After God’s Own Heart-Week 13-Consequences
Timeline of 2 Samual 13-21:
In chapters 13 & 14, we begin to see David’s family start to deteriorate. Sons are conspiring to do evil things to their siblings, to the point that one of them (Absolom) kills another and then flees the country. David eventually brings Absolom back to the country, but tensions continue to run hot.
In chapters 15-18, we see Absolom, David’s son, manipulating the leadership of Israel to follow him and rebel against David. This causes civil war to erupt in the land to the point where David must flee from Jerusalem.
In chapters 19-20, we see David’s kingdom restored, but it continues to be quite fragile. There is already tension between Judah (the portion of the country containing Judah and Benjamin) and Israel (the other 10 tribes of Israel), and this tension continues, so that David’s restored rule is tenuous at best.
In the first half of chapter 21, we find the story of a people called the Amorites (now called Gibeonites…they were descendants of the Amorites) finally getting justice for something that had happened to them under Saul’s reign. We’ll talk more about this in a moment also, but suffice to say that God didn’t appreciate what Saul had done to them. Again, more on this later.
And in the final part of chapter 21, we see an aging David no longer able to fight, and as a result he begins to delegate his rule and authority, leading us to see that his time as King is coming to an end.
Which leads to my first point today, and that is that sin always has consequences. When we fail to honor God in our hearts, when we drop the ball and refuse to do His will, when we wander from the path that God has led us down, there will always be consequences. They may not always be as drastic as David’s are here, but we will always reap what we sow. Galatians 6:7-8 tell us.
We see this in David’s life, don’t we? And it’s not just true about David. It’s true for us as well. And it isn’t just the big sins that have consequences. It’s the, so called, little sins that carry consequences as well. And what we see here in this passage of Scripture, and in David’s life and in this timeline, is a HUGE mistake bringing about HUGE consequences.
And here is where I feel we often are NOT people after God’s own heart. Because, if you’ll remember, the characteristics of a person after God’s own heart are:
- They seek the Lord above all else.
- They exhibit trust in God in difficult circumstances.
- They repent of sin.
- They align themselves with God’s will.
In this part of his life, we see David aligning himself with God’s will in accepting his discipline and exhibiting trust in God amid some horrific circumstances.
As you read this section of David’s life it can be easy to think that David had just given up. It seems that he’s very hands off on his approach to parenting, but we never see David condemned for that…here in 2 Samuel or anywhere else in Scripture.
So, we must ask ourselves the question, what is David doing in this passage that we often miss? I believe that what we see going on in David is an aligning of his will to God’s in that he sees these circumstances as consequences of his sin with Bathsheba.
I feel it important to note here, too, that these punishments were not on David as a person. David never was removed from the love of God. What was going on here was punishment for his sin. This is where we tend to slip off the road here, too. We begin to think that because we’re going through what we’re going through that God has somehow ceased to love us
If you are feeling like your sin has caused you to elicit God’s wrath in such a way that He has stopped loving you, I would like to take you to one of David’s Psalms to show you something that you need to see.
This is Psalm 51. We’re told from the heading of this Psalm, that it was written right after Nathen had decreed what would happen. Look at David’s thoughts as he sought God!
David is saying that God is right in judging him. Do we have that attitude when it comes to our sin? We are so quick to call out MERCY! And GRACE! But we have sinned against GOD. We deserve judgment!
We will circle back to Psalm 51 in a bit, but let’s leave this sit for now, and move on to our next point, and that is that our sins have lasting consequences.
A famine breaks out in the land that lasts for three years. David finally goes to God and says, “What gives? Why is this famine going on so long?” God tells him it’s because of what Saul had done to the inhabitants of Gibeon. So, David reaches out to the Gibeonites and asks them what should be done.
They aren’t asking for war; they are simply asking that Saul’s family take the hit.
Our sins today can have a lasting impact on the lives of our legacy. It has been said that what parents allow in moderation, children will excuse in excess. In other words, the sin we allow ourselves to indulge in today will have ripple effects to our kids, grandkids and even our great grandkids.
I see this in my own life. There are things in my grandparents’ lives that I see continuing to be a snare to me in my life. Not that there is a threat that my life will be forfeit, but the tendency to indulge in those sins is greater in me. We call this “generational sin” and it’s a very real thing.
So here is the principle that we need to take from this…there is no sin that goes unpunished. Consequences have a way of rearing their ugly heads when we least expect it. But the question is, as followers of Jesus, are we going to be about allowing our pleasures today cause lasting harm to our future generations?
Because I feel that much of what we have talked about today has been heavy and difficult to hear. And with the promise of Easter only a week away, I want to remind you of one last thing.
Even in our sin, even in our consequences, even in our generational sin, there is hope! There is forgiveness! There is restoration! There is healing! There is peace!
Why? Because Jesus has purchased our salvation and our redemption and our justification!
CHALLENGE TIME:
- Deal with your sin!
- Embrace forgiveness!