HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 652
2 S A MU EL 1 2
I anointed you king of Israel and saved you
from the power of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms
of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been
enough, I would have given you much, much
more. 9 Why, then, have you despised the word
of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you
have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword
of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. 10 From
this time on, your family will live by the sword
because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s
wife to be your own.
11 “This is what the Lord says: Because of
what you have done, I will cause your own
household to rebel against you. I will give your
wives to another man before your very eyes, and
he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You
did it secretly, but I will make this happen to
you openly in the sight of all Israel.”
David Confesses His Guilt
13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have
sinned against the Lord.”
• Conscience
2 SAMU E L 1 2 :1 3
Nathan came as a witness against David.
Nathan also came to awaken David’s
sleeping conscience. The prophet
brought God’s judgment (12:7-12),
but to help David see and agree that
he deserved this judgment, Nathan
appealed to David’s sense of justice
and righteousness. Then David’s own
conscience witnessed against him so
that he cried out that he had sinned
against the Lord. Listen carefully when
godly people say things to you that
stir your conscience. These people
may be God’s means of bringing truth
into your conscience and helping you
repent of sin.
• Forgiveness
2 SAMU E L 1 2 :1 3 -1 4
God forgives sin and helps us move
on, but he does not usually cancel sin’s
consequences. God often allows sin’s
consequences to take their course, even
for believers, for several reasons: (1) to
remind us of our potential for sinning,
(2) to encourage us to turn from sin and
to more constantly depend on God,
and (3) to prepare us to face other, even
stronger temptations in the future.
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Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has
forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.
14 Nevertheless, because you have shown utter
contempt for the word of the Lord* by doing
this, your child will die.”
15 After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord
sent a deadly illness to the child of David and
Uriah’s wife. 16 David begged God to spare the
child. He went without food and lay all night on
the bare ground. 17 The elders of his household
pleaded with him to get up and eat with them,
but he refused.
18 Then on the seventh day the child died.
David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He
wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was
ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do
when we tell him the child is dead?”
19 When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?”
he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground,
washed himself, put on lotions,* and changed
his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the
palace and was served food and ate.
21 His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was
still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now
that the child is dead, you have stopped your
mourning and are eating again.”
22 David replied, “I fasted and wept while the
child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will
be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But
why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring
him back again? I will go to him one day, but he
cannot return to me.”
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife,
and slept with her. She became pregnant and
gave birth to a son, and David* named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child 25 and sent word
through Nathan the prophet that they should
name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of
the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.*
David Captures Rabbah
26 Meanwhile, Joab was fighting against Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, and he captured the
royal fortifications.* 27 Joab sent messengers to
tell David, “I have fought against Rabbah and
captured its water supply.* 28 Now bring the rest
of the army and capture the city. Otherwise,
I will capture it and get credit for the victory.”
29 So David gathered the rest of the army and
went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and
captured it. 30 David removed the crown from
12:14 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text reads the enemies
of the Lord. 12:20 Hebrew anointed himself. 12:24 Hebrew
he; an alternate Hebrew reading and some Hebrew manuscripts
read she. 12:25 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads because
of the Lord. 12:26 Or the royal city. 12:27 Or captured the
city of water.