The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Samuel 11:27b,
"But the thing David had done displeased the Lord."
In the well known account of David's adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah, we are told the Lord was displeased with what David had done. Later, the Lord will confront David through the prophet Nathan.
David was a man of tremendous faith. In the account of his face-off with the giant Goliath, the faith he displayed was indomitable. David's faith was such that Paul, a millennium later, would observe God's comment of him, "I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22. Yet, here we have David up to his eyeballs in adultery and murder.
How can God find a man who commits murder, who commits adultery as one who is "after my own heart"? The answer lies in an understanding of what faith is and what it is not. The writer of Hebrews tells us, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6. This observation that God rewards those who embrace him in faith provides for the inverse of the first half of this verse, "without faith it is impossible to please God" becomes "with faith it is possible to please God."
With faith, our reward is eternal life with our Creator. With faith we enter into a special family relationship with God where we become co-heirs together with Jesus Christ (see Romans 8) in all he inherits from the Father. With faith we find a place for us at God's table. With faith, we become pleasing and acceptable to God.
We are found to be holy and blameless in God's sight, Ephesians 1:4, due to what is said in verses 13 and 14 of that same chapter, "you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory." Faith brings us a standing of holiness and blamelessness in God's sight.
However, faith does not make us a perfect person. We read of sinful acts of the patriarchs in Israel's history. Here David, elsewhere Abraham (God's model of faith for us), Jacob, Samson, etc. In the early church we have Peter who was confronted by Paul, an occasion we read about in Galatians 2:11-21. We have the account of a very divisive disagreement between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:39 regarding Mark, "Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company."
What this teaches us is that faith, while it brings us God's grace through his salvation of us to eternal life, does not make us perfect in this life. Perfection awaits us in the resurrection, when we finally are entirely freed of our sinful natures. In the meantime, "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." Galatians 5:16-17.
While in this life, we are forgiven our sins as believers in Jesus Christ because of his payment for those sins we commit. When David sinned, it displeased the Lord. When we sin, we displease the Lord. However, we remain in his family, entirely dependent upon his grace and his mercy.
Do not be surprised when a brother or sister around you sins... they are no more perfect than you are, just as what we see in David in this passage.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"But the thing David had done displeased the Lord."
In the well known account of David's adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah, we are told the Lord was displeased with what David had done. Later, the Lord will confront David through the prophet Nathan.
David was a man of tremendous faith. In the account of his face-off with the giant Goliath, the faith he displayed was indomitable. David's faith was such that Paul, a millennium later, would observe God's comment of him, "I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22. Yet, here we have David up to his eyeballs in adultery and murder.
How can God find a man who commits murder, who commits adultery as one who is "after my own heart"? The answer lies in an understanding of what faith is and what it is not. The writer of Hebrews tells us, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6. This observation that God rewards those who embrace him in faith provides for the inverse of the first half of this verse, "without faith it is impossible to please God" becomes "with faith it is possible to please God."
With faith, our reward is eternal life with our Creator. With faith we enter into a special family relationship with God where we become co-heirs together with Jesus Christ (see Romans 8) in all he inherits from the Father. With faith we find a place for us at God's table. With faith, we become pleasing and acceptable to God.
We are found to be holy and blameless in God's sight, Ephesians 1:4, due to what is said in verses 13 and 14 of that same chapter, "you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory." Faith brings us a standing of holiness and blamelessness in God's sight.
However, faith does not make us a perfect person. We read of sinful acts of the patriarchs in Israel's history. Here David, elsewhere Abraham (God's model of faith for us), Jacob, Samson, etc. In the early church we have Peter who was confronted by Paul, an occasion we read about in Galatians 2:11-21. We have the account of a very divisive disagreement between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:39 regarding Mark, "Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company."
What this teaches us is that faith, while it brings us God's grace through his salvation of us to eternal life, does not make us perfect in this life. Perfection awaits us in the resurrection, when we finally are entirely freed of our sinful natures. In the meantime, "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." Galatians 5:16-17.
While in this life, we are forgiven our sins as believers in Jesus Christ because of his payment for those sins we commit. When David sinned, it displeased the Lord. When we sin, we displease the Lord. However, we remain in his family, entirely dependent upon his grace and his mercy.
Do not be surprised when a brother or sister around you sins... they are no more perfect than you are, just as what we see in David in this passage.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment