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Jul 11, 2006

Relentless Surrender


David's sin of 'stealing' Bathsheba and killing her husband Uriah, brought him consequences, just as God had said. In 2 Samuel 12:11 we read "11 "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' " " Now thats a pretty strong statement from God regarding, and now we even see some of the consequences. The events that take place in David's life from this point(when he sinned) on are events that bring him disgrace, dishonour and shame. Firstly his firstborn through Bathsheba dies then , Amnon (David's son) misbehaves with his sister (Tamar) (though they may not be from the same mother, atleast they were brothers and sisters from the same father), due to this incident a number of killings take place(Absalom (Tamar's brother kills Amnon),and Absalom flees. David longs for his son Absalom. Well in a course of time, Absalom does return to David, only to start plotting to take the kingdom away from him, even though David welcomes him home with a kiss and love. How much more can David take, I wonder. For once his life was going well as a king, yet now he has serious family problems, and David flees from Absalom "14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword." (2 Samuel 15:14). Even at this point, David does not fight his situation, he tells the priest Zadok "25 Then the king said to Zadok, "Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." (2 Samuel 15:25)

Lessons I learnt

  1. Sin brings death, but God has taken that away, the after effects still remain- Now what does that mean? Didn't Jesus die for our sins and take it away, so I may not have any problems, you may ask. Yes thats true, but thats not a guarantee for us to sin more. Its like, you want to get some place and got into the wrong train, and you've gone a whole way in the opposite direction than, to where you were supposed to go. No money, no time, no one to help, no place to stay...because your place of stay was booked at your original destination. Thats when Jesus can help you out to get onto 'the' way and get you back onto the right path to get you to your original destination. Well it might take a while for you to get back but then, you will surely get back if you follow His directions. In the process, the amount of distance you travel to get back on track as the consequences you might face due to the wrong path taken earlier. Thats what happened with David (2 Samuel 12:13) "13 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. 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, [a] the son born to you will die." When we ask for forgiveness, our sins are definitely taken away, we're free from it, yet if we've done something that will drastically, change our present and our future, it may take a while before we get everything back in order. (For eg killing for money,taking drugs..etc which have long lasting effects..unlike telling lies, or badmouthing a person). However God's grace and mercy is with us, to help us overcome the after effects of sin.
  2. Relentless surrender-thats how David made it through all that trouble- David's response teach me that, he knew that the only way out for him through all the trouble that had come upon him due to his sin, was through his only Saviour, Lord God Almighty and so he was open to whatever God would decide for him. "25 Then the king said to Zadok, "Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." He had learnt over time, no man could help, he knew his position as a child of God, hence he could take a stand like this one. If there was anyone who could help David, David knew that it was God Himself.
  3. Confidence in God's decisionthrough remembering God's goodness-David's surrender of self, could not have come out of nowhere. When he was young, he spent lots of time shepherding the sheep and making melody to the Lord, he had developed his relationship with the Lord and He was confident that God would be the ONLY one in favour of him. God would be the only one to rescue him. Not only this, but also that He remembers what God had done for him in the past. Remember the psalm he wrote "1BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!
    2Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits-- 3Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,
    " (Psalms 103:1-3)

Conclusion: For us who have slipped in life, David's life demonstrates hope and strength in our Living God. We may not be able to go back into the past and change the wrong decisions we might have made, but we sure can stay connected to our Living and Loving Heavenly Father in the present to avoid making mistakes in the future and therefore like David, become the kind of people God planned for us to be. The key, as seen from David's life is, not to dwell in sin, but to get up, seek forgiveness and let God help us out of it. The lesson is to build the confidence in God's plan, like David had, so God may bring out the best in us. That confidence which comes through a continual connection with the Almighty.This confidence will take us through. Therefore let us hold fast to the confession of our faith, for He who called us is Faithful.

6 comments :

audrey` said...

Yeah!
The confidence comes through a personal relationship with our Almighty :)

Godwyn Lim said...

Awesome Post!

Praise you Jesus!

Sister, have a good weekend & a bless week ahead!

Anonymous said...

I like this post. It shows how carring our heavenly father is. God Bless. HAve a good weekend.

Flex J! said...

Very juicy post. I've learned....

Keep on.....

An Ordinary Christian said...

How inspiring you are to get your perspective and strength from God's word. "Relentless surrender" is how David made it through. It is a beautiful place to be, in the shadow of His wing. What the Lord does for those who are weak! Even the difficulties in life are the blessings of the Lord that bring us to Himself, and keep us there. God bless you!

Galant said...

Hi! I just wanted to say thanks for your comment on my blog 'The Treasury of Kings'. It's been lying dormant for a while and I only just found your comment! I hope to have it kicked into action sometime soon, God willing.

Thanks again and wonderful posts on here.

G.