Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Wk 1 Day 2 - 50 Days of Prayer - 2 Samuel 11:1-2

The following spring,
the time of year when kings go to war,
David sent Joab and the Israelite army
to destroy the Ammonites. …
But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
Late one afternoon David got out of bed …
and went for a stroll on the roof of the palace.
As he looked out over the city,
he noticed a woman of unusual beauty
taking a bath.
2 Samuel 11:1-2

For Day Two of the study, we have been invited to read 2 Samuel 11. It is the story of how King David quit discerning and how the prophet Nathan had to step in and speak a word of truth to the king.

Do you remember the story?
  • King David saw a woman taking a bath.
  • He wanted her.
  • He “had her.”
  • She got pregnant.
  • Since both the king and the bathing beauty were already married to other people, he tried to cover it up.
  • And when the woman’s husband turned out to be more honorable than the supposedly honorable king, David had him killed.
  • David thought he got away with it, that the cover-up worked.
  • That was until God – through Nathan – confronted David (using, indeed, a clever story that resonated with the former shepherd’s heart – a rich man stole a poor man’s sheep.)
  • And Psalm 51 (“create in me a clean heart, O God”) is David’s passionate confession after his façade cracks and he finally comprehends his sin.

Months could be devoted to studying this rich story. But I want to make just one quick point …

Look at our verse for today.
  • What time of year was it? Spring.
  • Where were kings supposed to be? Out in the field, defending the country.
  • Where was David? At home being lazy – indeed, sleeping all afternoon. 

When we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, we’re vulnerable. AA has a warning to its members. HALT means: “Never let yourself get …”
  • H – Too Hungry (too needy for some physical sensation)
  • A – Too Angry (too ruled by any negative emotion)
  • L – Too Lonely (too isolated, and without the encouragement and accountability to trustworthy friends)
  • T – Too Tired (too exhausted, yes, but also too lazy, which is exhaustion’s overwhelmed overcompensation. When we can’t do everything, we sometimes do nothing at all).

Those letters spell King David’s downfall …
  • L – Kings are normally lonely and isolated. They have no peers or equals. No one around them that doesn’t want something from them. No one, generally, who will tell them the truth anymore.
  • T – David had also spent years building a kingdom. Which meant he was also very tired. 
  • H – This king didn’t necessarily go looking for trouble, but he nevertheless encountered a sight that stirred a physical sensation stirred within him (lust).  We can’t help occasionally encountering some sights. Indeed, the first accidental glance is generally not a sin. It was the second glance – it was entertaining that sight – that began to destroy David.
  • A – That physical reaction, kept stirring in David until it produce a negative emotion and destructive desire. It was action and reaction without regard to consequences. 

Yesterday was a call for less busyness and less noise. What do you need to HALT? Indeed, mentally fill in these blanks regarding your own life. Asking where you might be in danger of settling for worldly desires instead of spiritual blessings:
  • H – In what ways are you Too Hungry? Too needy for some physical sensation? _____ ______ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
  • A – In what ways are you Too Angry … or really, too ruled by any negative emotion? _____ ______ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
  • L – In what ways are Too Lonely? In fact, what behaviors tend to keep you too isolated, and without the encouragement and accountability to trustworthy friends?  _____ ______ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
  • T – In what ways are you Too Tired? Too exhausted, yes, but also too lazy, which is exhaustion’s overwhelmed overcompensation. When we can’t do everything, we sometimes do nothing at all). _____ ______ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

In Christ’s Love,
A guy who’s grandually learned
to generally spell my life
without too big of an H or A or L
… but the T kills me all the time

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