Today’s passage: 2 Samuel 12

Helpful thoughts:

• “And the Lord sent Nathan to David” is an incredibly grace-filled sentence.  What David did greatly displeased the Lord, and then the Lord responded by sending a prophet to open David’s eyes to his sin and lead him to repentance!
  • We are prone to want to get away with our sin.  We deserve to be eternally damned for our sin.  God provides forgiveness and restoration through Christ!
  • Hebrews 12:11 – For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
• Stealing livestock was not punishable by death in the law.  Adultery and murder were.  David unwittingly condemned himself to death.  He deserved the death penalty.  God showed him mercy.
  • The fourfold restoration that David demanded would return to him.  Through the violence God promised in David’s household, three other sons would also later die (Bathsheba’s firstborn, and Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah).
• This passage along with others gives us confidence that God graciously saves infants who die before they could respond in faith.
• God showed grace to David after his confession.
  • Solomon was born and beloved by the Lord!
  • Joab was loyal and did not take glory for himself.
  • Israel continued to be victorious in battle.

Questions to consider:

1. Does mercy and grace mean that nothing bad is going to happen?  How much “good” did David deserve?  Does forgiveness mean there will be no consequences?  Do we get to control our consequences?
2. Who was/is the giver of every single good gift in David’s life (And ours) (James 1:16-17)?
3. We could argue that Solomon should never have been born.  Yet, God chose him before the foundation of the world, sovereignly made him the king of Israel, and loved him.  How should we treat children who do not come into this world through righteous means?  Can people repent and love others in a way that honors God when their first interactions dishonored God?  Our sin makes a mess of our lives, who is the only one who can redeem them?

Today’s passage: 2 Samuel 11

Helpful thoughts:

• David should have been out with his army.  He wasn’t busy doing what he was supposed to be doing.
• David in his right mind was concocting ways to sin and try to get away with it.  Uriah the Hittite showed more honor even after he was made to be drunk.
  • When David told Uriah to go home and “wash his feet,” this was a polite way to encourage him to go home and go to bed with his wife.  The gift David sent with Uriah would have been intended to give them a fancy date night.  David was only trying to cover his sin.
• Information about Bathsheba:
  • She was not a random woman in Jerusalem.  Uriah and her father, Eliam, were two of David’s mighty men (2 Samuel 23:34, 39).  Her grandfather was one of David’s counselors (2 Samuel 15:12).
  • The language in verse 4, “and she came to him,” is a way to state that Bathsheba was willing.  What we don’t know is what her motivations were for being willing.  David put her in a terrible position either way.  As a leader, he should have been fighting for the purity of the people, not inviting/using them to sin.
  • The information about her purification from uncleanness confirms that the child was David’s.  She had just completed her cycle.
• Joab trusted David’s orders…Uriah was the one who had been trustworthy.  The man who was just died in an attempt to cover the sin of the unjust.  This is not the kind of sacrifice that brings forgiveness and reconciliation with the holy God.

Questions to consider:

1. Of all the people David sinned against, who was the most significant? (End of verse 27)
2. How did David’s pride and sinful desires cause him to view other people?  What kind of man did he assume Uriah was going to be when he came home?  How did he treat people like Joab to accomplish his desires? Was Uriah the only soldier who died in that battle (Verse 17)?  Did David lament the loss of lives?
3. How can sins of omission (Not doing what we should do) lead to sins of commission (Doing what we shouldn’t)?  How can you love the Lord and your neighbor today?

Today’s passage: 2 Samuel 10

Helpful thoughts:

• Shaving beards and cutting off these garments were things you did to humiliate prisoners of war who were now under your authority.  It might seem a bit much to start a war over beards and clothes, but this was more than that.  It was an act of aggression.
  • David was angered by this, but he didn’t ready an army until he heard there was one ready for battle against him.
• Joab reminded Israel’s army that the result of the battle was ultimately up to the Lord.
  • Their courage was to come from their faith and loyalty to God and for the good of others (The people of Israel).
• We are never told how many soldiers from Israel were there for these battles.  It doesn’t matter…God did what was good to Him.

Questions to consider:

1. What are the strengths of Joab’s “pep talk” to the soldiers?  What was to be their motivation?  In whom did they trust?
2. Why is it better to say, “May the Lord do what seems good to Him.” instead of “God is going to give us this victory!”  How is this especially true if one is fighting a war today in a nation that is not Old Testament Israel?
3. What promises do we have from God as citizens of the Kingdom of God?  Even though we are not promised ease and victory from the world’s perspective, what truths can we rest in?  (Romans 8:31-39)

Today’s passage: 2 Samuel 9

Helpful thoughts:

• For a new king to bless the genealogical line of the previous king is rare.  David’s kindness helped ensure Saul’s lineage would continue and even remain prominent in the kingdom.
  • David’s decree also gave Ziba and his family their old jobs back.  This was a great day for them as well!
• Mica’s (Or Micah’s) descendants are listed in 1 Chronicles 8:35-38, 9:41-44.
• Mephibosheth’s response to David in verse 8 is not much different than David’s response to God’s gracious act in 7:18.

Questions to consider:

1. How would God’s promise to David in chapter 7 give him confidence to show this level of kindness to the descendants of Saul?  What did David have to believe about God and His promises?
2. How would this compare to a verse like 1 John 4:19?  How should God’s love for us shown through the Gospel impact the way we think about and treat other people?
3. How would Mephibosheth’s physical condition have contributed to his gratitude toward David?  What do we see lame people doing in the rest of Scripture?  How does a right view of where we stand before a holy God increase our thankfulness and love for Christ?

Today’s passage: 2 Samuel 8

Helpful thoughts:

• The kingdom of Israel extended to the north, south, east and west during David’s reign.
• When Toi sent his son to bless David and bring gifts, this was an act of voluntary submission.  Toi could not defeat Hedadezer, therefore he was happy to become loyal to David peacefully.
• Psalm 60 was written along with these events from 2 Samuel 8.
• Verse 15 is a picture of what will be done with complete perfection only when Christ rules and reigns.
• David’s sons did not serve as priests in the same way Zadok and Ahimelech did.  They were “ministers” in the king’s court.  Think “ministers” in the political sense, not the spiritual.  (See 1 Chronicles 18:17 for the translation of the parallel passage)

Questions to consider:

1. How would people look at David’s actions today?  If someone did today what David accomplished in this chapter, what would the world think?  Would it be right or wrong?  What makes David and the nation of Israel in the OT different than any king or political leader today?
2. What does it mean that David ruled over all Israel with justice and equity for all his people?  What makes this task so hard to fulfill in this world as it is?  Why will Jesus be the only one who can truly fulfill the task?
3. How will the kingdom of God under King Jesus look different perhaps than the kingdom of Israel under David?  Where will the people come from?  What will be the core foundation of our allegiance?  What will be our bond of unity?  In what ways should that bond already be shared in all Christ followers now?

Today’s passage: 2 Samuel 7:18-29

Helpful thoughts:

• The LORD of hosts has never and will never know defeat.  Not only is God faithful to fulfill His promises.  He is also to withstand and defeat any who would try to attempt to prevent Him from succeeding.  God doesn’t lose.  When we are with Him, we are on the victory side.
  • David’s courage didn’t come from building a great temple.  It came from receiving grace from the great God.
  • David’s courage didn’t come from seeing himself as a mighty king who God came to fancy, but in being chosen as a servant of the Most High.
• David’s request for blessing was an acknowledgement that God alone was able to see His plan through to completion.
  • Verse 22 – “Therefore you are great, O Lord God.”
  • Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Questions to consider:

1. Why does David rightly call God’s covenant promise “instruction for mankind?”  What things do we learn about God through the covenant and God’s fulfilling of the covenant?  Which attributes of God are on display (Which attributes did David mention in this passage)?
2. How does a question like, “Who am I” give us an even greater love for God and joy in Christ?  In what way is “Who am I” very counter cultural?  Why does a high view of our self minimize our view of God’s love and steal our joy?
3. How do the answers to question 2 relate to our understanding of the gospel?