Morning Light – June 26th, 2015: Repent, Move On, Realign

Morning Light – June 26th, 2015
Today: [2 Samuel Chapter Twelve]: Repent, Move On, Realigning with the Assignment of God for Your Life. In this chapter David is brought to task by the Prophet Nathan regarding that matter with Uriah and Bathsheba. David yields to the word of the Lord and though he fasts for the child born to Bathsheba it dies. David picks himself up and refuses to wallow in his own failures. He returns to the original assignment of God for him in that season and wins a great victory.
[2Sa 12:1-31 KJV] 1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich [man] had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor [man] had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, [As] the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this [thing] shall surely die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou [art] the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife [to be] thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give [them] unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst [it] secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also [that is] born unto thee shall surely die.
In the previous chapter we see that David remains behind in Jerusalem while Joab wars against Rabbah, a city of the Ammonites. The city of Rabbah is where Moses defeated Og the King of Bashan which is a symbol or metaphor for pride and arrogance. Joab defeated the Ammonites outwardly but the spirit they represented defeated David inwardly. The battle was outwardly won at Rabbah but inwardly lost when David takes Bathsheba, and ultimately has her husband murdered. The one thing in this story that is not immediately evident is the role that the Ammonites play and the battle at Rabbah.
This victory was what God was after – but in the midst of the process David chooses to stay behind. For the first time in his life since Samuel prophesied to him – David is not seeking the kingdom and disaster is the result. He isn’t just left to himself but as the Prophet Nathan exposes “a traveller” had come to David’s house. David has colluded in Uriah’s death and now he thinks he has hidden from the people the affair with Bathsheba – but then the prophet Nathan comes and in a parable brings the whole matter to light. In the parable the rich man steals a lamb from a poor man because a traveller had come to his house to eat. We see that David is the rich man and Bathsheba is the poor man’s ewe lamb, but who is the traveller in the parable? The traveller is a demonic spirit that has come upon David because he is not seeking the kingdom. He chooses not to go to war, he stays behind and the enemy strikes him in an unguarded moment. This spirit is the same evil spirit that would come upon Saul and he would tear his clothes off and be in torment until David would come a play the harp and the spirit would leave. These demons were familiar with David and had been tracking him. They were cast out when David played before Saul. Remember that Jesus said (Matt. 12:43) that when a spirit is cast out it walks in dry places and then returns. These demons did not have king Saul anymore because he had died but they do find David reigning in Saul’s place and seduce him to feed his own lust and as a result bring disaster upon himself and the nation.
15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 17 And the elders of his house arose, [and went] to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. 18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed [himself], and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing [is] this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, [while it was] alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell [whether] GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
Throughout David’s life there are many casualties suffered of those who are near to him even among his friends and family. The first death was that of the Ahimelech the high priest in Nob and an entire city of Levites who died because Saul thought they had sided with David because of Samuel’s prophecy over him. David took responsibility for that and sheltered the surviving son of Ahimelech and he became the next high priest. The next person to die because of proximity to David was Nabal the husband of Abigail who afterward became David’s wife. It is possible that David in the matter of Bathsheba thought that is was comparable to his experience with Nabal and Abigail where a man died and his wife became David’s wife – except in the case of Abigail the matter was God’s doing and the in the matter of Uriah it was David’s wrong doing. Nonetheless many people, sometimes innocent people died as a result of the dealings of God that took place around David. Now this son that was born to David and Bathsheba dies and though David fasted and prayed for the child he now picks himself up and moves on realizing events are totally out of his hands. There will be times that you will have outcomes not of your liking no matter how much you pray and seek God for a reversal of a situation. David does not shake his fist in God’s face or become doubtful. You must always remember that God is God and just pick yourself up, refused to be bitter or to feel sorry for yourself and keep seeking the kingdom.
24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD. 26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. 28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name. 29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. 30 And he took their king’s crown from off his head, the weight whereof [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was [set] on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. 31 And he brought forth the people that [were] therein, and put [them] under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
You would think after the death of the child that you would hear no more of Bathsheba. God is such a merciful God and does not leave her or exclude her out of the royal narrative of the line of David. At this point David has many wives and many sons and any one of them could have rightfully been king but God chooses to bring forth Solomon from the union of David and Bathsheba regardless of the circumstances of their beginning. All of this and remembering that Bathsheba’s first husband was a Hittite so she had been given into a mixed marriage to a Gentile and was therefore under a reproach although Uriah was a godly man. God does not judge matters after the manner of men. If it had been left up to others Bathsheba may have been stoned or burned for her sin with David but that was not God’s choice. He moved in mercy and brought beauty from ashes and raised up Solomon thus securing Bathsheba’s place in the genealogy of Jesus Himself. What must the onlookers have thought who no doubt were offended at all of these events. We must learn to be silent in such matters and leave God to be the judge lest we stand against and in resistance to God’s mercy toward others and reap the consequences ourselves.
After the matter with Nathan is settled we find that David must needs to return to Rabbah. This is the city that Joab had been sent to when David wrongly decided to stay behind and not go to the battle. So David after all the affair with Bathsheba, and Uriah and Nathan is returning to the assignment of heaven for him where he should have been rather than on the rooftop of his palace yielding to temptation. When you loose your way and make mistakes it is imperative that you go back to the last assignment and the last thing that you KNOW God told you. It may not have made sense to David and others might have been hesitant to go into battle with him but this is the victory that God was after that David missed when he stayed behind. Have you lost your way and made mistakes? Have you made a mess of things and don’t know what to do next? What is the last thing that God told you? Follow the example of David and however implausible go back to that original assignment and the result will be realignment with the plan of God for your life and ultimate and great victory against the enemy.