The Beauty of Grace Shows Us the Ugliness of Sin (2 Samuel 13)

1 & 2 Samuel are among the most cherished narratives of the Scriptures. They are a delight to read. The depth and drama have no match in the Old Testament, save for perhaps the exodus. But this chapter is no pleasure to read. We wince. We recoil. We’d rather look away. But the Bible will not allow us to do so. We would rather not look upon sin without her makeup. We like her dressed up in beautiful lies. But here we are forced to behold the ugliness of sin.

Ralph Venning knew the ugliness of sin’s curse and he knew sin was uglier still. Venning had seen the Great Plague of London wipe out roughly fifteen percent of the city. The work that we know as The Sinfulness of Sin, he originally titled The Plague of Plagues.  He wrote therein, “Sin is the worst of evils; the evil of evils, and indeed the only evil. Nothing is so evil as sin; nothing is evil but sin. As the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us, so neither the sufferings of this life nor of that to come are worthy to be compared as evil with the evil of sin. No evil is displeasing to God or destructive to man but the evil of sin. Sin is worse than affliction, than death, than Devil, than Hell. Affliction is not so afflictive, death is not so deadly, the Devil not so devilish, Hell not so hellish as sin is.” Sin is ugly. Do not look away. Be repulsed. Be angry. Hate sin.

In The Patriot, Benjamin Martin has this chilling line, “I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost is more than I can bear.” Deuteronomy 29:29 warns us that the secret things belong to God. Too often, when we dare to stare the ugliness of our trespasses in their unadorned face, we live in fear of our sins rather than hope in God’s grace. Don’t waste time worrying and trying figure out if your current sufferings are a result of past sins. Simply look to God for comfort in your sufferings and look to God for forgiveness for your sins.

But sometimes it will be plain that we suffer for our sins. The connection and causality will be crystal clear. David knew. David knew that though the condemnation of his sin had been taken away, the consequence of his sins were sure to follow. Nathan assured David, “the LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). But he also promised, “the sword shall never depart from your house” and “I will raise up evil against you out of your own house” (2 Samuel 12:11).

So let us begin to look at length at the consequences of David’s sins. Let us look, hate sin, fear God, and thank our God, because beholding the ugliness of sin is a grace of God for us. It is the beauty of God’s grace that shows us the ugliness of sin.

If you would truly behold the beauty of God’s grace in showing you the ugliness of sin, look not to David, but to the righteous Son of David crucified on a cross, bearing the wrath of His Father in the stead of sinners. O sinner, do you not see the beauty of God’s grace in showing you the ugliness of sin? O how ugly sin is! O how beautiful grace is.

Coming Back Around, but No Going Back (2 Samuel 12)

As we boomerang back from the middle of this chiasm in chapters 11 and 12, we’re both hopeful and fearful of what may come back around. Chiasms are literary devices that have an ABCBA kind of pattern to them, bringing us back to where we began. Therein is our hope—that we will boomerang back to the David we knew before all of this mess. Bring back the lion-like conqueror and the lamb-like servant of Yahweh who shows covenant lovingkindness!

But we’re also afraid. We’re afraid of what David’s sin might bring back around from earlier in the book of Samuel. The prophet comes with a word for David in his sin. Every time the word of God came to Saul, it only exacerbated his sinfulness. The prophet comes to Saul with a Word from God. Saul disregards the prophet. The prophet returns with another word. Samuel declared to Saul, “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

But Saul was a king like the nations. He was never a man after God’s own heart. The saints may sin like sinners, what sinners cannot do is rise like the saints. They cannot repent and pursue righteousness as the saints do. Thomas Brooks wrote, “Ah, souls, you can easily sin as the saints, but can you repent with the saints! Many can sin with David and Petter, that cannot repent with David and Peter, and so must perish forever.” The saints can sin the same sins, but they cannot sin in the same way, for they have a new heart—a heart that hates sin and loves righteousness.

Still, sin deadens and deafens. Sin is drifting and sin causes us to drift. What truly separates the saint from the sinner is the Savior. The answer for faith and repentance is always never found within but without. The saints persevere because God preserves. God not only saved David in the past. He is saving David in this moment. And He does so, by His word.

David is both the most dramatic picture of the Messiah and the most dramatic picture of our need for the Messiah. Walter Bruggeman says that this text tells us “more than we want to know about David and more than we can bear to understand about ourselves.” This is a hard word, but it is a gracious word. It tells us all that we are sinners. It tells us all that Yahweh is a Savior.

Nathan’s word of judgment proves to be a word of grace, bringing David to repentance. This hard word softens hearts. By His Word, God saves sinners and sanctifies the saints. David in his climb has been exemplary and stunning, but David in his fall is comforting. There is grace for sinners. There is grace for saints.

There is comfort. There is grace. But there is no going back to the way things were before. But perhaps there is hope for something even better in the future? Surely David’s story left some Israel saying, “Oh, if only the Lord’s Anointed could come to us and manifest Yahweh’s grace without the sin!” Perhaps this was the hope held out for his son, Jedidiah, beloved of Yahweh. No. He too would fall.

But then came great David’s greater Son, the true builder of the true temple. The High Priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, who in every respect has been tempted as we are and is yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). The sinless Son who died for sinners. Here is great David’s greater Son, who died so that David, and all sinners might know forgiveness. We have not a sinful king who lived. We have a sinless King who died. And then He rose triumphant over all, over Satan, sin, and death. We have not gone back to where we were before. We have gone forward to something far better. Though we too fall, though we may not go back, we have assurance that something better lies ahead.

Sinful Sending (2 Samuel 11)

“David sent…”

—2 Samuel 11:1, 3, 4, 6, 27

David sends Joab to besiege Rabbah.

Much is often made of nothing. David does nothing, and much trouble comes from it, so we are often told. It is true, doing something good is the best way to keep from doing something bad. If you don’t want to love an idol with any of your heart, then love God with all your heart. It is said that an idle mind is the devil’s playground. Liberty towards leisure leads to licentiousness. Truly man is incapable of idling. Fallen man has no neutral. An idolatrous heart cannot have an idle mind. Man is either working and resting unto God or he is working and resting unto self.

Are we then making much of nothing? Is this mountain really a molehill? Was David’s staying home in Jerusalem a sin? If mom and dad go into town, it is not, in itself, a bad thing if the kids say they’d like to stay home, though it might prove better for them to have gone along. Staying home can mean playing with matches or washing the dishes. Certainly, we may imagine that it may have been much better if David had gone out to battle. But just because going out may have been better does not mean that staying home was bad.

The real failure isn’t that David didn’t battle with his men; it is that he didn’t battle against his sin. If we are not always about this battle, it does not matter where we are or what other battles we are or are not involved in.

David sends to inquire of Bathsheba. David sends for Bathsheba.

David saw. David does not mortify his lust. He indulges his curiosity and abuses his authority. He saw. He sent. He took.

When the opportunity is fertile for sins’s pleasures, it is also fertile for sin’s consequences. Sin is always pregnant with death.

David sends for Uriah. David sends Uriah to Joab.

David tries to undo his sending with more sending. We try to undo our sin with more sin. We try to wash our sin with sin, but we only smear the mud, rub it in, and add to it. David is not in control and he only creates more problems by continuing to act as though he were. Sin is the problem that the more you try to solve it, the more you complexify it. You can only ask for help.

David tries to hide and cover up his sin. But his fig leaves easily wither. Sin cannot be covered by man. It can only be cleansed. And it can only be cleansed by the nail pierced hands of the Son of God. Trying to hide sin is like hiding fungus; if you put it in the dark, you only get more fungus.

Joab sends a messenger to David.

Joab is concerned David might be upset. Other men have died with Bathsheba. But the king expresses no anger. It maters not to him. Uriah is dead.

David admirably mourned the deaths of Saul and Abner, but sin has so callused, so hardened, so blinded, so deafened, so darkened, so deadened him, that he expresses no grief at the loss of these men and this devoted servant.

David is fearful of the consequences of his sin, but the worst consequences have already taken root in his soul. Left in the dark, sin corrodes. We fear our sin being exposed when we should fear it remaining hidden. We fear sin hurting us without when we should fear hurting us within.

David sends for Bathsheba to take her as his wife.

Notice the strength of Scripture’s written account of David’s sin. There is no detailed drama to draw us in so that we see and take. The account is not romanticized. It is not given any sensual indulgence. The truth is told of it, not the lies.

This will be the last time David sends. God will do the sending in chapter 12, and he will send because “the thing David had done displeased the LORD” (v. 27).

The Crest before the Crash (2 Samuel 10)

2 Samuel 10 is the crest before the dreaded and unexpected crash. It’s not like the crest of a roller coaster. There the fall is the thrill—the fall is anticipated and expected, though fear is mingled with it. This is more like a trip up Pike’s Peak gone wrong at the very top. Tumbling down Pike’s Peak is not the reason you went up.

Because you know how this scenic trip up the peak is going to go, you may wish you could just stay on top and enjoy this view. You may wish for a short 2 Samuel concluding with chapter 10. The end. Or, you may find it difficult to make the trip up at all. It’s like the sad movie you don’t want to watch again, though it beings so beautifully.

Don’t let the anticipated fall rob you of the majesty of this peak. If you are truly to understand the depths to which David falls in chapter 11, you must appreciate the height to which he rises in chapter 10. If you fail to appreciate the height, you can’t grasp the fall. Glory in the height that you may gasp at the fall.

Paradoxically then, I’m bringing up David’s sin now because I don’t want you to think about it. David’s valley is critical for rightly interpreting this peak, but you must not let the shadow dim this light. The light is meant to carry you through the valley. On top of this peak, you are to get a heavenly view and bearings to carry you through darker days.

1 Samuel 10 has profound ties to chapters 8 and 9. Chapter 8 provided us with a summary of David’s victories. Chapter 9 told us of his lovingkindness to Mephibosheth. David is the lion-like conqueror and the lamb-like servant of Yahweh who shows “hesed”—covenant faithfulness and mercy. The crest we arrive at here rides on those waves. But having appreciated the crest, we can now note its connections to the fall that follows.

“After this” or “And it came to pass” (v. 1), introduces a new section. The Ammonites form an inclusio around this section. Here, David first extends lovingkindness to Hanun the king of the Ammonites. Then he defeats him. In the middles of this section, the account of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah begins this way, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1). The walls at which Uriah meets his death are those of Rabbah, the royal city of the Ammonites. But we don’t read of the fall of Rabbah and the Ammonites until after Nathan’s rebuke, the death of Bathsheba’s child, and the birth of Solomon in 12:26–31. The author has chosen to use the Ammonites to frame this section: their rise against David on one side and their fall before David on the other. After which, chapter 13 begins with “now,” or as the KJV has it, “And it came to pass” or, in the NIV, “In the course of time.”

Also, you may have noted that there is a lot of sending in this chapter. David sends servants to Hanun (v. 2). The princes of the Ammonnites accuse David of having sent spies (v. 3). Hanun sends the servants back shamed (v. 4). The Ammonites sent and hired Syrians (v. 6). David sends Joab and all the host of the mighty men (v. 7).  Hadedezer sends out for the Syrians beyond the Euphrates (v. 10). The word for “send” is used 32 times throughout chapters 11–12. Here’s just a smattering of the sending we will see in the next episode: David sends for Bathsheba (11:4). Bathsheba sends a message to David (11:5). David sends word to Joab so that Joab sends Uriah to David (11:6). Uriah is sent back to Joab with a letter from David (11:14). David sends for Bathsheba (11:27) Yahweh sends Nathan to David (12:1).

What role does chapter 10 play as it introduces this section? It prepares you for what lies ahead, not by making you begin to think less of David, but by making you continue to think much of David. David is loyal and kind. He cares for his servants and is courageous against his enemies. He is wise. He is Yahweh’s anointed, a man after His own heart. David’s fall disappoints us so because it is from such a height. It is almost like a second Adam because David almost is the second Adam—that is the very hope he is meant to manifest. Joab’s piety is not as surprising as David’s infidelity is shocking. We had hoped for so much more from God’s king.

But there remains hope for us in this disappointment. David was only ever a shadow, not the substance of the hope of the Israel of God. Yahweh had not promised that it would be David, but David’s Son who would build a house for His name. Yahweh will establish His Kingdom forever. (2 Samuel 7:13). And here is this blessed news: while David’s lovingkindness manifested the lovingkindness of God, David’s sin could not eradicate it. It could not eradicate it for God had promised David, “my steadfast love will not depart from him [you son], as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you” (2 Samuel 7:15).

David’s fall saddens us, because we had hoped for so much more. But is does not discourage us, because all that we hoped for was never to be realized in David. David’s fall encourages us, because it reminds us that our sins cannot destroy God’s promises.

We have a King who in every respect has been tempted as we are, and yet, is without sin (Hebrews 4:5). We have a King who never fell, yet came from the greatest heights to suffer the wrath of the deepest hell on the cross for our sins. We have a King whose crash into the curse raises us to the heights of blessedness. We have a King whose crest comes not only after the crash, but precisely because of the crash (Philippians 2:5–11, Ephesians 2:6).

Stronger and Stronger (2 Samuel 3:1–39)

“There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.”

2 Samuel 3:1

David grows stronger and stronger. The house of Saul becomes weaker and weaker. We expected this to be so. We have longed for this to be so. But, why is it so? How is it so? The answer is not only surprising. It is shocking. Don’t fail to connect this opening summary with what follows as an explanation thereof.

The house of David grows stronger by growing bigger. David has children, takes more wives, and has more children.

The house of Saul grows weaker as Abner grows stronger. A strong Abner grows tired of a weak Ish-bosheth.

The house of David grows stronger as Abner works to deliver Israel over to David.

Joab murders Abner, but the people see David’s reaction and are pleased by it, understanding that he had nothing to do with his death. Even this works so that David grows stronger.

How is it that David grows stronger and stronger and Saul’s house grows weaker and weaker? The answer is as surprising as it shocking. It happens through sin, by sinners, and for sinners. This is not a tale of how good any man is, but how good God is to sinful man. What a mess. What grace. There is a Savior who is sovereign over sinners for their salvation.

David grows stronger and stronger and the house of Saul grows weaker and weaker, not because David is good and Saul is bad. No, all this happens because God is holy and God is gracious. He is Yahweh, “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6–7).

The house of David grows stronger not because of the plans of Abner or the plots of Joab or the righteousness of David, but the faithfulness of God. Abner’s plan turns against him. Joab’s plot is wicked and cursed. David’s righteousness falls short. But God’s faithfulness does not fail. The Sovereign God uses the surprising, even the shocking. He uses sinners to bring His salvation. Yes, David gets many sons by many wives, but one of those sons will be the son of David.

We see something of the doctrine of concurrence here. That doctrine is best summarized by Joseph when he tells his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). “You meant.” “God meant.” Both meants are meaningful. They are both true.

The doctrine of concurrence basically tells us that though men are responsible, God is sovereign. It explains that God’s providence rules over all things, even the sinful actions of men, but in such a way that God does not sin while men do. Men sin. And God is sovereign. And here is the most surprising and shocking thing of all. He is sovereign over sinners and through sinners for the salvation of sinners. By His sovereign rule, over even the sins of men, the house of David grows stronger and stronger and the kingdoms of this world grow weaker and weaker.

Desperate sinner, behold the sovereign salvation of the Savior and do not fear that your sins are bigger than His grace. It is surprising and shocking, but the kingdom of Jesus is seen to grow stronger as He is sovereign over sinners and saves sinners through sinners. Behold Christ on the cross and hear the true and better Joseph declare, “You meant evil against me, but I meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

How the Mighty Have Fallen! (2 Samuel 1:1–27)

“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!

How the mighty have fallen!

—2 Samuel 1:19

“How the mighty of fallen!” We often say this with a sarcastic smirk. David said it with sincere sorrow. David intends no ridicule. He grieves. The “glory” of Israel lies slain on her high places. He grieves for Jonathan his devoted friend. He grieves for Saul his devoted enemy. David has pled for justice, but he does not rejoice when his enemy falls (Proverbs 24:17).

David does not just lament. He leads in lament. This song is to be taught to the people of Judah. David has “friends” in Judah (1 Samuel 30:26). They have hid him from Saul. David does not hide his esteem of Saul from them. He would have the people of Judah mourn this Benjaminite king.

David remains Saul’s best and most devoted servant to the very end. David has nothing to do with Saul’s death. Should David have been on the battlefield that day, I believe we may be certain what David would not have done. He would not have put his hand out against Yahweh’s anointed.

David has nothing to do with Saul’s death. But Yahweh does. The kingdom has been taken from Saul’s hand and given into David’s hand. David does not take the kingdom with man’s violence, but he does execute God’s justice. Saul lost the kingdom for failing to execute God’s justice on the Amalekites, David comes into the kingdom executing God’s justice on the Amaleites. Vengeance is the Lord’s and David is the Lord’s king.

Three songs mark the beginning, middle, and end of the singular scroll of Samuel. Hannah’s song opens the scroll and puts a different tone to the words “How the mighty have fallen!” “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:4, 6). God will bring redemptive reversal to his people by salvation through judgment in a king. Hannah sings, “The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10). “How the mighty have fallen!”

As the book draws to a close, David sings this song of praise, “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from men of violence. For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (2 Samuel 2:47–51).

Yahweh shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. David’s covenant faithfulness to Yahweh’s anointed is a faint echo of the unfailing covenant love of God towards His King. The Son of David was slain on the high place of Israel, crucified on a Roman cross. But the Mighty has not fallen. He is risen. The Philistines have no gospel and the true Israel of God has no reason for lamentation.

Rejected by Men, Returning to God (1 Samuel 29–30)

David, Saul, David, Saul— we’re used to the contrast, but now it occurs as we alternate between their separate stories. The rule of one is soon to end. The rule of the other is soon to begin. The previous two episodes are cliff hangers. You close 27:1–28:2 anxious for what will happen to David, but then, it’s Saul. You then close 28:3–25 wanting to see things play out with Saul. David, Saul, David, Saul. We want to finish the story of one, only to be disappointed by the other, but then caught up in that story as well.

The intentionality of the author in this can be seen in that these accounts are not chronological. The Philistines gathering at Aphek happens before they gathered at Shunem in 28:1. But this means that David’s victory over the Amalekites then happens in close proximity to Saul’s death and defeat.

Because we now return back to David, lets recap where were were a couple of episodes back. David, his mercenary status sufficiently established, returns to Achish, king of Gath, this time to be welcomed. He is given Ziklag, a city in Judah’s territory that was allotted to Simeon, taken by the Philistines, given to David, and thereafter the possession of the kings of Judah. From Ziklag, David raids the raiders who trouble Judah while Achish thinks David is making himself an utter stench to Israel. What David is doing doesn’t match what Achish thinks he is doing. But the most uncomfortable aspect of David’s exile isn’t the possibility of his being found out by Achish; it’s that he may found to be a Philistine, worshipping other gods by default—practically if not formally.

1 Samuel 27:1–28:2 records a God-less chapter in David’s life. He doesn’t inquire of Yahweh. He doesn’t praise Yahweh. He doesn’t speak of Yahweh. David’s faith will persevere, but only because Yahweh preserves His king. God is with David, His anointed, in a way that He is not with Saul. Saul is left to himself. David is not. David’s story is not one of David’s greatness, but of divine grace. God will preserve His king in His peculiar and mysterious way.

David is rejected so that he might return. He is rejected so that he might return to His God. By man’s rejection, God recovers. God brings David back. Look at what God is doing. As surely as He is judging Saul, He is keeping David. The tension we felt, wondering what David might do is swallowed up by confidence in what God is doing. Yahweh has raised up a king to rule over His people. He is faithful. He is merciful. He is gracious.

Dear souls, this is your great confidence, God has been faithful to His King, the Son of David, the Son of God. His faithfulness to His King is His faithfulness to His people. Jesus is Lord and Savior of His people. Jesus is Lord and Savior for His people. When the Gentile ruler said “I find no fault in him” (John 19:4), He was not deceived. The Son of David was perfectly righteous. In Him, we are so counted righteous and reconciled to God, that the Son may declare to the Father, “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one” (John 18:9). By God’s mysterious providence, His rejection ensured the return and rescue of all and His exaltation as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Sinners, look to Jesus the Son of David and be saved.

Saints, look to Jesus the Son of God and be strengthened.

His Inescapable and Immutable Word (1 Samuel 28:3–5)

16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.

—1 Samuel 28:16–18

Two dark chapters are set side by side, the two darkest we’ve seen in the life of Saul and David up to this point. Two dark chapters, but the darkness is different. Child of God, take heart, the darkest chapters of the saints are so very different from those of sinners. Better the dark days of David than the bright days of Saul so certainly then better the dark days of David than the darks days of Saul.

But there is not only contrast; there is irony. David doesn’t appear to seek Yahweh. Saul explicitly does. “Yahweh” doesn’t appear on David’s lips. Saul swears by Yahweh. David is with the Philistines. Saul is against them. And yet, by the end of these two chapters, there is hope for David and none for Saul. There is a light at the end of the chapter that appears “God-less” and despair at the end of this chapter that appears “God-full.” That is both a resolute grace and an irrevocable judgment. David can’t mess up the grace. Saul cannot work around the judgment. God will do what He said He will do. He does not lie. Saul will be brought down. David will be raised up. This is God’s inescapable and immutable word.

When Samuel first spoke these words to Saul after he failed to devote the Amalekites to destruction, Samuel explained, “the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret” (1 Samuel 15:29). Saul is seeing to make a liar out of the eternal God of truth.

When Balak asked Balaam to curse Israel, the pagan prophet received this word from Yahweh, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them” (Numbers 23:19–21).

Balak refuses this word, and seeks another. Still, Balaam declares, “…his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows. He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you” (Numbers 24:7–9).

Balak is furious, still Balaam declares, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!” (Numbers 24:17–19).

Do you hear this? God has always had this singular, inescapable, and immutable Word, the Word become flesh, the crucified flesh risen in glory, raised to the right hand of the Father, King of kings and Lord of Lords. You cannot make a liar out of God.; Jesus is King. This Word cannot be unspoken: Jesus is Lord. Stop rebelling against this Word. Stop seeking other words. Stop trying to out shout God.

God is doing what He said He would do. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. All evil doers will be cast into the lake of fire. This is His inescapable and immutable word.

God is doing what He said He would do. Christ lived to be the righteousness of sinners. He died bearing judgment in their stead. He rose conquering sin, death, and Satan. All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is His inescapable and immutable word.

Really! Again! (1 Samuel 26:1–25)

“Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the LORD, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.”

—1 Samuel 26:24

“Really! Again?”

There are three ways one might say this of our text. The first one is bad. The second one is true. The third one is best. The exclamation “Really! Again?” might disparage Scripture, disdain Saul, or delight in the Savior.

“Really? Again?” some ask of Scripture, doubting its veracity and truthfulness. Saul pursues David with three thousand men—again? David’s hides in the wilderness—again? Saul is given into David’s hand—again? David is encouraged to take Saul’s life—again? David refuses to take the life of Yahweh’s anointed—again? David does take something of Saul’s to confront Saul with—again? Saul “repents”—again? Thus they argue that same event is being told by different sources, concluding that we cannot trust the historical accuracy of the Bible’s game of telephone.

To which we might reply, “Really? Again? After that line of argumentation has been tried with so many passages and failed? Really? Haven’t we been here before? And shouldn’t your repetition of the same argument in a different place, at a different time, with a different text disprove the very logic of your point? Really? Again?—As if no human in the history of mankind has ever had the experience of dealing with difficult people of saying, ‘Really? Again? Haven’t we done this before?’”

“Really! Again?”—the text intends for us to ask, not of itself, but of Saul. “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). Again and again. Sinful man may hate his sin, but he repents of it only to return to it. Really. Again and again.

“Really! Again!” we exclaim most fully as we return to these themes hundreds of years later. The life of the King, even in the depths of His humiliation, is precious to the Father. When as a child he must flee to Egypt, His life is precious. As He wanders through the land without a home with a motley crew, His life is precious. When his brothers betray him, His life is precious. As He acts with perfect integrity and lays down his life for His enemies, trusting His Father, His life is precious. Even when He stoops so low as to bear the curse in the place of sinners, the resurrection testifies that the life of the King is precious in the sight of the Lord.

And if you cling to Christ in faith, His life, the life that is precious in the sight of God God, is your life. Really! So that again and again, forever, His unfailing covenant love and mercy redeem you out of every trouble.

Inquiries and Imaginings (1 Samuel 23:1–29)

Both David and Saul receive human intel, but where David inquires, Saul imagines. God reveals to David, “I will give the Philistines into your hand” (v. 4). Saul imagines, declaring, “God has given [David] into my hand” (v. 7). As the Philistines were delivered into David’s hand, so Saul believes David is delivered into his hand.

David hears God’s word. Saul puts words into God’s mouth. David inquires of Yahweh. Saul imagines Yahweh. Matthew Poole writes, “He easily believed what he greedily desired, though his own experience had oft showed him how strangely God had delivered him out of his hands, and what a singular care God had over him.”

Your imagination is a dangerous way to read the facts and discern God’s will. But this is not only how many seek guidance, it is how they do theology. When you receive intel, inquire, don’t imagine. How do you inquire? Prayerfully read God’s Word. This assumes the indwelling and illumination of the Holy Spirit.

This is how delusional sinful man is in the darkness of his depravity—he presumes God is with him, when God has proclaimed that He is against Him. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). God tells man he is condemned. Man replies, “You’re so sweet. I know you love me.” God is patient and long-suffering, but we are children of wrath. Yes, grace is offered, but it is offered precisely because we stand under God’s curse. Those condemned in Adam should not behave as though they were an angel of heaven.

Saul is told and and Saul imagines. David knows, yet David inquires (v. 9). David doesn’t act on human intel alone. He doesn’t act on human intel supremely, which is to say, David doesn’t rely on his own intelligence. David models for us what it means to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” Saul however, “lean[s] on [his] own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

David is absolutely unique. He is the Lord’s anointed. He is God’s king. He has a prophet. He has a priest. But you have the Word of God, the revelation of the Son of David, and the Spirit of Christ to illuminate the Word He inspired. You won’t receive such specific guidance, but that’s not really what you need. You need Biblical wisdom and truth. If you can exclaim with the psalmist, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” then you may also rejoice declaring, “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts” (Psalm 119:97–100). This doesn’t mean that you walk with your head up as though you can see what others do not. It means you walk in humility and obedience, trusting your God.