You will never, ever read a newspaper headline that accurately accuses Jesus of not being who He says He is.

You will never commit a sin that Jesus' blood can't cover.

You will never face a tragedy so severe that God can't make good come from it.

Today, as we grieve over the sin of our beloved David, we'll rejoice at the unfailing, spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Chronicles 20, Psalm 69, 70

Scripture Read or Referenced:

2 Samuel 11:1-6, 26-27

2 Samuel 12:1-15, 22-25

Psalm 116:15

Psalm 69:13

Psalm 70:1

Do you feel like you've blown it in your parenting? Can God redeem those mistakes and sins? Yes, He truly can! Entrusted with a Child's Heart can encourage you to embrace the fresh start God has for you. This quick episode explains how this biblical parenting study can guide moms, bless your church, and actually help the leaders! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-for-christian-moms-encouragement-in/id1700555502

Don't forget to check out the Again Podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-for-christian-moms-encouragement-in/id1700555502

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary, Spurgeon's Treasury of David

You will never, ever read a newspaper headline that accurately accuses

2

Jesus of not being who He says He is.

3

You will never commit a sin that

Jesus' blood can't cover, and you

4

will never face a tragedy so severe

that God can't make good come from it.

5

This is The Dwelling Place

from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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Today, as we grieve over the sin of our

beloved David, we'll rejoice at the

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unfailing, spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ.

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We're reading Second Samuel chapters

eleven through twelve, which

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correspond to First Chronicles

twenty, and then we'll briefly look

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At Psalm sixty-nine and seventy.

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This is not an episode that you'd

want to listen to with your kids.

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As I read portions of Second

Samuel eleven, I want you

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listening for a key verb.

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The word sent occurs over and over,

which indicates that David's sin

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is premeditated, there were many

opportunities for him to turn back.

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Beginning in eleven:one.

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In the spring of the year, the time

when kings go out to battle, David

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sent Joab and his servants with him

and all Israel, and they ravaged

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the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.

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But David remained at Jerusalem.

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It happened late one afternoon, when

David arose from his couch and was walking

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on the roof of the king's house, that

he saw from the roof a woman bathing;

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and the woman was very beautiful.

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And David sent and

inquired about the woman.

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And one said, " Is not this

Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam,

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the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"

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So David sent messengers and took her,

and she came to him, and he lay with her.

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Now she had been purifying

herself from her uncleanness.

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Then she returned to her house.

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And the woman conceived, and she sent

and told David, " I am pregnant."

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So David sent word to Joab,

" Send me Uriah the Hittite."

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and Joab sent Uriah to David.

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Right from the beginning, David

was not where he should have been.

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He should have engaged in

battle just like his men.

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Instead, he was at home and

probably bored, which led to

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him falling into temptation.

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Bathsheba was purifying herself

after her menstrual cycle.

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This is important because it reveals that

she was not pregnant from her husband.

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And here I know I'm going

to get really delicate.

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Some people believe that

David raped Bathsheba.

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I've read and prayed a lot about this.

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It's not the conclusion that I

would make, but I realize it

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would've been very intimidating for

Bathsheba to say no to the king.

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There are several occurrences

of rape in scripture.

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We're actually going to see

one in the next episode.

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And in each instance it is called rape,

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but the word here is different.

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God never condemns

Bathsheba in the account,

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and I think that she suffered greatly at

the multifaceted sin that David committed.

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He thought he could commit a secret

sin, but now he knows it will be public.

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And the consequence

for adultery was death.

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He sends for Uriah hoping that Uriah will

go home and lay with his wife but Uriah

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says, "I can't go sleep with my wife when

all of these men are on the battlefield."

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That's exactly how David should have

felt at the beginning of the chapter.

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Uriah seems to be a man

of integrity and honor.

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And despite multiple attempts,

David can't get him to give in.

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So he decides to do the unimaginable,

forcing Joab to make Uriah vulnerable

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on the battlefield so that he dies.

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We don't know what would have happened

if at any moment David would have

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stopped and asked the Lord to intervene.

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There still would have been

consequences for his sin, but he

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kept making it worse and worse.

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Let's pick back up at the

end of chapter eleven.

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When the wife of Uriah heard that

Uriah her husband was dead, she

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lamented over her husband.

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And when the mourning was over, David

sent and brought her to his house, and

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she became his wife and bore him a son.

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But the thing that David had

done displeased the Lord.

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In the eyes of everyone else, this might

have seemed like an honorable, merciful

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thing, that he would care for a widow.

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But God knew the truth.

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Chapter twelve, tenderly displays

God's heart for this righteous man.

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It makes me think of

Psalm one sixteen fifteen.

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Precious in the sight of the

Lord is the death of his saints.

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And even if David is his anointed,

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he is not exempt from consequences.

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And the Lord sent Nathan to David.

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He came to him and said to him,

There were two men in a certain city,

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the one rich and the other poor.

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The rich man had very many flocks and

herds, but the poor man had nothing but

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one little ewe lamb, which he had bought.

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And he brought it up, and it grew

up with him and with his children.

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It used to eat of his morsel and drink

from his cup and lie in his arms,

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and it was like a daughter to him.

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Now there came a traveler to the rich

man, and he was unwilling to take one

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of his own flock or herd to prepare

for the guest who had come to him.

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But he took the poor man's

lamb and prepared it for

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the man who had come to him.

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Then David's anger was greatly kindled

against the man, and he said to Nathan,

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Steph: As the Lord lives, this man

who has done this deserves to die.

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And he shall restore the lamb

fourfold, because he did this

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thing and because he had no pity."

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Speaker 27: nathan said

to David, You are the man.

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Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,

I anointed you king over Israel, and I

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delivered you out of the hand of Saul.

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And I gave you your master's house and

your master's wives into your arms, and

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gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.

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And if this were too little, I

would add to you as much more.

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Why have you despised the word of the

Lord to do what is evil in his sight?

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You have struck down Uriah the Hittite

with the sword, and have taken his

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wife to be your wife, and have killed

him with the sword of the Ammonites.

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" Now therefore, the sword shall never

depart from your house, because you have

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despised me, and have taken the wife

of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

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Thus says the Lord, ' Behold, I will

raise up evil against you out of your

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own house, and I will take your wives

before your eyes and give them to

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your neighbor, and he shall lie with

your wives in the sight of this son.

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For you did it secretly, but I

will do this thing before all

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Israel and before the sun.'

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David said to Nathan, ' I

have sinned against the Lord.'

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And Nathan said to David, ' The

Lord also has put away your sin.

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You shall not die.

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Nevertheless, because by this deed

you have utterly scorned the Lord, the

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child who is born to you shall die.'"

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David weeps and prays and refuses

to eat, asking God to be gracious.

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But after seven days, the child dies.

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It's then that David gets up,

eats, washes, and worships,

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and this confuses his servants.

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But David tells them something that can

bring us so much hope why should I fast?

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Can I bring him back again?

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I shall go to him, but he

will not return to me."

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This is one of the key scriptures

that tells us that the Lord has

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a place for children in heaven.

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And even though it is such a sorrowful

story, David knew he would be

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re-reunited with this child in eternity.

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If you've experienced the pain

of losing a child, I hope you can

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find encouragement through this.

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And in verse twenty-four, we're

told that David comforted his wife

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Bathsheba and went into her and

lay with her, and she bore a son,

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and he called his name Solomon.

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And the Lord loved him

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Steph: We'll cover David's

psalms of repentance tomorrow.

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Speaker 27: I know it's so difficult to

read these stories how could a man who

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honored the Lord in so many ways have

fallen into such grievous temptation?

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But it's encouraging for two reasons.

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First, because there's nothing that

you've done or that I've done that

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can separate us from the love of God.

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David's sin is heinous, but it's

not beyond the blood of Jesus

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and his sacrifice on the cross.

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Secondly, every chapter of

scripture can point us to the

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perfection of Jesus Christ.

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When David was at his best defeating

Goliath, we were reminded that Jesus

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is victorious over every enemy.

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now that David has fallen, we can

rejoice that Jesus is victorious

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in the face of temptation.

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But what about sweet Bathsheba, who

has now lost a husband and a son?

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We'll continue to talk about the

ways the Lord redeemed her story.

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But I would venture to say that David

truly repented and grieved before

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her, and I think they had a chance

for restoration in their marriage.

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Not only that, Bathsheba gets to

become the mother of the wisest human

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king that ever lived, and to be named

in the genealogy of the Messiah.

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Some even believe that the

Proverbs 31 woman was something

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that she taught to Solomon.

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God also honored Uriah.

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Matthew chapter 1 in the genealogy

of Jesus, verse six tells

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us, " and David was the father

of Solomon by the wife of Uriah."

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Even in the midst of this heartbreaking

story, God had a way to honor Bathsheba

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and to honor Uriah through it.

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Uriah's life on this earth

may have been cut short,

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but God spared him with eternity.

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Speaker 28: And if He can bring good

from even this tragic situation, is

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any circumstance too difficult for Him?

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Absolutely not.

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Let's quickly look at Psalm 69 and 70.

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A verse that stands out to me,

'cause it's so not what my flesh

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would like to say, is 69:13.

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" But as for me, my prayer

is to you, O Lord.

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At an acceptable time, O God, in the

abundance of your steadfast love,

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answer me in your saving faithfulness.

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Did you hear the patience?

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At an acceptable time, answer me.

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I need to pray that way more often.

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But as I turn to Psalm 70, I'm

encouraged that God is okay even

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when our prayers are impatient.

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Because verse one says, " Make

haste, O God, to deliver me.

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O Lord, make haste to help me."

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And I think this could almost

be translated, "Hurry up, Daddy.

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Hurry up."

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This is the prayer of an

impatient child expectantly

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waiting for their father to act.

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I'm grateful for a God that

receives both types of prayers.

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Heavenly Father, we praise

you for the righteous, perfect

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example of Jesus Christ.

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And even though every hero we read about

in scripture, and throughout history

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will disappoint us if we dig deep enough,

we're confident that Jesus never will.

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In the midst of all of our fears,

and our expectations, you are still

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worthy of all of our hope and trust.

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Thank you that when we repent before you,

you can redeem even our worst mistakes.

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So we pray for that

redemption today, Lord.

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If there's any sin left unconfessed,

bring it to our minds now.

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We lay it at your feet, Jesus,

and thank you that we never have

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to pick up that burden again.

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We plead that even in our worst moments,

you would allow us to bring you glory.

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Thank you for your blood, Jesus

Which thoroughly covers us.

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Amen.