Monday, January 9, 2011 - David suffers and his baby dies

7:00 a.m. Prayer/Devotion

One year Bible

2 Samuel 12:1-31; John 16:1-33; Psalm 229:65-80; Proverbs 16:4-5

2 Samuel 12:1-31

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 Samuel 12

Nathan Rebukes David

 ¹ 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. ² The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. ³ 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. ⁴ 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.” ⁵ David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! ⁶ He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”
 ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. ⁹ Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. ¹⁰ From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.
 ¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. ¹² You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

David Confesses His Guilt

 ¹³ Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”   Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the Lord^[a] by doing this, your child will die.”
 ¹⁵ After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife. ¹⁶ David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
 ¹⁸ Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?”
 ¹⁹ When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
   “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
 ²⁰ Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions,^[b] and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.
 ²¹ His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”
 ²² 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.”
 ²⁴ Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.^[c]

David Captures Rabbah

 ²⁶ Meanwhile, Joab was fighting against Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, and he captured the royal fortifications.^{[d] 27} Joab sent messengers to tell David, “I have fought against Rabbah and captured its water supply.^{[e] 28} Now bring the rest of the army and capture the city. Otherwise, I will capture it and get credit for the victory.” ²⁹ So David gathered the rest of the army and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. ³⁰ David removed the crown from the king’s head,^[f] and it was placed on his own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed seventy-five pounds.^[g] David took a vast amount of plunder from the city. ³¹ He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with^[h] saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to work in the brick kilns.^[i] That is how he dealt with the people of all the Ammonite towns. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Samuel 12:14 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text reads the Lord’s enemies.
2. 2 Samuel 12:20 Hebrew anointed himself.
3. 2 Samuel 12:25 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads because of the Lord.
4. 2 Samuel 12:26 Or the royal city.
5. 2 Samuel 12:27 Or captured the city of water.
6. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or from the head of Milcom (as in Greek version). Milcom, also called Molech, was the god of the Ammonites.
7. 2 Samuel 12:30 Hebrew 1 talent [34 kilograms].
8. 2 Samuel 12:31 Or He also brought out the people of Rabbah and put them under.
9. 2 Samuel 12:31 Or and he made them pass through the brick kilns.

New Living Translation (NLT)Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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John 16:1-33

New Living Translation (NLT)

John 16

   “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. ² For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. ³ This is because they have never known the Father or me. ⁴ Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

 ⁵ “But now I am going away to the One who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. ⁶ Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. ⁷ But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate^[a] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. ⁹ The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. ¹⁰ Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. ¹¹ Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. ¹² “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. ¹⁴ He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy

 ¹⁶ “In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.” ¹⁷ Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? ¹⁸ And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”
 ¹⁹ Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. ²⁰ I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. ²¹ It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. ²² So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. ²³ At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. ²⁴ You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.
 ²⁵ “I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. ²⁶ Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.^{[b] 28} Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”
 ²⁹ Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. ³⁰ Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”
 ³¹ Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? ³² But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. ³³ I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Footnotes:

1. John 16:7 Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor. Greek reads Paraclete.
2. John 16:27 Some manuscripts read from the Father.

New Living Translation (NLT)Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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Error: 'Psalm 229:65-80' not found for the version: New Living Translation.

Proverbs 16:4-5

New Living Translation (NLT)

 ⁴ The Lord has made everything for his own purposes,
      even the wicked for a day of disaster.
 ⁵ The Lord detests the proud;
      they will surely be punished.