WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:03.340 Today, we're in 2 Samuel 12. 00:00:03.340 --> 00:00:06.900 And you might be wondering, weren't we there last week and the week before? 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:08.460 And the answer is yes. 00:00:08.940 --> 00:00:11.840 Yes we were, but we're going to jump into this. 00:00:11.840 --> 00:00:17.760 I'll tell you a little bit why in just a moment, and I promise this is the last week or last week that we're going to be in chapter 12. 00:00:18.340 --> 00:00:23.990 But as we've gone through this together, we have seen God do some extraordinary things in the life of David. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:31.380 This is a valuable section of scripture for us, because we're watching an individual go from really a 00:00:31.380 --> 00:00:35.060 child to a man in the Lord. 00:00:35.160 --> 00:00:40.740 And just really immature to wise in the Lord, and following after him. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:48.040 And just seeing what that journey looks like, and I told you last week scholars have said there is no figure written on more in all of 00:00:48.040 --> 00:00:50.160 antiquity than there is for King David. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:56.980 You just get a front row seat to what God is doing in his life, has done in his life and how he grows. 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:00.320 And God has used him to do some pretty incredible things. 00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:05.260 David, he conquered a giant or giants really. 00:01:05.500 --> 00:01:07.120 He overcame a rogue king. 00:01:07.580 --> 00:01:10.080 He made deep friendships. 00:01:10.080 --> 00:01:12.160 He united all of Israel. 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.080 He wrote incredible worship Psalms. 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:18.160 He brought the Ark back to Jerusalem. 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:20.500 Some wonderful things happened in David. 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:26.140 He was a remarkable person before the Lord, and the Bible even says repeatedly about him. 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:28.020 He was a man after God's own heart. 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:36.440 And while we've seen God do some incredible things in David, we also find chapter 11 and chapter 12 of II Samuel, which is where 00:01:36.440 --> 00:01:43.420 we are today that even the most godly people are capable of falling. 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:53.540 While we see all these great things that happened in the life of today, I want us to consider not 00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:55.980 just the wonderful things David has done. 00:01:56.720 --> 00:02:00.580 We're also going to look once again at this fall and what happens related David. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:06.980 The last couple of weeks, we looked at how we recover from our own personal failures. 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:12.880 Today we're actually going to look at how we recover when really life falls on us. 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:19.560 And this is I think an important message for those that like to feel like you're in control all the time. 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.680 Because if we fool ourselves in that facade, what we find is this gut punch in life. 00:02:25.920 --> 00:02:27.580 The truth is we're not in control of everything. 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:32.980 And when things are out of our control, what do we do? 00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:41.900 And when you look at David while God did use him to do many wonderful things, it's also worth considering 00:02:41.900 --> 00:02:43.720 the difficult things David went through. 00:02:43.900 --> 00:02:45.610 David, he bore a lot in life. 00:02:47.100 --> 00:02:54.160 I remember in the very beginning when God called David that his father labeled him as the insignificant child in the family, 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:58.020 yet God wanted to use David to do great things. 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.520 He was treated as unimportant member of the family, as a boy. 00:03:02.660 --> 00:03:03.640 He faced Goliath. 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:11.200 And that's incredible in of itself, but as a young man, he had a king that pursued him and wanted to kill him. 00:03:11.220 --> 00:03:14.240 And he had to hide in caves and in the wilderness for years. 00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:21.040 His best friend, he said that David loved as he loved himself, his best friend dies. 00:03:22.040 --> 00:03:24.620 He later carries the stress of being a king. 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:31.080 He has this personal and very public fall before the kingdom after he unites Israel. 00:03:31.820 --> 00:03:37.300 And now today, what we're going to look at is David's own child dies. 00:03:39.920 --> 00:03:44.040 And as you think about David's life, just one of those things could break a person. 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:51.160 And perhaps you've gone through something like David or maybe you're in that season right now. 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:53.900 What do you do? 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:56.300 How do you respond? 00:03:56.600 --> 00:04:00.460 I mean when I think about just the year 2020, what all of us have gone through together. 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:03.560 I mean this year started with the death of Kobe Bryant. 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.990 And then the last couple of weeks we lose James Bond and Alex Trebek. 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:09.800 Like what in the world? 00:04:10.540 --> 00:04:18.019 Or even just the idea of this year with Coronavirus, and it being a political year and racial 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:18.880 tension. 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:24.580 There's just this stress I think in society and on us. 00:04:27.640 --> 00:04:28.120 How do you respond? 00:04:30.820 --> 00:04:35.840 As we consider the tragedy of the death of David's son, we're going to look at just a couple things. 00:04:37.660 --> 00:04:39.980 We're going to answer the question, how do we arise when we fall? 00:04:40.020 --> 00:04:43.560 But we're going to do it through two ways that David falls to the ground. 00:04:43.700 --> 00:04:46.760 What we're going to find in this passage, he falls to the ground and he pleads with God. 00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:52.110 We're going to ask the question why, which for some of us that might seem like a silly question, but I'll get to in a moment. 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.580 Why is David fall into the ground and pleading like this? 00:04:54.820 --> 00:04:57.940 And the second is David gets up and we're going to ask the question, how? 00:05:00.580 --> 00:05:01.880 How does David get up? 00:05:02.900 --> 00:05:05.260 Well, first David falls to the ground and he pleads. 00:05:05.580 --> 00:05:06.720 And so let's answer the question why. 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:12.820 If you look in verse 15 of II Samuel 12, we come to this passage. 00:05:13.020 --> 00:05:15.950 I want you to know this is a very difficult passage of scripture. 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:18.840 And really this was the reason I've spent three weeks here. 00:05:18.840 --> 00:05:21.500 We looked at some very important things for our spiritual walk. 00:05:21.520 --> 00:05:25.600 When we fall and we make mistakes, and how to recover and how does God see that? 00:05:25.620 --> 00:05:27.180 And how does God see us in light of that? 00:05:27.940 --> 00:05:29.950 But the story doesn't end there. 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:36.520 Now David gets to a position where he faces a very difficult circumstance, and I could very easily... 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:38.620 We've been going through I and II Samuel pretty quickly. 00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:41.820 And I could just blow past this and ignore it. 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:50.520 But I want you to know that sometimes in life, you come to hard passages and we're not afraid to enter in those passages here at ABC. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.940 We want to consider these texts. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:54.240 We want to wrestle with these texts. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:58.500 And even when they make us uncomfortable, and verse 15 is one of those passages. 00:05:58.680 --> 00:05:59.250 Look at what it says later. 00:05:59.900 --> 00:06:07.180 The Lord struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David so 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:08.520 that he was very sick. 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:10.820 In verse 16, David, therefore... 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:12.390 do I have verse 16, or is it missing? 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:13.840 It's missing. 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:14.220 Okay. 00:06:14.780 --> 00:06:15.440 Well listen here. 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:21.820 David therefore, pleaded with God for the child and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:27.580 The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground. 00:06:28.340 --> 00:06:31.160 But he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:36.160 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:44.500 And David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead for they said, "Behold, while the child was still alive, we 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:47.580 spoke to him and he did not listen to us. 00:06:48.620 --> 00:06:57.860 How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm." 00:06:58.480 --> 00:06:59.020 Ever been there? 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.420 So mch pain in your life that you can't get up. 00:07:07.440 --> 00:07:14.500 I mean, even friends around you, like we find with David in this passage come alongside David to try to support David, to help David get up 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:17.440 but they couldn't even get David up. 00:07:18.960 --> 00:07:19.760 How do you get up? 00:07:21.960 --> 00:07:29.100 You see in the story why David is on his knees, is his child is struck and is very sick about 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:29.640 to die. 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:32.720 So we ask the question, why? 00:07:32.840 --> 00:07:33.760 Why is David here? 00:07:33.780 --> 00:07:41.100 I mean I think the most simplistic answer that we can give, and maybe it's not even worth making a point over because it's so basic 00:07:41.100 --> 00:07:46.820 in it's understanding this passage is that life is important and death is hard. 00:07:49.780 --> 00:07:53.140 David is on his knees because he knows life is important and death is hard. 00:07:53.220 --> 00:07:58.040 But let me just tell you guys why I do think it's important to answer to question why David is doing this. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:04.480 It's because sometimes I hear in Christian communities we have the hope of Jesus, right? 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:08.620 But sometimes I hear in Christian communities believers will say this. 00:08:08.820 --> 00:08:14.100 "When I die, I don't want anybody to cry at my funeral because for me it's a celebration. 00:08:14.320 --> 00:08:16.820 So my funeral should be a party, right? 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:18.080 It's my home going. 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:20.580 So we should all rejoice over my death. 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:22.420 I don't want anybody crying there, I don't want anybody sad there. 00:08:22.660 --> 00:08:29.640 It should be a happy time because of everything that I have in Jesus." And I just want to say, I understand the sentiment of a statement like that. 00:08:29.940 --> 00:08:30.180 Right? 00:08:30.380 --> 00:08:35.080 I understand what the person's ultimately trying to communicate is they have a greater hope that exceeds the moment. 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:39.500 I understand the sentiment of that, but I don't think it's healthy. 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.860 And let me just give you the practical example of why I don't think it's healthy. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:48.080 I don't think it's healthy because that's not even what Jesus did. 00:08:50.340 --> 00:08:55.230 You think about leading up to his own death, Jesus weeping in the garden of Gethsemane. 00:08:55.640 --> 00:08:57.360 The pressure, the pain of that. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:04.360 And I know he's bearing sin there, but even when you see in Jesus's life, when Jesus goes to funerals and Jesus was a 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:05.570 great funeral disruptor. 00:09:05.660 --> 00:09:12.660 But Jesus' close friend Lazarus, and when Jesus goes to the funeral of his own friend Lazarus and Jesus 00:09:12.660 --> 00:09:14.420 being the resurrection of life. 00:09:14.680 --> 00:09:20.800 Just moments away of knowing that he's going to resurrect Lazarus from the grave, we get the shortest verse in all of the Bible. 00:09:20.800 --> 00:09:21.570 What does it say about Jesus? 00:09:21.880 --> 00:09:22.460 Jesus what? 00:09:23.400 --> 00:09:23.720 Wept. 00:09:27.680 --> 00:09:34.740 Jesus, who is the resurrection of life about to resurrect Lazarus from the grave is content in that moment and completely okay 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:35.890 with weeping. 00:09:36.280 --> 00:09:43.360 How much more, how much more in our lives that when we go through that kind of experience should we not find our souls grieved 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:44.540 in such a way? 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:53.680 It's an important part of our life to recognize the significance of what life 00:09:53.680 --> 00:09:57.800 is, and no better time to do it than when life has taken. 00:09:59.300 --> 00:10:06.080 Granted it may be temporal, but it's still life. 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:16.460 Life is important and death is hard, but at the same time 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:24.080 while we recognize that or at the same time, I think what's also important is to see in these moments David's reflecting God's 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:24.680 heart in death. 00:10:28.220 --> 00:10:30.160 Jesus weeps at the death of Lazarus. 00:10:31.800 --> 00:10:36.280 And so David, in this moment crying out, wrestling with God on the ground. 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:47.460 I think it's important in grief that we don't lose sight of the idea that as much as we know how important life is, God 00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:48.060 does more so. 00:10:50.400 --> 00:10:52.300 God knows even more so. 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:59.200 I know when we do funerals here at the church, we have someone that passes away. 00:10:59.300 --> 00:11:06.800 Just the idea of weeping in death and recognizing life becomes such an important recognition 00:11:06.800 --> 00:11:08.920 of the beauty of what life is. 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:12.600 And as we recognize the beauty of life, I think God does more so. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:20.380 Weeping in death, I think is a very worshipful thing because it's acknowledging before God the value of 00:11:20.380 --> 00:11:24.240 life, and human beings created in his image. 00:11:25.680 --> 00:11:28.910 And reflects God's heart in death. 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:37.080 And God, I think even knows more so how much important life is because Jesus has given his own life 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:38.980 for us to find life in him. 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:43.400 I mean Jesus sacrificed his life because he knows how important life is. 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:48.840 Jesus placed the value of life by giving his very life for our lives. 00:11:48.980 --> 00:11:51.030 That's what makes our life so significant. 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:54.920 That Christ would come and even give himself for us. 00:11:57.660 --> 00:12:05.520 So when we grieve, we don't do it separate from God, but 00:12:05.520 --> 00:12:08.140 honestly, reflective of God. 00:12:08.280 --> 00:12:14.700 And sometimes when we go through difficult things in life, we always ask the question, where are you God or how could this happen, Lord? 00:12:14.780 --> 00:12:16.800 I know there's a place to wrestle with God in there. 00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:18.160 There certainly is. 00:12:20.140 --> 00:12:27.660 We're not experts of everything that we go through and asking that question, especially in those most vital points of life is 00:12:27.660 --> 00:12:28.180 crucial. 00:12:28.180 --> 00:12:28.620 It's important. 00:12:29.180 --> 00:12:30.670 We should do that, right? 00:12:31.880 --> 00:12:38.880 And I think it's also important to recognize that we also, we're not doing it separate from God because 00:12:38.880 --> 00:12:41.300 God's very heart is about life as well. 00:12:42.800 --> 00:12:44.320 He created you for life. 00:12:45.680 --> 00:12:47.360 He gave his life that you could have life. 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:56.560 So in grief, we're not doing it distinct from God or distant from God, but reflecting the very heart 00:12:56.560 --> 00:12:57.000 of God. 00:12:59.060 --> 00:13:02.420 Tim Challies, an author that I enjoy. 00:13:02.420 --> 00:13:04.360 He's also a popular blogger today. 00:13:04.400 --> 00:13:08.310 I just read one of his books last couple of weeks on church history, and relics and church history. 00:13:09.640 --> 00:13:13.440 He has a 20-year old son, I think is the one that goes to Boyce College. 00:13:14.900 --> 00:13:22.100 And within the last two weeks, his son was in college and they were playing games 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:22.660 together. 00:13:22.660 --> 00:13:26.140 Some board game with a group of friends and all of a sudden he just dropped dead. 00:13:28.560 --> 00:13:34.300 And the day after, Tim got on his blog post and just wrote a very short blog, but this is what he said. 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:36.300 "Yesterday, the Lord called my son to himself. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:43.080 My dear son, my sweet son, my kind son, my godly son, my only son. 00:13:44.520 --> 00:13:51.620 Yesterday, Aileen and I cried and cried until we could cry no more, until there 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:53.100 were no more tears left to cry. 00:13:54.040 --> 00:13:57.080 Then later in the evening, we looked at each other in the eye and said we can do this. 00:13:58.400 --> 00:14:01.340 We don't want to do this, but we can do this. 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:09.440 This sorrow, this grieve, this devastation, because we know we don't have to do it in our own strength. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:17.540 We can do it like Christians, like a son and daughter of the Father who knows what it is 00:14:17.540 --> 00:14:26.300 to lose a son." Not separate from the Lord, but 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:27.140 with the Lord in pain. 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:33.660 Life is precious, so grieving in death is worship. 00:14:35.380 --> 00:14:37.520 I always think of the great passage of C. 00:14:37.560 --> 00:14:37.700 S. 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:41.000 Lewis' book, The Grief Observed, where he summarized it like this. 00:14:41.020 --> 00:14:48.100 He lost his wife to cancer and he says, "The greater you love, the greater the grief 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:55.280 you observe." And when you weep in deepest pain, you worship 00:14:55.280 --> 00:14:58.720 before a Lord who created that life in his image. 00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:04.500 What greater thing does God call you to in this world than to love one another? 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.820 The way that you love God is seen how you love one another. 00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:18.340 And even in grief, and should I say most especially in grief, the depth of that love is demonstrated. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:26.800 So David reflecting God's heart in death, David seeks God in worship. 00:15:28.780 --> 00:15:32.120 God is working even in David through this heartbreak. 00:15:34.060 --> 00:15:41.100 I think one of the most beautiful things about the Lord in the midst of our tragedies that we go through in life 00:15:41.900 --> 00:15:45.100 is how God still works everything together for good. 00:15:47.260 --> 00:15:51.520 And we get to these places in life and we get to such despair, and we can't see the light forward. 00:15:51.760 --> 00:15:53.970 And we don't even know how tomorrow... 00:15:54.680 --> 00:15:58.840 how you even make it through tomorrow, let alone even think about the things you need to do today. 00:15:59.280 --> 00:16:01.020 We're on the ground and we wrestle. 00:16:01.260 --> 00:16:08.560 And we think, "God, how in this pain can you bring any light?" But as believers, I 00:16:08.560 --> 00:16:15.580 think that's the very reason we carry the emblem of the cross in the darkest of days in 00:16:15.800 --> 00:16:16.180 all of history. 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:21.590 Jesus brings the greatest hope to his people. 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:25.440 That's what the cross is to us, right? 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:33.920 It's a symbol of God taking the darkest of moments, and turning it into the symbol of hope for his people. 00:16:35.880 --> 00:16:43.020 And when you look about David in these moments seeking God in worship, you think about what his life has been up until this point. 00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:50.560 David was a humble young man who used his life to serve others for their benefit and God's glory. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:59.460 And recently what we see in the life of David, he's began to use others to serve himself for his own glory 00:16:59.460 --> 00:16:59.860 and benefit. 00:17:03.580 --> 00:17:06.140 Bathsheba was a tool for his pleasure. 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:10.900 Uriah was a roadblock he had to remove. 00:17:13.760 --> 00:17:16.240 Joab was his instrument that he used to do it. 00:17:19.040 --> 00:17:20.560 David used people as tools. 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:30.300 And God in this moment uses the circumstances to bring David in this vulnerable 00:17:30.300 --> 00:17:31.540 state back to him. 00:17:31.560 --> 00:17:34.490 Last week we looked at Psalm 51, right? 00:17:35.320 --> 00:17:39.240 But truthfully, I don't think Psalm 51 was written until this circumstance. 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:45.850 And you see the vulnerability of David's heart in these moments. 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:50.020 So we think about why is David approaching this moment the way he is? 00:17:50.060 --> 00:17:57.240 Well, it's because he has a relationship with the Lord, and he's connecting to God in worship in 00:17:57.240 --> 00:17:57.880 these moments. 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:05.360 And his heart is very reflective and understands in the midst of tragedy that he's carrying the very heart of God in life as 00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:07.100 he weeps for his child. 00:18:08.520 --> 00:18:13.800 But the more astounding question I think we can answer is how does David get up? 00:18:15.280 --> 00:18:22.340 What we find in this story is that David does get up and, it talks about David doing that in this 00:18:22.340 --> 00:18:25.660 passage, but how in the world does David get up? 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:28.760 And David is going to go to tell us in verse 23 in just a moment, I'll read it. 00:18:28.760 --> 00:18:29.900 But I'll never forget this. 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:35.800 I had a friend that went through some extremely difficult seasons in life. 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:40.980 I mean it was just some of the most tragic things happened one after another. 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:48.820 And it's one of those moments where you think to yourself as you're listening to them tell the story of everything that's happened to them, or retelling the story because you're aware of 00:18:48.820 --> 00:18:52.700 what's happened to them that you say to yourself, "Lord, don't let that happen to me. 00:18:52.800 --> 00:18:55.880 Please, don't let..." How do you even make it through something like that? 00:18:55.960 --> 00:19:04.340 I remember I looked at him and I said, "How did you do it?" And 00:19:04.340 --> 00:19:06.080 his answer, I'll never forget. 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:09.980 But his answer is exactly where David's heart goes here. 00:19:10.860 --> 00:19:18.960 He says this, "Nathaniel, good theology makes 00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:19.380 good therapy. 00:19:22.820 --> 00:19:29.900 Good theology makes good therapy." When 00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:36.960 I think about wrestling with some of the difficult things I'll go through in life, how valuable that 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:44.080 statement is, because one day I'm going to get to that spot where the world is going to feel like it's falling apart. 00:19:46.030 --> 00:19:53.320 But before I enter into those moments, there is a place that I can walk with Jesus to solidify myself in him for 00:19:53.320 --> 00:19:53.700 that day. 00:19:55.980 --> 00:20:03.280 The truth of who he is in the middle of those circumstances, because there's going to come a time where my feelings are going to speak different to 00:20:03.280 --> 00:20:03.380 me. 00:20:06.080 --> 00:20:07.440 And what do I want to hold on to? 00:20:09.300 --> 00:20:15.580 It's the truth of who God is that transcends the way in which I feel. 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.040 And we asked this question, David gets up, how. 00:20:20.040 --> 00:20:23.300 What makes it so important is what verse 15 says to us. 00:20:25.080 --> 00:20:32.140 Later, the Lord struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David so that he was very sick. 00:20:35.540 --> 00:20:36.160 Do you see that? 00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:39.400 Who strikes the child? 00:20:42.060 --> 00:20:42.420 God. 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:46.700 How do you deal with that? 00:20:51.100 --> 00:20:52.480 That's a difficult verse, isn't it? 00:20:56.840 --> 00:21:03.300 How do you walk through a passage like this in tragedy? 00:21:04.940 --> 00:21:07.620 Text says the Lord struck the child. 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:12.260 And the question you want to immediately ask is God killing the kid? 00:21:12.260 --> 00:21:16.020 I mean is that really what it's saying here that God kills this kid? 00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:25.260 Well, when we approach this text I think it's important just to remember a few things as we enter into what this phrase 00:21:25.260 --> 00:21:29.960 is saying, because I think it helps us understand good theology leads to good therapy, right? 00:21:32.060 --> 00:21:39.240 And I want you to remember in II Samuel 12:13, God said something very clear 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:39.840 to David. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:40.820 And I think I got it up here. 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:48.560 In chapter 12:13, David said to Nathan, remember this was right after his sin with Bathsheba and Nathan comes before him and 00:21:48.560 --> 00:21:50.040 David makes this statement. 00:21:50.040 --> 00:21:51.900 He says, it should be chapter 12 not chapter 18. 00:21:52.700 --> 00:21:54.020 I have sinned against the Lord. 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:55.460 And look what Nathan said to David. 00:21:56.340 --> 00:21:58.980 The Lord also has allowed your sin to pass. 00:21:59.320 --> 00:22:00.140 You shall not die. 00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:06.720 And so God says to David, look here's the sin of your circumstance. 00:22:08.360 --> 00:22:11.680 Or David confesses I know that I've sinned, God. 00:22:12.800 --> 00:22:16.320 And God says to him, okay, I am not going to punish you for your sins. 00:22:16.320 --> 00:22:18.960 Your sins are now beyond you, right? 00:22:19.260 --> 00:22:25.480 And I've said this to us a couple of times last few weeks that God is not primarily interested in your condemnation, but your transformation. 00:22:27.900 --> 00:22:30.040 God is not about just punishing you to punish you. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:33.980 What God's interested in is your heart. 00:22:36.320 --> 00:22:37.420 God wants transformation. 00:22:39.560 --> 00:22:42.040 God just doesn't punish his kids. 00:22:42.060 --> 00:22:42.340 Right? 00:22:42.340 --> 00:22:42.960 You use a parent. 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:48.620 Like when you think about what it is to nurture your children, it should not be about punishment. 00:22:49.900 --> 00:22:51.820 What we're called to in the Lord is discipline. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.460 Punishment is for meting out vengeance, right? 00:22:57.520 --> 00:22:59.140 But as a parent, you want to see your kid grow. 00:22:59.260 --> 00:23:00.670 So God is about discipline. 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:03.620 So when you come to this passage, you think what is God doing here? 00:23:03.740 --> 00:23:06.860 Whatever the answer you land on is to understand this. 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:12.720 That what God is doing in this moment is not punishment because he tells David look, your sins have been forgiven. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:16.140 Not only that, something else to consider Ezekiel 18. 00:23:16.280 --> 00:23:18.020 There's a few verses in scripture like this. 00:23:18.040 --> 00:23:19.520 Let's have Ezekiel 18 here. 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:21.420 The person who sins will die. 00:23:21.420 --> 00:23:26.120 So what he's saying is when you sin, you're responsible for your sin. 00:23:26.120 --> 00:23:31.460 A son will not suffer the punishment for the father's guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son's guilt. 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:36.220 The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be up on himself. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:39.460 So what he's saying is every person is accountable for their sin. 00:23:39.840 --> 00:23:40.920 That's where God judges you. 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:46.180 That's where God's justice comes in, where we don't carry the punishment for someone else. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:53.400 And when you look at this passage of scripture, I think it's important for minds to recognize is that God is not punishing David, and God is not punishing the 00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:54.680 kid because of David. 00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:56.200 There's not punishment happening here. 00:23:56.280 --> 00:24:00.830 So as you figure out what the interpretation is for this passage, how to relate it, it's not punishment. 00:24:01.080 --> 00:24:02.260 So what is it? 00:24:03.340 --> 00:24:10.860 Well, something else that I think is important in this passage to look at is the following verses in I Samuel 31, 00:24:11.040 --> 00:24:12.080 I have on the screen as well. 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:13.590 If we can get there. 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:16.080 I Samuel 31:4-6. 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:23.380 There is something that theologians refer to as the permissive will of God and the prescriptive will of God. 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:23.980 Okay. 00:24:24.580 --> 00:24:28.780 Prescriptive will of God is what God ordains immediately specifically to happen. 00:24:28.800 --> 00:24:34.140 And permissive will of God is the things that God knows will happen, and allow to pass through, right? 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.820 He's got this prescriptive will and this permissive will. 00:24:36.840 --> 00:24:42.000 God very specifically wanted Samuel to go and anoint David to be king. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:43.740 That is prescriptive will of God. 00:24:45.280 --> 00:24:50.070 But it's also important to recognize that there's this permissive will of God, that God is aware of everything. 00:24:52.140 --> 00:24:59.320 And in this passage that I have on the screen, I just want us to think about how they reflected on God's behavior in the Old Testament. 00:24:59.360 --> 00:25:03.000 Look, remember King Saul was killed. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:08.860 He was the king that pursued David, wanted to kill David and God promises David, you will have the front throne. 00:25:09.100 --> 00:25:10.330 You will be the next king. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:11.740 Your kingdom will endure forever. 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:14.980 Well, this is the demise of King Saul described for us. 00:25:15.020 --> 00:25:17.220 And I want you to see how two different passages describe it. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:22.740 In I Samuel 31, then Saul said to his armor-bearer, draw your sword and pierce me through with it. 00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:26.410 But his armor-bearer was a willing, because he was very fearful. 00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:29.680 So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 00:25:30.420 --> 00:25:31.980 So Saul died with his three sons. 00:25:33.320 --> 00:25:36.480 So you see the end of Saul's life, Saul is injured. 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:38.070 He doesn't want to be captured and tortured. 00:25:38.340 --> 00:25:41.400 So it tells us Saul takes his own life falling on the sword, right? 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:44.600 In I Chronicles, and reflecting back on that. 00:25:44.600 --> 00:25:45.980 Look what it says here in verse 13. 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:51.560 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness, which he committed against the Lord and did not inquire of the Lord. 00:25:51.840 --> 00:25:56.180 Therefore, he the Lord, killed him and turned the kingdom over to David. 00:25:58.320 --> 00:26:01.760 So the question you look at this passage is who took Saul's life? 00:26:04.120 --> 00:26:08.820 Well, ultimately God knows everything that will happen. 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:16.640 Ultimately, permissively God allows things to happen. 00:26:18.040 --> 00:26:19.440 Specifically Saul fell on the sword. 00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:30.100 When I see this passage in II Samuel related to David, what I think the author is illustrating 00:26:30.100 --> 00:26:37.480 here is to recognize that God is sovereignly in control, and permissively allows 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:40.350 the death of David's son. 00:26:41.950 --> 00:26:49.020 I think part of the reason God shares that David's son is about to pass is because David is 00:26:49.020 --> 00:26:51.500 in a precarious state of everything that he just is going through. 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:57.320 And this is the preparation of David's soul for what he's about to endure. 00:27:00.080 --> 00:27:09.320 One of the difficult things that we go through as people in those kinds of moments is we don't have control, right? 00:27:09.340 --> 00:27:14.600 You think about the life of Job in this circumstance. 00:27:16.520 --> 00:27:21.060 Job went through some difficult things, and God permissively allowed those things to happen. 00:27:21.140 --> 00:27:27.100 He wasn't punishing Job, but he permissively allowed those things to happen. 00:27:29.280 --> 00:27:30.540 And Job wrestles with that. 00:27:30.540 --> 00:27:37.660 That's the whole book of Job, and his friends come to him and make the situation awful by saying, "Look Job, good things happen to good people, 00:27:37.660 --> 00:27:38.840 bad things happen to bad people. 00:27:38.840 --> 00:27:46.060 Therefore, you must be a bad person." And Job continuously defends himself that's not how life works. 00:27:46.100 --> 00:27:47.870 That we all go through hardship, right? 00:27:49.280 --> 00:27:56.340 And finally, Job gets to the end of the book and he just says, "Look, I'm going to close my mouth before the Lord, because I don't completely understand everything." And that's the reality, 00:27:56.540 --> 00:27:57.820 we don't. 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:02.340 We won't understand the full picture until we were in eternity. 00:28:04.380 --> 00:28:09.920 But what Job rests in is the truth of who God is. 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:13.480 The promises of God. 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:18.180 And so when you asked the question, well, how did David get up? 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:21.020 That's exactly the answer David gives. 00:28:21.020 --> 00:28:25.560 Look at this in verse 19 of II Samuel 12. 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:26.770 It gives us the story. 00:28:26.780 --> 00:28:32.640 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead. 00:28:34.060 --> 00:28:37.360 So David said to his servants, "Is the child dead." And they said he is dead. 00:28:39.040 --> 00:28:46.080 So David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself and changed his 00:28:46.080 --> 00:28:46.340 clothes. 00:28:47.600 --> 00:28:49.820 And he went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. 00:28:50.060 --> 00:28:55.460 And then he went to his own house and when he asked, they served him food and he ate. 00:28:55.600 --> 00:28:56.980 Next verse, verse 21. 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:03.140 Then a servant said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? 00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:06.000 You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive. 00:29:06.300 --> 00:29:13.340 But when the child died, you got up and ate food." And he said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept 00:29:13.700 --> 00:29:14.740 for I said, who knows? 00:29:14.780 --> 00:29:18.360 The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live." And here comes the answer. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:23.140 But now he has died, why should I fast? 00:29:24.520 --> 00:29:25.620 Can I bring him back again? 00:29:27.060 --> 00:29:31.760 I'm going to him, but he will not return to me. 00:29:34.860 --> 00:29:39.640 David, in these moments trusts in the promises of God. 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:44.900 God's promises outlasts life's problems. 00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:48.120 Therefore, David chooses to put his hope there. 00:29:50.520 --> 00:29:55.160 Pain and promises can often feel like a conflict with our soul. 00:29:57.080 --> 00:30:02.480 But what David is doing in these moments is he's choosing to stand on God's promises through his pain. 00:30:02.560 --> 00:30:09.400 I have no doubt in my mind that when David gets up from the ground, his heart is still wrestling. 00:30:12.040 --> 00:30:13.200 But his friends are amazed. 00:30:14.820 --> 00:30:15.800 David, how did you get up? 00:30:18.260 --> 00:30:26.020 And his answer though David is going through a very difficult time, and though his heart is still grieving is that David chooses 00:30:26.020 --> 00:30:30.220 to rest in the promises of God. 00:30:30.320 --> 00:30:37.560 If we base our spiritual life on how we feel, life will always be 00:30:37.560 --> 00:30:45.100 a roller coaster, but if we based our spiritual life on God's promises, 00:30:47.660 --> 00:30:49.220 there's always hope for God's people. 00:30:51.040 --> 00:30:55.880 John 16:33, last moments Jesus had on this earth as he spent with his disciples, he said these. 00:30:56.400 --> 00:31:02.440 He said, "I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace." And he says this. 00:31:02.580 --> 00:31:09.840 "In this world, you will have trouble but take heart, I have 00:31:09.840 --> 00:31:16.940 overcome the world." When you think about what David has gone through in these moments, the promises of God that 00:31:16.940 --> 00:31:19.730 he's even learning in these circumstances are living in the circumstances. 00:31:20.040 --> 00:31:22.900 David has seen number one, God is with him. 00:31:23.820 --> 00:31:29.540 And God is with him, God has been speaking with him in this, even in this struggle God is still speaking to David. 00:31:29.820 --> 00:31:30.840 God is with him. 00:31:31.060 --> 00:31:36.760 And Jesus said to his disciples in this world, as he sends them out in this world, he knows that the disciples are going to go through trouble. 00:31:37.100 --> 00:31:41.140 And so as he calls them to live for him in this world, he gives that promise in Matthew 28:20. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:44.170 I am with you always. 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:48.800 Second, David learns that God is in control. 00:31:48.900 --> 00:31:55.960 And in II Samuel 12:15, we saw that the Lord is aware that this child is going to 00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:56.560 pass. 00:31:57.260 --> 00:32:04.500 David and God, they're both aware of this child's life in this circumstance, and God is ultimately in 00:32:04.500 --> 00:32:05.220 control. 00:32:08.530 --> 00:32:15.560 To the point that he has plans even beyond this world, Colossians 1:17 says God holds 00:32:15.560 --> 00:32:17.540 all things in his hands. 00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:22.200 And God works all things together for good. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:26.660 David in these moments, that's the promise that he clings to. 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:35.070 I mean throughout his life, he has seeing how God has orchestrated his plan in David's world, though David's walk has not been easy. 00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:41.260 He's always seen God has been faithful, God things together for his good. 00:32:41.940 --> 00:32:44.500 That's what David states in verse 23, right? 00:32:45.060 --> 00:32:48.340 I will see my child again. 00:32:50.620 --> 00:32:57.480 Romans8:28 tells us for all things work together for good to those that love God, who are called according to his promise. 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:07.080 These promises of God don't make problems immediately go away, but what it does do 00:33:07.080 --> 00:33:09.340 is it helps us put it into perspective. 00:33:12.700 --> 00:33:14.460 David's people ask, how did you get up? 00:33:17.320 --> 00:33:25.260 David's response, "I believe because of who God is and what he says, he 00:33:25.260 --> 00:33:32.700 will do." And I think about the adversity of life and the promises 00:33:32.700 --> 00:33:39.820 of scripture, the Bible tells us at the end of Revelation that one day he will wipe away every tear from our eye. 00:33:40.080 --> 00:33:47.160 And there will be no more pain, and no more suffering that the first has passed and all things are made new in 00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:47.400 him. 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:56.060 You look at this passage of scripture though it's difficult, the question for us is what has you worried right now? 00:33:59.340 --> 00:34:02.620 What has you broken hearted right now? 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:09.500 Perhaps in the middle of that pain like David, we're closer to Jesus in that pain than we realize. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:15.580 God sees what you're going through and work it all out for your good. 00:34:17.880 --> 00:34:24.980 And promise that although there is a struggle, it will be more than okay in everything that is 00:34:24.980 --> 00:34:26.670 to come in Christ. 00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:32.400 And we don't always understand why things happen the way they do. 00:34:34.179 --> 00:34:41.580 But in the promises of the Lord, God's people always have a hope that transcends 00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:47.179 because he is good and he is for you. 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:52.199 And he holds all things together in his hands. 00:34:54.139 --> 00:35:01.680 Almost 13 months this week, TobyMac wrote 00:35:01.680 --> 00:35:06.720 a song for his son who was 21 years old, that tragically passed away. 00:35:08.420 --> 00:35:12.060 I was listening to it this morning, and in the second verse he says this. 00:35:13.140 --> 00:35:14.360 I just can't make sense of this. 00:35:15.340 --> 00:35:16.680 Everything is so dissonant. 00:35:18.040 --> 00:35:22.080 Somebody said he was meant for this, but I am just straight missing him. 00:35:23.720 --> 00:35:30.760 And then the chorus where you find TobyMac repeats over and over is while there's the reality of the struggle 00:35:30.760 --> 00:35:32.040 that he's just honest with. 00:35:32.040 --> 00:35:33.240 I think David's honest with. 00:35:34.680 --> 00:35:40.580 The thing that he hopes and the thing that he celebrates, the thing that he trusts and it's the promises of God. 00:35:40.620 --> 00:35:41.590 And this is what he says. 00:35:41.660 --> 00:35:49.180 Well, until the show is over and you run into my arms, God has you in heaven, but 00:35:49.180 --> 00:35:50.520 I have you in my heart. 00:35:53.020 --> 00:36:00.020 I think for us, it's important to know grieving is not something that we should run from. 00:36:01.960 --> 00:36:09.120 In fact, in your life if you go through tragedies, if you've had tragic events take place, there are moments where you may not even plan 00:36:09.120 --> 00:36:09.600 for it. 00:36:09.640 --> 00:36:13.420 But you'll be walking alone, and all of a sudden they call it the grief monster. 00:36:13.580 --> 00:36:16.400 It will just hit, right? 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:24.380 But I think for us, those become moments of worship, where we stop in our hearts and are able to reflect on 00:36:24.380 --> 00:36:27.590 the goodness of the thing that we cherish so much that we lost. 00:36:29.720 --> 00:36:33.300 The beauty is, for God's people it doesn't end there. 00:36:33.300 --> 00:36:40.360 That that's not the end of the book, but God has written a greater story that is to come for those who love 00:36:40.360 --> 00:36:44.600 him, for those who hope in him, who are called according to his purpose. 00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:49.020 That Jesus makes all things new.