Remember, O Lord, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured, how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, "I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob." (Verses 1-5)
It must have been so disappointing to David when God told him he wouldn't be the one to build a temple for his God. "You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood before Me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name. He shall be My son, and I will be His Father (I Chronicles 22)." After all the years of the traveling tabernacle, David wanted the God he loved so much to have an extravagant, world-renowned temple in which to dwell. He just had it in his heart to do this for the mighty God Whose favor rested upon him. But God had other ideas. Counter intuitive and ironic ideas.
From the rooftop across the way from David's expansive castle a woman was bathing herself in the twilight. No doubt David had seen her before. Perhaps it was the reason he walked around the parapet that night. Just a look. Nothing more. She was beautiful. Bathsheba. David knew she was alone. Her husband, Uriah, away fighting a war David chose to sit out in the season of fighting. And so he called for her. No one will know. Just this once. And David took another man's lovely young wife to bed.
He'd probably forgotten about the whole thing by the time Bathsheba sent word to the king that she was pregnant. With his child. And the man after God's own heart brought Uriah home from war in a manipulation worthy of a reality show. But Uriah, it turns out, was the better man. Wouldn't sleep with Bathsheba if the men fighting with him couldn't come home to their wives. We know the story. David had Uriah killed. To cover his own rear end. To save face with the nation of Israel who thought their king could do no wrong. The grieving bride of Uriah became the pregnant wife of a king. David pretended the nation couldn't count to nine as her pregnancy progressed quickly to completion. But Nathan, the prophet, spoke to David, calling the king on his sin...and Bathsheba's baby died in her arms as David lay prostrate before his God pleading for his newborn son's life.
Solomon was the child born to Bathsheba as God's comfort in the aftermath of all her loss. His name means peace. The child of an adulterer and his concubine. And this was the son God chose to build His temple.
It seems like God would want the child of a holy union. Not the son of such sin. The Lord not only forgave the sins of the son who made His eyes dance, but turned the sin into absolute glory! David's repentant heart and God's sacred prescience turned the shame of an adulterous relationship and subsequent murder into a story of redemption and restoration! Who of us would've chosen the son of that hussy, Bathsheba, to take on the task of building a suitable house for our Lord?
David knew his death was near, so he called thousands of workmen together. The king ordered iron, bronze and timber, and had stonecutters prepare massive numbers of dressed stones for the building of God's house. "Solomon, my son, is inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparations for it." And the Lord let the one always after His heart guide Solomon in the thing David had in his own heart to do.
We all fall short. All the time. And if we think that means we can no longer be used by God...loved by God...we err. Our God was crazy about David. From the time he was a little shepherd boy equally in love with His God. The Lord watched the ruddy little kid play with sheep, anointed his aim to kill a lion and a bear, enlarged the kid's faith to foil an army and slay its giant. God wasn't about to give up on this boy of His. And He's not about to give up on you and me. David accepted the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba, but that didn't change God's mind about who He was going to use to build His sanctuary. Remember, God told David who Solomon would be before the sin with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah. We don't catch God off-guard with our falling short. What He wants is our acknowledgment that we've broken His heart and His laws. "Deliver me from my bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of Your rightness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51)."
What David knew was that God loved him no matter what.
Where is there a God like ours Who can use even our sin for His eventual and eternal glory? Don't run away when you've messed up. Run toward Him. Your God will never turn you away, and you might just be surprised what He can do with the mess you've made of things.
It must have been so disappointing to David when God told him he wouldn't be the one to build a temple for his God. "You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood before Me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name. He shall be My son, and I will be His Father (I Chronicles 22)." After all the years of the traveling tabernacle, David wanted the God he loved so much to have an extravagant, world-renowned temple in which to dwell. He just had it in his heart to do this for the mighty God Whose favor rested upon him. But God had other ideas. Counter intuitive and ironic ideas.
From the rooftop across the way from David's expansive castle a woman was bathing herself in the twilight. No doubt David had seen her before. Perhaps it was the reason he walked around the parapet that night. Just a look. Nothing more. She was beautiful. Bathsheba. David knew she was alone. Her husband, Uriah, away fighting a war David chose to sit out in the season of fighting. And so he called for her. No one will know. Just this once. And David took another man's lovely young wife to bed.
He'd probably forgotten about the whole thing by the time Bathsheba sent word to the king that she was pregnant. With his child. And the man after God's own heart brought Uriah home from war in a manipulation worthy of a reality show. But Uriah, it turns out, was the better man. Wouldn't sleep with Bathsheba if the men fighting with him couldn't come home to their wives. We know the story. David had Uriah killed. To cover his own rear end. To save face with the nation of Israel who thought their king could do no wrong. The grieving bride of Uriah became the pregnant wife of a king. David pretended the nation couldn't count to nine as her pregnancy progressed quickly to completion. But Nathan, the prophet, spoke to David, calling the king on his sin...and Bathsheba's baby died in her arms as David lay prostrate before his God pleading for his newborn son's life.
Solomon was the child born to Bathsheba as God's comfort in the aftermath of all her loss. His name means peace. The child of an adulterer and his concubine. And this was the son God chose to build His temple.
It seems like God would want the child of a holy union. Not the son of such sin. The Lord not only forgave the sins of the son who made His eyes dance, but turned the sin into absolute glory! David's repentant heart and God's sacred prescience turned the shame of an adulterous relationship and subsequent murder into a story of redemption and restoration! Who of us would've chosen the son of that hussy, Bathsheba, to take on the task of building a suitable house for our Lord?
David knew his death was near, so he called thousands of workmen together. The king ordered iron, bronze and timber, and had stonecutters prepare massive numbers of dressed stones for the building of God's house. "Solomon, my son, is inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparations for it." And the Lord let the one always after His heart guide Solomon in the thing David had in his own heart to do.
We all fall short. All the time. And if we think that means we can no longer be used by God...loved by God...we err. Our God was crazy about David. From the time he was a little shepherd boy equally in love with His God. The Lord watched the ruddy little kid play with sheep, anointed his aim to kill a lion and a bear, enlarged the kid's faith to foil an army and slay its giant. God wasn't about to give up on this boy of His. And He's not about to give up on you and me. David accepted the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba, but that didn't change God's mind about who He was going to use to build His sanctuary. Remember, God told David who Solomon would be before the sin with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah. We don't catch God off-guard with our falling short. What He wants is our acknowledgment that we've broken His heart and His laws. "Deliver me from my bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of Your rightness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51)."
What David knew was that God loved him no matter what.
Where is there a God like ours Who can use even our sin for His eventual and eternal glory? Don't run away when you've messed up. Run toward Him. Your God will never turn you away, and you might just be surprised what He can do with the mess you've made of things.
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