Opening illustration: A young gentleman walked into the church that we were attending and ministering at in Massachusetts. He had decided to finish his life that night. His life had been in the fast lane, nothing had come out of it. He had been in numerous relations and being a lorry driver he had a girl in every port. This had made him detest himself and now it seemed his life was going downhill with all the crazy stuff going on in his life. His mother had prayed for him and had requested him to go to church. He had never heeded to her but now after deciding to kill himself, he thought to honor her last request. He had walked into the wrong church. The two hours he spent there listening to God’s Word and being ministered to, his life had a U turn. He did not give up but got up and overcame his difficult situation by God’s grace. Today he attends a mega church in Mass. and is discerning who God would lead to be his life partner.
Let us catch up with David’s story in 2 Samuel 12 and see the difficult situation he was going through and also find out whether he gave up or got up. And how did he go about it.
Introduction: David now penned the Psalm 51: 1, in which, though he had been assured that his sin was pardoned, he prays earnestly for pardon, and greatly laments his sin. He was willing to bear the shame of it, to have it ever before him, to be continually upbraided with it. God gives us leave to be earnest with him in prayer for particular blessings, from trust in his power and general mercy, though we have no particular promise to build upon. David patiently submitted to the will of God in the death of one child, and God made up the loss to his advantage, in the birth of another.
David had sinned a sin which penalized him for capital punishment during those days. He allowed his eyes to sin by looking upon a married woman and committed adultery; got her husband killed, without hesitation prophet Nathan confronted him and made him realize his sin. The son that was born to him died because someone had to bear his sin as God had pardoned David. He was in agony of the heinous sins he had committed and the death of his son. How would he be able to go / come through it all?
How can we get up and overcome our difficult situations?
1. Repentance (vs. 13 – 14)
David, as an adulterer, was condemned to death by the law of God; and he had according to that law passed sentence of death upon himself. God alone, whose law that was could revoke that sentence, or dispense with its execution; therefore Nathan, who had charged the guilt home upon his conscience, is authorized to give him the assurance that he should not die a temporal death for it: The Lord hath put away thy sin; you shall not die. God has transferred the legal punishment of this sin to the child; He shall die, you shall not die; and this is the very point on which the prophet gives him the most direct information: The child that is born to you shall surely die.
Ref: The death of the first born ~ the lamb was killed for saving the Jewish first born; Yahweh gave us His only begotten son for our redemption.
2. Fasting, Prayer & Humility (v. 16)
The death of the infant child of one of the numerous harem of an Oriental monarch would in general be a matter of little moment to the father. The deep feeling shown by David on this occasion is both an indication of his affectionate and tender nature, and also a proof of the strength of his passion for Bath-sheba. He went into his most private chamber, his closet Matthew_6: 6, and “lay upon the earth” 2 Samuel_13: 31, rather “the ground,” meaning the floor of his chamber as opposed to his couch.
• Fasting for repentance, disciplining oneself and feasting in the Lord.
• Prayer to commune and hear God at the most. Thinking by his constant prayer that God would have restored his child, but God had determined otherwise.
• Humility, which can turn God’s heart around ~ remember the Ninevites.
3. Rise from the ground (v. 17, 20)
Approach your situation as a strong man / woman of God. Draw on God’s strength for facing the immediate and coming storm. There is a time to humble before God and then there is a time to rise above the issues and face them and deal with them with the God given strength. There is nothing that God allows in our lives which is beyond the strength that He provides for His grace is sufficient for us. A promise He gave to Paul even when he asked thrice to remove that discomforting thorn in his life. We all have thorns in our lives. How we react and deal with it counts before God.
4. Wash yourself ~ cleansing (v. 20)
“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse (ṭāhēr, “declare me clean”) me from my sin” (Psa_51:2). “Cleanse (naḳḳēh; the American Standard Revised Version “clear”) thou me from hidden faults” (Psa_19:12), while formally to be understood “hold innocent,” really connotes forgiveness. In 1Jo_1:7, the sanctificatory meaning seems almost wholly to absorb the other: “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us (“is purifying, sanctifying”) from all sin”; but in 1Jo_1:9 it is again hard to determine the predominance: “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
5. Anoint yourself (v. 20)
Persons were anointed for health (Mar_6:13), because of the widespread belief in the healing power of oil. It was often employed as a mark of hospitality (Luk_7:46); as a mark of special honor (Joh_11:2); in preparation for social occasions (Rth_3:3; 2Sa_14:2; Isa_61:3). The figurative use of this word (chriō) has reference strictly to the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the individual (Luk_4:18; Act_4:27; Act_10:38). In this sense it is God who anoints (Heb 19; 2Co_1:21). The thought is to appoint, or qualify for a special dignity, function or privilege. It is in this sense that the word is applied to Christ (Joh_1:41 m; Act_4:27; Act_10:38; Heb_1:9; compare Psa_2:2; Dan_9:25).
6. Change your garments ~ transformation (v.20)
When seasons change, we also change our clothes. Bears a significance of different seasons in our lives. Just as Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes ~ there is a time for … Time to move above our situation and not to dwell on the past. Apparently it is a complete transformation of our own lives. Rending of clothes was an expression of indignation and mourning. Passing of the cloak was an implication of mentorship and passing of the ministry baton to the other. Change of clothes was expressing ones transformation ~ passing from the old to the new. Moving from a difficult situation to a place of newness and dependence on God without looking back. The regular change of clothes only signifies that we are being hygienic. Are we ready for a change and a transformation of our lives?
7. Worship God (v. 20)
David went into the tabernacle he had built for the ark of God, and then in prayer submitted himself to the will of God, and acknowledged his justice in what he had done; gave thanks to God that he had brought him to a sense of his sin, and repentance for it, and had applied his pardoning grace to him, and given him satisfaction as to the eternal welfare and happiness of the child, as appears from 2 Samuel 12: 23, showing that our lamentations should not be excessive, but moderate: and that we must praise God in all his doings.
8. Refuse to rehearse the past (vs. 21 – 23)
When we articulate our past, we are getting ready for a repeat performance. The choice is ours ~ stop rehearsing the past failures OR rehearse the past victories. David chose not to continue living in the past thus stopped rehearsing his past failures but dwelt on his future victories.
Illustration: There was a woman who was going through some very difficult and trying circumstances. She was experiencing major distress in her marriage, her job was very unfulfilling and was causing her heartache. She became so distraught over her circumstances that she felt like just giving up. She felt lonely, dejected and very isolated. She had tried everything she could to better herself, her marriage, things at work but it seemed everything turned out horrible for her. Finally she came to the point of exhaustion and felt there was no way out of her terrible circumstances and there would never be any more joy in her life. One day she was sitting in her kitchen very frustrated and lonely. She sat there for a long time and just wept. Then she noticed a small sparrow had somehow gotten into her kitchen, so she opened the door thinking the sparrow would simply fly out the door. To her surprise the sparrow kept flying into the closed window that was just above the door. This distraught woman noticed several times that the sparrow would fly directly into the top of the window thinking it was an opening to freedom and each time colliding into glass of the window. This small sparrow after each time hitting the window would become weaker and weaker. The woman also noticed the sparrow hitting the window lower and lower each time he flew into the window until he got so weak that he couldn’t even fly, all he could to was walk. Then she noticed this little sparrow very slowly, simply walked through the door to freedom. As she observed this little bird walk through the door, the sparrow began to regain his strength and he flew off into the air free again. It was as though God literally opened her spiritual eyes. She realized in just about every area of her life she was behaving just like this sparrow. She was trying in her own way to get out of the confining situations she was in, each time being knocked down in defeat. In reacting harshly to her family members - knocked down! Not giving her best at work - knocked down! Paying back evil for evil done to her - knocked down! Saying and doing things she knew were wrong - knocked down! She finally realized that all she had to do was do just like this sparrow - to very humbly walk in the power of God’s grace and mercy and allow Him to work out all her heartaches and difficulties.
Application: When we go through hard times, trials, tribulations and difficult situations, how do we deal with them? Through David’s story we learned that he ~
• Repented
• Fasted, prayed and was humble before God
• Rose above his situation
• Cleansed himself
• Anointed himself
• Pursued to be transformed
• Worshiped God
• Refused to dwell and rehearse the past
I want to encourage you this morning that all those who are going through difficult times, would take David’s example and learn to walk the walk he had before God. For no reason he was he called ‘A man after God’s own Heart.’
