David - I Have
-
Jeff Mattesich
- 2 Samuel 12:7-3
- Reluctant Obedience
- 44 mins 37 secs
- Views: 609
Questions for Reflection
Read 2 Samuel 12:7-13
- Read 2 Samuel 11 and 12:1-6 in order to understand the context of this interaction between Nathan and King David. Summarize what has happened. How is Nathan’s parable in 12:1-6 an apt description of King David’s actions?
- What will be the consequences of David’s disobedience?
- Nathan asks King David a poignant question in verse 9: “Why did you despise the LORD and do what is evil in his eyes?” How would we answer that question if confronted by a friend? Why do we find ourselves in repeated patterns of disobedience?
- Most of us, when confronted with our mistakes, don’t respond with immediate repentance like David does in our story. How do you normally react when someone invites you to acknowledge your sin? What do you imagine enabled King David to move to repentance so quickly?
- In our story, obedience required repentance. What are some rhythms of repentance you could practice in your group, in order to help you to become more obedient to God’s call on your life?
Study Notes
I Have
2 Samuel 12:7-13
Reluctant Obedience
February 9, 2020
Open:
Story:
Transition:
The text today is not a distant narrative of history. While the story is gripping with adultery, murder, and drama – we would miss the text if we were unable to see ourselves in the story. Maybe different “stuff” in our lives, and maybe not for some of you… but regardless, this is the story of being human, and of being reluctant to our awareness of God… this is not just about David – this is about us. This is not just about David’s God – this is about our God.
Text:
2 Samuel 12:7-13
7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Sermon Body:
- David’s Power and Desire: 2 Samuel 11
11:1
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.
- David ceases to be the kind of King Israel asked for:
- 1 Samuel 8:19b-20 “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
- David has had success, what got him to this point he has pulled away from
- David has “arrived”
11:3
and David sent someone to find out about her…
- David has incredible power as King
- He has people who help him get what he wants
- What he would find out:
- The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
- David knew who she was; whose wife she was
- David’s desire for her with his power makes for fast action
11:4
Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her.
- Knowing full well who she was
- Having plenty and all for himself
- Unchecked power and desire
- Notice the lack of details – pure lust:
- He saw, he wanted, and he took.
- Sexual Assault; power and desire
As quick as the text captures the action of David, is as quick as the news came back to him that Bathsheba was pregnant.
Now David has a problem… back to his power
11:6
So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.”
- What follows is the foiled attempts to pass off his paternity to Uriah. Uriah throughout the schemes of David stands as a juxtaposition of David’s lust, his unchecked power, and desire… Uriah is one of loyalty, sacrifice, integrity, and self-denial in this story.
- Uriah’s character does not seem to influence David at all – whereas he could have seen in Uriah a better road, David is focused on himself…
- More power, more victims for David.
11:14-15
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it, he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
- The Lord Sent
Chapter 11 ends by letting us know that the Lord was not pleased with David. But, the story is not over. The story does not end or even pinnacle with David’s sin or the Lord’s displeasure. It is now time for the Lord to do the sending.
12:1
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.
- Nathan’s Obedience
- God asks Nathan to be bold and brave
- Risk is huge for Nathan, David killed someone who did not know what he did, what will David do to someone who does know what he did?
- Nathan is a master storyteller; he is able to capture David through a story to have David see the degree of his sin, the injustice of his power, the consequence of his desire.
He (David) listens to Nathan preach a sermon about (he thinks) somebody else and gets all worked up over the unnamed person’s terrible sin. This is the religion of the dormitory bull session, the TV spectacular, the talk-show gossip. It is the religion of moral judgmentalism, self-righteous finger-pointing, a religion of accusation and blame.
Eugene Peterson in First and Second Samuel
- Nathan was brave and bold to confront David – The LORD sent him
- Nathan was prepared for the confrontation
- David’s Submission
- “I have”
- We might think he was cornered; he was not.
- He owned his sin; 3 commandments he broke
- Killing, adultery, coveting
- He still had room for God and God’s Ways
- We learn that for God, it is never too late for repentance
- He will always extend forgiveness
Application:
- Obedience Orders Power
- David had because of God
- He forgot what got him there
- He forgot whose he was
- He put his own power above the power of God
- He made his own rules and not live under anyone else’s rules
- See the Genesis story in this Story?
- I see, I want, I take. Nothing new here…
Illustration: Greg Fields, best boss I ever had. From Forest Home, he was Vice President and always picked up trash… remembered who he was, remembered his calling, never let his success remove him from the people he served. I pray this to be true of me.
- Obedience Battles Desire
- Battle used her very intentionally
- Sin feels good. Desires are strong. Wired for resistance.
- Our desires for safety, sex, achievement, gratification will battle a life of obedience to God.
- Do you see why we sing what we do? From the Inside Out Lyrics
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out
Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart and my soul
I give You…
Illustration: Brain Plasticity: science is showing that the brain can as our ability to learn and modify our behavior.
Romans 12: Renewing of our Minds… we are not a people without hope. He who has begun a new work in you will finish it. This is the work of obedience, this is the work of our lives being conformed to Jesus…
Obedience battles desire, but obedience can and will win. But to win, we must see that:
- Obedience Requires Prodding
- Our sin is close we cannot see it ourselves sometimes
- Awareness of what we want and what we have dominate us
- We need others to help us see
- Christian community means confrontation
- You need to help others see what they are not
Story: “confronting” my friends’ logic in why he was considering divorce. Used a story and a prepared sentence to show the inconsistency and self-centeredness.
- A confrontation that leads to repentance and restoration
- Consequences of sin can remain … but:
- Obedience is Repentance
- Turning toward God
- Awakened Awareness of God
- Awareness of what we have forgotten, what we have done
- No justifications; no excuses; no blame
Illustration: Own what one does; a culture of blame and a culture of justification.
- It is never too late for repentance
- God is ready to extend
- This is a turning point for Israel, will lead us to Jesus
- Bathsheba keeps her name – Uriah’s murder is captured in the genealogy
- The struggle of obedience of God’s people and the very son David and Bathsheba will have later – will continue the struggle of God’s people..
- But, this all leads to God – desiring to extend the dame forgiveness he did to David to all of creation…
This is why this is not simply David’s story, this is our story. The story of misused power. The story of lust and desire. The story of creating a scheme to cover our sin. The story of us being too close to ourselves and needing others. BUT – the story of owning our stuff. Owning our sin… and the pinnacle of the story is the God who forgives and removes that sin from us… there might be consequences, but there is hope.
Close:
Time of confession to own. To say “I have”. If you desire and can, use the kneelers and allow me to walk us through a time of confession through prayer.
我有罪
撒母耳記下 12:7-13
不情願的順服
2/ 9/2020
開場白：
故事:
過渡:
今天的經文並非是一個遙遠的歷史故事，它包括了姦淫、謀殺和戲劇性事件---如果我們沒有從經文中看見自己，我們就錯過了經文的深意。可能今天這裡說的是我們生命中的“另類”事件，也可能說的不是我們…但這關乎我們人類，就是：人不情願去真正認識神…這不僅是說大衛，也在說我們。神不僅是大衛的神，也是我們的神。
經文:
撒下12：7-13
12:7 拿單對大衛說：“你就是那人！耶和華以色列的 神如此說：‘我膏你作以色列的王，救你脫離掃羅的手；
12:8 我將你主人的家業賜給你，將你主人的妻交在你懷裡，又將以色列和猶大家賜給你；你若還以為不足，我早就加倍地賜給你。
12:9 你為什麼藐視耶和華的命令，行他眼中看為惡的事呢？你借亞捫人的刀殺害赫人烏利亞，又娶了他的妻為妻。
12:10 你既藐視我，娶了赫人烏利亞的妻為妻，所以刀劍必永不離開你的家。’
12:11 耶和華如此說：‘我必從你家中興起禍患攻擊你，我必在你眼前把你的妃嬪賜給別人，他在日光之下就與她們同寢。
12:12 你在暗中行這事，我卻要在以色列眾人面前，日光之下報應你。’”
12:13 大衛對拿單說：“我得罪耶和華了！”拿單說：“耶和華已經除掉你的罪，你必不至於死。
講道:
- 大衛的權力和欲望: 撒下 11
11:1過了一年，到列王出戰的時候，大衛又差派約押，率領臣僕和以色列眾人出戰。他們就打敗亞捫人，圍攻拉巴。大衛仍住在耶路撒冷
- 大衛不再是以色列人要求的那個王:
撒上 8:19b-20 “不然！我們定要一個王治理我們，使我們像列國一樣，有王治理我們，統領我們，為我們爭戰。” - 大衛已經成功了，但已經忘記了他是怎麼成功的；
- 大衛已經“功成名就”了。
11：3 大衛就差人打聽那婦人是誰：
- 大衛作為王有著無邊的權力；
- 他有人幫助他為所欲為；
- 他找到了:
有人說：他是以連的女兒，赫人烏利亞的妻拔示巴。
- 大衛知道了她是誰，是誰的妻子；
- 大衛要得到她，要用自己的權力快速得逞
11：4 大衛差人去，將婦人接來；大衛與他同房…
- 完全知道她是誰；
- 貪得無厭要一切歸自己所有；
- 不受約束的權力和欲望
- 不掩飾的欲望
- 他看見、就想要、就得著
- 性侵、權力和欲望
就像經文所描述的，大衛很快知道拔示巴懷孕的消息，現在他的問題來了…他要濫用權力了…
11：6 大衛差人到約押那裡，說：你打發赫人烏利亞到我這裡來
接下來的故事襯托了大衛針對烏利亞的詭計，烏利亞襯托出大衛的貪婪、無約束的權利和欲望，形成顯明人物對比，烏利亞忠誠、有犧牲精神、舍己、正直。
- 但烏利亞的性格一點沒有影響大衛—本來大衛可以提升烏利亞，但大衛只以自己為中心…
- 更多的權力帶來更多的犧牲品
11：14-15 次日早晨，大衛寫信與約押，交烏利亞隨手帶去。信內寫著說：要派烏利亞前進，到陣勢極險之處，你們便退後，使他被殺。
I 主差派
11章的最後告訴我們，主不喜悅大衛，但故事沒有結束。故事沒有結束在大衛的罪或主的不喜悅，現在主要動手了。
12:1 耶和華差遣拿單去見大衛。拿單到了大衛那裡，對他說：在一座城裡有兩個人：一個是富戶，一個是窮人。
II 拿單順服
- 神要拿單勇敢不畏懼。
- 拿單冒很大的風險，大衛連無辜的人都殺了，那麼會如何對待責備他的人呢？
- 拿單是一個講故事高手，他讓大衛從故事中認識了自己的罪、自己不公義的權柄以及他貪欲的後果。
“大衛聽拿單講了一個似乎是別人的故事，最後逐漸看見了主人公可怕的罪。雖然看來是一個好像電視、電臺的閒談，但卻是道德的審判，是對自以為義的批判，是宗教性的控訴和指責。”
尤金彼得森 撒母耳記 上下
- 拿單勇敢面對大衛---主差遣了拿單
- 拿單為此做好了準備
III 大衛降服
- 我有罪了
- 我們可能認為大衛完了，但沒有；
- 他犯了罪，破壞了三個誡命：殺人、姦淫和貪婪
- 神還是給他開了路
- 我們學到的功課是，向神悔改永遠不遲
- 神總會赦免我們
應用:
- 順服給權力帶來秩序
- 大衛因神才有權力
- 他忘記自己是怎樣得來的權力
- 他忘了自己是誰
- 他把自己的權力置於神的上面
- 他自己設立規矩而不顧其它
- 你在這故事中看見了創世紀的故事嗎？
- 我看見、我想要、我得到…日光之下並無新事
例子：格裡高利是我最好的上司，在“森林之家”的時候，他作為副校長總是撿垃圾…他知道自己是誰，記得自己的呼召，從來不讓成功攔阻自己服事他人。我禱告自己也是這樣。
- 順服與欲望交戰
- 爭戰必須是有意識的
- 有時罪讓人感覺好，欲望讓人難以壓制，以致不去抵擋
- 我們一生要在順服神與自己的安全、性、成就、滿足的欲望之間交戰
- 從下面的歌詞我們看到了我們當做什麼嗎？
雖曾有過犯
禰憐憫赦免
若我再次跌倒
禰恩典建立
永永遠遠
禰真光照亮我生命
永不止息
禰榮耀在全地之上
禰旨意成全
我一生跟隨
我願降服於禰
全心來讚美
永永遠遠
禰真光照亮我生命
永不止息
禰榮耀在全地之上
我心思意念
全由禰掌權
從裡到外來使用我
主 願公義讚美
成為我一切
由心而出的 來愛禰
永永遠遠
禰真光照亮我生命
永不止息
禰榮耀在全地之上
而我全心呼求
為獻上 讚美
從我 心深處
我靈 哭求
例子：塑造大腦—科學顯示大腦有能力學習和修正我們的行為
羅馬書12：心意更新…我們不是沒有盼望的人，在你裡面開始的那一位必成就到底。這就是順服的工作，就是我們效法耶穌的工作…
順服與欲望交戰，順服必勝！但要勝利，我們就要看到：
- 順服要不斷受提醒
- 我們的罪太近了，有時我們自己看不到它
- 要意識自己所要的是什麼，控制我們的是什麼
- 我們想要別人幫助我們看到
- 基督徒共同體意味著相互提醒
- 我們需要幫助他人看到他們不能看到的
故事：“衝突”，我朋友的邏輯：為什麼他考慮離婚；使用故事來表達前後不一致與自我中心的邏輯。
- 衝突帶來悔改和恢復
- 罪的後果會持續，但是
- 順服帶來悔改
- 轉向神
- 覺醒，認識神
- 認識神赦免了我們什麼，意識到我們做了什麼
- 沒有論斷、沒有藉口、沒有指責
例子：自己做的自己承受，一個指責的文化、一個論斷的文化
- 悔改從不嫌遲
- 神準備好了赦免
- 這是以色列的轉捩點，也將引我們到耶穌面前
拔示巴保留了自己的名字---烏利亞被記錄在族譜
神的子民在順服上帝的掙扎將延續到大衛和拔示巴的兒子，也會延續到
我們… - 但這都引向了神---神願意將他對大衛的赦免延伸到所有的人…
這就是為什麼今天的經文不只是大衛的故事，也是我們的故事；是濫用權力的故事，是貪婪與欲望的故事，是用詭計掩蓋罪的故事，是罪離我們太近以致需要別人説明我們看見的故事。但也是我們為罪承擔後果，自作要自受的故事…故事的高潮是神赦免我們並從我們身上挪去了罪…罪有後果，但盼望依然在。
結語:
現在是認自己罪的時候了，讓我們說：“我有罪”。如果你願意，請使用跪凳，讓神在我們認罪禱告的時候臨到我們。