2019-05-05T08:00:00-05:00
22:1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
4 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 “For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.
8 “Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
10 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness around him his canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.
13 Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The LORD thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows and scattered them;
lightning, and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen;
the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the LORD,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 “He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
20 He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
24:1 Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, “May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer, and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they went around to Sidon, 7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”
15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up at Gad’s word, as the LORD commanded. 20 And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be averted from the people.” 22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Think of 2 Samuel 11 and 12 as two portraits hanging side by side in a gallery. The first is a devastating, gut-wrenching portrait of sin, and the second is a breathtaking, soul-stirring portrait of grace. These pictures are so different—why would anyone hang these pictures next to each other? In a strange, beautiful way, they seem to belong together. Sin seems less horrifying without the portrait of grace, and grace seems less glorious without the portrait of sin. So what do we discover as we study these two portraits in David’s life and in our own?
Grace is God pursuing us in the midst of our sin. “And the Lord sent Nathan to David” (2 Samuel 12:1). In chapter 11, all we see is David sending, using, and manipulating people for his own selfish ends. The Lord appears to be absent, and David appears to get away with it. “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Sam. 11:27). When we sin, God’s silence does not mean His absence. He comes after us. He breaks in. He sends someone to bring the word that cuts like a surgeon’s knife to hurt so that it can heal. Do we welcome God’s gracious pursuit? Where would we be if the Lord never interrupted?
Grace is God revealing the depth of our sin to us. “Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in His sight?” (2 Sam. 12:9, 10). In chapter 11, all we see is David doing wrong and trying to cover his tracks. We can’t see his heart, but the Lord does. Of course David has broken the law, but the deeper problem is a broken love. Sin is more than dysfunctional behavior; it is disordered love. When we should be loving God supremely and loving our neighbor as ourselves, we are loving ourselves supremely and harming our neighbor. We are despising the word of the Lord, and therefore we are despising the Lord of the word. If we don’t realize the depth of our problem, we will never appreciate the wonder of God’s remedy. Are we able to say, “I am the man (or woman) who has despised the word of the Lord”? Do we know our sin well enough to know our need for His grace?
Grace is God giving us nothing less than Himself when we deserve nothing less than judgment. In chapter 11, all we see is David playing God and living like the Lord doesn’t exist. With his self-righteous response to Nathan’s story, David effectively condemns himself. “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die” (2 Sam. 12:5). Though we’re inconsistent in applying it, we all have a standard of justice that knows what such treachery deserves. Yet when we deserve nothing less than judgment, God gives us nothing less than Himself. How can this be? That must’ve been David’s question, and it should be ours. How can we, who have done what is evil in God’s sight, somehow become righteous in His sight? Ultimately, the only answer is the cross of Jesus Christ, where the graciousness of grace overwhelmed the sinfulness of sin, where the Lord Himself suffered what we deserve in order that we might enjoy what He deserves.
Oh Lord, be gracious to us today. We welcome your life-interrupting, sin-revealing grace. We know what we deserve, and so we cast ourselves upon Jesus. By Your grace, send Nathan to us, and send us like Nathan to others. Show us how we have despised You, and create in us a heart that loves You. May we never lose the wonder that, by Your grace, You have put away our sin and given us Yourself.