Category: Bible Challenge

“‘No, my brother!’ she cried. ‘Don’t be foolish! Don’t do this to me! Such wicked things aren’t done in Israel. Where could I go in my shame? And you would be called one of the greatest fools in Israel. Please, just speak to the king about it, and he will let you marry me.’
But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. ‘Get out of here!’ he snarled at her.” v.12-15
Love and Lust are very different. After Amon raped his half sister, his “love” turned to hate. Although he had claimed to be in love, he was actually overcome by lust. Love is patient; lust requires immediate satisfaction. Love is kind; lust is harsh. Love does not demand its own way; lust does. Lust may feel like love at first, but when physically expressed, it results in self-disgust and hatred of the other person. If you just can’t wait, what you feel is not true love. For more scripture on Love, look at 1 Corinthians 13.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“So the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: ‘There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.’”
v.1-4
As a prophet, Nathan was required to confront sin, even the sin of the king. It took great courage, skill, and tact to speak to David in a way that would make him aware of his wrong actions. When you have to confront someone with unpleasant news, pray for courage, skill, and tact. If you want that person to respond constructively, think through what you are going to say. How you present your message may be as important as what you say. Season your words with wisdom.

David confessed and repented of his sin, but God’s judgement was that his child would die. The consequence of David’s sin were irreversible. Sometimes an apology isn’t enough. When God forgives us and restores out relationship with Him, He doesn’t eliminate all the consequences of our wrongdoing. We may be tempted to say, “If this is wrong, I can apologize to God,” but we must remember that we may set into motion events with irreversible consequences.

During this incident, David wrote Psalm 51 giving valuable insight into his character and offering hope for us also.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, ‘She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. 5Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, ‘I’m pregnant.’”v.1-5
In this episode with Bathsheba, David allowed himself to fall deeper and deeper into sin.

1.) He abandoned his purpose by staying home form war.
2.) He focused on his own desires
3.) When temptation came, he looked into it instead of turning from it.
4.) He sinned deliberately
5.) He tried to cover up his sin.
6.) He committed murder to continue the cover up
7.) The consequence of Davids sin affect others, costing someone their own life.

David could have chosen to stop and turn from evil at any stage along the way. But once sin gets started, it is difficult to stop. The deeper the mess, the less we want to admit having caused it. It’s much easier to stop sliding down a hill when you are near the top than when you are half-way down. The best solution is to stop sin before it starts.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“One day David asked, ‘Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?’” v.1
Most kings in David’s day tried to wipe out the families of their rivals in order to prevent descendants from seeking the throne. But David showed kindness to Mephibosheth, whose father was Jonathan and whose grandfather was King Saul. David was kind, partly because of his loyalty to God’s previously anointed king; partly for political reasons – to unite Judah and Israel; and mainly because of his vow to show kindness to all of Jonathan’s descendants.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“And David realized that the LORD had confirmed him as king over Israel and had blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” v.12
David realized that the Lord had confirmed him as king. . .Although the pagan kingdoms based their greatness on conques, power, armies, and wealth, David knew that his greatness came only from God. To be great means keeping a close relationship with God personally and nationally. To do this, David had to keep his ambition under control. Although he was famous, successful, and well liked, he gave God first place in his life, and served the people according to Gods purposes.

Questions:Do I seek greatness from God or from people? In the drive for success, I need to remember to keep my ambitiojn under God’s control.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“The Philistines set up their camp at Shunem, and Saul gathered all the army of Israel and camped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear. He asked the LORD what he should do, but the LORD refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets. Saul then said to his advisers, ‘Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.’
His advisers replied, ‘There is a medium at Endor.’” v.4-7
Saul was overwhelmed at the sight of the Philistine army, and so he turned to the occult. Regard life’s difficulties and obstacles as reminders to turn you in God’s direction and make you depend on Him.

God did not answer his appeals because Saul because Saul had not followed Gods previous direction. Sometimes we wonder why our prayers aren’t answered. But if we don’t fulfill the responsibilities God has already given us, we should not be surprised when he does not give us further guidance. As we see from Saul’s story, turning to anything or anyone else leads to disaster.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“There was a wealthy man from Maon who owned property near the town of Carmel. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and it was sheep-shearing time. This man’s name was Nabal, and his wife, Abigail, was a sensible and beautiful woman. But Nabal, a descendant of Caleb, was crude and mean in all his dealings.” v.2-3
Nabal rudely refused David’s request to feed his 600 men. If we sympathize with Nabal, it is because customs are so different today. First, simple hospitality demanded that travelers – any number of them – be fed. Nabal was very rich and could have easily afforded to meet David’s request. Second, David wasn’t asking for a handout. He and his men had been protecting Nabal’s workforce, and part of Nabal’s prosperity was due to David’s vigilance. We should be generous with those who protect us and help us prosper, even if we are not obligated to do so by law or custom.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. ‘The LORD knows I shouldn’t have done that to my lord the king,’ he said to his men. ‘The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the LORD’s anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him.’ So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.” v.5-7
David had great respect for Saul, in spite of the fact that Saul was trying to kill him. Although Saul was sinning and rebelling against God, David still respected the position he held as God’s anointed king. David knew he would one day be king, and he also knew it was not right to strike down the man God had placed on the throne. If he assassinated Saul, he would be setting a precedent for his own opponents to remove him some day.

Romans 13:1-7 teaches that God has placed the government and it’s leaders in power. We may not know why, but, like David we are to respect the positions and roles of those to whom God has given authority. There is one exception, however. Because God is our highest authority, we should not allow a leader to pressure us to violate God’s law.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. ‘You stupid son of a whore!’ he swore at him. ‘Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!’
‘But why should he be put to death?’ Jonathan asked his father. ‘What has he done?’ Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.” v.30-33
Saul was still trying to secure his throne for future generations even though he had already been told his dynasty would end with him. Even worse, he was trying to do this by sinful human means because he knew he would get no help from God. Jonathan could have made a move to become the next king by killing his rival, his best friend, but he bypassed this opportunity because of his love for both God and David.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible

“After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond of love between them, and they became the best of friends.” v.1
When David and Jonathan met, they became close friends at once. Their friendship is one of the deepest and closest recorded in the Bible. Here is why:

1.) They based their friendship on a commitment to God, not just each other.
2.) They let nothing come between them, not a career or even family problems.
3.) They grew closer together when their friendship was tested.
4.) They remained friends to the end.

Jonathan, the prince of Israel, later realized that David, and not he, would be the next King. But that didn’t weaken his love for David. Jonathan would much rather lose the throne of Israel than lose his closest friend.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible