Fellow Church People

[MartyMuppets]

And wasn't David amazing in the way he wept and mourned for Saul's death William?
He surely exemplifies the godly attitude of forgiveness in this. Anybody else might have rather felt like celebrating. We would have expected David to shout out "Hooray! He's dead! He cannot threaten my life anymore!" Which is undoubtedly what the hapless Amalekite was firmly expecting.

When we think of how forgiving David was towards Saul after how he had treated him, it should put us to shame when we cannot easily forgive others for the smallest of offences they commit against us, should it not?

 

[CensoredAlso]

When we think of how forgiving David was towards Saul after how he had treated him, it should put us to shame when we cannot easily forgive others for the smallest of offences they commit against us, should it not?

Definitely agree with that, there's a big misconception in our culture that not forgiving someone somehow proves you are strong. In reality, it often shows weakness. You're still angry and want to remain so. It's understandable, but you have to move on. Plus, it's very easy to love the people who never let us down. As Jesus said, anyone can do that, heh. It's harder to forgive the ones who really need forgiving. Mercy isn't something you earn, it's something you're given. That doesn't mean you don't get punished when you've done something wrong of course. I guess that's where things like tough love come in.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Yeah, it's a really great story in the bible and it show real character and how we should live out out lives everyday!

 

[MartyMuppets]

And David continued this remarkable sense of caring justice later on in Chapter 4 I think. That's when during the time of the battle for full control of Israel between the newly appointed King David and one of Saul's surviving sons, King Ish-bosheth, two of Ish-bosheth's own guards assasinated him in his own palace while he was asleep. They stabbed him in the belly and took his head in a bag to David expecting to win his favour. But David had them put to death in the slow painful manner reserved for traitors. For he called them traitors to their own king, which they were.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

That is justice!

 

[MartyMuppets]

Yes it certainly is. But David had an exceptional sense of justice in the unjust world of his time.
It's likely that those two guards (brothers I believe they were) Baanah and Rechab by name, had remembered hearing accounts of how when kings among other nations were at war with each other, sometimes they would shower rich rewards and honours among members of the enemy army who turned against their own king, assassinating him and bearing the news of what they had done to the opposing monarch.
Imagine how dreadfully upset and confused they must have felt when David passed sentence upon them.

David's principles were exceedingly different from what they had heard about, weren't they?

 

[MartyMuppets]

I was thinking that perhaps the difference was that David had respect for King Ish-bosheth as the son of his father-in-law Saul. And even though God intended to win the monarchy completely over to David eventually because of Saul's unworthiness, Ish-bosheth was still the descendant of God's originally appointed king.
David knew that nobody could strike down Saul or his legal successor by royal family rights without incurring severe guilt before the Lord. So Baanah and Rechab were handed over to the fate they deserved.

 

[MartyMuppets]

And now I think I'll share my favourite part of the story of King David.
It's Chapter 11. This may seem like a very strange choice to call my favourite chapter because it really isn't a nice episode at all. I need to explain my feelings therefore very carefully.
First of all David was indeed a very wonderful King. He loved God with all his heart and did many wonderful things for His glory. I'm sure many of us wish that his history could have ended at Chapter 10 including myself.
But this rather sad chapter I love highlights the fact that he was just a man like the rest of us, with faults and weaknesses. In it we find David covetting the wife of one of his loyal soldiers, Uriah. Eventually his sinful desires lead him along to the point where he sends orders to his army general to see that Uriah is placed in the thickest part of the battle against the enemy forces and then for all the rest of the troop to immediately retreat suddenly without Uriah's knowledge. Thus leaving him completely open to the arrows of the Philistines so that he is all too easily cut down by them.

Uriah's wife, named Bathsheba, seems to have been extremely compliant with David's plan although the Scripture does say that she genuinely mourned for Uriah while at the same time knowing she was free now to marry King David.
And so the chapter ends with David marrying Bathsheba and a son being born to them. But God was not happy at all about the thing that David had done.

Not really a very happy chapter but the next chapter tells how David repented afterwards and was forgiven by God. So there is a silver lining to the dark raincloud. I think in fact Chapters 11 and 12 collectively are my favourite part of the story for they show that God could still love and forgive a great sinner like David. And how much more so can He still love and forgive us? We may not do the same sort of wicked things David did, but all our tiniest misdeeds are equally wicked in His sight. And if David could be forgiven and Bathsheba too, why should we doubt our own forgiveness then?

I shall talk about David's repentance next time.

 

[MartyMuppets]

Chapter 12 tells us how God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David.
When Nathan went into David's presence he told him a parable which David initially presumed to be a true story.
Nathan reported that there were two men in a nearby city. One rich, the other poor. The rich man owned many flocks but the poor man had but one little lamb, which he loved like a daughter. Then one day the rich man had a guest for dinner, but instead of using one of his many herd of sheep, he took the poor man's lamb off of him and prepared a meal for his guest.
David became very angry upon heating this and swore that the man who did this surely deserved to die because he did such a cruel thing and had no pity.
Then Nathan cut to the chase and told David, "You are the man. Hear what God says. I made you rich and powerful. I saved you from the hand of Saul and gave you his kingdom, his wealth and his wives. But you were not satisfied with what you had. You wanted Bathsheba, the wife of your loyal soldier Uriah. You arranged for him to be killed all too easily in battle so that you could marry her, in the same way as the rich man in my story desired the poor man's lamb".
When David heard this he was struck with bitter remorse and cried out, "I have sinned against the Lord".
Nathan assured David that the Lord had forgiven him and he was not going to die. This has a double meaning. Of course David did not die spiritually the day he died because his sin had been washed away, but it also meant that he was not going to be executed right then and there. What should have happened strictly speaking was that David and Bathsheba ought to have been stoned to death according to the law prescribed by God's servant Moses centuries ago in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. But because it was part of God's plan to bring Jesus Christ into the world one day as a desendant of David's line, He Himself exempted David and Bathsheba from the customary death penalty for adultery and murder.
However God decreed that the child born to them would grow sick and die

 

[MartyMuppets]

After Nathan had left we are told that David went without food or drink and poured out his heart to God in sorrow praying for the child to live. But by the end of a week the baby was dead.
David's counsellors were afraid to tell him this for they thought he may do some harm to himself, but David overheard them talking among themselves and asked them if the child was dead. Put on the spot they confirmed reluctantly that it was so. Then to their amazement David washed himself and sat down to eat and drink. When they asked him why he explained that as long as the child was alive he fasted and wept for he thought perhaps God may be merciful to him and heal the child. But why should he fast now that he has died? He cannot bring him back. David evidently believed that the baby was with God for he concluded, "One day I shall go to him, but he shall never return to me." This is a very strong scripture passage for belief that those who die in infancy or at a very young age before they are old enough to be accountable for their decision regarding Christ are all saved by God's Grace. David and Bathsheba must have both taken great comfort in this thought.