Decisions And Their Consequences

Transcript

GRS 2-86
10/28/2007
Decisions and Their Consequences
2 Samuel 24
Gil Rugh

We are pursuing the study of Old Testament history by moving through the books of The Old Testament that moved the history along and we are going to look at the last chapter of Second Samuel in your Bible. Second Samuel 24, these closing chapters of Second Samuel have selected certain events from the reign of David to let us know some of those things which have been transpiring in his reign, some of the matters of the importance we have seen through psalms of David, one in Chapter 22 which was an extensive psalm and then the beginning of Chapter 23 and the psalm at the beginning of Chapter 23 is the last psalm of David. It is not the last words of David, the Chapter begin, now these are the last words of David, these are not his deathbed words so to speak. We will see there are more things to be said and done when we come into First Kings Chapter 1, but this is the closing of the words as he has described in verse 2 as the end of verse 1, the sweet psalmist of Israel. He spoke by the Spirit of God. He was aware as we noted that his words were inspired by the Spirit.

When it comes to Chapter 24 of Second Samuel you have another sad note of David’s life. The outstanding blot on David’s life of course was his sin with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband. But the first part of Chapter 24 records another major event and if you will major failure in David’s life and as a result of this action on David’s part 70,000 people in Israel will die under the judgment of God. So it is a serious failure on David’s part, but the chapter will then close on a positive note with David purchasing the site upon which his son, Solomon will build the temple and which is the focal point in our day relating to the Temple Mount, site of the temple where God would be worshipped down through the centuries in Israel.

Chapter 24 opens up, “Now again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel.” So something had happened in Israel. We are not told what specifically, that caused God to be very angry with the nation. The result will be chastening will come upon the nation. David is incited, we are told in verse 1, against them by instructing that a census be taken in Israel. Now you need to turn over to The Book of Chronicles, so just after Samuel is First and Second Kings and then First Chronicles Chapter 21. As we have noted before you have parallel accounts, in another words in First Chronicles we have a record of the same things being recorded. For example in Chapter 21 of First Chronicles you have the same basic material as you have in Second Samuel Chapter 24 and you might leave a marker in First Chronicles, we may come back here from time to time. But look at the First Chronicles Chapter 21 verse 1, “Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” Now in Second Samuel 24:1 it says the anger of the Lord burnt against Israel and it incited David against them. You put the two together and you find Israel sinned and so Satan was given permission to stir David up to do something that would directly involve the intervention of God in judgment on the nation.

Turn back to First Kings Chapter 22, we will be getting to this in our study of kings in coming days, but in First Kings Chapter 22 there is a fascinating section of the word of God that unfolds something of Spirit activity in the affairs of men. In First Kings 22 we are later in Israel’s history obviously after the days of David and his son Solomon and you have Ahab being king of a divided kingdom, the northern king, kingdom Ahab king over the northern kingdom, Jehoshaphat is king of Judah, the southern kingdom. It is God’s intention to bring judgment on Ahab and bring about his death. Jehoshaphat has joined forces with Ahab which he should not be doing because Ahab is a godless man and remember he has a wife that has been infamous through history Jezebel. While they were going to go to war so Jehoshaphat is going to come and align his forces with Ahab so the combined armies can do battle against the enemies of Ahab, Aaron specifically. Jehoshaphat doesn’t want to go to battle without having a word from a prophet, a true prophet of God about whether they should go or not.

Now in verse 6 Ahab gathered the false prophets that he had in the northern kingdom to gather and they all said go off, but Jehoshaphat knew this is not right; these prophets are not really prophets of God. So he wants to know isn’t there a prophet of the Lord, verse 7, that we may enquire of him. And they say there is one Micaiah by name. Ahab doesn’t like Micaiah because Micaiah always says things Ahab doesn’t want to hear. In other words, Micaiah told him the word of the Lord. Ahab preferred his false prophets who told him what he wanted to hear. The substance is they called Micaiah and Micaiah speaks and what he really prophesized is a devastating defeat of the armies of Israel and the death of Ahab on the battlefield.

Well, verse 18 the king of Israel Ahab said to Jehoshaphat didn’t I tell you he would not prophesize good concerning me but evil. And I told you I didn’t want to hear it because look he prophesized my death and the defeat of our army. Micaiah then explains how he got his information. Micaiah said therefore, “Hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing by him on his right and on his left,” all the host of heaven are the angelic being. Remember Job 1 and 2 there came a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them. Evidently there are appointed times where all the angels fallen and unfallen are required to appear before God’s throne in heaven. The Lord said who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead. One said this while another said that then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said I will entice him. The Lord said to him how and then I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all prophets. He said you are to entice him and also prevail, go and do so. Therefore behold the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.

Now with all these prophets who are saying go up, you are going to have a great victory. They are being inspired by demons. What happens at this appearance before the throne of God is in the sovereign plan of God. God gives demons permission to do certain things that will ultimately accomplish his will. We already see is this fair to Ahab? Well, Ahab has already declared he does not want to hear what has to say. He is not open to the message of Micaiah the prophet of the Lord that is indicated even after Micaiah gives him not only the prophecy of how his army will be defeated and he will die. He explains to him where the false prophets are getting their information. Ahab still has Micaiah locked up, and then he goes out to battle. So from the human side Ahab is not a victim, he is doing what he wants to do. He is determined to pursue his rebellion against the Lord and even when he is told these are demonically inspired prophets who have come to lead you to your death. He is determined he will follow their advice.

So when we read in Chronicles that Satan stood against Israel and moved David to number Israel in the throne seen in heaven we would have had the demonic side, the fallen angels under the leadership of Satan, presenting their plan because God was going to bring judgment on Israel for sin they had committed and David would submit himself if you will to the directions of Satan. Sad, here is the man after God’s own heart but he will become an instrument in the hands of Satan and Satan is the one who moves on the heart of David. David didn’t have to submit to Satan, but he does contrary to the advice of even those around him.

So come back to Second Samuel Chapter 24 under this inspiration if you will, incitement by Satan, the king said to Joab, the commander of the army who was with him, now go about to all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, register the people that I may know the number of the people. Now note here they know this is wrong. David in his heart knows it is wrong. Now we are not told why it is wrong. But Joab knows it’s not the right thing to do. Others around him know it’s not the right thing to do. After David has done it he will acknowledge it was the wrong thing to do, it was sin. So why on this occasion it was wrong and everybody realized it. It seems that there is clarity that this is an act on David’s part that would be contrary to what God would have done and indicates a rebellious act against the God of Israel.

Go through all the tribes of Israel; register the people that I may know the number of the people. What he is doing is getting a census so he will know how many are comprised the armies of Israel. So it is not a general census of the people; this is a counting of the armies and when we will get that when they are done. They will give you the number down in verse 9. There were in Israel 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword. The men of Judah were 500,000 men. So you see they were the men 20 years old and upward so that they would know what the size of the armies were. Maybe those around David like Joab realized this was done in the context in which it was done in declaring your independence of the Lord in a way that would not acceptable.

Whatever, Joab said to the king, verse 3, now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are while the eyes of the lord my king still see but why does my lord the king delight in this thing? Joab is not the man of highest character in the events we have seen. In fact he is the man who has to die at Solomon’s hands for the wrong things he did during David’s reign. But here he is reflecting the mind of the Lord. He says to David you don’t need the number of the people. May the Lord bless with a hundred times as many soldiers as you have, why does my king delight to do this, my lord the king delight to do this thing? Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So you see the commanders of David’s army also realized this doesn’t need to be done. It is not the right thing to do. You know everyone can voice their but there is only one vote and that’s the king and he determines the census will be taken against the advice of those around.

So Joab and the commanders go out and they register the people. They go out through the kingdom and the regions they go to were told. Verse 8, “They went through the whole land. It took over nine months to do this.” I mean they didn’t have computers. They didn’t have any -- they just had to go through and register the people. Go from city to city, required that people come to the central place, they get a record of the number of men of military age and they counted all up. All has to be done by hand. All has to be done one by one. So it takes over nine months to do this. Then you get to count as we saw in verse 9.

Now verse 10, “David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord I have sinned greatly in what I have done.” You see there was an awareness this was the wrong thing to do but we are not given the details of what had gone on in Israel that led up to this and why David was so persistent in a stubborn arrogance against the Lord to do what in his heart he knew was the wrong thing to do, and as so often after he did it he is overwhelmed with the guilt of it and he acknowledges it before the Lord, I have sinned and sinned greatly in what I have done.

Now oh Lord please take away the iniquity of your servant for I have acted very foolishly. You will note here we were told in Chronicles that it was Satan who moved David to number the people. But you know who is responsible for David’s actions here. I have sinned greatly in what I have done. I have acted very foolishly. It is my iniquity that I need to have forgiven. I can never shift the blame to Satan although it was Satan who moved on the heart of David to do this sinful deed, David didn’t have to do it. He chose to submit to the motivation of Satan and thus rebel against the Lord. Awesome scene when you think of what would have transpired in heaven, the courts of heaven. I wonder what the unfallen angels were thinking David will never, David surely won’t give into this really. But he would go and be successful in tempting David.

David asks for forgiveness.

The Lord will forgive David but as we have already seen in the situation with Bathsheba and her husband, forgiveness doesn’t mean the consequences are obliterated. It means we are forgiven. We are cleansed from the guilt now all we can do is draw upon God’s grace to live out the consequences. The consequences will be terribly severe. The prophet Gad in verse 11 is sent to David and he is called David’s seer, prophet who maintained a role in the king’s court. He is a special counselor, advisor, and spokesman of the Lord to David. So the prophet Gad is sent to David by the Lord and says, we are told in verse 12, “Go and speak to David,” thus says the Lord. “I am offering you three things. Choose for yourself one of them which I will do to you”.” The consequences, I am going to give you your choice.

Gad said to David, he came to David and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in the land and that seven years should,” I believe three years, the text here says seven but the Greek text says three years and the parallel passage in Chronicles says three years and you will note that’s three years there are three sets of three here. “Shall you have three years of famine on the land or shall you flee three months before your enemies or shall there be three days of pestilence in the land. Consider and see what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” Gad says now you mull this over, give me your answer and I will return and tell the Lord what the punishment will be.

Three years of famine on the land, three months where David’s enemies will chase him, he had a little taste in this remember when he had to flee Jerusalem when Absalom was seeking to kill him. You have three months where you have got to run and flee and do all you can to get away from your enemies, or you could have three days of pestilence in the land. Well, David selects the pestilence. It is the shortest time and he basically says that I will cast myself on the mercy of the Lord. I would rather be under the pestilence sent by God than I would be turned over to the hands of my enemies.

So David said to Gad, “I am in great distress let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for his mercies are great. Do not let me fall into the hand of men.” You know even in this occasion here David does not show any resentment. When you truly understand your sin and truly are convicted in your heart of the reality of your sin, you are not taken up with your defenses, are you? As long as I am trying to argue why the Lord shouldn’t be pushing, the Lord shouldn’t do this, really I haven’t come to grips with the awfulness of my sin. So when David says in verse 10, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done.” He means it. He doesn’t come back and say “Well, these punishments are too severe.” It is not to David to decide what the consequences of his sin will be, and he recognized that is in the Lord’s hand. If it was in David’s hand he could have chosen not to sin. Once he chose to sin God would determine sovereignly what the consequences would be. He does give David a choice here, but it is a choice from the three. There is no fourth option for David and he – I’ll just cast myself on the mercy of the Lord. His punishment will be right and I only will be able to claim mercy.

The Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time. 70,000 of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. I mean this affects Israel from north to south. 70,000 men of the people die under this pestilence of the Lord. I mean this is a catastrophe of major proportions. It is carried out by the angel of the Lord whom we have seen in another occasions and this is the pre-incarnate Christ. He is not an angel as in the sense of angels but he is the messenger of the Lord and he carries out the judgment. “When the angel of the Lord stretched out his hands toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough, relax your hand.” The angel of the Lord was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” An awesome scene here. David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people and said “Behold it is I who have sinned.” The people didn’t do this I did it.

Now what there was in Israel that caused the anger of the Lord apart from David’s actions we are not told. But David realizes it is his sin. There is a major factor in what has taken place here and he takes full responsibility. It is I who has done wrong. These sheep what have they done, let your hand be against me, against my father’s house. I mean bring the full brunt of the punishment on me and my family. I am the one directly guilty here and he intercedes here like Moses did on occasion for Israel when God threatens to destroy the nation Israel and Moses becomes the intercessor for their salvation. So David here offers to bear the brunt and that stays the plague and the angel of the Lord is at the threshing-floor of Araunah on Mount Mariah.

What a sovereign determination here. Again we see the details in God’s plan, the angel of the Lord who will become the Lamb of God through his incarnation who will give his life here for the people. Now the judgment would have, I mean we have got 70,000 people and now he is ready to strike Jerusalem, how many thousands more but he stays his hand. So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David went up according to the word of Gad just as the Lord had commanded. Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants’ crossing over toward him and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. Araunah said why has my lord the king come to his servant. David said to buy the threshing-floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord that the plague may be held back from the people.”

Turn over to Chronicles again. In First Chronicles 21, Araunah is called by the name Ornan in Chronicles, again not unusual for man to be known by two names here in The Old Testament. So in verse 15, God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it but as it was about to destroy it the Lord saw it and was sorry over the calamity and said to the destroying angel well it’s enough, relax your hand. The angel of the Lord who was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. David lifted up his eyes; saw the angel of the Lord standing between Earth and heaven with his sword drawn in his hands stretched out over Jerusalem. What an awesome scene. David actually see the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and Earth with a sword drawn over the city of Jerusalem and David realizes when that sword comes down the plague will sweep through the city and how many thousands more will die. David not only sees the angel of the Lord but the elders of Israel who have come out with David covered with sackcloth fell on their faces, and this is where David intervenes, and asks the Lord for mercy. What a scene, what a striking scene to see the angel of the Lord in that occasion. Now he came here not only for that but Ornan or Araunah also saw the angel of the Lord.

So verse 20, “Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons who are with him hit themselves.” Ornan is out thrashing wheat. What they did was they have the oxen and they have this big wooden sledges, sledge kind of things, that they draw the ox and pull over the grain and that’s how they grind it out so they can then throw it in the air and separate the weed from the chaff. Here he is at this threshing-floor and he sees the angel of the Lord with his sword drawn over the city of Jerusalem. So he is hiding his face so when David comes Ornan doesn’t know what’s all going on, but when David comes and wants to buy the threshing floor Ornan is a ready seller. He is ready to give it away on this occasion. You might keep something here a moment and come back to Samuel so we keep our way going here.

Verse 21, when the king comes or Araunah, we keep going back Araunah or Ornan, Araunah here in Samuel as he is called, sees the king coming, he went out then of course bows down with his face to the ground. I mean it is really an awesome time. He has just seen the angel of the Lord with his sword drawn, now here comes the king; he never had a day like this in his life. He says why has the Lord the king come to his servant. David said to buy the threshing-floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord that the plague may be held back from the people. Araunah said to David let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look the oxen for the burn offering, the threshing sledges, the ox of oxen for the woods. He says here you can have it and everything is ready for the sacrifice because here is the wood, the sledges that the oxen have been dragging across the grain on this threshing floor and the oxen for sacrifice so you can set the fire with the wooden sledges and you can use the oxen for sacrifice. Just take it all, it’s yours, everything.

Verse 23, oh king, Araunah gives to the king. “May the lord accept, your God accept you. However the king said to Araunah, no, but I will surely buy it from you for a price for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing. So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver.” Now the 50 shekels of silver were for the threshing floor and the oxen, the sledges. In Chronicles we are told he paid 600 shekels of gold for the land surrounding the threshing floor. So the threshing floor was just that flat rock area where they would drag -- the oxen would drag the sledges back and forth over the grain. For that David paid 50 shekels of silver but he also paid an additional 600 shekels of God to buy the whole surrounding area for this will be the side on which the temple will be built and David follows here the instructions of the Lord and its part of the preparation. Remember David has been stockpiling the materials for the construction of the temple that he had hoped to build but God told him he couldn’t build because he was a bloody man but his son would build the temple. So David then said at least I can contribute by getting everything ready for his son. Now he makes the final stage of preparation and that becomes, if you will, a very important part of this closing chapter of Second Samuel. We will now have the site purchased for the temple.

This site as you are aware goes back to Genesis. Go back to Genesis 22, this is the account of Abraham being instructed to go and offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God, Isaac the son of promise. Verse 1, “Now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham.” He said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love Isaac, go to the land of Mariah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you.” Now come over to First Chronicles again. At the end of First Chronicles 21, the chapter we have been in verse 28, verse 27, the Lord commanded the angel, the angel put his sword back in the sheath because he had commanded him to stay, hold the punishment. At that time when David saw that the answered him on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite he offered sacrifice there in the Tabernacle of the Lord which Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place of Gibeon at that time. But David could not go before it to enquire of the Lord for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord. So he offers his sacrifice right here on this site and David said this is the house of the Lord God, this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.

David gave orders to gather the foreigners who are in the land of Israel and set stonecutters who hue out stone to build the house of God. He prepared large quantities of mansion and he had this going on as already saw in Samuel in verse 5, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that he is to build for the Lord shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous, and glorious throughout all the lands. Therefore I will make preparation for it. David made preparation.” So you see he has the site, all the materials now gathered, he realized this will be the site upon which the temple that will replace the tabernacle. The tabernacle was that tent kind of structure that could be taken down and put up but now we are in the land. And David realizes under his son Solomon because God has told him through the prophet a temple a permanent dwelling place for the worship of the God of Israel will be established.

Come over to Second Chronicles Chapter 3. Second Chronicles Chapter 3, now Solomon begins construction of the temple. Remember where Abraham in Genesis 22 was instructed to go with Isaac. He was instructed to go to the mountain in Mariah. And so in Chapter 3 of Second Chronicles verse 1, “Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mariah,” the place where Abraham had taken Isaac to offer him and at the last moment when Abraham is ready to bring the knife down, God intervened. So what had Abraham told his Isaac when Isaac said we have got the wood, we have got the fire, remember they had to bring the fire already burning because they didn’t have matches and so on, so they brought all that prepared with the hot coals that could be lit. We have the fire, we have the wood, where is the sacrifice? Abraham said what, “God will provide for himself the sacrifice.” So when he stops Abraham from slaying Isaac he sees the ram in the thicket. They take that ram and that becomes a substitute for Isaac.

All of these are in the sovereign plan of God. I mean we are 2,000 years with Abraham before Christ will come to Earth. We are 1,000 years before David and now God directs him to that specific site in the judgment on the people for sin as the place to offer the sacrifice acceptable by God to stay the plague and the place for the temple will be rebuilt where his worship will take place where ultimately his son will come and then we will have the ultimate sacrifice take place. In Chapter 3 verse 1, Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Mariah where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place David had prepared on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He began to build on the second day of the month and so on. The foundations are set and Solomon now on the place his father had acquired under the direction of God was all the materials that his father had, he begins to build the beautiful and splendid temple.

You can’t hope but be overwhelmed by the sovereignty of God in all of these, can you? You feel like well I don’t know does the Bible teach the sovereignty of God; I mean it permeates everything down to the littlest detail. I mean does it matter where Abraham takes his son to sacrifice him, why has he got to travel to Mount Mariah. Because it’s got to be where God says it must be. Why does David confront the angel of the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah on Mount Mariah? I mean couldn’t he have seen the angel of the Lord over on the coast of the Mediterranean or someplace else? No, he has to see him at the specific place where the temple has to be built. It is all in the sovereign plan of God.

Just a few notes on this closing period of time, first thing to note, I only have three things. An unwillingness to trust God leads to sin. You know David didn’t have to number the people. Joab, his commander told him you don’t have to do this, it is not necessary. His other commanders, key men, his mighty men, told him you don’t have to do this. Don’t do it. For whatever reason David was unwilling just to trust the Lord in this situation, submit himself to the Lord. He had to do what he wanted to do. We all you know what’s that like. It’s probably not right but I am going to do it anyway. It never turns out; doing the wrong thing never turns out to be the right thing. God uses this for good. I mean we are going to end up David purchasing the site for the temple. What a terrible price, 70,000 sheep in Israel, people in Israel are going to die. So, an unwillingness to trust God always leads to sin.

And the second point which I just alluded to, the consequences of sin are devastating. David lost control, if you will, when he chose to submit to Satan rather than the Lord on this occasion. Now the only choice was which punishment will I select? It wasn’t a consequence can’t we go back and act like it didn’t happen? No, that’s not one of the choices. You know always like our kids when they have done something wrong, then they want to come and want to know couldn’t we just? You say no we can’t. Oh, you don’t love me. Yes, I love you. Well, if you love me, you won’t punish me. I love you and yes I have to punish you. And so the Lord forgives David of course. But David can’t escape the consequences. You think we would learn from this, wouldn’t you? We have got the history right now for us. One thing I am not going to do, I am not going to rebel against the Lord. I am not going to have Satan move me to disobey the Lord. Not me, I have learnt, I have these things written as an example that I might learn not to do those thing.

And the third point is our salvation. God is gracious and provides the sacrifice for sin. He intervenes in verse 16 as David has pleaded verses 18 to 25. The sacrifice can be offered at the threshing-floor of Araunah on Mount Mariah. But there have devastating consequences that God is gracious. God provides the sacrifice for sin. If you look at David’s sin, he shouldn’t have done that but we do learn from David how you must respond when you have sin. There must be true genuine repentance. Not bargaining for God trying to argue your sin is not as that bad because only God knows how serious my sin is. It is an offence against the holy God. Numbering the people should result in 70,000 people having to die and the city of Jerusalem being brought to the verge of destruction.

David might be arguing “No, that’s not, you know, we shouldn’t do that but.” What he can say is “Lord, I did it.” Bring the full brunt of the judgment on me and my family but he is not in a position to tell the Lord, you shouldn’t be judging. He is aware it is my sin. It is overwhelming. If I can keep that sense of sin all the time, if David could have kept that sense of the awfulness of sin before he numbered the number, wouldn’t it have been so much better? If he could have kept before him what he wrote in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba, wouldn’t it have been a much different situation? What I do I forget how ugly sin is, what a horrible offence it is against the holy God and so I think I can enter into sin lightly. It won’t be that serious; sin always is. But the salvation of it all, God is a God of grace; he is a God of mercy. David was right. “His mercies are great,” in verse 14. David understood the greatness of God’s grace and mercy. Even under devastating withering punishment, David knew he was a God of mercy and grace. And even though his sin had consequences there would be forgiveness and cleansing and even in the end of all these the chapter ends with the preparation for the temple and the place where the ultimate sacrifice will take when his son comes to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for this account of David’s life. Lord, these things have been written for our admonition, for our instruction, for our learning. We would take these lessons to heart. We thank you for your hand on your people Israel, on your servants here in this account particularly, David, and how even through the tragedy of his sin and its devastating consequences, your grace and mercy was at work preparing the way and providing the place where your people would have the center, the temple for the offering of sacrifices in preparation for the coming of your son to be the ultimate completion of all sacrifices, the ultimate fulfillment by paying the penalty that only he could pay, the penalty for our sin with his own life. Lord, we are in awe of your greatness and your sovereignty, your control over all events, the good things, the bad things. The sin of men, even the activity of Satan and the demons is all under your control, your authority, so that your purposes and plans will ultimately be realized and accomplished. And Lord, we realized that we are sinners and it is your grace, the greatness of your mercies that has provided for our cleansing and our forgiveness and we praise you for that in Christ’s name, amen.