Overview of: 2 SamuelToday's Reading:
2 Sam. 11:1 - 12:25
"David's Sin with Bathsheba"
Focus Verses: 2 Samuel 12:9-11a
9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' 11a "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you.
Insight:
God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David about his sin against Uriah and Bathsheba. Nathan's rebuke to David reminds me of two important principles.
First, it is easier to see the faults of others than to acknowledge your own. David's blindness and denial about his own sin is clearly seen in the self-righteous response he makes to Nathan's story about a man who stole a lamb. How could David have been so quick to pronounce judgment on someone else's sin and so slow to see his own?
Second, sin leaves destruction in its wake. Consequences remain even if a person confesses, repents, and receives forgiveness. Nathan told David that because of his sin a child would die, his family would suffer more violence, and that there would be repercussions of David's sin in his family's future.
Response and Action:
I want to live an examined life and be mindful of the consequences of sin. God offers me forgiveness and redemption if I will acknowledge and confess my sins. That gracious promise, however, does not mean that all the effects of my sin will be erased. My sins make an impact on my world and affect others in ways that my repentance and sorrow may not or cannot change.
Even God's forgiveness of sin and restoration does not mean I will escape all the consequences of that sin. That is why, more than forgiveness for sin, I want to be changed and transformed by God, that I might turn away from sin and do what is right!
O God, give me the eyes to see my own sin. Grant me the humility to acknowledge and confess my sin, to repent, and to turn away from sin. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape and strengthen me that I might turn away from sin and, instead, offer myself to you as an instrument of righteousness. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
New Testament for Today: 1 John 1:8
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
In Context: 1 John 1:5-10
Proverb for Today: Prov. 3:7-8
"Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."
Recommended Reading:
When Godly People Do Ungodly Things: Arming Yourself in the Age of Seduction
by Beth Moore
