2 Samuel 12:1-31
John 16:1-33
Psalm 119:65-80
Proverbs 16:4-5
Yesterday Pastor Scott, when reflecting on David's sin I got confirmation of what I'd put in my own personal reflection yesterday: God gave us freedom of will, but He did not give us freedom from consequences. We are free to choose our actions, but we are not free to choose their consequences. Today we read about two things: the consequences David faced, and the confirmation of God's continued, unbroken, persistent love despite his sin.
As the father of 3, I cannot begin to imagine having to bury my children. It would be far worse if one of them passed on because of something I did. This is the horror David faced - the child born to him and to Bathsheba, conceived during the adultery - God decreed that that child would die, as a consequence of David's actions. And while that was just a starting point - turmoil to follow, stay tuned - in David's shoes, I would have been convinced that my sin had been so grievous God couldn't possibly want to fulfill the promises He'd made to David.
But that wasn't so. They had another child - they named him Solomon. But in the text we read in 2 Sam 12:24-25 "The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah." Jedidiah? Who the heck was that? So I had to look up the notes on this verse. It turns out that the name contained an echo of David's name, and so it "provided assurance to David that the Lord also loved him and would continue his dynasty" (Zondervan NIV Study Bible [Red Letter Edition]).
Have you ever been discouraged by your own sinfulness? If you are like me, and if you read my blogs, you know I am. Terribly, hopelessly frustrated some times, to the point I cannot understand why God continues to forgive me, given the gravity, the magnitude, the grievousness and the persistence of my sin, given how many chances He's given me and how consistently I've wasted those opportunities. Today I am not going to be discouraged by my sinfulness. Don't get me wrong- I will continue to detest them. But while my sins do have consequences (as do all my choices), one thing is true - for me, for David, for the adulterous woman in the New Testament, for all of us: despite all our sins' consequences, God does not condemn us. In His love, He sends His son to do what we cannot do, not now, not ever - to take away the stain of our persistent sinfulness, and make us presentable to the Father as His children.
Praise You, God, for the persistence and certainty of Your love, which is more than enough to take on the burden of all our sins. May we never be so discouraged by our sinfulness as to forget that; remind us of that when we sin, so we are never afraid to run back to You.
PS I write this not so early Saturday morning, waking up in Memphis, TN, driving from Connecticut to Los Angeles with my daughter. It's our first time, and we will indulge in the obligatory selfie in front of Graceland, where the one they call "The King" lived. And, for all intents and purposes, died. Reportedly, from an overdose of drugs he took that caused his heart to stop. Like David, for all his success, his adoring fans, his wealth, Elvis had to bear the consequences of his choices. And while I certainly enjoy his music, I hope the selfie we take reminds us of that truth, and this other truth: there is no king but Jesus.
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