One Year Bible Reading and Commentary for Friday, May 27th

Click Here to Listen to the Readings

Click Here to Read 2 Samuel 12

Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Most importantly you can't fool God any time. Today God uses the prophet Nathan to call out David's sin of adultery, as well as the murder of her husband, Uriah. 

Before he directly confronted David, Nathan told a short parable about a rich man who had everything and a poor man who had but one little lamb. One night a guest came to the home of the rich man but instead of taking a lamb from his own flock, he took the poor man's lamb and killed it. David was furious and said, "The rich man must die!" 

Then in a famous line Nathan looks at David and says, "You are that man!" Wow, that must have been a wake up call for David. And the consequences were steep. From this time on David's family would live by the sword. His own household would rebel against him. Other men would take his wives and publicly shame David by their acts with them. 

David Confesses His Guilt

David confessed his sin to Nathan and indirectly to God. Nathan told David that the Lord had forgiven him, and he would not die, but the severe penalty is that David's son would die. David wept, fasted, and begged the Lord to spare his son, but to no avail. After David learned of his son's death, he washed his face, put on lotion, and worshipped the Lord in the tabernacle. His advisors were confused as to why he seemed so distraught when the child was living and facing death and now that he was dead, he seemed to go on with his business.

David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”

David also spent time comforting his wife Bathsheba. They slept together and Bathsheba became pregnant and bore him a son, who they named Solomon. We will hear a lot more about him in the days and weeks ahead. 

David Captures Rabbah

Meanwhile Joab had captured the capital city of the Ammonites. He sent for David to get the glory, which he did when the king's crown was placed on his head. David and his army then returned to Jerusalem. 

David had clearly sinned in a big way and he paid the price. But as he moved forward, he received the Lord's blessing in the birth of his son, Solomon and another military victory. The lesson he learned and we should take to heart is that what we do in the dark will always be brought into the light. If not by people surely by God. As believers, we never really get away with anything, but fortunately through Christ we have received grace upon grace. 

Click Here to Read John 16:1-33

Jesus prefaces chapter 16 by telling the disciples that what he was telling them was to encourage them when the things that were going to happen to him happened. He once again shows his compassion and love for the disciples, who he has spent the last three years with. 

The Work of the Holy Spirit

The gospel of John gives us more teaching on the Holy Spirit than any other gospel. Jesus says something so crucial for us to remember when he says, "It is actually good for me to go away so I can send the Holy Spirit to be with you." The Greek word for the Holy Spirit is "paraclete", which has a wide range of English synonyms including: comforter, encourager, and counselor. As you can see the Holy Spirit plays many roles in our lives as believers. 

Though Jesus has more to tell them, the Holy Spirit will come and guide them into all truth. The Holy Spirit is like our GPS for the truth. The Father has given the Son everything, and the Son has giving everything to us through the Spirit. 

Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy

Jesus alludes to the fact that though they will be sad in a little while after that they will be full of joy. The disciples are confused, and we can see why. Very vague. Jesus says to them that they will weep then be filled with joy. He compares it with a woman in labor, who after being in a lot of pain is filled with joy when her baby is born. 

Then, he is a little more clear when he says he came from the Father and is going back to the Father. They will be able to relate directly to the Father by praying to Him in Jesus' name. This helps the disciples to understand what he is trying to tell them. 

Jesus finishes by letting them know they will have sorrow in this world. The world will treat them similar to the way it treated him. But they are not alone, and he would give them His own peace. He ends with an promise,

"But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” 16:33

In this chapter, we see the work of the Trinity. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although there is nowhere in the bible where the term "Trinity" is used, the doctrine of the Trinity comes from passages like this. Clearly in this passages Jesus talks about the three persons of the Trinity.

The Father sent him to the earth to do his will and reveal his plan for the world. Jesus fueled by the Spirit, obeyed the Father's will in everything he did. Now that Jesus was leaving to go back to the Father, the Spirit would be present with and in the disciples until Jesus returned to take them home to be with the Father. 

Each person of the Trinity is equally God, but they each have different roles to play in God's plan to reach the world with his love. We call this "salvation history". There is a fun word in German for this,  "Heilsgeschichte". Now that's a mouthful. 

Click Here to Read Psalm 119:65-80

Click Here to Read Proverbs 16:4-5