2Samuel Ch.11-21

After restoring peace to the nation, and having great military power, David began to struggle with sin in his personal life. He had lust for Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and committed adultery with her. She became pregnant, and David ordered Uriah to his death and married Bathsheba. Here is the progression of David’s sins: 1) He abandoned his purpose by staying home in the first place when he should’ve been in war, 2) He focused on his own desires, 3) When he was tempted, he fell into it instead of turning away, 4) He sinned deliberately, 5) He tried to cover it up by deceiving others, 6) Committed murder to continue to cover it up. Once sin gets stared as we all know, it’s difficult to stop. To flee temptation, ask God to help you stay away from the people, places and situations that tempt you, mediate on scripture specific to your temptation to recite and it will help you, and find someone to help hold you accountable for temptation you find difficult to manage. David had become numb to feeling guilty from his sins. Feelings are not reliable guides for determining right and wrong. The more you try to cover up your sin, the more insensitive you become toward it. David asked for forgiveness and wholeheartedly surrendered, he was restored, however this did not mean he didn’t pay for the consequences of his actions. The Lord took David’s first son with Bathsheba at birth.

The downward spiral of events from David’s sin continued with his son falling into lust, mistaking it for love, with his own half-sister. The explanation here of Love versus Lust helps put in perspective today the truth of our motives and helps us to understand what is true about love and what is false. Amnon’s “love” quickly turned to hate after he acted on his lustful feelings. Love is patient; Lust is harsh. Love does not demand its own way; Lust does. Lust may feel like love at first, but when expressed, it can result in self-disgust and even hatred in the other person, as if it were not one’s own fault. If you feel like just cannot wait for the person, what you feel is not true love.

Absalom avenged his half-sister by murdering his brother Amnon. Absalom was to be Israel’s next King, and David had not acted as a disciplinarian in parenting, thus Absalom ended up committing similar sins of his own father without having the relationship with God to get him back on track. There are some key lessons here: The sins of parents are often repeated and amplified in their children. A smart man gets a lot of advice; but a wise man evaluates the advice he gets. Action against God’s plans will fail, sooner or later. Absalom had the skills to be a great King, but was on the fast track toward self-destruction. He wasn’t able to say, “I was wrong. I need forgiveness.” We receive forgiveness from God when we genuinely admit our mistakes. Absalom proved to be an evil ruler. The Bible says something very interesting here that applies to us today: We need to evaluate our leaders to make sure their charisma is not a mask covering graft, deception, or hunger for power. Make sure that underneath their style and charm, they are able to make good decisions and handle people wisely. Sound familiar to anyone? I’ll leave it at that for now.

We learn great lessons from Joab and his brother Abishai. They were soldiers in David’s army. Joab was a brilliant planner and strategist. A fearless fighter and resourceful commander. He was confident, and didn’t hesitate to confront King David. “Today you have just humiliated your men, who have just saved your life…you love those who hate you and hate those who love you…Now go out and encourage your men.” (2Samuel19:5) Joab spoke these words to David after he mourned the death of his rebellious son who had attacked David and his men. Joab had courage in this example, however, his self-centeredness ultimately led to his destruction. Brilliance and power are self-destructive without God’s guidance. Abishai, was also an excellent soldier, but he was better at taking orders than giving them. He had fearless loyalty that we should admire, but he had a tendency to act without thinking. It is not enough to be strong and effective; we must also have the self-control and wisdom that God can give us. Blind loyalty can cause great evil and the most effective followers combine careful thought and action.