Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God (Micah 6 vs 8)

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The Fall and Rise of the Mighty

the Fall and Rise of the Mighty

2 Samuel 12 vs 1-15 (nkjv)

1Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4And a traveller came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 7Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus, says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ 13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die”. 16And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!” 19When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore, David said to his servants, “Is the child dead? “And they said, “He is dead.” 20So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.

David had done the abominable by sending Uriah to the hottest part of the battle and killing him in the process in other to take over his wife that he had impregnated.

We saw that God’s anger was kindled against David and He sent Nathan to him. When Nathan gave an analogy, David was quick to judge whoever was involved in such act. We should not be quick in judging others, we must consider ourselves and ensure we are right before God before casting aspersions on others. The beam in our eyes must first be removed before we can see the mote in other eyes.

When David realized that he was the one guilty of the evil act, he was quick to repent and acknowledge his sins before God and Man. We must also be quick to accept our wrong doings and go to God for forgiveness whenever we are overtaken by a fault. We must not try to justify or rationalize our wrongs doings for any reason.

From David, we saw this tenderness that even heaven could not resist. His sins were immediately pardoned only that the consequences remained. We must learn as well that even though God forgives sins, there are some sins whose consequence we must bear despite repentance.

God struck the child delivered by Uriah’s wife  just as he has spoken through Nathan the prophet. But David knowing the mercy of God decided to pray and fast seven days for the child; this shows to a large extent that David’s repentance was not a concocted one, it was a genuine repentance. He was truly sorry for his sins. This is the attitude that God require of sinners and backsliders, a penitent, contrite and a broken heart has a way of drawing God’s attention

After seven days of dry fasting, David received the news that the child was dead. He rose from his moodiness, anointed and washed himself. He ate and came alive.

God gave David another son through Bathsheba and he was called Solomon and the Lord loved Him; this shows that the judgement of God is not forever. God is indeed merciful. Even though the first child was not allowed to live, God preserved and loved the second. We can learn something salient here that if God had been angry with us in time past and had punished us, his loving kindness can still locate us as though we never sinned (when we receive His forgiveness).

After all these, the bible tells us that God gave David victory over his enemy, Ammon and wrought great victory for him through Joab.

You may have committed sin in the past and now you are lying low under its heavy weight, you are weighed down and ready to give up under Satan’s deadly blow, you may even have concluded that nothing good can come out of your Nazareth. Do not allow the devil to achieve his goal.

God is waiting for you, He wants to embrace you in His loving arm. All you have to do is run to Him in confession and repentance of your sins. He is ready and willing to wipe your sins away with His precious blood. There is greatness within you that heaven is eager to announce, don’t give up in sin. There is a purpose you can still fulfil. Your light, though dim and almost running out can still shine hope and life to many.

As you stand up and run towards the cross (click here to know how), He will clean your dross and make you recover from your loss. AMEN.

by Ndubuisi Paul Okafor

Photo credit: Pexels.com

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