2 Samuel 13

Study Guide 33: 2 Samuel 11-20 SAINT AND SINNER Overview David’ s greatness cannot hide the fact that he was very human. The two major stories told in these chapters of 2 Samuel reveal his weaknesses as well as the reality of his trust in and love for God. SIN. There are three major Hebrew word groups that communicate the concept of sin in the Old Testament. Each of them is illustrated in these chapters. In fact each of them is used in David’ s prayer of confession, Psalms 51:1-19. The principle Hebrew word for sin, hata’, means to miss the mark. It assumes the existence of a divine standard which, for some reason, a person does not live up to. The other major terms also assume the existence of a divine standard and describe human actions in relation to it. Pesa’ in the vocabulary of sin indicates a conscious revolt against the divine standard. And ‘ awon is a deviation from or twisting of the standard. In our NIV and NASB English versions, hata’ is usually translated by “ sin.” Pesa’ is rendered “ rebellion” or “ transgression.” And ‘ awon is “ iniquity” or “ guilt.” Strikingly, in Scripture the language of sin is also the language of redemption. The word hatta’ t means both “ sin” and “ sin offering.” Thus it speaks both of human failure, and the wonderful provision by God of forgiveness through an offering that removes our guilt. How beautifully both these realities are illustrated in David’ s life.

Commentary Often it’ s crushing for us to discover that a person we admire has faults. An idealized parent disappoints. A friend we respect falls short. A political leader we support suffers his own particular Watergate. Discouraged and hurt, we feel a bitterness that is hard to overcome. When we look in the biblical record at David, certainly one of history’ s exceptional men and one whose faith is mentioned in both Testaments, we discover that he too had feet of clay. The saint is revealed as a sinner. And we wonder, “ Why does God hold up as examples men and women who have such obvious flaws?” A look at David’ s life suggests a number of possible answers, some more satisfying than others. For one thing, through David we are reminded that God is a realist. His Book contains no “ let’ s-pretend” whitewash of believers. Noting this, we may be helped to appreciate the fact that we can come to this God in spite of our own weaknesses. God won’ t overlook them. But He won’ t be crushed by our failures either. God knows that “ we are dust” (Psalms 103:14). For another thing, a revelation of saints’ failures as well as successes helps us to identify with them. If a David or an Abraham were represented as spiritually perfect, you and I would hardly feel close or similar to him. The truths that God is teaching us through their lives might be seen but might not be thought of as relevant. After all, we might think, “ That’ s all right for a spiritual giant like David! But what about poor, struggling me?” Then we discover that David struggled too. And sometimes he lost out to his weaknesses. David did know sin’ s pull, just as we do. His experiences are relevant to us! The New Testament affirms, “ No temptation has seized you except what is common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13). We are all bound up together in the shared ties of humanity. David knew the feelings and temptations that you know — and you know his! When the Bible accurately reports the failures and follies of God’ s saints, it demonstrates this common bond and encourages us to identify our own inner struggles with theirs. Most importantly, when Old Testament saints are shown to be sinners, Scripture is expressing something basic about the Gospel. The good news of God’ s love for man is not, “ Trust Me, and be freed of your humanity.” The good news of God’ s love is that the Lord has committed Himself to deal with sin and to make us progressively more and more like Him. For progressive growth we always stand in need of God’ s grace and aid. God deals with sin by the means of forgiveness. The greatness of David is not in his perfection but in his willingness to face his sin and to return wholeheartedly to God. How different from Saul! When Saul sinned, he begged Samuel to stay with him, that the people might not discover God’ s anger. When the Prophet Nathan confronted David concerning his sin with Bathsheba, David not only confessed immediately, but he even wrote a psalm used later in public worship, openly admitting his fault and sharing the inner anguish that accompanied loss of fellowship with God! We cannot, and God did not, condone David’ s sins and failings. But we can praise God for moving David to share honestly with us. Through David we learn fresh lessons about the grace of God, and we are reminded that you and I are invited to come boldly to the Lord too that He may meet us — and our needs. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Read Genesis 3:7-10 aloud. Ask your group members to list three feelings of Adam and Eve in this situation. List their suggestions on a chalkboard. Ask: “ When you have feelings like these, what has usually been the cause?” After several have answered, explain the three words that the Hebrew language uses to describe sin (see overview). Note that while sins and failures cause shame and make us, like Adam and Eve, want to avoid God, David’ s example teaches us that the way to deal with our failures is to hurry to God.

David and Bathsheba: 2 Samuel 11-12 This familiar story recalls a time when David was in Jerusalem rather than with his campaigning armies. From the roof of his palace, David noticed a beautiful woman bathing, and he sent for her. When she became pregnant, he ordered her husband Uriah home from the front, so the adultery might not be discovered. But Uriah was a dedicated man: he would not enjoy the comforts of his home or wife while his companions were camped in the open before the walls of an enemy city. Desperate now, David sent secret orders to his commander to place Uriah in an exposed position so the enemy might kill him. After Uriah’ s death, Bathsheba was taken into David’ s house as one of his wives. And the Bible tells us, “ The thing David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Samuel 11:27). Now came a confrontation between David and Nathan the prophet, who was sent to announce God’ s judgment on the king. David had violated the sanctity of the home; his own home now would produce evil. This judgment needs to be seen as a natural consequence of David’ s act; his own disrespect for the divinely ordained family pattern would bear its own bitter fruit. David’ s immediate reaction is revealing. Unlike others who struck out in anger against such prophets and condemned them, David immediately confessed his sin and admitted the rightness of God’ s judgment: “ David said to Nathan, ‘ I have sinned against the Lord’” (2 Samuel 12:13). David’ s confession brought him forgiveness. But it could not change the course of events his choices had set in motion. David would not die, but the child Bathsheba had conceived would die. One day David would go to be with the son whom the Lord had taken, but that son would never know David on earth (2 Samuel 12:23). Scripture tells this story simply. All the facts are recorded. No cover-up is attempted. Meditating on the incident, David was led to make the fullest possible revelation of his inner thoughts and feelings. We find them in Psalms 51:1-19, a psalm later used in public worship! We see timeless themes in Psalms 51:1-19, and find guidance to help us realize how we ourselves are to approach God when we sin. As the analysis of this psalm shows, David’ s reaction is appropriate for us too when we fall short.

THE PENITENT’ S PSALM Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalms 51:1-17David had penetrated to the heart of the issue. His was no mere legal relationship with some “ bookkeeper God” who cares only about balanced books. David did not rush to ask what he could do for God to make up for his sin! Instead David realized that God’ s concern is personal rather than legal in nature. A contrite heart means more to God than all anyone might possibly do for Him. With David’ s heart attitude corrected, forgiveness could flow and the Spirit of God could work again to cleanse David. When he was cleansed, God would work through David to do good for Zion and for all his people. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Duplicate Psalms 51:1-19, leaving breaks between the verses that match the divisions above. Ask group members to work in teams to title each section descriptively. Then work as a whole group to sharpen these titles. By following this process and discussing how to best sum up the contents of each segment, your group members will develop a good understanding of the teaching of this important psalm. Then read the story of David and Bathsheba aloud, trying to determine just which part of David’ s psalm is correlated with the ongoing experience described there. If you wish, you might also give your group members a chance to mark mentally just where each is personally in relation to the psalm. Ready to admit guilt? Seeking forgiveness? Seeking restoration? In fellowship and ministering? Wherever a person is, the next step he or she needs to take is defined in the next segment of the psalm. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Make a Forgiveness Wheel to help children learn to follow David’ s example. Use two paper plates. Cut a section out of one, leaving enough of the center so it can be loosely attached to the other with a brad. Divide the bottom plate into quarters. On each draw a face, and write the following partial verses from Psalms 51:1-19.

ArtVerse *angry face“ My sin is always before me” (Psalms 51:3) *praying face“ Blot out all my iniquity” (Psalms 51:9) *smiling face“ Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalms 51:12) *open mouth“ My tongue will sing of Your righteousness” (Psalms 51:14)Assemble the two plates so that when the top plate is rotated each of the above is shown in sequence. Go through this sequence several times, helping your boys and girls realize that when they feel guilty and ashamed they can confess sins to God and He will forgive them. Then they will feel good again, and praise the Lord.

Absalom’ s Revolt: 2 Samuel 13-19 David’ s children shared his weakness, but few demonstrated his redeeming characteristic of contriteness. David’ s lifestyle was one of responsiveness to God. In his infrequent departures, David remained open to correction. Not so his sons. In these chapters we read of one son, Amnon, who seduced a half sister and then spurned her. The girl’ s brother, Absalom, plotted revenge and later killed Amnon. This son, Absalom, was then banished. Later, through the influence of David’ s general, Joab, the banishment was lifted. But David still refused to see Absalom. David had two possible courses open here. He might have executed Absalom for murder, or he might have tried to restore him through confession and forgiveness. But David took neither course. Absalom’ s sin festered within the young man’ s personality. In time Absalom began a careful campaign to woo the northern tribes of Israel and to alienate them from David. Amazingly, he succeeded! The tribes of Israel (those who had been the last to crown David king some decades before) swung their support to Absalom. Absalom, after having himself crowned, marched on Jerusalem. David was forced to flee for his life from the capital, with only his old companions remaining faithful — plus a band of mercenary soldiers whom David had employed for his personal guard just the day before! How deeply it must have cut him to see these mercenaries remain true to their commitment while his own people spurned him! Second Samuel 13-19 traces the origin and the course of the rebellion, and reveals something of David’ s own doubt and discouragement. Without question, David examined himself and found many reasons why the Lord might be justified in removing him from the throne. David fled toward Judah, aided by a few individuals. In the meantime, David’ s supporters in Zion gave bad advice to Absalom, which allowed David time to gather an army from his homeland. In the battle which followed, Absalom was killed — against David’ s orders. The story ends with David crying out in agony and weeping over his lost son. This experience was one of wrenching pain for David. And again David shared his innermost thoughts and feelings with us in the psalms. Psalms 3:1-8 emerges from the time of self-examination and self-doubt as David fled Jerusalem. It is short, yet its simple phrases take us deep into David’ s heart and show us how he handled one of those times which we all experience: a time when everything goes wrong and all seems hopeless. Implications of the rebellion. David saw clearly that the fact of rebellion indicated that his people believed God was no longer with him. David was forced to examine that question, and recognized a certain justification for the accusation of Shimei that David was a “ man of blood.” O Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “ God will not deliver him.” Psalms 3:1-2Remembrance of God’ s past role in David’ s life. With his world tumbling down, David looked to God and characterized the relationship he had enjoyed with the Lord across the years. Each believer’ s past experience of God’ s blessing and lessons learned about the character of the Lord are a comfort when things go wrong. Specifically David thought of God as his protector and strengthener (“ the One who lifts up my head” ). Even more significantly, David called God “ my Glorious One.” The earthly glory David attained — his status and wealth as Israel’ s king — were empty things to him. It was God and God alone in whom David gloried. David’ s final thought focused on God as One who answers prayer. But You are a shield around me, O Lord, my Glorious One, who lifts up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill. Psalms 3:3-4Release from tension comes by turning it over to God. Then comes a striking revelation of David’ s commitment of himself to God. He lay down and went to sleep. Neither self-doubt nor anguish nor fear could hold him in its grip. Certainly David felt all these emotions. Yet, by focusing his attention on the Lord and who He is, David put his life in perspective and was freed to rest. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. Psalms 3:5-6Such trust is not fatalism! One Stoic philosopher, a slave, is said to have been beaten and mistreated by his master. On one occasion when the master was twisting his leg, the Stoic warned, “ If you keep on twisting my leg, you’ ll break it.” The sadistic master maintained the pressure, and the leg snapped. The Stoic’ s only remark was, “ See, I told you it would break.” David was hardly such a person. Nor should we be. To say that we trust in God and rest in Him never means that we do not care. And so we hear David give a last passionate cry, and trust the outcome to his God of deliverance. Arise, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the jaw; You have broken the teeth of the wicked. From the Lord comes deliverance. May Your blessing be on Your people. Psalms 3:7-8LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Describe the pressures on David during Absalom’ s revolt. Ask your group members to think of the time when their experience was most nearly like his. Share about these experiences in groups of three to five. Then introduce Psalms 3:1-8. Which verse or verses in this psalm most accurately reflects how each person felt during the experience just described? Work through the psalm section by section, relating each verse to David’ s experience during the revolt. Discuss: “ What can we learn from David about how to handle stress in our own lives?” (For instance, think about how God has delivered in the past. Remember that relationship with God is what is truly important [e.g., my Glorious One].)

The Godly Man It’ s easy to emphasize one side of David’ s character at the expense of the other. Some tend to idealize David and explain away his faults. Yet David did have many weaknesses. We might well be horrified by the cruelty and selfishness David showed when he took Bathsheba and arranged for her husband’ s “ accident.” Can we ever reconcile this behavior with the brave and trusting shepherd boy, or the man who flung aside his dignity with his royal robes to dance for joy before the Lord? How can this David be the same young man whose days of shepherding taught him to view God as man’ s Shepherd, and who shared this beautiful insight with us in Psalms 23:1-6? Somehow we feel uncomfortable in the presence of a man who is both a sinner and a saint. Yet, strikingly, David is portrayed as a man approved by God: one whose heart Scripture says was “ fully devoted to the Lord” (1 Kings 15:3). David thus stands before us a unique example of how sin can distort the best of men, and how the best of men deal with sin in contrition and confession. Even more, David stands before us as a testimony to God’ s love and His goodness. God’ s grace touched David. He forgave David’ s sins and enabled him for the task to which he was called. How wonderful to realize that God yearns to deal with us this same way. For our sins, God has provided in Jesus Christ a full and free pardon, a forgiveness that blots out the past and opens up the future as well. Through the Holy Spirit who has come to dwell within, God has provided strength to enable us to meet life’ s challenges, fully equipping us for whatever life we are called to.

Teaching Guide Prepare Consider: Why does God hold up as examples men and women who have such obvious flaws?

Explore

1. Explore the impact of sinning or falling short on your group members’ experiences. Use the “ link-to-life” suggestion found above to explore feelings and reactions.
2. Or, discuss the question posed in Prepare. How can such imperfect persons be held up to use in Scripture as examples? After your group has made a number of suggestions, you might give a minilecture on the material in the beginning of this chapter which deals with this subject.
3. Or, have your group read 2 Samuel 15:1-26. Have group members suggest how David must have felt at this time. When a number of feeling terms have been suggested, ask each individual to think of one time when he or she had similar feelings. Talk about these experiences in groups of three to five.

Expand

1. Pass out study sheets of Psalms 51:1-19, as explained in the “ link-to-life” suggestion earlier. Follow the procedure developed there. Or, help your group members develop from Psalms 51:1-19 a step-by-step pattern for dealing with our personal sins.
2. Give a minilecture showing the relationship of Psalms 3:1-8 to elements of David’ s flight from Absalom. As each group member recalls personal stress experiences, ask him or her to pick one of the verses in Psalms 3:1-8 that he or she most closely identifies with. Share each member’ s choice, and ask each to explain why that particular verse was selected.

Apply

1. Work together from Psalms 51:1-19 to develop a step-by-step plan for dealing with personal sins and failures.
2. Or, work together from Psalms 3:1-8 to develop a step-by-step plan for dealing with stress.