December 23 -- "Consequences of Sin"

 Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 13

"Consequences of Sin"

Here, we read of Amnon, son of King David and-heir apparent to the throne, who rapes his half-sister Tamar and later is murdered by his own brother for his sin. What a sad story illustrating the depths of human depravity.

Many people wonder why this disturbing story is in the Bible. After all, it doesn’t seem to have any mention of God’s grace or His redeeming love. It is a sad and tragic story about the dark side of human nature. But there is a reason this story is here – to teach us about the consequences of sin.  God has laid down the rules. If you follow the rules, you're going to find fulfillment and satisfaction, and a meaningful relationship with Him. But if you violate the rules, you're going to get hurt. You're going to get burned. This is the story of David getting hurt as a result of his sin and the sins of others.

Let me suggest some ways this passage may be instructive for us. First, and most obviously, we need to see that there are consequences for sin. Remember that David had committed the terrible sins of lust, adultery, deception, and murder in his incident with Bathsheba. After those sins, David repented and received forgiveness from God. He was genuinely forgiven but was informed that there would still be consequences for his sin. We must remember that God’s forgiveness doesn’t necessarily eliminate the after-effects of our sin. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) If we sow to our flesh, we will reap emptiness and heartbreak.

Secondly, we see that sin often starts small and privately, but if left unchecked, it can rapidly escalate into great sin that becomes public. It has been said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go; keep you longer than you want to stay; and cost you more than you want to pay.”  An example of this is the sin of adultery. You let a small, private attraction for another person develop into acts of sin which lead to the after-effects of destroying marriages and families. Amnon’s lust for Tamar was hidden in his heart. Only God knew about it. Until that day when he let the power of sin and his selfish desire take over. He acted on his “innocent” attraction and the results were heartbreaking. This passage encourages us to stay out of sin, no matter how “small” or “innocent” it may seem. “Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

Finally, this story teaches us the importance of discerning true love. Amnon claimed that he “loved” Tamar, but he was disastrously confusing “love” with “lust.”  True love is expressed by acts of selflessness and service.  You will know it is love when someone is willing to deny their own desires in order to serve and care for others. True love focuses on the well-being and happiness of the other person, selfish-lust prioritizes personal desires, needs, and gratification.

Our Creator is the grand example of true love: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

December 22 -- "Taught by God"

 Today’s Reading: Psalms 86 & 122

"Taught by God"

Psalm 86 is a “mash up” of various verses from the other Psalms. David takes verses that are dear to his heart from Psalms 18, 25, 27, 55, 71, 119 and various other Psalms and compiles them into Psalm 86. Practically every verse of Psalm 86 is taken from another Psalm someplace. This demonstrates David’s working knowledge of God’s word and reveals his heartfelt devotion to the Scriptures.

Psalm 86 is a prayer of David crying out for God’s active presence in his life. He prays for God to listen to him; to preserve him; to be gracious to him; to gladden his soul; to teach him God’s ways; and to give him a unified heart. In verse 11, he pleads with the Lord to “teach me your way that I may walk in Your truth.”  From this plea, we see that David understood the importance of being taught directly by God.

It is vitally important to every follower of Christ that we be taught by God. Directly by Him. It is a wonderful thing when God has placed anointed teachers and preachers in our lives so we can hear Scripture being taught by wise and learned men and women. We should be thankful for such a blessing. But… learning from the teachings of men should never, ever, be a substitute for learning directly from the Lord, Himself.

The only path to pure doctrine and correct belief is for each of us to be taught directly at the feet of Jesus. In Him alone is the Way. In Him alone is the Truth. As He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6)

David’s plea to be taught by the Lord shows that he grasped the truth that we all must be taught by God. This principle is repeated often in Scripture: “For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9); “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:13); “For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.” (Isaiah 28:26)

We must diligently seek to be taught by God. It must be the passionate pursuit of our heart and soul to search the Scriptures regularly under the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who will guide us into all truth. Along with David, we must pray, “teach me your way O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.”

Make it your heartfelt prayer today that you be taught by God. Then, be like the Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

December 21 -- "Oh, How Happy!"

 Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 20 & Psalm 32

"Oh, How Happy!"

The word “blessed” means “oh how happy.” Having confessed his sins and repented of them and having bowed before God with a contrite heart, David now expresses the wonderful and happy experience of having been forgiven! There is no greater happiness than to know that God has forgiven ALL of your sins and that you have been restored to a right relationship with Him!  If you’ve had this experience, oh how happy you must be!

True blessedness and happiness consists only in remission of sin and purification of the heart.  When people are honest with God and confess their sin to Him (as David did in Psalm 51), they experience the unspeakable joy of knowing that their sin is forgiven. When confession is made, forgiveness follows, the burden of separation from God is removed, and a fresh experience of God’s joy settles upon the sinner. Oh, what a happy moment it is when I have that assurance that my transgression has been forgiven, that my sin has been covered by the blood of Christ.

David here mentions three variations of the types of offenses that can separate us from God and take away our joy. The word “transgression” means a deliberate, willful disobedient act. David, in his incident with Bathsheba, deliberately and willfully disobeyed God’s commands regarding lust, adultery, deception, and murder. He knew where God had drawn the line, and he deliberately stepped over that line. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven.”

The second word David uses is “sin.”  There is a difference between a transgression and a sin. A sin is not always a willful act. The word sin comes from a root word used in archery which means, "to miss the mark." God says, "Here is the mark. I want you to hit it." All right. And I take aim, but I miss. We all have missed the mark even when it was our intention to hit it. I may not deliberately miss. I may be trying to hit it. I might just be a poor shot. But that is still an offense to God. “Blessed is the one whose sin is covered.”

The third word David uses is “iniquity.” This word refers to the inward depravity of nature that we, as human beings, are infected with. Every person is born with a sinful nature – a personality flaw that predisposes us to think, speak, and act in sinful and immoral ways. It is this sinful nature that has separated us from God and robbed us of our joy. And, if this predisposition to sin is not dealt with, it will separate us eternally from Him. The blessed truth here is that God has a way of not counting our iniquity against us. That way is the cross of Jesus, where He took upon Himself the sinful nature of humanity allowing God to no longer count our depravity and immoral nature against us. “Blessed is the one against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.”

Think of it! Your transgressions are forgiven, your sins are covered, and your sinful nature is not being counted against you! Oh how happy you must be!

December 20 -- "A Contrite Heart"

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 12 & Psalm 51

"A Contrite Heart"

The Hebrew introduction for Psalm 51 tells us that this is “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” King David’s incident with Bathsheba is a dark moment in his life and reveals to us the depths to which sin can drive an otherwise godly man. David’s sins in this moment included pride, lust, adultery, deception, and murder. Truly a dark chapter in his life. We see from this that David was a sinful man, just like you and me.  After being “found out” by Nathan the Prophet, David confessed and repented of his sin. In Psalm 51, with a deeply penitent heart, David pleads to God for the remission of his sins.

David was a great sinner, a human being just like all of us, capable of being enticed by the lusts of his flesh. But, at the same time, he was truly a man after God’s heart. Deep down, far below his sinful desires, he longed to do God’s will and was grieved when confronted with his failure.

A person after God’s heart loves the things God loves and the ways He prescribes. Though he may deviate from those ways at times, he will return—for God will not let him rest in his sin. All true children of God will be called back to Him when they wander.

David’s heart was truly broken over his sin and he came to God here in true heartfelt repentance. He mentions his contrite heart in verse 17. To be “contrite” before God means that we bow down with the awareness of our spiritual bankruptcy, our inner spirit is crushed with its guilt, we have genuine and deep sorrow for how we have offended our loving God, and we have a determined desire to do differently. A contrite heart does not seek to fool God or others, nor to rationalize or excuse our sin. A contrite heart produces true repentance.  As with David, we don’t ask God to ignore or disregard our sin.  Instead, we admit our sin and plead for God to have mercy according to His “abundant mercy.”

When we become aware of our sins, iniquities, and transgressions we need to know that God isn’t interested in empty apologies and He doesn’t want our promises to do better.  God desires a broken and contrite heart which is the true sacrifice of one who determines to turn from sin, to forsake sin, and to abandon it.

 

December 19 -- "David's Unguarded Moment"

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 11 & Psalm 70

"David's Unguarded Moment"

One evidence supporting the trustworthiness of the Bible is the remarkable honesty with which it tells us about its heroes like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul, and the others. The portrait of each and every hero is painted with dark spots and all.  We are told of their failures as well as their triumphs. So it is with David – shepherd, giant-killer, poet, soldier, and king. Here is a very great man. Here is “a man after God’s own heart” who loved the Lord deeply.  But at the same time that David’s army is winning a military battle on foreign soil, Scripture records that he is losing a moral battle at home.

Second Samuel 11 records a dark day in king David’s life. This story of David’s moral failure is a vivid illustration of a principle taught in James 1:13-15 – “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

The principle is this: sin is not just a one-off event, it is part of a process.  Sin has, as it were, a ‘domino effect’.  Evil desire leads to sin, and sin leads to death.  In other words, there are triggers, and there are consequences. 

The trigger was an unguarded moment.  It was spring-time, the time when kings should be off to war with their troops.  David had sent his army, under its commander, Joab, to besiege the city of Rabbah.  But David stayed at home in Jerusalem, relaxing.  He could afford to.  This was a time of military strength, of material prosperity, of personal leisure.  This was his unguarded moment. In this moment, he allows the casual glance to become a lustful gaze which progresses into rationalizing thought and culminates in his tragic moral failure. He commits adultery then begins a tangled web of deceit to try to cover his sin.

David’s experience presents a stern warning to all of us – watch out for those unguarded moments! “Idol hands are the devil’s worship.” We are all susceptible to the lure of sin and, if we don’t constantly keep our hearts in check, we too could fall victim to our sinful desires. The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:12 drive the point home: “Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Beware of the unguarded moment.

December 18 -- "Our Influence on Others"

Today’s Reading: Psalm 69

"Our Influence on Others"

King David is going through a rough time politically. His “poll numbers are down.” His popularity has been declining because he has made some decisions that were not popular with all the people. In his heart, he feels that his decisions have been consistent with God’s will, but he acknowledges that he is not perfect and that he may not have done everything completely right. In Psalm 69, David is grappling with all of this. He is feeling abandoned by his friends and hated by large numbers of his citizens. He is feeling like the waters of opposition are swirling over his head and his feet are sinking in the deep sludge.

The life of a leader is not always a “bed of roses.” Especially so for one who seeks to honor the Lord and infuse godly principles into his/her decisions as a leader. At times, doing the right thing can seem very lonely. Family, friends, employees, church members, and even whole nations can be soured by a decision (or group of decisions) the leader has made. This was the case for David, and it certainly was the case for our Lord Jesus Christ, whose zeal for God caused Him to be reproached and hated by many. It will be so for any of us who are called to lead others in any capacity.

The key thought in Psalm 69 is David’s concern for the spiritual condition of others. His prayer in verse 6 is a heartfelt request that he not be the cause of others’ shame or dishonor. In the midst of his own struggles, David did not focus on himself, but on others. He did not want his decisions to be a stumbling block to anyone who hopes in God and seeks Him. His desire was that his decisions as a leader would facilitate and encourage worshippers to become closer to God, not further away. “Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,” he prays. And “let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me.” David’s deep prayer was that his actions, however unpopular, would not have a negative influence on anyone seeking the Lord.

This should be the heartfelt attitude of every follower of Christ. All of us are in positions of influence to some degree or another. It should be one of our primary concerns that what we say, or do, or the decisions we make, does not influence another person to stumble in their relationship with Jesus. The Apostle Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 8:13, “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” Paul was writing specifically about eating meat that had been offered to idols, but you can substitute other actions in this verse and the principle remains the same: “Therefore, if [anything] makes my brother stumble, I will never [do that thing], lest I make my brother stumble.”

Others will not always agree with you one hundred percent of the time. But they should always find that you are being faithful to, and consistent with God’s will to the best of your ability. As expressed in the song by Steve Green, “O may all who come behind us find us faithful, may the fire of our devotion light their way. May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe.”

 

December 17 -- "Father of the Fatherless"

Today’s Reading: Psalms 67 & 68

"Father of the Fatherless"

What an amazing God we serve! Mighty in power and glorious in majesty while at the same time being tender-hearted and compassionate to our needs. Repeatedly in Scripture, Yahweh is described as a Father to the fatherless and a Protector of widows. “He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18) “The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.” (Psalm 10:14) “You defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.” (Psalm 82:3)

Although Yahweh is “in His holy habitation,” He is not far from any one of us. Of all the ways the Lord God Almighty could have chosen to relate to humanity, He chose the language of family. He could have described Himself as a benevolent dictator, kind boss, or patient landlord. But instead, He chose the word father. He presents Himself as a Father because we all know what a father should be and do. Even if we did not have earthly fathers who treated us well, we have an intrinsic understanding of what a good father should be. God planted that understanding in our hearts. We all have a need to be loved, cherished, protected, provided for, cheered for, and valued. We all long to have a loving father look into our eyes and say, “I’m proud of you, son/daughter.”  Ideally, an earthly father will meet those needs. But even if he doesn’t, God will. Throughout Scripture, God describes His love for us as that of a caring parent.

God has a special place in His heart for the orphans and fatherless (see: Deuteronomy 24:20; Jeremiah 49:11; James 1:27). He loves to adopt new “kids” into His heavenly family. He loves it when His followers on earth heed the call to foster and/or adopt a child who is fatherless. This is a high calling and God will honor those who step out into the unknown and trust Him to bless such a family!

The Lord offers to fill the role of a Father in the lives of all, especially it seems, those with no father.  As a human father would do, so the Lord invites us to call out to Him when we are in trouble (Psalm 50:15), to cast all our worries on Him (1 Peter 5:7), and to enjoy His company (1 Corinthians 1:9: Psalm 116:1; 1 John 5:14).  He models for us the characteristics He had in mind when He designed fatherhood. Although many times earthly fathers do not live up to the ideal, God promises that, in Him, no one has to be without a perfect Father.

God is not aloof from the needs of people. Nor is He a mean old ogre just waiting to inflict pain on humanity. Our God is tender-hearted and compassionate to the needs of all. The world needs to hear about a God like that!