Folks Part 2

Folks Part 2

Sometimes you just need to talk about folks and get stuff off your mind, Right?

Folks can really be something else!

Smh Just look at them?

Bath-Sheba

Bath-Sheba was the unlikely link between Israel’s two most famous kings-David and Solomon. She was David’s lover/later wife and Solomon’s mother. Her adultery with David almost brought an end to the family through which God planned to physically enter his world. Out of the ashes of that sin, God brought good (Jesus). Eventually, Jesus Christ, the salvation of mankind was born to a descendant of David and Bath-Sheba.

David and Bath-Sheba’s story shows that the little wrong decisions we make often lead to big mistakes with big consequences. It is likely that neither David or Bath-Sheba was where they should have been when this temptation occurred. Why was Bath-Sheba bathing where she might be seen? I wonder what was she really thinking about? Why was David not on his assignment? Both of their decisions contributed to a very sad series of events.

David Set-Up Bath-Sheba’s Husband to Cover His Own Sin

Bath-Sheba must have been devastated by the chain of events-unfaithfulness to her husband, discovering that she was pregnant, the death of her husband, the death of her child. God being God in all of His faithfulness allowed Bath-Sheba to live and see another son, Solomon, sit on the throne. Read 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12.

But God—There is Always a But God

But the Lord sent his prophet Nathan to talk to David. (It pays to listen). Nathan Rebukes David 2 Samuel 12

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! 

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.

⁹ Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8)

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin.

You are not going to die. ¹⁴ But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died.

David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”¹⁹ David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

Then David Got Up!

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.²¹ His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”²² He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Our Comforter: The Holy Spirit

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; ²⁵ and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (In Hebrew Jedidiah means ‘beloved of the Lord’).

From looking at Bath-Sheba’s life we see that our day to day decisions are important. Our day to day practices and ways of thinking prepare us to make the right decision when it’s time to make the big choices that have the potential to impact our lives (both good or bad, both life or death, both victory or defeat). Pray for wisdom from God to make the right decisions in all matters, the little matters and the big matters. Include God, first, in your decision making process.

Romans 8:28

Yes, Bath-Sheba committed adultery but that was not the end of her story. Bath-Sheba was called according to God’s purpose, just like you and I are. Her life was used to the glory of God. Romans 8:28 was fulfilled in her life as God turned what was meant for her destruction, defeat, hurt, and devastation God turned it into good for her and for the entire world. ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Lessons from Bath-Sheba’s Life

Although we may feel caught up in a chain of events, we are still responsible for the way we participate in those events. A sin may seem like one small seed, but the harvest of consequences is beyond measure. In the worst possible situations, God is still able to bring about good when people truly turn to him. While we must live with the natural consequences of our sins, God’s forgiveness of sin is total.

I J S

I’m just saying that I have personally found it helpful to remember that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we enter into the Grace of God. A grace that forgives, a grace that looks beyond (does not approve of) our short comings and a grace that gives us help in times of need. So yes as a believer we have grace and we also have accountability. Just like in the natural there are consequences for our choices; in the spiritual there are consequences for our choices. God is a loving Father. And as with father’s they tend to correct and protect who they love. Fathers allow consequences, not to punish us but to help us learn what is good for us.

If your child (whom you love dearly) willingly goes and puts their hand on top of a hot burner out of frustration, they will get burned. As a parent of course you will forgive them, comfort them, and get them the needed help, but the child will experience the painful consequences of that decision. The child will learn that putting your hand on top of a hot burner has consequences and it does not feel good; this will (should) cause the child to stop and think about their options and choose the option with the best consequence.

Jesus is Our Example

This is not complicated, children just know they should obey their parents. We are made in the image and likeness of God. Jesus is our example. Jesus only did what the Father told him to do and said what the Father told him to say. When Jesus was here on earth as a man, fulfilling his Kingdom assignment; it was not by his manly might, nor by power but it was by the Spirit of God. Jesus was obedient even unto death. Let’s choose wisely, choose from your heart to obey God. Make a decision: choose Jesus, choose life, choose blessing, choose obedience.

Folks can really be something else (when the Holy Spirt gets inside of them and Jesus Stands Up on the inside of them). Folks Can really be something else. Something different, something better, something great, something wonderful, something stronger, something wiser, something victorious, something that excels, something very significant, something so so lovely.

Folks really Can be something else! Smh just look at them. Look at God in them. Look at His power, and His glory in them. Just Look At Them!

Folks Obey God

Bath-Sheba’s profile notes taken from Life Application Study Bible 9/23/21.