Discounts Not Accepted

I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.
II Samuel 24:24

Go Deep: There is nothing wrong with looking for the best deal.  We are to be good stewards of the finances God has entrusted to us and go after the finest quality at the most affordable price.  But when it comes to that which we are called to sacrifice unto the Lord, it is to be just that—a sacrifice!

If what we give to God cost us nothing; if we have cut corners or gone on the cheap or have manipulated a discount; if we give second hand or second best when we could have done better, then it is not a sacrifice.  God deserves our best.  Now understand that our best is not to be compared to someone else’s best—it is simply that which for us is of the highest quality and the deepest devotion and the greatest love.

King David illustrates this kind of costly sacrifice here as we close the book on II Samuel.  This story was important enough that the Holy Spirit inspired the human author to include it in this inspired account of David, thus leading us to conclude that it represents a principle of giving God expects us to observe.

The context of this story is David’s refusal to accept a plot of land for free—land that the prophet Gad had instructed the king to secure upon which he was to build an altar.  The altar was for a sacrifice that would absolve David of his guilt in wrongly ordering a census of Israel’s fighting men and stop the plague that God has visited upon the nation that had resulted from David’s disobedient act.  The sacrifice David wanted to make was a serious one—there were 70,000 fresh Israelite graves to prove it.  The altar to be built to accommodate that sacrifice had been ordered by God—so this was a matter of utmost importance.

After Gad’s instruction, David went to Araunah, who owned the land where the angel of the Lord had ceased his destruction of the Israelites, and this was the spot where the sacrifice was to take place.  Araunah responded to David’s request to buy the land by offering it for free—along with the sacrificial elements—all in the name of the Lord.  But David refused this generous offer, insisting on paying full price for both the land and the animals to be sacrificed.

In refusing to accept the land for free or at a discount, David established an enduring and God-honoring principle for sacrifice:  “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God offerings that cost me nothing.”  God always asks for our best—and he deserves nothing less!

So how are you doing in the sacrifice department?  Does that which you offer God cost you your best—that which represents your highest quality and the deepest devotion and the greatest love?  If not, now is the time to start a new pattern of giving.  If it does, keep it up!

Just Saying… Charles Thomas Studd wrote, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

The Wages of Sin—The Grace of God

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. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready;
let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”
II Samuel 15:25-26

Go Deep: The sin-seeds sown by David through his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband to cover up the pregnancy that had resulted from the affair were now being harvested in the rebellion of the king’s son, Absalom.  David had been completely forgiven by God (II Samuel 12:13), but his sin had set into motion a series of tragic consequences, which Nathan the prophet had predicted (II Samuel 12:14), that would devastate David both personally and publically.

The low point of David’s kingship must have been Absalom’s conspiracy, coup and then the resultant death of this favorite son. The events of this dark season were beyond tragic for David and Israel, and so unnecessary—as is always the case with sin.  Certainly the Apostle Paul’s assessment of sin was spot on: “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a)  One sin, and as a result, the stench of death was in the air over all Israel—both literally and figuratively.

In spite of David’s self-inflicted disaster, however, the king found a way to reach into the reservoir of Divine grace and wisdom available to every believer and humbly submit himself to the merciful hand of God as he journeyed through this sin-harvest season. And as David did, he found just what he needed, especially at times like this: Even more of God’s great grace.

What is it that releases God’s great grace at times when grace is the last thing we deserve?  It was that which always moves the heart and hand of God: True humility and complete submission to the sovereignty of God.  David truly meant what he said—I am ready to receive whatever God has for me—let him do whatever his wisdom would dictate.

Now that is an incredibly mature response to a self-induced disaster.  Unlike some people who whine, blame and pout, David demonstrated confidence in the judgment of God, he focused on God’s presence in the moment and left restoration—if there was to be any—to a later time, and he submitted himself completely to the will of God, no matter what the divine plan would bring about.  Such humility of heart and submission to the Sovereign’s will are the very reasons God himself proclaimed David to be a man after God’s own heart despite the many mistakes he made throughout his lifetime.

It is that very posture, when it comes from an authentic heart before God, that allows the second half of Romans 6:23 rather than the first half to become the defining reality of our lives: “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  For sure, we have been promised life in the age to come, but when we yield our sin-prone selves to God through true repentance and humble submission, some of that eternal life is leaked to us in the here and now.

Just Saying… Thomas Merton wrote, “If we are willing to accept humiliation, tribulation can become, by God’s grace, the mild yoke of, His light burden.” Now that’s sometime to chew on!

Sexual Failure and Spiritual Restoration

The prophet Nathan said to King David, “The LORD has taken away your sin.
You are not going to die.  But because by doing this you have made the
enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”
II Samuel 12:13-14

Go Deep: Where do you go to get your integrity back after you’ve failed? How do you find the way forward after the personal devastation and the public humiliation of a financial, professional, relational or especially after a moral failure of the sexual kind? What can you do to get your heart restored?

I’ll bet David asked those questions after his confession to Nathan, “Where do I go to restore my integrity?  What do I do to regain my reputation? How can I get my life back on track with God when I’ve sinned so badly?” God had forgiven David; now David just needed to find a way forward.

The good news from David’s story is that failure doesn’t have to define your future nor does it have to be the fatal blow to God’s plans for you. Sin doesn’t have be the final word in your story; an insurmountable barrier to moving on to a satisfying, successful and even a deeply spiritual life. What David discovered was that as enormous as his sin was, it was wildly outdone by God’s grace. That is not to minimize his sin: he was an adulterer and a murderer—and there would be excruciatingly painful consequences throughout the rest of his life—but David’s sin—and your sin for that matter—will always be miniscule compared to God’s salvation from it. In David’s story, we have been left with a roadmap for recovery, and we can note four essential elements about the way forward to restoration:

The first thing you’ll see is that the road to a restored heart begins with honesty.  In II Samuel 12:13, David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” There’s no explanation, no excuse, no blaming Bathsheba for her seductive exhibitionism, no promise to never do it again. David just simply and sincerely confessed his sin, even when there’s no indication yet that God will have him back, or even allow him to live. Honest confession is what releases Divine compassion and repentance always precedes restoration.

The second thing you’ll see is the road to recovery is paved with healing grace. Verse 13 continues, “Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’” Now the Mosaic Law said David had to die.  It required death by stoning for adultery—even for a guilty king. Countless adulterers throughout Israel’s history had already died for adultery, so God has to suspend his own law just for David.  Sounds unfair and inconsistent of God, doesn’t it? But what we’re getting here is a sneak peak of what God’s grace is all about.  Now you’ll notice in the next verse that the son born to David and Bathsheba out of their adulterous affair will have to die.  Sadly, the son pays the price for their sin.  Sound familiar?  God’s Son paid the price for our sin so we wouldn’t have to. He died so we could live!  That’s grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. That grace is absolutely fundamental to the restored heart.

The third thing you’ll see is that the journey to recovery is fueled by humility. II Samuel 12:16 shows David humbling himself before God: “David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground.” He humbled himself and prayed for a crop failure, putting his hope in God’s mercy because he knew that was his only chance. If you’ve repented of sin, it’s okay to pray for a crop failure. Why? God in his mercy just may restrain his discipline. That’s his character, so why not tap into it?  Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of the remnant? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.”

The fourth thing you’ll see is that the road to recovery requires staying the course.  David determined to get on with life when I’m sure he felt like giving up, unworthy to go on. He just began to practice a long obedience in the same direction.

As you skim over the last few verses of II Samuel 12, here’s what you’ll see: Verse 20 says, “Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.”  Verse 24 says, “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba [over the death of their baby], and he slept with her. She gave birth to [another] son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him…” Verses 29-30 say, “David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. He took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was a talent of gold [75lbs.], and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head.”

It’s no accident that these details are connected to this story of David’s restoration. It’s showing that David is getting on with life, he’s doing what husbands do, he’s doing what kings do.  David is just getting back to practical faithfulness in the daily ordinariness of life. That’s where recovery happens!

Then something very cool happens at this point of the story:  Verse 25 says that Nathan, the man who had announced God’s judgment on David for his sin, now comes and delivers a message of God’s love. That message comes in the form of a name that God has for the second child born to David and Bathsheba—Jedidiah, which means, “loved by God.” God is showing David that he is not finished with him yet. David’s failure has not been the final word on his life. God is revealing plans to prosper and not to harm David, to give him a hope and a future.

Now restoration doesn’t mean there won’t be scars. The record suggests that David was never again as great a king as he once was. Yet he kept moving forward, and though David may not have become a greater king after this, but he became a deeper man.

And that is a far more important thing.

Just Saying… For Christians, we tend to make sexual immorality the unforgivable sin, but it is not. For sure, sexual sin has dire consequences, and that’s what makes it so destructive.  But let us remember, as Francis Schaeffer pointed out, “The Bible does not minimize sexual sin, but neither does it make it different from any other sin.” What I treasure so much about our merciful God, is as John Newton wrote, that “we serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

The Object of God’s Kindness

King David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul
to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
II Samuel 9:1

Go Deep: The Hebrew word for “kindness” in this verse is very interesting—its “chesed”. It is a complex word that is narrowly translated as “love”.  It describes a love that is more than just an idea or a feeling or the spontaneous emotion of the moment.  Rather, it refers to a sustained action.

You might say that “chesed” is kindness with hands and feet. It is undeserved, unconditional, un-repayable, unrelenting kindness that is offered without regard to shifting circumstance, personal convenience or one’s emotional state du jour.  Actually, “chesed” is God’s love—the way God loves you and me.

We see this kind of Old Testament “chesed” in action in Titus 3:3-7 and as the New Testament marriage of God’s kindness and love for us:

“At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.  We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another…”

That is, we were like Mephibosheth, who at the time David found him, was living in bitterness and fear in Lo-Debar. (II Samuel 9:4) Literally, Lo-Debar means “the barren place”.  And as the only living heir to Saul’s dynasty, Mephibosheth’s whereabouts was kept secret, for obvious reasons now that David was the new king. He grew up as a refugee in this barren place with his kingly identity suppressed, his royal privileges denied, with no hope for the future except obscurity, poverty and, if he’s ever discovered, execution. And to make an already bad situation worse, his physical handicap was a painful, frustrating, and constant reminder of the princely life he had lost and the kingly life he would never know.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior…”

Sound familiar? King David asked, “Is there anyone from Saul’s house I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (II Samuel 9:1)

“So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs, having the hope of eternal life.”

Notice the similarity to something repeated four times in II Samuel 9:7, 10, 11, and 13: “Mephibosheth will always eat at my table.”

You will also note that Mephiboseth’s name is repeated 7 times.  Why the repetition?  David is going out of his way to show that Mephibosheth has a permanent place in the king’s family—that is now his new destiny—royalty restored!  David’s also going out of his way to show that Mephibosheth’s name is no longer an object of loathing, but an object of loving. Mephibsoheth, which was likely a nickname, means “seething dishonor”.  (I Chronicles 9:40)  But the king whispers his name, and a hopeless refugee is now a redeemed child—that’s his new identity.

Now if that is not a picture of our reconciliation to God through Christ I don’t know what is! Think about it!  We are Mephibosheth in this story: We too, suffered a fall that left us crippled!  We have a permanent sin-limp to prove it. We too, were estranged from God—distant in Lo-Debar, the barren place—a place of emptiness and dissatisfaction. We too, lived under the fear of judgment.

That was our identity—refugees apart from grace. But out of his covenantal kindness and faithfulness and love, we were brought into God’s family, given a place at his table, given a new identity and destiny, and showered with grace, not due to our own merit, but for the sake of Jesus—Hallelujah!

So let me suggest you now go back and re-read this obscure chapter. Change the names to read yourself and Jesus into the story.  David was a type of Christ and you are Mephibosheth.  And take a moment to rejoice, since it is you who is the recipient of God’s undeserved, unconditional, unrelenting, un-repayable love!

Just Saying… The good news is, God really does prefer you as the object of his kindness.  As Tertullian said, “The lovingkindness of the Lord is an essential part of Himself; His severity is accidental. One belongs to Himself, the other to external circumstances.”

All The Right Moves

All the people took note [of the way David transitioned royal power from King Saul]
and they were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them.
II Samuel 3:36

Go Deep: In the ways and means of God’s kingdom, there is a right way and a wrong way to assume power.  David’s rise to kingship is a textbook case of the right way—he was a man who made all the right moves on his way to the top.

The old king, Saul, was dead, and now nothing stood in the way of David’s ascendency to the throne of Israel.  He was the rightful king of God’s people since the Lord, through the prophet Samuel, has called and anointed David as leader.  Furthermore, in all of those difficult years in which King Saul had tried to eliminate the upstart shepherd boy, God had been training David how to “king it”, and now, at long last, he was throne-ready.

You will notice in these opening chapters of II Samuel, however, that even though King Saul, the last obstacle standing in the way of David’s prophetic rise to power, was now dead, still David did not seize the opportunity to thrust himself upon Israel as its new leader.  Rather, he waited for a Divine opening of those doors critical to his assumption of the throne. Likewise, David demonstrated an uncanny leadership savvy in this delicate political situation by refusing to be opportunistic.  You will see particularly in II Samuel 1 how David’s response to the news of the deaths of Saul and Jonathon distinguished the king-in-waiting as a different kind of leader than King Saul had been.

In reading this account, one can’t help but be moved by David’s authentic grief at the news of Saul’s death. (II Samuel 1:11-12)  Rather than rejoicing that their tormentor was dead, David and his men tore their clothes, mourned and fasted until evening.  David empathized with a grieving nation at this time of loss—the loss of a king, a prince and an army.  At this moment, David was not the king-to-be; he was first and foremost an Israelite who personally felt this national tragedy.  He had lost a king and a father-in-law, and he had lost a brother-in-law in Prince Jonathan who happened also to be the closest friend he had ever known—and it hurt deeply. Furthermore, regardless of Saul’s ungodly and ineffective leadership, David still viewed Saul as the Lord’s anointed, and since “the anointed” had been killed in battle, that alone was reason for grief.

Furthermore, David distanced himself from a power-grabbing promotion to kingship.  (II Samuel 1:13-16)  Instead of proclaiming himself to be the new king, he pulled away from the suggestion proffered in the presentation of the dead King Saul’s crown that it was now rightfully his. Indeed, in passing a death sentence on the Amalekite who had delivered the news and offered the crown to him, David still he spoke of Saul as “the Lord’s anointed.” (II Samuel 1:14,16)

Chapter one ends with a classy move on David’s part: He immortalized King Saul in song. (II Samuel 1:17-27) In a heartfelt outpouring of David’s heart, this lament paid tribute to Saul and Jonathan as a source of pride, strength and inspiration to Israel.

Now we can learn a great deal from David’s approach to promotion in these chapters that would serve us well in our own journey toward advancement in life.  For one thing, David shows us that God’s promotions come in God’s time and in God’s way—and we don’t need to help God out by trying to hurry them along. Furthermore, we learn from David that it is never wise to build ourselves up by putting others down—to showcase our strengths by exposing the weaknesses of others is not God’s way.  And finally, when God destines you to be a leader, be a patient and genuine follower under present leadership—even if it is flawed.

If God has put a desire for leadership in your heart, you can be sure that he has also planted the right moves inside you that will take you all the way to the top.  So as God brings the opportunities and opens the doors before you, be sure you are making all the right moves!

Just Saying… There are three indispensible requirements if God is calling you to a leadership role: One, patience, two, patience, and three, more patience.

Food For Thought: Have you ever wondered why King David was called a man after God’s own heart but King Saul was a man rejected by God? On the surface, it seems that David’s sins were equal to, if not more grievous than Saul’s. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed to cover it up, and now, he had taken this census of Israel’s fighting men—a sin that demonstrated a lack of trust in God’s protection and pride in David’s own military prowess. When you look at Saul’s sins, it seems that he had merely failed to follow the prophet Samuel’s advice to the letter (I Samuel 13 & 15).

The difference between these two men was in how they responded to Godly conviction. When a distressing spirit came upon Saul (I Samuel 17 & 18), he would send for his young assistant David to soothe his chaotic mind by having him play the harp. The problem was, Saul was only seeking relief from feeling bad rather that repenting for acting bad. On the other had, when David experienced a guilty conscience, he would fully own up to his wrongdoing and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. When caught in wrongdoing, the true condition of Saul’s heart was revealed by his justification and minimization of the sin; the true condition of David’s heart revealed that he deeply cared about the things that God cared about.

That’s what it means to have a heart after God’s own heart: Not that you are perfect and never fall into sin, but that your heart is tender toward God and the things of God and quick to repent when you have violated God’s command.

Prayer: Father, as David prayed in Psalm 51, so I pray this morning: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—and my sin is always before me. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow…Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” O Lord, give me a clean heart, a heart after Your own heart. Help me to passionately care about the things You care about—this is my deepest prayer. Amen!

On this day… in 1961, English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter, “Any fixing of the mind on old evils beyond what is absolutely necessary for repenting of our own sins and forgiving those of others is…usually bad for us.”

Food For Thought: Everybody wants a testimony—not too many are willing to pay the price to get it! Shammah, one of King David’s three mightiest men, was the exception. He stood his ground when no one else thought that would be the wise thing to do. He fought when everybody else fled. He risked his life when the odds were not in his favor. He reached down into his reservoir of courage when there was no outside encouragement. And through this one man standing his ground in the middle of a field against a Philistine army, God brought about a great victory for Israel—and a testimony was born.

Where do you need to stand your ground today? Maybe today is your day to write a great testimony!

Prayer: Lord, today I want you to use me to bring about a great victory. I want to stand firm against enemy attack. I want to be fearless in the face of every foe. I want to hold my ground and defend the territory that is rightfully mine as a child of God. Like Shammah, I pray that you will give me the courage to stand my ground in the middle of my field against my Philistines and fight. Please give me the resolve to live heroic faith today—and through my courage, cause a testimony to be born!

Great Cloud of Witnesses: The great reformer, Martin Luther said, “Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.”