Friday, February 22, 2008

By Faith... David, Part 13 of 15

Text: 2 Samuel 12:1-12

IDEA: We show ourselves to be people of faith by the way we react when God confronts us.

PURPOSE: To help listeners see why our faith is revealed in our response to being rebuked.

Have you ever had to rebuke someone else for some sin in their lives?

Did you find it easy?

Why could it be difficult?

Does the way we respond to rebuke reveal much about our faith?

I. David was rebuked by the prophet Nathan for his murder of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba with whom David had an affair. (2 Samuel 12:1-12).

In what ways could David have responded?

He could have stonewalled and denied the whole thing.

He could have lashed out against Nathan and even had him killed.

He could have simply shrugged it off as just something that happened that really didn't matter much.

How did David respond? "I have sinned against the Lord!" (2 Samuel 12:13).

There is no special pleading nor any talking about the circumstances that could have explained what he did.

There is no lashing out at God for the judgment that was to be meted out to him.

Why do you think David would say, "I have sinned against the Lord!"

He had sinned against Uriah whom he had killed in battle.

He sinned with Bathsheba.

Why do you think he said, "I have sinned against the Lord!"?

II. David was a person of faith and lived his life before God.

He did not deny that Uriah and Bathsheba were hurt by what he did, but the command to love your neighbor always comes after the command to love God.

Whenever we are rebuked by another Christian, the rebuke cannot simply stay on the personal or horizontal level. For a Christian there is always the vertical relationship to God.