Chapter 13: Questions

The King Who Had It All

As always, feel free to answer questions in the comments (especially the "Digging Deeper" ones) and share any thoughts you might have about the "Personal Action." Or, let us know if YOU have a question!


CHECKING YOUR COMPREHENSION
1. If God promised to give you one thing, what would you ask for? Why was Solomon's request for wisdom and discernment so pleasing to God?

2. How is wisdom different from knowledge and intellect?

3. How does one become wise?

4. Pride and lust were ultimately Solomon's downfall--how can you guard yourself against these sins? 

DIGGING DEEPER
1. As the temple is dedicated, Solomon prayed and spoke to the people of Israel (pp 186-188). What do his words teach us about God? What does he ask for himself and for he people, and how can his prayer teach us about speaking with God?

2. At the end of his life, King Solomon did some very foolish things (pp 191-192). What did he do and what were the consequences? How can we avoid ending foolishly? Instead, how can we finish strong? 

PERSONAL ACTION
The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible is a book of reflections Solomon wrote at the end of his life. This week, take a few moments and read through his wisdom. How easy is it to focus on the wrong things? Ask God to show you what matters most to Him ... and what should matter most to you.

This is a safe place to be able to share questions and fears and doubts. You can post using your name or not, whichever you prefer. And if you choose to respond to someone's comment, please be gentle with your words. 

Chapter 12: Reflection

Guest post by Dave Allen, a "The Story" reader! 

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war…” (p.161). 

There is a lesson to be gleaned from this line: had David been occupying himself within God’s purpose, fulfilling his kingly duties, he would not have been wandering about on the palace roof in Jerusalem and would never have seen Bathsheba bathing in the first place!

“Adultery.” Many believers these days do not like to think about it, but God commands the same sentence for adultery as he does for murder. 

I oft wonder why when so many of my fellow believers cheer and chant surrounding a murderer’s execution but I have never heard any of them calling for an adulterer to be put to death. Do they believe God’s Law has changed simply because adultery is accepted by secular society? Or perhaps it is because this sin hit a little too close to home for them?

At any rate, David’s adultery led to the murder of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband. We in the church do not like to talk about it, so we down play it as “David’s Sin” or even try to romanticize it as “The Story of David and Bathsheba,” but in all actuality it was a crime. 

David, the beloved King of Israel; the apple of God’s eye, was a criminal. He committed pre-meditated capital murder in his attempted cover-up of adultery. He had committed two capital crimes, each calling for the death penalty, and thought he had gotten away with them, until the prophet Nathan showed up at his door:

This is what the Lord says: “Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you….You did this in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel” (pg. 163).

Justice called for David’s death, but filled with remorse, David asked God to forgive him, and “God said yes” (pg. 165). It is my sincerest prayer that we, the Church, having been forgiven by God of our own sins, will strive to remember the mercy and grace God has shown upon us, before we determine to cast an unforgiving judgment upon others. 

As Charles Williams has said of the Lord’s Prayer, “No word in English carries a possibility of terror than that little word “as” in that one clause” – “as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

A CLOSING THOUGHT

Should criminals still be executed if they, like David, have asked for and received God’s forgiveness? 

Chapter 12: Reflection

The Trials of a King

As always, feel free to answer questions in the comments (especially the "Digging Deeper" ones) and share any thoughts you might have about the "Personal Action." Or, let us know if YOU have a question!


CHECKING YOUR COMPREHENSION
1. What were some factors that led to David's sin with Bathsheba?

2. Bathsheba is silent in this story? What do you think was going through her head during this story?

3. The Bible often says the sins of parents will continue to be judged in the lives of their children. How did David's sin affect the future of his family?

4. David was allowed to plan the temple, but God told him that his SON would be the one to actually build it. How do you think David felt about that? How did David respond? 

DIGGING DEEPER
1. In the last chapter, when Saul was confronted with his sin, he made excuses instead of taking responsibility. What does David do when the prophet Nathan confronts him with his sin?

2. God forgave David ... but he still had to suffer the consequences for his sin. What were the immediate consequences? Long-term? 

PERSONAL ACTION
Why is it important for us to remember that even though we walk in God's grace, we TOO still must suffer the consequences for our sinful actions?

And what do we learn about the holiness and heart of God when we consider Nathan's interactions with David?

This is a safe place to be able to share questions and fears and doubts. You can post using your name or not, whichever you prefer. And if you choose to respond to someone's comment, please be gentle with your words. 

Chapter 11: Reflection

Guest post by Dave Allen, a "The Story" reader! 

I am beginning to see a trend: 

First, we had Moses, a murderer turned fugitive (Exodus 2:12-15), whom God called to deliver his enslaved people from the bondage in Egypt. 

And now we have David, a soon to be adulterer turned murderer (2 Samuel 11: 17), whom God calls to be the king if Israel. 

What will be next? Perhaps a thief on a cross together with Jesus in paradise (Luke 23:39-43). 

*Lucado has it correct “The Lord does not look at the things people look at, The Lord looks at the heart.” (pg.145)

David, a small unassuming shepherd boy, what an odd choice, to be the next king. Although he has been described as “glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features” (pg. 146), by all human judgment he certainly had no leadership experience that would qualify him to rule the troubled kingdom. 

Nonetheless, this sheep-keeping lad was God’s personal; choice. “Rise and anoint him,” the Lord commanded (Samuel 16:12), “this is the one.” 

So there he was, anointed and called .... and his simple life seems to become more and more troubled, as he spends most of his time trying to avoid being killed by the very king he had been anointed to replace! 

Even years later, long after he had been made king, his life always seemed clouded in sadness. I have noticed this within my own studies. While surveying those who have experienced theophonies (an appearance of God to people), most have reported an un-definable “cloud of grief” as a constant presence within their lives- as if God’s calling has brought them to the particular attention of the devil.

Granted in David’s case, he brought much of his observable trouble upon himself. The important lesson is that he made no excuses. He confessed his sins, accepted whatever judgment God determined, and continued onward toward the fulfillment of God’s purpose.

The nameless criminal is the only person to whom Jesus confirms that he will be together with him in paradise.

A CLOSING THOUGHT

Have you ever considered what Moses thought as God was listing the Ten Commandments and he got to the one that read “Thou shall not murder”? Do you suppose that he thought back to the murdered Egyptian he had buried in the sand?

Chapter 11: Questions

From Shepherd to King 

As always, feel free to answer questions in the comments (especially the "Digging Deeper" ones) and share any thoughts you might have about the "Personal Action." Or, let us know if YOU have a question!


CHECKING YOUR COMPREHENSION
1. What can we learn about prayer from Hannah? 

2. How exactly did Samuel show his faith in God? 

3. Why was it so wrong for the Israelites to ask for a king? 

DIGGING DEEPER
1. How did Saul respond when confronted with his sin? How do YOU respond when confronted with your own sins and shortcomings? 

2. Where do you see God's grace at work in this chapter?


PERSONAL ACTION
Charles Caleb Colton coined the phrase, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" in the early 1800s. In other words, "People tend to do what the people around them are doing ... for better or for worse!" 

So, who do YOU hang out with? 

Who are you imitating? 

Who has the most influence over you? 

What are the unhealthy and ungodly habits you have picked up from others? And what are you going to do about them??

This is a safe place to be able to share questions and fears and doubts. You can post using your name or not, whichever you prefer. And if you choose to respond to someone's comment, please be gentle with your words.