United Kingdom, part 3: Absalom's Rebellion

This week, we looked at the epic story of how David met the full consequence for his sin when his son Absalom led a rebellion against him.

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United Kingdom, part 2: House of Calamity

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you...’”

—2 Samuel 12:11

 

The path to the fulfillment of Nathan's prophecy against David was a long and painful one.  God's hand of protection was lifted, and all David's mistakes came to their full consequences.  If we look honestly at our lives, we find that, as the psalmist says in Psalm 103:10, God does not treat us as our sins deserve.  But there comes a time of discipline or judgment when sin leads to its inevitable deadly destination.  In this painful story of sexual assault and murder among siblings, we see how unchecked sin brings destruction.

United Kingdom, part 1: David's Sin

This week, we resumed our walk through the story of God, told in the Bible.  We left off in December with the great promise God had made to King David.  This promise pointed to the Messiah and was really the final piece of the foundation God laid for His plan through His people.  So the people were left to live between the promise and the fulfillment (much like the church between Jesus' ascension and His return).  Unfortunately, the story of God's people in the rest of the Old Testament is mostly one of failure.  But in the midst of that failure, the faithfulness of God shines all the brighter.

The story of this failure begins with King David, on a day where he had given himself nothing to do.  His great sin against God and his loyal soldier Uriah had terrible ramifications for the future of his family and kingdom.  The question for us is, "What must we do to protect ourselves against this type of catastrophic sin in our lives?"

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David, Part 8: God's Promise (2 Samuel 7)

The story we tell every Christmas began long before a "silent night" in Bethlehem.  We might say it started in eternity past in the heart of God, and that is true.  But the sense anticipation that not only marks our modern experience with the Christmas season but also serves as the emotional backdrop of the original birth narrative began with a promise made to King David.  It was a promise that would be the hope of Israel throughout the coming centuries as the nation weakened and was overrun by enemies.  It was the promise of a Messiah, the Christ-King ("anointed one") who would sit on the throne of David and redeem God's people. 

But when Jesus finally arrived, he found a people anxious for God to fulfill His promise to David, but who misunderstood the nature of the promise.  As we read the story today, how can we avoid the same mistakes?

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David, Part 7: Higher Ground (2 Samuel 5-6)

A new era began in David's life when he moved to Jerusalem and brought the Ark of the Covenant.  He had moved to "higher ground"--in both a literal and metaphorical sense.  God had taken him from the "miry clay" to the "rock," where he had firm footing.  How do we reach higher ground in our lives? 

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David, Part 6: Civil War (2 Samuel 1-4)

Did you know that after Saul's death, David didn't immediately become king? It's a story that's rarely told, but there was a civil war in Israel over who would be the next king. But David wanted to bring unity to the nation as peacefully as possible.

Are you in the middle of conflict at work, in your family, or in other relationships? How can we be an agent for unity in this polarizing world that we live in? We can learn from the example of David...

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David and Jonathan

If we are really honest with ourselves, friendship is hard.  The Bible tells us to "Love your neighbor as yourself," but so often we want for ourselves what others have.  And we see the success of others as something that we need to degrade or that degrades us.  How can we follow the biblical example to "rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn"?  God provides a shining example for what it means to be a friend in Jonathan, son of the king who would become David's mortal enemy.  Jonathan shows us that friendship is a gift of God and how we can be the friend that God has called us to be.

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