_And the Lord sent Nathan unto David._ NATHAN REPROVING DAVID I. David’s sin. David, it appears, to avenge the outrage which bad been perpetrated on his ambassadors by Hanun, the king of the Ammonites, invaded that king’s dominions, and, in two pitched battles, defeated both him and his allies with... [ Continue Reading ]
_David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man._ THE SELF-DECEPTION OF SIN You do not know the strength and poison of sin till you resist it. It was this want of resistance that bed David into such depths of humiliation and degradation. He was allowed, of course, by the law of Moses to have as... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man._ HIS NATURAL FACE IN A GLASS Mr. Moody somewhere tells the story of a little child who had fallen into the gutter, but would not submit quietly to be washed, till his mother, finding persuasion useless, caught up the rebellious boy in her arms and turned... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord._ THE SINNER’S TREATMENT OF GOD’S LAW Some men treat the law and testimony of the Lord as if it were like plaster of Paris, to be poured over their features to take the cast of their own boasted loveliness. Religion is to them a matter of op... [ Continue Reading ]
_And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord._ THE REPENTANCE OF DAVID If we wish to draw any lessons from the repentance of any one, it is a great assistance to us to know something of the character of the man, something of the sin from which he repented, something of the mode by w... [ Continue Reading ]
_By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme._ SINS OF SCRIPTURE SAINTS I. It is not our duty to attempt to palliate the crimes of Scripture saints. Some have laboured in their defence, as if our religion depended on their vindication, and, under their plead... [ Continue Reading ]
_The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die._ GREAT TROUBLES FOLLOWING GREAT TRANSGRESSIONS David became a backslider. Men sometimes speak, not of David’s great sins, but of his great sin, as if he were guilty of only one flagrant transgression. Such language is lenient at the expense o... [ Continue Reading ]
_While the child was yet alive I fasted and wept._ THE LOSS OF CHILDREN I. His affliction was the death of his child. The death of a child is by no means an uncommon event. If our offspring are spared, and appear like olive plants around our table, we ought to be thankful, and to rejoice; yet to re... [ Continue Reading ]
_I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me._ RECOGNITION OF FRIENDS IN HEAVEN The doctrine of our future meeting and recognition is intimated in the earlier records of Scripture. We are told that Abraham was gathered to his people, that Jacob was gathered to his people, that Moses was comman... [ Continue Reading ]