- araratchurch
- Jun 12, 2024
- 4 min read
““This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.””
2 Samuel 12:11-12 NLT
We’ve come full circle from where we started on Day 2 with the story of Nathan the prophet confronting King David with what he had done.
Now we have rehearsed the process through which David came to disregard justice and take another man’s wife. Then, to cover his sin, he resorted to ordering the death of righteous Uriah when his deceptive scheme didn’t work.
We carefully considered David’s failure regarding Bathsheba and Uriah, to understand that injustice rarely happens overnight. A person rarely goes to sleep as one who administers justice and wakes as one who perverts justice. Indeed, we took this journey into David’s failure so that we can understand that injustice happens when we look away from what is right, desiring rather, to fulfill our own desire.
Make no mistake, for justice to reign, the judgments of God, what He requires, must be given preeminence over any individual desire, agenda, and so on.
As we have observed before, God’s way of being and doing, His righteousness, is often an enigma to us. On our own we cannot fully understand the pillars of perfect justice, much less carry it out.
No, perfection in judgment is only possible in One Who is perfectly holy, One Who is immune to any other factors that distract from what is right. God is a holy God and He is a consuming fire. His ways are always just.
If we are to do justice, then we must be walking in the fear of the Lord, allowing His Spirit to direct us.
Now, when Solomon was building the temple for the Lord, the Lord came to him in a dreaming vision and offered to give him whatever he asked.
“Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!“
1 Kings 3:9-13 NLT
Solomon asked for wisdom to be able to rule with justice. God gave him wisdom and much more!
Sadly, Solomon ended up doing things that were not pleasing to the Lord. He married foreign women and worshiped their Gods.
“The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command. So now the Lord said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son.”
1 Kings 11:9-12 NLT
Solomon’s gift of wisdom was useless to him without the power of God in his life. He could not do that which was just, without God’s presence with him.
In our opening scripture we see that a judgment is spoken against King David, punishing him for what he has done. The Lord had forgiven David; but justice required punishment.
“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
Galatians 6:7-9 NLT
King David sowed a great sin into his life and would now reap a bountiful harvest of that same sin. Just a little while later on, his own son, Absalom, would rise up against him and would openly have sex with King David’s concubines on the roof of his palace.
“Ahithophel told him, “Go and sleep with your father’s concubines, for he has left them here to look after the palace. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted your father beyond hope of reconciliation, and they will throw their support to you.” So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went in and had sex with his father’s concubines.”
2 Samuel 16:21-22 NLT
King David had a painful lesson in what God’s judgment looks like. Yes, even one who was one-time “after God’s own heart,” would—because of the blood on his own hands—suffer loss at the hands of a perfectly just God.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 11, 2024
- 3 min read
“When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done.”
2 Samuel 11:26-27 NLT
Isn’t it ironic? People go to great extents to avoid the penalty of their transgressions against the laws of the land. Additionally, we may bend over backwards to be judged positively in the court of public opinion. But sadly, consideration of what God thinks, God’s judgment, is often relegated to last place!
The only thing we can assume from the truth that people often ignore, minimize, or outright dismiss God’s judgement, is that they don’t take seriously the reality of the judgment of God. As we previously discussed on Day 8, many suppose God doesn’t really see what they are doing.
But also, perhaps the fact that the judgment of God is many times not immediate, more immediate judgments, or consequences, are given more consideration. Indeed, the Ecclesiastical writer addresses this consideration.
“When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.”
Ecclesiastes 8:11-12 NLT
Consider the case of the religious leaders who believed in Jesus, but did not throw in with Him, because they didn’t want to lose their place in the synagogue.
“Many people did believe in him [Jesus], however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.”
John 12:42-43 NLT
Also consider that Caiaphas outright declared that it was better for them to kill Jesus, an innocent Man, than to lose what they had.
“If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.” Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.”
John 11:48-50, 53 NLT
And yet, in God’s hand, is our eternal existence. Yes, with Him is the decision regarding whether we will live eternally in His presence, or face eternal destruction in hell. Indeed, Jesus spoke of this:
“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Matthew 10:28 NLT
Even King David—the Lord’s sweet psalmist—chose to displease the Lord—not only in his sin—but in his determination to “fix” his situation without seeking the Lord! David chose to take a woman who was not his. Then he chose to try to cover up his deed. And, when the coverup failed, he decreed Uriah’s death.
Perhaps David forgot that justice is defined by God. If God is not honored, there is no justice. If there is no justice, God is displeased.
“Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked. The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice.”
Isaiah 59:15 NLT
And, if God is displeased, bad things happen. But how will it go for David?
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 10, 2024
- 4 min read
“Then Joab sent a battle report to David. He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls? Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’” So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. “The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.” “Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!””
2 Samuel 11:18-25 NLT
Generally, what keeps us from doing the right thing is that there is a wrong thing we want to do more than we want to do what is right.
Additionally, sometimes people act as though they are hapless victims of their own desires. That is, if something crosses their minds, or some desire is stirred by their senses, they allow the thoughts and/or desires (let’s also throw feelings into the mix) to “percolate” until the desire(s) becomes “too strong” to resist.
I once had a young person sit before me and straight-faced-declared that their “desires” must be stronger than other young people’s desires. And, again, straight-faced, they used this assumption as the excuse, no, the “reason,” for their sexual promiscuity.
Now, the fallacy in such an assumption may be quite evident when presented in terms of another person. However, we might not so quickly detect the flawed, self-serving assumption concerning our own strong desires. In fact, we may erroneously suppose that all of our struggles are somehow worse than those experienced by others.
Peter addresses this “it’s worse for me” fallacy concerning fiery trials.
“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”
1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT
The apostle Paul warns against thinking our temptations are unique.
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT
Of course, it’s the human tendency to suppose our struggles are harder for us than the struggles others face. But the fact is, that assumption is simply because it is happening to us and we feel the struggle.
Indeed, it is easy to encourage other Christian brothers and sisters concerning their struggles, reminding them of their ability to overcome through Jesus Christ. However, we may find ourselves not being quite so “full of faith” when the struggle is our own.
Child of God, through Jesus Christ we have been given victory over sin’s control, indeed, victory over any kind of struggle. Therefore, we should not live as slaves to our desires.
“Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”
Romans 6:12-16 NLT
Through Christ, it is not beyond our control to do the right thing. But when we let our own desires blind us, we no longer see rightly and may actually make provision for sin.
““And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
Matthew 7:3-5 NLT
Yes, allowing our desires to be our master, leads to spiritual blindness. Spiritual blindness leads to what we referenced on Day 10 as “situational ethics.”
Again, if you entertain a desire, “flirting” with acting on it, your way of being and doing will eventually accommodate it.
Imagine, King David set in motion what would result in the death of Uriah. His command led to the use of battle tactics David never would have otherwise employed. But this time it’s “different.” This time he got what he wanted: Uriah is dead.
King David did an unthinkable thing. But at least his problem is solved…or, is it?
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!