing everything they own. Then they are furious at David for allowing this to happen. So mad, in fact, that they want to kill him.
Then they listen to David and trust him again to go to war against the enemy. When they are victorious they are so happy. But then when they return home, they don’t want to share the loot. They let their greed take over.
Think about some past situations that you have experienced. Maybe you have felt similar emotions. Maybe you got mad. Maybe you wanted revenge. Maybe you were greedy. It happens. It is human nature.
The key to the lesson is David’s response. Sure, no doubt he felt similar sadness and anger at his lose. But he turned to God and asked God to show him the way. He came home to nothing, but he knew that God is always there and that is what makes him a man after God’s heart.
He found his strength in God during this time of distress. He didn’t give up. He didn’t run from God. He went right to God and asked him what to do. What a wonderful lesson for all of us to learn.
David sought God’s guidance. He trusted God with his life. He had a relationship with God. That is what God wants from all of us.
In verse 23, David says God “has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us.” I would bet that there were a few of David’s men that mumbled to themselves something like, “well yeah, that is true, but why did God allow the enemy to overtake our homes and families in the first place.”
You know, that is a question that many of us dwell on too often as well. We try to figure out why God would allow this type of thing to happen to me. Why was my child killed. Why did I get cancer. Why did I lose my job and have my house foreclosed on. Why did my spouse cheat on me. Why did God allow these things to happen to me.
The answer is simply we don’t know and we may never know during this lifetime why certain “bad” things happen to us. We simply need to trust in God’s love, His grace, and His mercy for us. God has a plan and He will use us to accomplish that plan.
More often than not, when bad things happen to us, there is a lesson for us to learn from the experience. It is a time to prove our faith to ourselves. Or to show where our faith is lacking.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean all of our earthly problems are going to go away. It simply means that when these problems arise we can take them to the One who will see us through them. Life isn’t always easy, but we must be faithful to God.
I would imagine each and every one of you out their today is facing some type of difficult or challenging situation right now. It may be health related. It may be family related. Or it may simply be dealing with the fact that you are aging and have trouble doing the things you used to do.
I am here to tell you though that whatever it is, there is hope. David knew that and he went to God to see him through the situation. We too should do the same.
Closing prayer
Lord of strength and hope, help us through whatever situations arise in our lives. Guide us with your grace and your mercy. Help us to always be faithful to you and bring you glory, honor, and praise from our actions.
AMEN.
Last time we saw David ready to kill not only this guy Nabal who insulted him, but all of his male servants as well. This was over nothing more than some offensive behavior. Thankfully, Nabal’s wife intercedes and stops the killing spree.
If you remember before that David had the opportunity to kill Saul, the person who was after his life. But David could only cut off a piece of Saul’s robe before his conscience got to him.
Right after this episode with Nabal, David again has the opportunity to kill Saul. This time however, David doesn’t listen to his friends. He simply takes Saul’s spear and his water jug while he is asleep.
David leaves and is given a small town to live in. More troops join David and they raid and destroy many cities. Saul comes to the complete realization that he will die and David will be king of Israel.
Of course the battle is not over though. When David returns to his home, he finds that it has been raided and burned to the ground. All of David's and his men’s possessions, their wives, their children, their livestock is gone.
All is lost. It’s hopeless. These men that have trusted David now return home to nothing. Everything they had is gone. The mood is very sad and depressed. No doubt, much of us would feel the same way if it happened to us.
David’s men become very angry at David for allowing this to happen. In fact, they become so angry that they want to stone David to death. Somehow, David manages to calm them down and seek God’s will.
David asks God point blank, “Should I go after these people?” and “Will I catch them?” God answers David in the affirmative. “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you.”
What a wonderful feeling that would have been. David returns to his men and tells them the good news and they are ready to fight for what is theirs. They come to a river that is difficult to cross so 200 men stay behind with some of the heavier baggage.
The other 400 men cross the river and slaughter the Amalekites from evening to evening. The men return victorious. They are shouting for joy because they have defeated the enemy and got all of their stuff back unharmed, including their wives, children, and animals.
But when the 400 men meet up with the 200 men that stayed behind with the baggage, they didn’t want to share in the spoils of war. David immediately steps in and says everyone had a part to play in this battle and everyone will share the spoils of war.
The emotional state of these people is amazing to me through this situation. First, they are really sad and depressed about losing everything they own. Then they are furious at David for allowing this to happen. So mad, in fact, that they want to kill him.
Then they listen to David and trust him again to go to war against the enemy. When they are victorious they are so happy. But then when they return home, they don’t want to share the loot. They let their greed take over.
Think about some past situations that you have experienced. Maybe you have felt similar emotions. Maybe you got mad. Maybe you wanted revenge. Maybe you were greedy. It happens. It is human nature.
The key to the lesson is David’s response. Sure, no doubt he felt similar sadness and anger at his lose. But he turned to God and asked God to show him the way. He came home to nothing, but he knew that God is always there and that is what makes him a man after God’s heart.
He found his strength in God during this time of distress. He didn’t give up. He didn’t run from God. He went right to God and asked him what to do. What a wonderful lesson for all of us to learn.
David sought God’s guidance. He trusted God with his life. He had a relationship with God. That is what God wants from all of us.
In verse 23, David says God “has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us.” I would bet that there were a few of David’s men that mumbled to themselves something like, “well yeah, that is true, but why did God allow the enemy to overtake our homes and families in the first place.”
You know, that is a question that many of us dwell on too often as well. We try to figure out why God would allow this type of thing to happen to me. Why was my child killed. Why did I get cancer. Why did I lose my job and have my house foreclosed on. Why did my spouse cheat on me. Why did God allow these things to happen to me.
The answer is simply we don’t know and we may never know during this lifetime why certain “bad” things happen to us. We simply need to trust in God’s love, His grace, and His mercy for us. God has a plan and He will use us to accomplish that plan.
More often than not, when bad things happen to us, there is a lesson for us to learn from the experience. It is a time to prove our faith to ourselves. Or to show where our faith is lacking.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean all of our earthly problems are going to go away. It simply means that when these problems arise we can take them to the One who will see us through them. Life isn’t always easy, but we must be faithful to God.
I would imagine each and every one of you out their today is facing some type of difficult or challenging situation right now. It may be health related. It may be family related. Or it may simply be dealing with the fact that you are aging and have trouble doing the things you used to do.
I am here to tell you though that whatever it is, there is hope. David knew that and he went to God to see him through the situation. We too should do the same.
Closing prayer
Lord of strength and hope, help us through whatever situations arise in our lives. Guide us with your grace and your mercy. Help us to always be faithful to you and bring you glory, honor, and praise from our actions.
AMEN.
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