Day 61: 2 Samuel 9-12
David is known for many things: a man after God's own heart (I Samuel 13), a king of Israel, the father of Solomon, the best friend of Jonathan, the husband of Michal and Abigail, a harpist, a foe of Saul, a shepherd boy. But he is also known for one terrible sin: having an affair with Bathsheba, getting her pregnant while she is married to someone else, and then killing her husband Uriah the Hittite so that David could take Bathsheba as his wife.
David's sins here are terrible, and God is very displeased with David. As a punishment for these sins, God decides to kill the child born to David and Bathsheba. After the son is born, David prays fervently to God to change his mind and let the child live. He weeps and prays until the day his son dies--at just seven days old.
There is a lot going on here, and this is a very complicated story. But there are two main aspects I'd like to focus on here: sin/consequence and prayer.
1. Paying the consequences for our sins.
When I was growing up, I often hoped that there were things I wouldn't do. Bad things that I knew were sins. However, as time went on, I began to sin. I didn't just make mistakes; I sinned. And I sinned "big." Sins that I said to myself that I would never do. And these sins changed me. In some ways, I still live with the consequences of some of my sins: whether it's from feeling guilty or suffering from anxiety or being affected mentally or emotionally. However, because I have sinned, I know more about the saving grace and redemption of Jesus Christ. I am forgiven. I am healed. I am pure. All because of the blood of Jesus.
When I hear of someone committing an awful sin, I'm not too surprised anymore. Sure, some of my attitude is probably because I've become desensitized to it. But I think it's more about realizing that we're all human and not feeling so prideful about myself. We all do things that are completely out of our nature--things that we promised ourselves we would never do. And so I try to approach people and life more by viewing us all as sinful beings--no matter how "bad" the sin is--and not be so judgmental about myself or them when we do sin. Sure, we have to pay the consequences for our sins, but no one is better than someone else just because "Well, hey, at least I didn't do that." We are all sinful, yet we are also saved and forgiven because of the blood of Christ.
2. When the answer is NO.
David prays fervently for God to spare the child, but God says, "No." We often wonder why God tells us "No" when we pray to him. Maybe we haven't sinned as David did when God tells us no, or maybe we have. But it's interesting that we have an example of someone begging God to change his mind, but God's answer remains the same--He will kill the baby. This situation--even though God does not allow the baby to live--changes David. David is a different person through this process of dealing with the consequence of his sin. He's also different due to the prayers he prayed to the Lord--even though God's answer was no. David is probably more understanding, more forgiving. He recognizes that he is not invincible, and he is forever a changed man.
While I firmly believe that prayer can change God's mind, I also believe that prayer changes people. Just like when we have a fulfilling and open conversation with a friend, we leave feeling happy, elated, and content, when we have a conversation with God, we are changed, too. I've often wondered what the purpose of prayer is, and David's example here gives us a glimpse into one such purpose.
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