David s Abuse of Power Week Four. 993 BC: Passionately Unfaithful 2 Samuel 11

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1 DAY BC: Passionately Unfaithful 2 Samuel The first verse says very little and yet so much, doesn't it? What ominous clues does the narrator give you as to David heading down a slippery slope? *2. How have similar choices led you into sin before? 3. List some of the action words in verses 2-5 and who is carrying them out: *4. Can you think of a time that you came face to face with a direct consequence of your sin? 5. How did David respond to Bathsheba's news 6-13; how was he planning to cover his sin? *6. What sin/s are you currently struggling with and how do you try to cover it? 7. Why would Uriah not go home, and how must this have added salt to David's bleeding depravity? 8. What did Bathsheba do when she heard about Urriah and what title is she called in verse 26 and why might this be significant? 9. When her mourning period was over, David married her and brought her to the palace, but we are not left wondering how the Lord felt, what does the end of verse 27 conclude? 10. When we entertain selfish fantasies, whatever the form, we are giving evil a foothold. Spend some time confessing your selfish fantasies and desires before the Lord. *11. In every step of action David took he was making a conscious choice. Where do you need to make different conscious choices so as not to give sin a foothold in your life? 12. Look up 1 Peter 5: 8, James 1: and 10: 13. What two forces lead you into sin? What do these verses say you can do to be faithful: 13. We often believe the lie that God is withholding a good thing from us, and then we sin to meet this perceived need, but what did James, the brother of Jesus, insure verse 1: 17?

2 DAY BC: Brilliantly Rebuked 2 Samuel 12: 1-14 *1. The way Nathan paints the picture, there is a sin even deeper than lust, what is it? *2. When you look at the sins that currently tempt you, are you even dealing with the deepest root? What root sin have you maybe overlooked? 3. What was David's reaction to Nathan in verses 5-6, and what is ironic and/or revealing about this? *4. What did David say the man in Nathan's account lacked, and what does this mean to you personally? *5. Look up Matthew 7: 1-5 and notice how it relates to this chapter. Where have you been guilty of this recently? 6. What does God say (through Nathan) in verse 8? 7. What does the Lord accuse David of in verse 9, and what is the consequence in verse 11? 8. Have you ever thought of your sin as an act of despising God's Word? 9. What does David immediately recognize as his greatest offense, verse 13? In verse 13, as quickly as David is confessing, the Lord is declaring forgiveness. David probably expected to die as Ei and Saul had. The consequences David faced would likely be more painful than death for him. It's one thing to suffer innocently, as he had for years before becoming king, it's another to suffer as the consequences of your own sin. In life, you and I experience both, so it is helpful to walk this road with David. 10. What would be the consequences for David s sin? (see 10-11, and 14) 11. That God is merciful and forgiving does not mean we should take on a sense of entitlement. He is also just, righteous, and holy. Look up Genesis 2: 17 and Romans 6: 23: what are the wages of sin?

3 DAY 3 A Contrite Plea for Forgiveness Psalm On what grounds is David asking for forgiveness in verses 1-2? 2. Verse 2 has such beautiful imagery: take a moment to confess your sins and in your mind's eye, picture the Lord doing what is described in this verse. Do you believe He has the power and desire to do this for you? If not, meditate on Isaiah 53, (emphasis on verse 10.) 3. Who is David's sin always before? (verse 3.) In contrast, look up what David wrote in Psalm 103: 12 and write it down: 4. Have you ever felt harassed by the memory of a past sin? For every glance you take at your sin, take a long gaze at the cross. The reality is 1 John 1: 9. What is said there? *5. What does David mean by verse 4, do you think? 6. According to verse 5, are we sinful because we have sinned, or do we sin because we are sinful? *7. How is verse 6 especially applicable to David's recent downfall? *8. What inmost places and parts of you do you need God's Truth to shine today? *9. When David wrote verse 7 he must've had Moses in mind. Read Hebrews 9:16-22 and explain why David uses this imagery of hyssop: 10. What does David believe God has the power to do, verse 7 and verse 10? 11. What did David surely have in mind when he wrote verse 11? (see 1 Samuel 16: 14) *12. What had David lost and when do you think he lost it (verse 12)? 13. Do you ever experience the loss of these things? Even the apostle Paul must've felt this way, for he wrote Galatians 6:9, which says what? 14. How did David learn verse 16? (See 1 Samuel 15: 22) What does David offer instead (verse 17)?

4 DAY BC: The Wages of Sin 2 Samuel 12: How long did David lay prostrate because of his sick son? 2. This is quite a turnaround from him trying to pass this child off as the son of another in chapter 11. What do you think was going through David's thoughts and mind? 3. What does he tell the servants he had been thinking in verse 22? 4. What were his servants afraid he might do when they told him the child was dead, and how did his reaction surprise them? 5. Verse 24 is interesting because it tells us he was able to do what for Bathsheba? Doesn't that make you wonder about their relationship? How was he able to do this after costing her so much and what kind of humility did that take, and what kind of woman was she? 6. David's intercession on his son's behalf was not effective in restoring his son's physical life. But in some ways it causes us to think of a far greater mediation that is effective in securing eternal life; a moment when a Father allowed the consequences of sin to fall on His Child with Whom He was well pleased. Look up Romans 8: 34 and record why no one can condemn you: Notice that forgiveness does not mean a removal of earthly consequences. Our sins have lasting consequences; that's simply cause and effect. We can be free from the condemnation but must humbly suffer the consequences in a godly way, looking to honor the Lord as we wade through the wreckage. Read Romans 8: 28 and be encouraged. *7. How did the Lord work David's life consequences and trials together for good? *8. How has God worked good amidst consequences and trials in your past? *9. As you look over this entire week of reading, what impacts you about the way David interacts with the Lord? *10. As you look over this entire week of reading, what impacts you about the Lord and His Character? 11. Verses seem to resolve our narrator's complaint at the beginning of the week in 11:1, how so?

5 DAY 5 The Consolation that Follows Confession Psalm What does David declare is an immense blessing in the first 2 verses of this psalm? *2. Can you relate: have you ever experienced the relief of your sin being exposed and dealt with in one way or another? 3. How did David describe the experience of keeping his sin hidden? (verses 3-4) Can you relate to this? *4. There is a play on words in the first four verses, can you identify it? 5. What does David say brought him relief? (vs 5) 6. What does David encourage listeners/readers to do and what incentive does he give? (vs 6) *7. What does he have in mind when he mentions a flood of waters, likely, and what did that moment in history represent? 8. What does David call God in verse 7 and what time in his earlier life might he have been thinking back on in using this term? 9. What does David warn against being in verse 9? *10. Where in your life do you tend to be mule-headed? 11. What is a sure way to find sorrow? (verse 9-10) *12. How is this psalm different from the one you formerly read this week? *13. What verse of this psalm speaks to you the strongest today and why?