ACT 5: COMFORT AND CAUTION - SCENE 2: PRONE TO WANDER
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In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
The chapter begins with a poignant reminder that, despite the personal turmoil within David's palace, the nation of Israel remains at war. David, however, is notably absent from the battlefield, setting the stage for the unfolding drama that will captivate our attention.
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Before we delve into the theological witness presented in this chapter, it is crucial to appreciate the literary features skillfully woven into the narrative. The pace of chapter 11 deliberately slows, contrasting with the brisk account of the preceding war in chapter 10. This deceleration serves to emphasize the exploration of human character, shifting our focus from the strategic battlefront to the intimate chambers of the royal household.
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Additionally, the writer exhibits remarkable restraint, providing circumstantial details while carefully limiting the actual words of key characters. Bathsheba and Uriah's voices are minimized which forces us to confront the actions and choices of David, the central figure in this tragic narrative.
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
The writer employs irony throughout the story, highlighting the stark contrast between ceremonial observance and moral transgression, disobedience and profound faithfulness, and the pursuit of peace and the destruction of peace. This literary technique serves as a powerful tool, accentuating the moral complexity of the characters and the unfolding events.
THE FALLEN SERVANT (11:1–5), THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH (11:6–25), and THE BOTTOM LINE(11:26–27).
Now, let us turn our attention to the theological witness conveyed in this chapter. The narrative unfolds in three distinct sections: the fallen servant (11:1–5), the unvarnished truth (11:6–25), and the bottom line (11:26–27).
THE FALLEN SERVANT
THE FALLEN SERVANT
The writer places before us a picture of the fallen servant. He intends us to see the David of 11:1–5 in stark contrast to the David of 9:1–3 and 10:1–2. At the beginning of these two previous chapters we see David eager to show kindness to both Israelite and Ammonite.
THE FALLEN SERVANT
THE FALLEN SERVANT
But the David of 11:1–5 has no kindness to show. Here it is not ḥesed (steadfast love) but eros that drives him. In the fallen servant, we witness David's grievous descent into sin.
It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.
And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
None of us are immune to the sudden and fatal nature of our own spiritual falls.
None of us are immune to the sudden and fatal nature of our own spiritual falls.
The man after God's own heart succumbs to the temptations of lust and adultery. The warning here extends beyond David, serving as a stark reminder to all professed servants of Christ. None of us are immune to the sudden and fatal nature of our own spiritual falls. The hymn writer's words echo loudly: "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love."
The unvarnished truth exposes David's cunning yet futile attempts to cover his sin.
The unvarnished truth exposes David's cunning yet futile attempts to cover his sin.
So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.
When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going.
Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king.
But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.”
And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men.
And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting.
And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king,
then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?
Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ”
So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell.
The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.
Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”
David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”
David, once a beacon of kindness and justice, becomes a ruthless schemer, orchestrating Uriah's death to conceal his transgressions.
David, once a beacon of kindness and justice, becomes a ruthless schemer, orchestrating Uriah's death to conceal his transgressions.
David, once a beacon of kindness and justice, becomes a ruthless schemer, orchestrating Uriah's death to conceal his transgressions. The narrative emphasizes David's persistence and success in achieving his sinister goals, highlighting the darkness that can permeate even the supposed kingdom of God.
The bottom line,"The thing David had done was evil in Yahweh’s eyes."
The bottom line,"The thing David had done was evil in Yahweh’s eyes."
The bottom line, presented in the concluding verses, starkly declares, "The thing David had done was evil in Yahweh’s eyes."
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband.
And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
God's gaze never wavers.
God's gaze never wavers.
Despite the apparent silence of God throughout the narrative, this ultimate pronouncement serves as a powerful reminder that God's gaze never wavers. Even in the face of human iniquity and oppression, Yahweh's eyes remain fixed upon the actions of His people.
God may seem silent, but He is not sightless.
God may seem silent, but He is not sightless.
As we grapple with the mystery of God's apparent silence in the face of injustice, let us hold fast to the clarity presented in these verses. God may seem silent, but He is not sightless.
God may seem silent, but He is not sightless.
God may seem silent, but He is not sightless.
The evil that unfolds may continue unimpeded, but it does not escape the discerning eyes of the Almighty. The narrative challenges us to face the consequences of our actions before the eyes of Yahweh, the righteous Judge.
BIND OUR WANDERING HEARTS TO THEE
BIND OUR WANDERING HEARTS TO THEE
May we, as a community of believers, learn from the tragic story of David, embracing humility and repentance in the light of God's unwavering gaze. Let us seek the grace that binds our wandering hearts to the Lord and continually submit ourselves to His righteous rule.
And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.
The rich man had very many flocks and herds,
but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.
Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
In 2 Samuel 11, David, the mighty ruler, stands as the central figure orchestrating the events. From the lofty heights of the palace roof, he commands and achieves, firmly in control of his realm. However, our narrative takes a turn when David collides headlong into the unyielding standard of Yahweh's righteousness. Chapter 12, dominated by Yahweh and His word, unfolds, and we brace ourselves for the anticipated retribution upon David's transgressions.
GOD’S GRACE
GOD’S GRACE
Yet, as we delve into this passage, we sense a shift – a journey beyond mere judgment into the vast expanse of God's grace. The pursuit of grace begins with a simple phrase, "And Yahweh sent Nathan to David." These words are a beacon of hope in the midst of a potentially bleak and hopeless tale.
GOD’S GRACE
GOD’S GRACE
Yahweh is not a passive onlooker; He is an active pursuer. The vigilant grace of God sends Nathan to confront David in his sin, refusing to allow His servant to settle comfortably in disobedience. Oh, how comforting it is to know that God's grace relentlessly pursues us, exposing our sins to bring about repentance.
GOD’S GRACE
GOD’S GRACE
Nathan, a vessel of divine wisdom, employs the savvy of grace in his approach to David. He doesn't confront the king head-on with accusations but presents a parable, a story that stirs David's judicial instincts. The rich man and the poor man, the stolen lamb, the feast for the guest – a narrative skillfully woven to capture David's attention and conviction.
Nathan's technique is not mere manipulation; it is the godly scheming of grace.
Nathan's technique is not mere manipulation; it is the godly scheming of grace.
The story becomes the turning point in the narrative. Nathan's technique is not mere manipulation; it is the godly scheming of grace. "You are the man!" – a punchline not as an introduction, a revelation that leads David to judge himself. Nathan's approach, rooted in the ingenuity of grace, unveils the depth of divine wisdom.
Grace does not accuse or harangue; it strategically exposes our darkness, causing us to switch the floodlights on our own shortcomings.
Grace does not accuse or harangue; it strategically exposes our darkness, causing us to switch the floodlights on our own shortcomings.
Brothers and sisters, let us recognize the holy craftiness of grace. Grace does not accuse or harangue; it strategically exposes our darkness, causing us to switch the floodlights on our own shortcomings.
Nathan's sword was within an inch of David's conscience before David realized it, showcasing the profound truth that if God determines to bring us to repentance, what chance do we have against grace like that?
Nathan's sword was within an inch of David's conscience before David realized it, showcasing the profound truth that if God determines to bring us to repentance, what chance do we have against grace like that?
Grace is not just amazing; it's smart.
Grace is not just amazing; it's smart.
So, as we ponder this divine narrative, let us marvel at the pursuit, savvy, and ingenuity of God's grace. Grace is not just amazing; it's smart. May we, like David, humbly submit ourselves to the pursuit of grace and embrace the transformation that only the divine wisdom of grace can bring. Amen.
Grace is not just amazing; it's smart.
Grace is not just amazing; it's smart.
David has delivered his verdict (vv. 5–6), and now Nathan announces Yahweh’s word (vv. 7–12). These verses are of major importance for the whole narrative; the reader will see how verses 10–12 control the rest of 2 Samuel. Nathan’s judgment speech breaks down into three segments:
Yahweh begins with grace.
Yahweh begins with grace.
Yahweh begins with grace. For sin to appear as lurid as it should it must stand in the blaze of grace. Treachery may only appear hideous when viewed against the fidelity it has despised. So Yahweh itemizes his grace to David (vv. 7–8):
Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.
Yahweh stresses the senselessness of David’s sin.
Yahweh stresses the senselessness of David’s sin.
In this way Yahweh stresses the senselessness of David’s sin. David was hardly deprived. Yahweh had loaded him with benefits. David really was the ‘rich man’—he had no need to take both a man’s wife and his life. No wonder Yahweh erupts with a ‘Why?!’ in verse 9.
Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
David not only committed iniquity but destroyed persons.
David not only committed iniquity but destroyed persons.
Verse 9 specifies the king’s sin but with an interesting emphasis. The Hebrew text places special stress on the direct objects by placing them before the verbs. In this way the text emphasizes that David not only committed iniquity but destroyed persons.
He sinned against Yahweh and ruined people.
He sinned against Yahweh and ruined people.
He sinned against Yahweh and ruined people. Verses 10–12 announce the judgment:
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ”
Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil?’
Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil?’
Yahweh’s fury is expressed by the double use of the verb (to despise) in verses 9 and 10. ‘Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil?’ By his adultery and murder David had despised Yahweh’s commandments, his word.
He treated them as though they didn’t matter.
He treated them as though they didn’t matter.
He treated them as though they didn’t matter. To despise Yahweh’s word, however, is to despise the One who has given the word; to trample on his commandment is to trample on the Commander. Therefore, in verse 10 Yahweh cries: ‘You have despised me.
If David, a mere mortal sinner, has the moral capacity to fly into a rage over Nathan’s rich man, how much more will Yahweh over David’s deed?
If David, a mere mortal sinner, has the moral capacity to fly into a rage over Nathan’s rich man, how much more will Yahweh over David’s deed?
If David, a mere mortal sinner, has the moral capacity to fly into a rage over Nathan’s rich man, how much more will Yahweh over David’s deed? So he should. This is the gracious God who sends Nathan to David, and he is the furious God who is outraged because his servant has despised him.
Twas grace the taught my heart to fear
Twas grace the taught my heart to fear
Part of God’s grace consists in his informing us of his fury. Sometimes we try to de-claw grace. But grace is not niceness; otherwise (one is tempted to say), grace would no longer be grace. We forget the words of the hymn: “Twas grace the taught my heart to fear.…’ Grace is not merely favor; it is also the fury that precedes the favor.
David deserved—death
David deserved—death
The law tells us what David deserved—death (cf. Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22); but grace shows us what David received—forgiveness and commuting of the death sentence (v. 13b). Don’t become cynical at this point please don’t do that—unless you want to condemn yourself. David isn’t getting off easy.
First, note David’s confession
First, note David’s confession
First, note David’s confession:
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
David’s confession
David’s confession
‘I have sinned against Yahweh’ (v. 13a). Some may consider this confession too brief. After all, David only says two Hebrew words and Nathan gives him an assurance of pardon. Does David get off too easily? Is he only expected to say the right formula?
David’s confession
David’s confession
We would prefer him to wallow in his guilt and plead, beg, and agonize over the possibility of pardon. If only he would writhe in obvious misery. We should know better, but we still assume that intensity of repentance contributes to atonement.
David’s confession
David’s confession
Simplicity, however, marks David’s confession: ‘I have sinned against Yahweh.’ And precisely this simplicity makes it commendable rather than defective.
David’s confession
David’s confession
His words are very few, just as in the case of the publican in the Gospel of Luke (18:13). But that is a good sign of a thoroughly broken spirit.… There is no excuse, no cloaking, no alleviation of the sin. There is no searching for a loophole, … no pretext put forward, no human weakness pleaded. He acknowledges his guilt openly, candidly, and without prevarication.
The state of a man’s heart is revealed in his response to the criticism of the word of God.
The state of a man’s heart is revealed in his response to the criticism of the word of God.
Let us pause to observe how David here differs from Saul in 1 Samuel (cf. 1 Sam. 15). This text implies that the state of a man’s heart is revealed in his response to the criticism of the word of God. In this David stands in contrast to Saul; he is sensitive to the divine critique.
To be the man after God’s own heart is not to be sinlessly perfect but to be, among other things, utterly submissive to the accusing word of God.
To be the man after God’s own heart is not to be sinlessly perfect but to be, among other things, utterly submissive to the accusing word of God.
David’s assurance
David’s assurance
Secondly, consider David’s assurance: ‘Yahweh himself has put away your sin—you will not die’ (v. 13b). There is no reason for that statement; it was not what the law called for; the forgiveness was wholly gracious. I think even the church has lost the marvel of such forgiveness.
David’s assurance
David’s assurance
We have by and large the vending machine view of forgiveness rather than the miracle view. We pop in our penitence token and out comes the assurance of pardon. In public worship we mumble through our prayers of confession, admitting we ‘have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done’, even calling ourselves ‘miserable off enders’.
David’s assurance
David’s assurance
And yet it’s another thing for it to seize our mind, to convulse our emotion. We have lost the goosebumps on our souls. Having a God ‘who passes over rebellion’ (Mic. 7:18) should make us shudder with joy.
David’s substitute
David’s substitute
In this miracle of grace note, thirdly, David’s substitute:
Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin.
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin.
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin. He cleanses sin’s defilement but may continue its discipline. For David, Yahweh’s forgiveness was both marvelous and costly. It is as if the child will die in David’s place.
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin.
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin.
There was no doubt that David was the one under the threat of death. David himself had judged Nathan’s rich man a ‘son of death’ (v. 5). Yet Nathan had assured David that he would not die (v. 13). But a death would occur. The child to be born would die (v. 14b). It is as if the child is David’s substitute.
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin.
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin.
I do not intend to read New Testament meanings back into an Old Testament text. I only want readers to note the pattern here, for there are some of us who know this paradox of forgiveness that is both free and costly, because a son of David has been our substitute.
Consequences are not payment for sin but purification from sin.
Consequences are not payment for sin but purification from sin.
The aims of the God-sent consequences of forgiven sin are (1) to demonstrate the exceeding evil of sin, (2) to show that God does not take sin lightly even when he lays aside his punishment, (3) to humble and sanctify the forgiven sinner.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Disciplinary Pain
Disciplinary Pain
Not all of the disciplinary pain ordained by God is directly owing to some sin we have committed, but all of it is ordered for our good as forgiven sinners. This is important for our understanding in a day when there is an imbalance of emphasis on the Father’s forgiving tenderness to the exclusion of the Father’s forgiving toughness.
Disciplinary Pain
Disciplinary Pain
Many people have no categories to handle the consequences of the sins in their lives except to underestimate the preciousness of forgiveness or to accuse God of double jeopardy in punishing what he has already forgiven.
Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick.
David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.”
But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”
Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’
But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him
and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.
David’s relentless intercession
David’s relentless intercession
Now in this segment David’s behaviour both scares and baffles his servants. David throws himself into supplication: ‘David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground’ (v. 16, NIV).
David’s relentless intercession
David’s relentless intercession
He turns deaf ears to his aides’ pleas to eat. His intensity petrifies them; when the child dies, they can’t bring themselves to tell him. Who knows if David will prove suicidal?
David’s relentless intercession
David’s relentless intercession
But David is anything but dense; he senses something has happened. His direct question brings a straight answer (v. 19). When he hears the news, he picks himself up, takes a shower, splashes on some after shave, changes into clean clothes, and goes off to the tabernacle to worship.
David’s relentless intercession
David’s relentless intercession
Then he comes home and tells the cooks how hungry he is (v. 20). His servants are dizzy trying to understand him. Why not fast and weep after the death? Why so wildly unconventional? And so on. So David explains:
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’
But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
David’s relentless intercession
David’s relentless intercession
That explains David’s relentless intercession. David thought that maybe Yahweh’s sentence (v. 14b) was not his last word. Maybe, David thought, he’s stirring me to pray. It all rests on David’s thinking, his assumption, about God. ‘I thought, “Who knows? Yahweh may show grace to me!” ’
For David grace is not a doctrinal concept but the peculiar bent of God’s nature.
For David grace is not a doctrinal concept but the peculiar bent of God’s nature.
See how well David knows his God! Showing grace is Yahweh’s forte. And who can tell what a God like that may delight to do in this case? Who can imagine how gracious a God of all grace wants to be to us in our sins and messes? For David grace is not a doctrinal concept but the peculiar bent of God’s nature.
Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
There is that story of the always-impoverished philosopher in the court of Alexander the Great. Being in dire financial straits again, where better to go than to Alexander, his master and conqueror of the world? Alexander gave him a commission to receive from his treasurer whatever he wanted.
Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
He promptly demanded, in Alexander’s name, ten thousand pounds. The treasurer was aghast; he refused to give it. He went to Alexander with the matter—the request was unreasonable, the amount absurd.
Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
Alexander heard his treasurer out, then replied: ‘Let the money be instantly paid. I am delighted with this philosopher’s way of thinking; he has done me singular honor; by the largeness of his request, he shows the high idea he has conceived, both of my superior wealth and my royal magnificence.’
Thou art coming to a King - John Newton
Thou art coming to a King - John Newton
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much;
None can ever ask too much.
David does not merely have a grip on grace; grace has gripped him.
David does not merely have a grip on grace; grace has gripped him.
In this case Yahweh did not grant David’s plea, but that fact does not negate the rightness of David’s thinking about God. One wonders—if Yahweh may have said, ‘I like this king’s way of thinking …’ You see, David does not merely have a grip on grace; grace has gripped him.
Hope for the Fallen
Hope for the Fallen
Doesn’t this text then give hope to any fallen believer? You are conscious of your failures, repentant of your sins, yet have no ground in yourself to expect mercy, no reason to expect favor. You wonder if for the rest of your days you are doomed to exist within the confines of God’s frown.
Hope for the Fallen
Hope for the Fallen
But if you have more than a doctrine of grace, if you have a sense of grace—if you think of Yahweh as David did, you will walk on in the light of hope. This passage does not mean to help you excuse the guilt of your sin but to help you get beyond the despair of your sin.
Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.”
So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.
It’s a real-life example of victory.
It’s a real-life example of victory.
Maybe aging was a factor, but my guess is that there’s much more going on here than merely getting old. Such a change sure seems like God’s purifying hand in some regard—if not mostly. It’s a real-life example of victory.
God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
Out of the wreckage that was David's family, emerges Solomon. By choosing him, of all the sons, to assume the throne and to write holy Scripture, God is saying something stunning: he really can work all things, including devastating sin, for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
The destruction of adultery is very real. Its disgrace is lasting. It is to be avoided at all costs. But it still is not more powerful than the grace of God.
God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
To those who, like David, have fallen, take heart. If you have repented and trust Christ, he has borne all your condemnation. And though you view with painful and appropriate regret the damage your adultery caused, keep your eyes open.
It is like God to bring something unexpectedly and amazingly good from it, because the grace of God is stronger than the sin of man.
It is like God to bring something unexpectedly and amazingly good from it, because the grace of God is stronger than the sin of man.
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption,