2 Samuel
This chronological memory work is a little different. The only thing I want you to meditate on and memorize is the word despise. Yes it is a little more involved than this but hear me out. Most (especially those who are reading chronologically) remember the story of David’s sin with Bathsheba and ultimately Uriah. This is a difficult section no doubt but what I want you to focus on is God’s response to this through Nathan the Prophet. I want you to start reading the end of chapter 11 with “But the things that David had done displeased the Lord”…through 12:15 Once you’ve read this section I want you to hone in on vs 7-10
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
Notice the 2 things that David did that displeased the Lord. It wasn’t sinning with Bathsheba, it wasn’t having Uriah killed, it was “despising the word of the Lord” (vs9) and ultimately despising God (vs 10). No wonder David claimed that it was against God and God alone that he had sinned in Psalm 51:4. I’m not minimizing the collateral damage of this sin but God’s economy is different than ours. If I really viewed my sin as despising God’s Word and ultimately despising God, hopefully that would make me more sensitive to it. I hope this helps in your quest to conquer sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:13)
