Introduction:
A. The story is told of a man who lay sprawled across three entire seats in this posh theater.
1. When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered to the man, “Sorry, sir, but you’re only allowed one seat.”
2. The man groaned but didn’t budge. The usher became impatient.
3. “Sir, if you don’t get up from there I’m going to have to call the manager.”
4. Again, the man just groaned, which infuriated the usher who turned and marched briskly back up the aisle in search of his manager.
5. A few moments later, both the usher and the manager returned and stood over the man.
6. Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move him, but with no success. Finally, they called in the police.
7. The police officer briefly surveyed the situation, then asked, “All right buddy, what’s your name?”
8. “Sam,” the man moaned.
9. “Where ya from, Sam?”
10. With pain in his voice, Sam replied, “The balcony.”
B. Ouch! A fall like that would really hurt.
1. You know pain really hurts me, and it hurts you too, doesn’t it?
2. There is no pain harder to bear than domestic difficulty.
3. Its not too hard to bounce back from difficulties at work, or problems at school.
4. Physical infirmities and emotional battles – as hard as they are – start to pale in comparison to the devastating impact brought on by troubles in the home.
5. Family feuds, wayward children, parent-child clashes, husband-wife disagreements, and other in-house pressures have a way of breaking our spirits and stealing our joy.
6. Sometimes troubles in the home can be traced directly back to the sins of the fathers, the mothers or the children, but other times they cannot.
7. In king David’s case, the storm he and his family were about to experience was the direct result of his sin.
C. I can only imagine what a terrible low point this must have been for David.
1. During the course of the previous year, King David had been involved in an adulterous affair, he then had the husband of the woman murdered, he then brought the pregnant widow into his own house, and added her to his growing list of wives.
2. Then when God thought the time was right, he sent Nathan the prophet to confront king David.
3. The prophet stood before the king and told him what no one else would tell him – “You are the man!” “You’re the one who took Bathsheba, another man’s wife. You’re the one who had her husband murdered. You’re the one who has lived like a hypocrite. You’re the man, David!”
4. And David said to Nathan, “I have sinned.”
5. Those three words should have been uttered much sooner, and had they been, perhaps some of the devastating consequences could have been avoided.
D. Although Nathan clearly stated that God forgave David, Nathan also announced the consequences that David would endure.
1. Those consequences can be summarized by Nathan’s statement – “The sword will never depart from your house.”
2. But you might ask, “Why are their consequences if God has forgiven David?”
3. A distinction must be made between the forgiveness of sins, spiritually, and the removal of earthly consequences for sin.
4. God will forgive me for getting drunk if I repent, but I may still have to do time for my DUI.
5. If in anger I punch a wall (which I did many times in my younger years – usually when I lost at something) and break my hand, God will forgive my angry outburst, but I may still need surgery to put the bones back together.
6. We must realize that not everyone who sins in the same fashion will experience the same consequences.
7. God, in His sovereignty, fits the consequence to the person. It is His choice. It is His plan.
8. Why God chooses some to experience this consequence and some another, we do not know.
9. Ultimately, that is not our business, it’s God’s, right?
10. All I know is that in David’s case, God led him down a path of misery so that he would never forget just how far he had gone astray, and just how much he was forgiven.
I. The Story – The Consequences the Resulted from David’s Sin
A. I want to give you a brief summary of 2 Samuel chapters 12 through 18.
1. We are not going to take a detailed look at each of these stories, rather we will tell just enough of the story to sense the downward trend of David’s grief and misery resulting from his sin.
B. Consequence #1 – The Death of Bathsheba’s baby (12:15-19)
1. The Bible says: After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill…On the seventh day the child died. (vs. 15, 18)
2. I can’t imagine anything worse than experiencing the death of a child – how about you?
3. As far as we know, this is the first child Bathsheba has ever given birth to, so for her it was likely even more devastating than it was for David, who had many children at this point..
4. David had fasted and prayed that God would change His mind and spare the life of the baby, but God’s answer was “no.”
5. The Bible says: Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. (vs.24, 25)
6. “Jedidiah” means “Beloved of the Lord.”
7. The birth and naming of the child could not have come at a better time for David, because he was about to be plunged into a sea of trouble (most of it of his own making), but it will last for the rest of his life.
8. Solomon and his name, Jedidiah, will keep God’s message of love accessible to David during the long and difficult years that lay ahead.
C. Consequence #2 – A Son of David Rapes a Daughter of David (13:1-16)
1. As we have previously learned, David had many wives and concubines, and from them many children were born.
2. Amnon, David’s son, was attracted to his half-sister Tamar (full-sister of Absalom), but she was unavailable to him.
3. This was a disgraceful, disgusting kind of love, better described as incestuous lust.
4. Accepting the counsel of a foolish friend, Amnon arranged a plot to get her into his bed.
5. He pretended to be physically ill and summoned her to care for him.
6. When she innocently came to care for him, he grabbed her and violated her against her will.
7. As is often the case, the “love” he had for her turned into a hatred of greater degree and he sent her away.
8. In embarrassment and disgrace, Tamar went to the family member who loved her, her brother Absalom.
9. The Bible says: And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman. When King David heard all this, he was furious. Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar. (13:20-22)
D. Consequence #3 – A Son of David Hates And Then Kills Another Son of David (13:20-29)
1. Lust has led to rape; rape has led to hatred, and now hatred leads to murder.
2. The two sons of David, Absalom and Amnon did not speak to each other for two years.
3. During those two years, bitterness and hatred ate away at Absalom.
4. My question is – Where was David during all this?
5. We know that David was angered when he heard what had happened, but it appears that he did nothing. He neither confronted nor corrected Amnon his son.
6. This is a classic example of passivity.
7. So after two years of stewing, Absalom moved into the power vacuum left by David’s failure to execute justice, and his failure to “act like a king, let alone a father.”
8. Absalom came to David and played him like a fool. Absalom suggested that the king and all his sons should go shear sheep together. “Let’s go have a work day together as a big happy family!”
9. Now if David had been on top of things in his own family, he would have known that Absalom had not spoken to Amnon for two years, and he would be aware of the hatred brewing among his children.
10. David begged out of the outing, but all the other sons, including Amnon went along.
11. When Absalom observed that Amnon was sufficiently drunk, he gave the signal and his servants killed Amnon.
12. In the confusion, the other brothers quite naturally assumed that they also are marked for assassination and ran for their lives.
13. The sword had struck the house of David – just as Nathan had predicted.
E. Consequence #4 – A Son of David Leads a Conspiracy Against His Father (13:34-15:16)
1. When David learned the truth of Amnon’s death, surely he and his other sons wept bitterly, but that’s all David did.
2. Absalom fled to Geshur, where his grandfather lived (his mother’s father).
3. There Absalom stayed for three years, and the Bible says that king David, his father, longed to go to Absalom, but he did not. David is again passive – he knows what he should do, but he doesn’t do it.
4. Joab observed David’s conflict of heart regarding Absalom and decided to do something about it.
a.. Joab employed a similar tactic used by Nathan when he confronted David.
b. Joab had a woman approach David and tell him a story about how one of her sons killed the other. Her family was pressuring her to give up the remaining son to be executed in punishment for murdering his brother.
c. David was moved by her story and promised to protect her son from the impersonal machinery of justice.
d. Little did David know but that the story was about him and Absalom.
e. The wise woman then set the hook, saying, “When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?” (14:14)
5. The story then takes an odd turn – David brought Absalom back to Jerusalem, but David refused to see him. David’s order was “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” (14:24)
6. Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two full years and did not see the king’s face.
7. So it becomes obvious to Absalom that David’s pardon was impersonal; his forgiveness was a judicial act, not a fatherly embrace.
a This caused Absalom to stew in his banishment – he was home, but he was not really home.
b. This was no life, just to be permitted to exist.
c. He wanted acceptance; a personal word of forgiveness; he wanted his father’s love.
8. Perhaps this was David’s most inexcusable sin, and the one for which he will pay the highest price.
a. The adultery with Bathsheba was the affair of a passionate moment.
b. The murder of Uriah was a reflex to avoid detection.
c. But the rejection of Absalom was a steady, determined refusal to give his son what God had given David himself – forgiveness, acceptance and reinstatement.
9. David eventually allowed Absalom to see him, but it was too little too late.
10. Absalom spent two years plotting the murder of his brother, waiting for the right opportunity.
11. He spent five years preparing to take the kingdom from his father.
12. Both of Absalom’s violent actions were likely conceived in his mind as acts of justice.
a. In the murder of Amnon, Absalom was avenging the honor of his violated sister and dealing with a matter of justice that his father had failed to tend to.
b. The plot to take over the kingdom is nurtured in a setting of a “justice vacuum” – people are coming to Jerusalem from all over the kingdom, bringing to the king their complaints and justice needs, but it turns out that the king is unavailable.
13. David’s failure to do his job fuels Absalom’s imagination.
14. Through a series of events, Absalom won the hearts of the people.
15. When Absalom took the throne, David fled for his life, and just as Nathan had predicted, Absalom moved into the palace, pitched a tent on the roof of the palace and slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
F. Consequence #5 – David’s Son Absalom is Executed (18:9-15, 32-33)
1. David’s army commander, Joab pursued Absalom and found him caught in a tree by his long hair.
2. Joab executed Absalom as he helplessly hung there.
3. David grieved deeply over Absalom’s death, the “sword” had struck his family again.
4. Surely David had his regrets – he regretted the day he slept with Bathsheba, and the day he called for Uriah’s murder.
5. He regretted his inattentiveness to the needs of his children.
6. He should have protected his daughter, he should have disciplined his sons – there is so much he should have done, so much he would have done differently if he had the chance.
7. How does a person ride out a storm like the one David brought upon himself?
II. Application – How to Handle the Consequences and Ride Out the Storm
A. Looking at David, we notice that he did a number of things that helped him make it through all these trying times.
B. First we notice that David prayed, fasted, and worshiped.
1. He turned to the Lord. He looked up.
2. Even when things didn’t turn out the way he wanted, David continued to seek the Lord.
3. Like Job, David believed “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job. 1:21)
4. Worshiping, trusting, and walking closely with God are always the right things to be doing.
C. Second, David put his hope in the truths of God’s Word.
1. There is no counsel like God’s counsel, and there is no comfort like God’s comfort.
2. David trusted that God had forgiven him, and that God would carry him through.
3. David trusted that he would see his deceased son someday in heaven.
4. God has given us so many promises, and it is to them that we must cling in our time of need.
D. Third, David moved forward with life.
1. David refused to give up. He refused to quit.
2. He and Bathsheba mourned the loss of their son, but then they went on living.
3. One of the more pathetic scenes a person will see is when a child of God faces tragedy by refusing to move forward with life.
4. It is not God’s will for us to sit in the corner too long, licking our wounds in self-pity.
5. If we look to God he will help us to go on, to pick up the pieces, to get back on track, to go back to the work, to begin enjoying life again – enjoying family and friends again.
6. In fact, by God’s grace, after we have ridden out the storm we can be stronger, wiser and more effective than before.
E. As we ride out the storm, with God’s help, let’s keep the following in mind.
1. Riding out the storm is a lonely experience – no one can do it for us, and no one can go through it with us like God can. God can truly enter into the storm with us.
2. Riding out the storm is a learning experience – we learn far more during the tough times than any other time – we must not forget the lessons we learn during those times.
3. Riding out the storm is humbling experience – there is no room for pride and arrogance. It is during the difficult times when we learn just how little control we have over our lives. We must humble ourselves and put ourselves in the hands of God.
4. Riding out the storm is a temporary experience – we must keep in mind that the hardest times do not last forever. When we are in dark and difficult times, it is hard to image a day when things will be easier and brighter, but those days will come.
F. I want to end with the story of Horatio Spafford.
1. On October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city.
2. Horatio was a prominent lawyer in Chicago, and had invested heavily in the city’s real estate, and the fire destroyed almost everything he owned.
3. Two years later, in 1873, Spafford decided his family should take a holiday somewhere in Europe, and chose England knowing that his friend D. L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall.
4. Delayed because of business, he sent ahead of him his family: his wife and four daughters.
5. On November 21, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the steamship Ville du Havre, their ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel and two hundred and twenty-six people lost their lives, including all four of Spafford’s daughters.
6. Anna Spafford survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to her husband beginning "Saved alone."
7. Spafford then sailed to England, going over the location of his daughters’ deaths, and Spafford wrote the words to this beloved hymn at that time.
“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul.”
9. Now for the rest of the story: Following the loss of their children, God blessed them with three more children (two daughters and a son).
10. Tragically, on February 11, 1880, their only son, also named Horatio, died at the age of four years, of scarlet fever.
11. In August 1881, the Spaffords set out for Jerusalem as a party of thirteen adults and three children and set up a utopian Christian society called the American Colony.
12. Colony members, later joined by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious affiliation - thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities alike.
13. During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting these communities through the great suffering and deprivations of the eastern front by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages and other charitable ventures.
14. Spafford, himself, died on October 16, 1888, of malaria, and was buried in Jerusalem.
G. God can and will help us ride out any storm we face, regardless of the reason for our facing it.
1. And like the King David and the Spaffords, we can find the strength to go on serving God in spite of and because of the pain and loss we have suffered.
2. Someone has said that our troubles will make us either bitter or better – the choice is ours.
3. Which will you choose?
H. Maybe you need to reach out today and take hold of the peace that only God can supply in the midst of your storm.
1 Maybe you need the balm that God offers that brings healing and comfort for the pains of our lives.
2. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”
3. Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
4. God wants it to be well with your soul, will you let Him make it so?
Resources:
David – A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, Word Publishing, 1997.
David I, by W. Phillip Keller, Word Books, 1985.
I and II Samuel, David F. Payne, The Daily Study Bible Series, Westminster Press, 1982
First and Second Samuel, J. Carl Laney, Everyman’s Bible Commentary, Moody Bible Institute, 1982.
First and Second Samuel, Eugene Peterson, Westminster Bible Companion, Westminster John Knox Press, 1999.
First and Second Samuel, Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, John Knox Press, 1990.
