Day 133 & 134—We have begun our FIFTH month of Bible reading. Are you learning and loving God more each day?
(Note: SUNDAY’s and MONDAY’s readings are combined.)
Day 133 – 2 Samuel 11 – 12, 1 Chronicles 20 (the king’s sin, confession, downfall, and the consequences).
Since David is my favorite character in the Old Testament, this is the hardest section for me to read. But God knows how much I sin, too, and it gives me hope for his forgiveness and generosity and also reminds me of the sad consequences that sin brings.
King David – in the springtime when kings went to war – stayed home. Restless, he looked out his palace windows and saw a beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop. And he lusted after her.
Bathsheba, the woman, was ceremonially purifying herself after her monthly period, and the rooftop was where rainwater was collected and stored. David – not only sinning with his eyes – took it a step further and inquired about her. EVEN when he was told that she was the wife of one of his valiant men, he called for her to be brought to him. And he committed adultery with her. Then sent her home.
Now, this particular time in the month is when a woman is most fertile and Bathsheba conceived. A month or two after the fact, she sent word to the King. (After all, she would be considered a prostitute and sinner because everyone knew her husband was away at war.) “Now what, your Majesty?”
David’s first cover-up plan was to call Uriah back from the field and let him sleep with his wife. That way, the king’s son would be considered Uriah’s offspring. But it turns out that Uriah was more noble than his Commander-in-chief and stayed in the barracks with the men.
David next gets him drunk and sends him home. But Uriah staggers to the barracks again.
This was not working, so the King added murder to adultery (both carrying the death penalty). He sends Uriah back to the front carrying a message to Commander Joab to put him on the front line… and then draw back, so this righteous man is killed. Joab obeys and then sends back a “disguised” message that the king’s wishes have been met.
King David sends for Bathsheba again and takes her as his umpteenth wife. All of Jerusalem sees what he has been doing. There is no fooling them. But he is king. The shrug.
David breathes a sigh…. until the prophet Nathan comes and tells him a story. The king is furious with the evil man who stole a poor man’s ONLY ewe lamb and requires quadruple punishment for that evil guy.
Nathan, “YOU are the man.”
And then Nathan speaks for God the saddest epitaph, “I anointed you king over Israel, and delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 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. Why have you despised the word of the LORD to do what is evil in His sight? Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house.”
David – “a man after God’s heart” – immediately recognizes his sin and mourns his wicked deeds. “I have sinned against the LORD!” he cries.
Nathan, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed, you have UTTERLY SCORNED THE LORD, the child who is born to you will die.”
David fasts and prays for the baby for seven days, but the baby dies. (James 1:14-15)
David then gets up, washes himself, puts on fresh clothes, and goes into the house of the LORD. There, he worships the LORD.
Then, he comforts Bathsheba (the innocent victim of all this deceit). In time, he sleeps with her, she conceives again, and gives birth to Solomon. But the LORD, through Nathan, names him “Jedidiah,” which means ‘beloved of the LORD.’
Commander Joab sends a message to the king that he is about to take Rabbah and end the war. He tells the king that he’d better come and lead the charge, or else it will be called “Joab’s victory.” The king goes, and Israel wins. The Ammonite king’s golden crown is set on David’s head and all cheer.
And life goes on…. until it doesn’t. The next chapters in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles begin the story of “the sword never leaving” David’s own house.
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Day 134 – Psalms, 32, 51, 86, 122. (the king laments his sin and pleads with God)
Psalm 32: “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
Psalm 51: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from sin! For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against YOU, YOU ONLY have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” “Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation..”
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Psalm 86: “Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.” “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. For You, O LORD, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.” “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.”
“But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me;”
Psalm 122: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’
True repentance and broken-heartedness when we sin reach God’s heart. He is merciful and gracious. He forgives and restores our relationship with Him, but we must still bear the consequences of sin.