Devotionary

David was on the outside looking in. He had lost his kingdom to his own son. And now, he was living in self-imposed exile, watching and waiting to see what God was going to do about it all. He was unaware of just exactly what God had planned. But he was trying to trust God in spite of it all. These were dark days for the former king. The great warrior-king of Israel had lost his kingdom without a fight. Not a single battle had been fought. David had simply walked out and allowed his son, Absalom to walk in. And in 2 Samuel 17:1-14, we see that, while David was on the outside looking in, God was not. He was fully aware of all that was going on and, at the end of the day, He was in full control of all that had happened. God was not up in heaven wringing His hands with worry. He had not been caught off guard. Every single circumstance surrounding David’s life was under the sovereign control of Almighty God.

David was on the way out. Literally and figuratively. He was being forced to flee Jerusalem because of the coup his own son had staged. But he was also on the way out as the king of Israel. The days of his reign had come to an abrupt and ignominious end. As he made his way out of the city, he was barefoot and in mourning. Gone were the trappings of his kingship. Now, he was just another citizen, submitting himself to the usurper to his throne, his own son, Absalom. In 2 Samuel 16:1-14, David will have yet another painful reminder of his dramatic fall from grace. On his way out of the city, he was accosted by a man, a relative of Saul, who saw David’s fall as just and well-deserved. David was simply getting what he deserved for having taken the crown from Saul. But David refused to allow this man’s words and actions to get to him. He was going to trust God. Regardless of the circumstances.

Things were about to take a turn for the worse in David’s life. His son, Absalom had turned the people against him, and was poised to stage a coup that would wrest the kingdom from his hands. But rather than fight and bring civil war to the kingdom, David chose to vacate Jerusalem and allow his son to ascend to the throne. Second Samuel 15:13-37 reveals David’s somewhat depressing departure from the city, barefoot and with his head covered in mourning. He is having to walk away from his own capital, the city of David, relinquishing control to his rebellious son. It’s a sad day. And while David was deeply saddened by the chain of events that had led to his fall, he was not giving up. Even as bad as things appeared to be, he saw light at the end of the tunnel. He glimpsed a feint silver lining on the dark clouds hovering over his head. In spite of the dismal circumstances surrounding his life, he tried to keep his hope in the God who had anointed him king in the first place.

Absalom was a man on a mission. He was ambitious and he had well-crafted plans in place that would ensure that his ambitions were fully realized. He had seen a flaw in his father’s reign as king and he was more than ready and fully willing to exploit it – all for his own personal benefit. Absalom, unlike his father David, was not a man after God’s own heart. His heart beat fast for one thing only: Himself. He was selfish and self-centered. Everything he did was aimed at elevating himself and he was willing to do whatever it took to make a name for himself. He was motivated by selfish ambition, but also a less-than-healthy dose of disdain for his father. And in 2 Samuel 15:7-12, we will see just how far this ambitious young man was willing to go to bring down his father and place himself on the throne of Israel. He knew the power of words and he was more than willing to put them to use in his quest for power, prominence and payback.

The prodigal son had returned. But David, unwilling to punish Absalom for his murder of Amnon, had unknowingly created a monster. This son of his was going to wreak havoc on David’s kingdom by undermining his reputation among the people. In 2 Samuel 15:1-6, we begin to see some of the ramifications of David’s decision to leave his guilty son unpunished. His reticence to mete out justice was going to have serious repercussions. And David’s weaknesses as a leader were going to be exploited by his very own son. The man after God’s own heart had lost the heart of his son and would eventually find himself facing the potential loss of his kingdom. And all of this would have direct ties to David’s original sin with Bathsheba. God had warned David that, as a result of his affair with Bathsheba and his orchestration of her husband’s death, the sword would not depart from David’s house. He had already lost a son. Now, he stood the real possibility of losing far more.

David’s son, Absalom, while guilty of murder, had been welcomed back in Jerusalem, but not with open arms. David had refused to meet with his long-exiled son and relegated him to a form of house arrest. Two years would pass with David doing what he normally did in situations like this: nothing. And his son would grow in his resentment toward him. In 2 Samuel 14:25-33, we’re going to see this less-than-ideal situation grow increasingly toxic, as David continues his pattern of inaction and Absalom reaches the tipping point. David’s lousy leadership was going to come back and haunt him. He had chosen to ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room and now he was going to pay for it. And David was going to discover that, while he had been willing to do nothing, Absalom wasn’t. The son of the king, unimpressed with his father’s leadership,  would begin to have aspirations for his father’s throne.

Ignoring our sin is a constant temptation for the child of God. Sometimes, we think that if we just keep it out of sight and out of mind, it will go away. Once we’ve committed the sin, we are tempted to simply move past it and get on with our lives. And we hope that God will do the same. But in the life of David, we have a perfect example of sin’s insidious impact on our lives. It never goes away, no matter how much we try to ignore it. And in 2 Samuel 14:18-24, David will continue to avoid his God-given responsibility to discipline his own son for the murder of his half-brother. David will allow Absalom to return from exile, but will choose to sequester him away, refusing to see him or to deal with his sin. But, as we’ve seen before, David’s choice to do nothing will not make Absalom’s sin go away. And it will not prevent God from bringing just and righteous judgment on David and his house.

Minimizing our sins is almost a national pastime. We love to figure out ways to play up our strengths and ignore our moral and spiritual failings. We can even find ourselves overlooking the sins in the lives of others. Most likely, because we would prefer that we would extend us the same courtesy. But God cannot and will not overlook sin in the lives of His people. And that was going to be another painful lesson learned by King David. In 2 Samuel 14:1-17, David is going to allow himself to be unknowingly manipulated by Joab. This friend was so concerned with David’s despair over Absalom’s exile and so desperate to see David move on with his life, he concocted a plan to persuade David to absolve Absalom of all guilt. This well-intentioned friend would go against the revealed will of God and counsel David to do what he believed to be best, for his family and the kingdom. But Joab failed to remember that God takes sin seriously.  

There’s something in all of us that makes us want to get away with anything we do that might be deemed unacceptable or inappropriate. Not getting caught is a powerful temptation. And escaping punishment for any wrong we commit is even more alluring. It seems to be wired into our DNA as human beings. And it’s all because of the sin nature we inherited from Adam. In 2 Samuel 13:34-39, we have the continuing story of Absalom, the son of David who murdered his half-brother, Amnon, for raping their sister. David, the king, should have punished Amnon for his crime, but had done nothing. His inaction had led to Absalom seeking his own form of vigilante justice, plotting and carrying out Amnon’s death. And, once again, David did nothing. As a father, grieving over his son’s actions, he refused to carry out justice as the king. He let Absalom get away. But the ramifications for the sins of his sons and David’s inaction would come back to haunt him, when Absalom eventually came back to Jerusalem.  

Committing sin comes naturally to all of us, because we have sin natures. But, the sad reality is that we also seem to be more than willing to tolerate sin, in our lives and in the lives of others. That’s exactly what we see in 2 Samuel 13:20-33. David, the king of Israel and the man after God’s own heart, had committed his own fair share of sins. And when sin started showing its ugly face within his own home, he showed a natural tendency to ignore it, rather than deal with it. This drama, with its soap-opera-like plot, reveals a growing list of sinful actions, committed by the children of David. One brother has raped his half-sister. Now, her blood-brother will seek revenge, plotting the death of their guilty sibling. And all because David refused to step in and do what he was obligated to do, as a father and a king. Rather than do his job, David decided to turn a blind eye. And his inaction would only make matters worse.

Great leaders don’t always make great parents. And David is a prime example. He may have been a tremendous military leader, but as we’ll see in 2 Samuel 13:1-19, he wasn’t exactly adept at leading his sizeable clan of children birthed to him by his many wives. And many of the problems David would find himself facing as a parent were the direct byproduct of his own personal sins. There is an old adage that states, “What parents do in moderation, children do to excess.” And David family was going to prove that statement to be painfully true. Some of his kids were going to be chips off the old block, emulating some of David’s most egregious sins and bringing his moral failings right under his own roof. And one of the most telling proofs of David’s poor parenting skills will be his tendency to avoid rather than confront, to dismiss rather than discipline. David would turn a blind eye to the sins of his children and the results would be deadly.

In 2 Samuel 12:15-23, we’re faced with a difficult story involving the death of the baby born to Bathsheba and King David. The passage makes it painfully clear that the baby’s death was the direct result of God discipline on David for his sin. But this kind of justice seems alien to us. It contradicts our sense of justice. After all, what had the baby done to deserve death? It had committed no sin. It was guilty of no transgression against God. And yet, the text tells us that the Lord afflicted the child…and he became sick. In time, the child died. And David mourned his loss, but also worshiped his God. He didn’t cast blame or shake his fist in the face of God. He knew he was guilty and that the child’s death was just punishment for his crime against God. While this story rocks our modern-day concepts of justice, we must be careful in passing judgment on God. He is not the one who sinned. He had not been unfaithful. But He was just.

Sin has consequences, whether we want to admit it or not. And, so often, those consequences impact those around us. Our personal sins have corporate consequences. And while our sin may have been committed in secret, it rarely remains that way. As it states in Numbers 32:23, “be sure your sin will find you out.” And the ramifications of our sins usually spread out, touching the lives of the innocent and undeserving. Such was the case concerning David’s sin with Bathsheba. David had let his personal passions get the best of him. He had given in to his own lusts and taken what was not his. And while he tried to cover up and minimize the impact of his sin, God was not pleased. And God, being holy and just, could not allow David’s sin to go unpunished. In 2 Samuel 12:1-14, God used His prophet, Nathan, to convict David of what he had done, exposing the true condition of David’s heart and revealing the true victim of David’s sin: Himself.

The temptation to sin is always accompanied by the misguided belief that our sin will do no harm. We somehow rationalize our decision to sin by convincing ourselves that no damage will be done, no long-term impact will be felt. It will all turn out okay. But those are nothing more than the lies of the enemy. In the heat of the moment, when the temptation to sin is at its strongest, he whispers in our ear and assures us that our actions are perfectly just and reasonable. We have needs. Our desires are meant to be met. It’s unhealthy to deny yourself that which you want and deserve. And in 2 Samuel 11:14-27, we are going to watch as David continues to deal with his sin, not with confession, but with rationalization and self-preservation. While David would survive the ordeal, his sin would leave a trail of dead bodies in its wake. His transgression would have drastic ramifications.

We all have a sin nature. And David was no different. As a man, he struggled with many of the same temptations that all men face. One in particular was his love for women. And in 2 Samuel 11:1-13, this monster within was going to raise its ugly head and do some serious damage to David’s integrity and moral reputation. As revealed in chapter 10, David had developed a bad habit of delegating some of his responsibilities as commander in chief and, rather than leading his troops into battle, he was choosing to remain in Jerusalem. His decision to forego his God-given responsibilities as the leader of Israel’s armies was going to set him up for a moral failure of epic proportions. And like any other sin, this one was going to have long-lasting and, ultimately, deadly consequences. David would learn the painful lesson that obeying your passions was never a good alternative to obeying God.

Even good men can develop bad habits. And, even as God’s hand-picked candidate to lead the people of Israel, David was just as susceptible to this problem as anyone else in the kingdom. Chapter 10 of 2 Samuel reveals a particularly dangerous bad habit that David had developed that was going to cause serious issues in the not-so-distant future. While some leaders struggle with delegating responsibility, David seemed to have no problem doing so. In fact, we’ll see him abdicating his God-given role as Israel’s commander-in-chief of Israel’s and leaving it all up to Joab, the commander of his armies. As King, David was responsible for protecting Israel from its enemies. He had a job to do and yet, it seems as if David was making a habit of staying home when he should have been at war. Bad habits don’t just happen. They’re developed over time and, in time, they can lead to seriously dangerous consequences.  

You can crown a man and call him a king, but that doesn’t guarantee that he’ll rule with integrity, wisdom or righteousness. In fact, far too often, men who are placed in positions of power end up proving true the old adage: Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Yet, in 2 Samuel 8:15-9:13, we are shown a side of David that reflects his shepherd’s heart and his approach towards leadership. As king, David enjoyed absolute power, but he did not allow himself to be corrupted by it. He was a man of integrity who refused to let his power go to his head and would not dream of using his God-given position in an ungodly manner. David was a man of his word, as we will see in his treatment of Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. David was a gracious, merciful and compassionate king who, in spite of his faults, greatly desired to love and lead well.  

What good is it to be king if you allow your nation to live in fear and subjection to the enemies who surround it? As the king of Israel, David knew that he had a God-given responsibility to defeat the enemies of Israel. And as he looked back on Israel’s less-than-stellar track record, he knew that they had failed to obey God’s command and cleanse the land of promise of all the pagan nations that occupied it. So, one of the first things David did was to lead his armies against the Philistines and other nations who remained in the land and posed a threat to Israel’s physical and spiritual safety. In 2 Samuel 8:1-14, we see David doing what Joshua and the people of God should have done generations earlier. He performed a kind of radical surgery, cutting away the cancer of sin that had spread throughout the land. He was out to restore the spiritual integrity of the nation of Israel by removing the dangerous and deadly influences of wickedness that surrounded it.

Being king comes with a lot of perks. It is a prestigious position that carries with it certain rights and privileges. But David seemed to understand that his status as king was nothing compared to God’s status as the Almighty. And in 2 Samuel 7:18-29, David prays a humble, God-focused prayer that reveals his great respect for the Lord and his understanding of his own undeserving qualifications to be the king of Israel. David didn’t wear his new crown with a sense of pride and arrogance. He didn’t flaunt his newfound power and prestige. He humbly acknowledged that all he had, he owed to God. And that there was no one else like God, including himself. But isn’t it interesting how often we struggle with making ourselves the gods of our own lives. We can become easily persuaded to believe that we’re somehow special. That we deserve recognition and honor. But David was blown away that God had promised to build him a house, a legacy that would last long after David was gone.  

We all desire to accomplish great things with our lives. And as followers of Christ, we hope to make an impact on the world through the way we live our lives. David, the newly crowned king of Israel was no different. He wanted to leave his mark on the nation and do whatever he could to make the name of God great. And in 2 Samuel 7:1-17, David reveals his plans to build a great edifice in which the Ark of the Covenant could be kept and the glory of God could dwell. But God had other plans. He had not asked David to build Him a house. In fact, God let David know that He didn’t need one. But He did promise to make David a great house, and he wasn’t talking about a palace. God was referring to David’s legacy. He would provide David an heir to his throne who would establish the Davidic dynasty forever. This covenant promise, partially fulfilled in Solomon, would be fully fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God was going to do for David and through David great things. When David said, “I will…,” God said, “No, you won’t, bu