GOD’S WORD FOR DECEMBER 1 ~ ~ Matthew 4:4 ~ ~ “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Continuing with the book, How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef of the worldwide ministry, “Leading the Way”

Chapter ~ ~ David and Solomon: Foreshadowing God’s Kingdom

Section:  The Fall and Redemption of David

The Bible lays out the story of David and Bathsheba with shocking candor in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.  Even more surprising, David HIMSELF confesses his sin before the entire nation in the inscription of his psalm of repentance:   “A Psalm of David. …Ps 51:1 “when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”

The Bible tells us that, in the springtime, “when kings go off to war,” David wasn’t where he belonged, on the battlefield with his army.  Instead, he was on his palace roof, where he saw a woman bathing.  Instead of looking away, he stared at her, lusted for her, and sent for her.  She was Bathsheba, married to Uriah the Hittite, and high-ranking soldier who was on the battlefield, doing his duty for his king.  David committed adultery with Bathsheba and she became pregnant.  To cover up his sin, he arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle—a case of cold-blooded murder.

Bathsheba mourned for Uriah, and David brought her into the palace and made her his wife.  “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord..” (2 Samuel 11:27).  and He loved him too much to not allow David to remain in his unrepentant state.  God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David’s hidden sin and hypocrisy (see 2 Samuel chapter 12).  After hearing Nathan’s accusation, David fell on his face and repented.

God forgave David’s sin – but the consequences of it went on and on.  The child born of the adulterous union died seven days after he was born.  Afterwards, David’s kingdom was beset by enemy nations.  One of his own sons, Absalom, later rebelled and brought him calamity, as Nathan predicted.  The grievous consequences of David’s sin remained with him the rest of his life.

Even so, after David confessed his sin and repented, God forgave him and gave him a second chance in the form of an heir, Solomon, David’s second son with Bathsheba.  Solomon is proof that God forgave and restored David by His great mercy and grace.  The past and its consequences could not be undone but God could still rewrite David’s future by giving him a son to carry on his work of establishing the Temple and expanding the kingdom of Israel.

There’s an instructive scene in David’s life.  It takes place before he became king, when he was a fugitive from Saul’s wrath and began recruiting an army.  The warriors came from many tribes – brave men, ready for battle.  But the Bible describes the tribe of Issachar with this fascinating statement:  they were “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32)

This historical detail demands our attention.  The men of Issachar understood the times in which they lived and they knew the direction their nation should go.  This is a special form of wisdom and insight that we desperately need today.  We need to discern the condition of our society in these dark and troubling times – and we need to understand how God is calling us as Christians to respond.

In order to dos this, we need a deep knowledge of the mind of God. He has expressed His will for the world through His Word (the Bible) . The tragedy of the Church in the twenty-first century is that our knowledge of the Bible is abysmal.  We have neglected God’s Word for so long that we don’t even realize how far we have fallen –and how urgently we need to repent.

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Psalm 3:3

“But You, O Lord are a shield for me: my glory and the lifter of my head.”

Deut. 1:30

“The Lord your God which goes before you, He shall fight for you, ,,,”

IIThes. 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, Who shall establish you and keep you from evil.

ISamuel 2:9

He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail.

Psalm 37:23

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delights in his way.

Psalm 32:8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go:  I will guide you with my eye upon you.

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