July 23, 2023 - The Chastening Love of God
Notes
Transcript
*How many of you can remember a time in your childhood - when you were (by your standards), pretty severely punished for doing something wrong?
You ever do something back then - where your parents made you go apologize to the person?
I know - in more RECENT times - parents like to send their kids into “timeout”...
But BACK IN THE DAY - it seemed EVERYONE had permission to just beat you - right?
Teachers...
The neighbor...
Random guy at the mall...
WHOEVER!!
It was a different time...
NONETHELESS - We’ve all experienced - discipline (of various forms)
TODAY - we’re going to see - the Chastening Hand of God...
AND “probably” more importantly - a biblical response to it.
Just like last week - I want to piece-meal the story as we go.
Last week - we looked at the account of David and Bathsheba...
And walked through Chapter 11 - and half of chapter 12.
TODAY - our text is in Chapter 16...
…and so there’s much that happens between chapters 12 - and 16.
- But it all BUILDS to our message today - for us.
- There are some things that we won’t get into today - but if you have time to read through those chapters (12 - 15)...
You would for sure - see the IRONY throughout those chapters...
David and Bathsheba - lose their 1st child…the child dies
And David’s other sons then become woven into the story of David - in some pretty profound ways.
Ironically - Amnon - one of David’s sons - actually REFLECTS David in falling into sexual immorality...
Except - Amnon actually dies due to his transgression - something David was spared from.
Ironically - Absalom - one of David’s OTHER sons - actually REFLECTS DAVID - in that he ends up growing in popularity - with the people of Israel - just like David did - except HE (Absalom) does it - by deception.
Ironically - DAVID - actually REFLECTS Saul - in that he ends up having to DEAL WITH Absalom’s rising popularity - and he (David) ends up FLEEING Jerusalem - in order to stay alive.
LOT’S of irony in this account...
INCLUDING - - How much we experience what we’ll discuss today - yet often FORGET - or choose to not view it in the ways that we should!
Today we’ll be walking through a part of chapter 16...
And so IN CONTEXT - David at this point - has fled Jerusalem - to avoid conflict with Absalom - his son.
5 When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually.
6 And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
7 And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!
8 The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”
9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”
10 But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
12 It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.”
13 So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.
14 And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.
So David and an entourage of his supporters are making their way out of Jerusalem..
And they come to a Benjamite Village…called Bahurim
What happened?
5 When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually.
6 And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
7 And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!
A man of the house of Saul comes and and begins PERSECUTING David and his men.
I think on the surface - this might seem a little strange… if you don’t know the story!
So let’s dig into the background a bit…to see why this guy is ANGRY!
If we fast forward to chapter 21 - we’ll see the background...
1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
OK - so there was a 3 year famine in the land - and David sought the Lord to inquire why.
The Lord TELLS David - it’s because SAUL had killed the Gibeonites...
Well - Saul had killed a lot of people - so what was the issue?
The issue - was that back in the time of Joshua - the Gibeonites (in a sense) - TRICKED Israel in order to protect themselves!
The Gibeonites were descendants of the Amorites - who were enemies of Israel...
And so they end up COMING to Israel - with WORN out clothing, and old-moldy food - and they PRETEND to have come from a FAR AWAY LAND...
ask Israel to make a Covenant with them!
What happens?
Israel makes a covenant with them to LET THEM LIVE…!
WELL - Saul - when he becomes King - has a different plan - and ends up KILLING them.
Result?
What does the verse say?
1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
Well - David wants to fix this Famine...
v3
3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”
5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,
6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
So David here - agreed to give the Gibeonites SEVEN of Saul’s relatives… to be put to death - to ATONE for Saul’s actions.
THIS - PROBABLY - is what the man in our text TODAY - was angry about!
6 And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
7 And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!
NOW - this man had his own perspective on the matter - ignoring what Saul had done - but ANGRY over what David had done...
But that’s not what I want to focus on today.
TODAY - I want us to see a General Principle that we can pull into our lives today...
We’ll first see how David INTERPRETED this persecution...
AND THEN - see how David responded so that we can learn from that as well...
So we have the story at this point - the man is PERSECUTING David - the King of Israel.
How does David interpret this?
7 And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!
8 The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”
9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”
10 But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
What I want us to see is this...
SLIDE: The Chastening Hand of God: God Disciplines His Own
The Chastening Hand of God
The Chastening Hand of God
back to v11
11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
The Lord has TOLD HIM TO...
Told him to CURSE me...
to PERSECUTE me...
Is this POSSIBLE?
Does God really discipline those who BELIEVE in Him??
Those who LOVE Him?
Short answer - OF COURSE!
As we know - God - throughout Scripture is referred to as - our - FATHER...
35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
Remember how Jesus taught us to pray?
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
God - is referred to as - our Father...
Which would mean that we would be His - Children!
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Those who LOVE God - by Faith - are His children!
*Well - how loving would it be - if - as a parent - i did NOT discipline my children?
What does that lead to?
It leads to kids who do not - listen.
And kids that do not listen turn into adults who - hate authority.
And so in THIS sense - we completely understand how DISCIPLINE is loving - from a parent to a child...
HOW MUCH MORE loving - is God’s discipline of us..?
And the PRESENCE of this discipline - FROM GOD - is SO important - in the life of a Believer…that the Bible says this...
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
How many of your kids -
play with knives?
take naps in the street?
drink laundry detergent?
Why not?
I assume - because we keep an EYE on our kids...
We try to teach them - what’s dangerous…what’s not.
What’s ok…what’s not.
....NOT ONLY physically (take that LEGO out of your mouth!!)
…But ALSO - spiritually (repentance, forgiveness, and the like)
That’s loving…and so it is with God.
*First started parenting (Saw one step ahead - injuries)
I became overtly cautious with Trey
…BUT i THOUGHT i was doing a GREAT job...
Problem was - I couldn’t ACTUALLY see ONE STEP ahead.
Think of HOW AMAZING - God is!
He actually DOES KNOW what’s going to happen before it happens...
And He says to us - DON’T do that - because if you do - THIS will happen!
Well - sometimes - we mess up.
Sometimes we DO that thing He said NOT to do...
Result? God chastens us.
He disciplines us!
Listen - for our GOOD!
If Romans 8:1 is true -
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Then THAT MEANS - any discipline that comes my way - is NOT a CONDEMNING discipline!
it’s a LOVING discipline - for OUR GOOD!
*Those of you with kids - can you honestly THINK - of anything they could do - to where you would STOP loving them??
So when i discipline my kids - my discipline will never be a CONDEMNING discipline (meaning - My discipline will never carry an intent to SEPARATE me from them).
And so KNOW THIS:
SLIDE:
The discipline of God toward His children will never ultimately separate Him from them.
God disciplines those He loves - and since we ALL will deal with sin...
we ALL will experience His discipline.
Listen to this truth...
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Some branches?
Every branch that DOES bear fruit!!
He PRUNES (He refines, He disciplines, He makes MORE like Him)...
_ God’s PRUNING is part of the process of sanctification!
ALL of the CONDEMNATION DUE our SIN - was NAILED to the cross..
And so - His pruning (discipline) is given because of His love for us!
So what does God’s Discipline LOOK LIKE?
It can come a million different ways...
When we are being chastened...
we may have feelings of conviction
experience difficult circumstances in our lives
we may have decreased peace.
OR - all of the above - PROBABLY - all of the above
Listen - there is NOTHING off the table - when it comes to God’s discipline of us.
Sometimes - in love - He may just call us home.
We’re on His timeline - not our own.
All of these signs may indicate that God is chastening us or that there is an area of life that needs to be addressed.
BUT AGAIN - if we belong to HIM...
It all flows from His love for us!
Examples of His discipline include:
Israelites: their disobedience and turning to idol worship...
RESULT? - the wandering in the wilderness
YET - God continued to LOVE them -
Over the years and decades - God would send prophets to SPEAK to His people - to bring them BACK to HIM...
9 And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
Another example of God’s discipline landed on Moses...
12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Moses had been told by God to speak to the rock - so that water would flow from it.
INSTEAD - Moses hits the rock twice with his staff.
God’s discipline followed.
He would only be able to SEE the promised land - but not enter in.
God disciplines those He loves…and ALL He loves - He disciplines.
DAVID - in our text today - understood that God most certainly disciplines His people.
11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
This here - KNOWING that God disciplines His own...
Is half the battle!
What if we didn’t KNOW THIS?
What if we walked through life - THINKING that once we got saved - God would NOT EVER discipline us?
What would that CAUSE in us?
Well - we KNOW that life - IN A FALLEN world - would still HAPPEN...
And so we KNOW that VALLEYS are still coming for us!
We KNOW that SIN still IMPACTS US!
SIN STILL attacks us - and WINS at times!!
What if we thought - Well....God’s not gonna discipline me!
Well - in a fallen world - where SIN STILL has it’s way...
We would end up CURSING GOD - when we end up REAPING what we SOW.
We would get ANGRY at God - for bringing about a HARDSHIP in life!
But - KNOWING that God disciplines those He loves...
That allows us to VIEW the valleys of life...
VIEW the hardships of life - as a MEANS of becoming more like Jesus!
And in THAT - we can at least find - HOPE.
How did David RESPOND to this persecution that came His way?
Persecution that he believed had come from the Lord?
next verse...
12 It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.”
13 So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.
14 And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.
So not only does God DISCIPLINE His children...
SLIDE: The Chastening Hand of God: God Loves Through Discipline
The Chastening Hand of God
The Chastening Hand of God
Back to our text...
2 Sam 16:
What was David’s response?
David said - Let it continue...
WHY?
Because God is IN CHARGE here…and if GOD wants this to happen...
LET IT HAPPEN.
And David literally goes back to that question that LINGERED OVER in our worship service a couple weeks ago...
v10
10 But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
WHO THEN SHALL SAY…?
“Who am I” to say - WHY IS THIS HAPPENING...
WHO AM I to war against this…?
DO WE GET what’s HAPPENING here?
it’s one thing to live out our Christian faith...
And say to God -
Ok God - Send me wherever You want to send me....
If you want me to go door-to-door… I know it’ll be scary - BUT I’LL GO...
If you want me to speak Your TRUTH to THAT crowd…It’ll be scary but I’LL DO IT!!
It’s one thing to live that way...
But THIS??!!
That - LISTEN - WHEN we mess up....we would get to a point where we would say -
It’s ok Lord - I will EMBRACE this discipline...
And actually VIEW IT as - a blessing!
KNOWING - that even THIS DISCIPLINE - is for my good!
And again - this really is just indicative of how parents are - with their kids...
HOPEFULLY.
That our discipline - would flow from a deep love for the child.
I think for us though - It can be hard to look at the circumstances of life...
and always view them as - FROM the LORD...
Do you agree?
Like - when we were YOUNG - and we were being disciplined by our parents - We KNEW we were being disciplined!
There was communication in such a way that we KNEW = what was happening, or ABOUT to happen - was discipline!
But God - OBVIOUSLY - is on a different level.
He controls all things!!
He creates circumstances…!
Creates situations!
And i think A LOT of TIMES - we don’t see God - INVOLVED in those things...
Especially not from the vantage point that He PLACES those valleys…those hardships…IN OUR LIVES… as discipline for us.
Most times - if we’re honest - we feel like we don’t DESERVE the hardships that come our way.
AND - on top of that - there are times I’m sure we end up SHAKING our FISTS at God… for ALLOWING such a thing to happen.
In those moments - we’re forgetting that - it’s ultimately - for our GOOD.
meant to bring us back to a clear conscience before the Lord.
Today - in our text - David - in the moment - DIDN’T LET the MOMENT - become his master.
Make sense?
When we walk through a Hardship or a Trial - and our frustrations get the best of us...
…and we RESPOND with Anger or Malice...
We’ve let the moment become our MASTER...
Where IT tells us what to do!
David was able to stay ABOVE the MOMENT - and not let it dictate his actions!!
That’s awesome isn’t it?
May we all get there…and listen - help each OTHER to get there.
SUMMARY
The Chastening Hand of God (in that…)
God Disciplines His Own
God Loves Through Discipline
What we need to keep reminding ourselves is this:
SLIDE:
Anything that makes me less like myself and brings me closer to the character of Christ is a blessing to be thankful for, even if that thing is a hardship or trial.
It’s all about the glory of God in Jesus Christ!
May this truth today - help us view life differently...
…help us view trials differently
…for the glory of God.
Let’s Pray...