The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 130: Nathan Condemns David (2023)

Episode Date: May 10, 2023

Fr. Mike touches on the sins of David, and how we can see ourselves in these fallen characters in scripture. God desires a relationship with us free from sin, and although it may be painful, he brings these things into the light not out of anger, but out of love. Today's readings are 2 Samuel 12, 1 Chronicles 16, and Psalm 51. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today, it is day 130, and today we're reading from 2 Samuel chapter 12, we're reading 1 Chronicles chapter 16, and we're praying Psalm 51, the Psalm of repentance of David, because as we're going to see here in 2 Samuel chapter 12, he is going to be called to a place

of repentance. As always, the Bible translation that I am reading from is the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. And if you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You also can subscribe to this podcast if you're interested in doing something like that. As I said, it is day 130. We are reading from 2 Samuel chapter 12, 1 Chronicles chapter 16, and we are praying Psalm 51. 2 Samuel chapter 12, Nathan condemns David and God punishes him. And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, there were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little

ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.

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, and I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 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 slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. 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. Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, Thus says the Lord, David said to Nathan, And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die. Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became sick. David therefore besought God for the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the ground. And the elders of his house

stood beside him to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. On the seventh day the child died, and the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead, and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? They said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.

He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him and he ate. Then his servants said to him, what is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive. But when the child died, you arose and ate food. David said, while the child was still alive,, you arose and ate food. David said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead. Why should I fast?

Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. Solomon is born. Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba and went into her and lay with her. And she bore a son and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah because of the Lord. The Ammonites crushed. Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah. Moreover, I have taken the city of waters. Now then, gather the rest of the people

together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name. So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and took it. And he took the crown of their king from his head, the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city a very great amount. And he brought forth the people who were in it, and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them toil at the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. The first book of Chronicles, chapter 16, the ark placed in a tent.

And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Moreover, he appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Gael, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Metathiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Giel, who were to play harps and lyres. Asaph was to sound the cymbals,

and Benaiah and Jehaziel, the priests, were to blow trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God. David's Song of Thanksgiving Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brethren. O give thanks to the Lord. Call on his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him. Tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name.

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works that he has done, the wonders he wrought, the judgments he uttered. O offspring of Abraham his servant, sons of Jacob his chosen ones, he is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant which he made with Abraham, his sworn

promise to Isaac, which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, as an everlasting covenant to Israel, saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance. When they were few in number and of little account and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them. He rebuked kings on their account, saying, Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm. Sing to the Lord all the earth, tell of his salvation from day to day, declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. And he is to be held in awe above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and

joy are in his place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in holy attire. Tremble before him all the earth. Yes, the world stands firm, never to be moved. Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice and let them say among the nations, the Lord reigns. Let the sea roar and all that fills it. Let the field exult and everything in it.

Then shall the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Say also, Deliver us, O God of our salvation, and gather and save us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord. Regular worship maintained. So David left Asaph and his brethren there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister continually before the ark as each day required, and also Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight brethren, while Obed-Edom, the son of Jeruthun, and Hossa were to be gatekeepers. And he left Zadok the priest and

his brethren, the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar of burnt offering, continually, morning and evening, according to all that is written in the law of the Lord which he commanded Israel. With them were Haman and Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord for his mercy endures forever. Haman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jedithun were appointed to the gate. Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household. Psalm 51, Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon, to the Choir Master, a psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your merciful love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done that which is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you desire truth in the inward being, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with

hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guilt, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth

your praise. For you take no delight in sacrifice, were I to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure. Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bowls will be offered on your altar. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you.

We thank you for your calling us to repentance. We thank you for reminding us and reminding us of our sin. Thank you for reminding us of our sin and our need for mercy. And also thank you for offering your gift of mercy. Lord God, we find ourselves so often sliding like David did yesterday in yesterday's reading, sliding away from where you're calling us on mission to live off mission, sliding for you, where you anointed us to be from belonging to you to rejecting you. And we find ourselves so often as David does today,

where Nathan said, you thought this was done in the dark, but the Lord God is going to bring this into the light and Lord God, you to save us, you oftentimes reveal our wounds. To save us, you oftentimes reveal our sins. To save us, you oftentimes bring what needs to be brought into the light, into the light. And so God, we say yes to that. We just say, okay, go ahead, Lord.

Whatever you need, whatever you need to do in my life so that I may not be lost, whatever you need to do in my life so that I can be yours again. You have my permission. So be it. Amen. Help us to say this, Lord God, in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Golly. Amen. Oh man. Oh man. So I've said many times in other contexts that how much I love David, not because of this and not because of the next chapters, David is a, is a flawed hero. And here in chapter 11, chapter 12 today, chapter 13 tomorrow. I mean, in the chapters that follow, we, we are going to see a very, very clear vision of David, the broken man, David, the sinner. Um,

I guess maybe even that's one of the reasons why I am a fan of David is not because I'm a fan of his choices when he chose evil, when he chose sin, but because I think a lot of us, we see ourselves in these characters in scripture. Hopefully we see ourselves in these characters in scripture. When he had Saul and King Saul, who was so preoccupied with what other people thought of him, hopefully we see ourselves in these characters in scripture. When he had Saul and King Saul, who was so preoccupied with what other people thought of him. Hopefully we saw ourselves in that, in the times that vanity can creep in and can lead us away from being the people that God has called us to be and lead us away from God himself.

And here, even with David, here he is living off mission, having a dual identity, having one life here and one life there. Here's David choosing to sin in the dark and God needing to, in order to save David, needing to bring that sin into the light. That's one of the reasons I love David. As again, not because he is fully heroic, but because he is an image to me of God's ability to save, God's desire to save, even if he saves painfully. And that's a thing for us, right? Is that God loves you. You're listening to this. God loves you. And there are times when in God's love, what he has to do is he has to uncover what's been covered. He has to bring

into the light what's done in the dark. And he doesn't do this because he hates you. He doesn't do this because he just wants to punish you. He does this because he loves you. And sometimes the only thing that stops a slide is a break, right? And the only thing that stops a slide is a break. And here is God who sends Nathan the prophet to David to stop the slide and to break him. You know, it says very clearly that God forgives you. Nathan says to David, God forgives you, but there are consequences to your decision and the sword will not depart from your house. In fact, chapter 13, tomorrow we're gonna hear

one of the first signs of David's family crumbling, David's family falling apart, and David really failing as a father. He might be successful as a king, super successful as a king, but David fails as a father. And we see that first crack tomorrow in chapter 13. And then we have 1 Chronicles 16, which is one of these where we're kind of going back and forth in time a little bit, again, just like Deuteronomy and Numbers.

But going back and forth in time, here's David in 2 Samuel. He's already established in Jerusalem. Here is David in 1 Chronicles 16, where he's just establishing the ark in the tent. But there's something important about this. Remember, 1 Chronicles is really directed at highlighting two things. One is the royal kingdom, and the other is temple worship. These things that are on the mind of Ezra the scribe. He knows that God wants this kingdom to be a kingdom that goes throughout the entire world. It's going to be reestablished, reconstituted somehow. He doesn't know how, we know how in Jesus. And he also highlights the fact that God has called this people to worship him in this particular way.

And so here's David, his song of thanksgiving. We have David's regular worship maintained. And at the beginning, we have the Ark of the Covenant placed in a tent. And it goes on to say in 1 Chronicles 16, it says in verse 4, it says, Moreover, David appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the Ark of the Lord to do three things, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. And that's so important. If our prayers simply encompassed those three things, to invoke, like petitions, we call upon the Lord for ourselves, to call upon the Lord for other people, to thank, to thank God for the gifts that he's done, what he's done in our lives, and to praise God for who he is. That would be so good

if our prayer lives looked like that. Those three elements of invoking, of thanking, and of praising. Also, we have this fourth element that David reveals in chapter 51 of book of Psalms, which is repentance. When God has corrected me, he brought me into the light to live in the light, to turn away from evil and turn to the Lord is repentance. So those four elements invoking, asking God for our help for ourselves, for others, thanking God, praising God, and turning back to God in repentance. That would just be so good. If our prayer lives look like that, our prayer lives would be pretty healthy. Gosh, we're gonna continue this journey together.

It's day 130. You guys are doing so incredibly well on just being faithful and being committed and being part of this community. And I truly, please know that I am praying for you every single day. I know I experienced the grace of your prayers as well. So please pray for each other. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.

God bless.