Love That Never Fails

62. So Great Is His Love

Have you ever been reading a book where you knew that a particularly sad or painful part was coming up? Were you tempted to just skip ahead a few pages and just get to a chapter about better times? That's how I felt about this chapter of the story of King David but I knew I had to read it and ask God to speak through it. I knew devastating consequences were coming for David and more than that, I would be reminded of how much God hates sin! David had committed adultery and murder in a short space of time and somehow had tried to push it to the back of his mind and cover it up —until the prophet Nathan came to see him:

"The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

"Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'"
‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭12:1-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What a terrible shock this must have been for God's chosen king! God had seen all that David thought had been done in secret! There was more devastating news to come, including the news that his wives would be given to someone close to him to sleep with in broad daylight!

"Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.""
‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭12:13-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Notice that David doesn't just say he has done something wrong, he says he has sinned against the Lord. Yes the act of disobedience hurt Uriah but the sin was against God. It was good to have this reminder that when I sin, it grieves God. The difference for us now is that Jesus has come and died, taking all of our sins on His body when He died on the cross. He took the punishment we deserved and was raised to life, showing that God had completely forgiven every single one of our sins!

As Christians, we have a beautiful, restored relationship with our Heavenly Father, all because One who was innocent died in our place. We see this almost foretold in the way that David was spared from experiencing the death penalty according to the law and instead, his innocent son died in his place. That was the hardest thing for me to accept in this story and yet God's innocent Son died for me!

After getting through the terrible loss of their son, God blessed David and Bathsheba with another son, showing that He was not holding anything against them.

"Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah."
‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭12:24-25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The outcome for David was a gracious outpouring of God's love and forgiveness, evident in the birth of such a special child! We can be reassured that God forgives our sin —past, present and future! Every time we confess our sin to Him, the blood of Jesus covers us and we are declared forgiven!

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:13-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Let's pray:

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your amazing love in sending Jesus to die in my place. Thank You that as Your child, I am purified from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus. Just like David, I am able to move on and experience blessing, despite the fact that even though I try hard, I know I will continue to sin against You. Thank You for Your mercy and grace that is extended to me day after day, allowing me to live as part of Your family, completely righteous in Your eyes.

I give You praise and thanks, just as David did through this psalm:

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:8-12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

AMEN!