November 7, 2024

                         Trump Is No David

After removing him (Saul), he raised up David as their king and testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out my will.’ – Acts 13:22

The excuses have begun. People who voted for evil are comparing Donald Trump to King David. We all sin. David was certainly no exception. But the difference between the two men can be found in their hearts.

In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan confronted David over his sin with Bathsheba. David had not only committed adultery, but he had Bathsheba’s husband murdered. The LORD forgave David when he admitted he had sinned against God. 

David paid for his sin. The son Bathsheba conceived died. Nathan also told David that because of his sin, God had decreed that the sword would never leave David’s house. And it didn’t.

But let’s get back to David’s repentance. He accepted responsibility for his sins. Trump merely blames everyone else. He never takes responsibility for anything. Trump is nothing like King David.

Perhaps the important question for those already making excuses for Trump is why they feel the need to do so. He won. Our country has turned away from God and embraced evil.

I believe that God will work through this horrific time and show His Glory. Just as He did after Christians put Hitler into power and made excuses for him. I also know that the days ahead will be horrific. Will God’s people finally rise up against a would-be dictator and put God back on the throne? I don’t know.

Those of you who voted for Trump made a choice that was yours to make. Don’t now try to justify turning from God by throwing out Scripture. There is no justifying what you’ve done.

April 11, 2016

Sin Reveals Itself

David burned with anger against the man. “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this certainly deserves to die! 6 And he must pay back four times the price of the lamb because he did this and had no pity.”

7 “You are the man!” Nathan told David. -- 2 Samuel 12:5-7a

The prophet Nathan was wise. He didn’t confront King David directly. Instead he told a story about a poor man and his little lamb. It was heart wrenching how the rich man stole the poor man’s little lamb.

David was furious and vowed to punish the man -- until Nathan told David he was the man. David had stolen another man’s wife. He had sinned against the Lord.

It’s funny how clearly we can see the sin in another’s life and how blind we are to the same sin in our own lives. There’s a belief that the sins we see so clearly in others are the very sins we are trying to deny in our own lives. There’s a lot of truth in that.

Don’t you just hate it when others try to fix you? We’ve probably all been on the receiving end of that. It doesn’t feel good, does it?

To be fair, we’ve also all probably tried to fix someone else at some point as well. It didn’t work, did it? We can’t fix anyone, anymore than they can fix us. If we even need fixing.

That’s the thing about outside judgments. We really don’t have a clue. We don’t. We tell others what they should do. We confront them “for their own good,” we tell ourselves. If they would just change, everything would be find. We know it would. We get angry when they won’t comply.

Here’s the thing: Nobody owes you an explanation. They don’t. Just like you don’t owe anyone else an explanation for how you behave. None of us are perfect. And nobody has the right to tell someone else to “get over” something or to “admit” what they’ve done is wrong.

If you’re having that conversation with someone, look in the mirror. The person you need to be preaching to is yourself. If someone is having that conversation with you, realize that it isn’t about you. It’s about them and their issues.

Again, no one is perfect. If I’m confronted, I take it to God and ask Him to search me. If there’s truth in it, I ask for forgiveness and direction. If there’s no truth, I let it go.

Don’t let someone else push their issues and their opinions on you. Just don’t. Walk away. They aren’t going to hear anything you say anyway. God will take care of it. Every time.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

God Turns Bad To Good

David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. -- 2 Samuel 12:16

David wanted his child to live. He understood God’s anger. David realized -- after the prophet Nathan pointed it out -- that he had sinned greatly. David had desired Uriah’s wife and had taken her. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David had Uriah sent to the frontline of the battle so that he would be killed. Adultery and murder. No amount of repentance would change the consequences of David’s actions.

Isn’t that how it is with us sometimes? We do something we know is wrong but we can’t seem to help ourselves. We repent. We regret what we did. We want It to all go away. We ask God to forgive us, and He does. But the consequences of our actions remain. Sometimes those consequences seem unbearable.

David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.’

-- 2 Samuel 12:22

God decided that David’s punishment would be the death of the child he and Bathsheba had conceived in sin. David begged God to change His mind. The consequences seemed so great and David cried out in anguish to his loving Father. God would not relent and the child died.

We do the same when we are faced with horrible consequences. We beg God to change the outcome. We’re sorry. We won’t do it again. We just don’t want to suffer. We don’t want others to suffer. We want it to all to go away. But sin comes with consequences. One more reason to thank Jesus for taking our sins upon Himself and saving us from certain death.

“But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” -- 2 Samuel 12:23

After the child died, David stopped begging God to change His mind. It was too late for that. David’s advisors didn’t understand why their king, who had mourned greatly for his child before he died, would cast off his mourning now that the child had died. David understood that God would not undo what He had already done. David’s child was dead. So David moved forward to comfort his wife and come to terms with his child’s death.

Isn’t that all we can ever do when the consequences of our sin molds itself around us with an unwavering truth? Those consequences don’t leave us. Yes, God has forgiven our sin but we live with the results. We can either stay mired in the misery of our guilt or cast it off and move forward with God’s grace and forgiveness.

Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that his name should be Jeddah -- “beloved of the LORD” -- because the LORD loved him. -- 2 Samuel 12:24-25

God assures us that no matter what has happened, no matter what we have done, He will turn it to good if we’ll turn back to Him and sin no more. Good from bad. That’s the promise God has made. In David’s case, the next son born to he and Bathsheba would become a great and wise king.

God can turn your sin to good as well. Do you trust Him to do that? Have you handed yourself over to Him, to be remade and reworked into something glorious? God can do miracles with the messes we’ve made. Hand your mess over to Him and watch God show you His glory.　

　

Monday, August 9, 2010

Repent From Your Heart

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, and only you, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge."

-- Psalm 51:3-4

David gives me hope. Always. He was a man after God's own heart -- and he committed adultery and murder. God forgave him and welcomed him back. That bodes well for the rest of us.

David is a good example of what not to do. He shouldn't have been in a place where he could be tempted by Bathsheba. Really. He should have been fighting with his men but he decided to stay home. You could call it a mid-life crisis. Whatever. He was a warrior king who stayed at home. That gives us a good example of why we really shouldn't be someplace where we might be tempted. It only leads to bad, bad things.

Once he was tempted, David just had to have Bathsheba. He didn't care that she was married --- and to a man who was a loyal fighter for his king. David didn't consider denying himself. He saw. He wanted. He took.

And then there were the consequences. A pregnancy. Uh-oh. But did David confess and seek forgiveness? Nope. He tried to cover it up. When it didn't prove as easy as he'd hoped, he sentenced Bathsheba's husband, Uriah the Hittite, to death when he had him sent to the front lines of the battle. So an innocent, honorable man, died because David did a dishonorable thing and tried to cover it up.

It wasn't until God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David that the king realized, and acknowledged, what he'd one. David repented and begged God for His forgiveness. Of course, it didn't change what had happened. David paid for his sin with the death of the son Bathsheba bore.

But to give David credit, when he repented it wasn't just with words. Verse 17 tells us that "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart..." David understood that God didn't just want words like "I'm sorry" or "I won't do it again." God wanted to know that deep down in David's heart he was truly sorry for what he'd done. That's true repentance. And a really good lesson for all of us.