David and Nathan

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข When giving advice, do you hold back a little or say everything in that moment? Why?

โ€ข Have you ever received correction for a mistake you committed? How did you respond?

โ€ข How do you apologize to someone you hurt? What are some things you did to gain back their trust?


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

๐˜•๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, โ€œ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ! ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ, โ€˜๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ญ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‘๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฉ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต? ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜œ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด.โ€ย ๐Ÿฎ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿณโ€“๐Ÿต


(Read also ๐Ÿฎ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿญโ€“๐Ÿฒ; ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌโ€“๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ.)


Being part of a community not only means receiving encouragement from others, but also being open to correction. In fact, godly correction is essential so that we can be brought back to God and continue to live in His ways. Even David, who is considered as one of Israelโ€™s greatest kings, had to be corrected from a sinful action so that he could be restored and live for God again. Today, letโ€™s look at what the Bible says about giving and receiving correction.


๐Ÿญ. ๐—š๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—น๐˜†.

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜•๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ . . . โ€œ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ! ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ, โ€˜๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ญ.โ€™โ€ย ย ๐Ÿฎ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿญ, ๐Ÿณ


The prophet Nathan could have cowered in fear at the thought of rebuking or giving correction to the King of Israel, but he spoke in obedience to God. Through a story, Nathan helped David come to a conclusion about right and wrong, and then courageously gave the correction about Davidโ€™s sin (2 Samuel 12:9). When God places us in situations to correct others, we can ask Him to give us courage to do so out of love. God can use those moments to point others to Him. Recall a time when you received godly correction. How was it different from other kinds of correction?


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—น๐˜†.ย 

๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜•๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ, โ€œ๐˜ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹.โ€ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜•๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ; ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ.โ€ย ๐Ÿฎ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฏ


(Read also ๐—ฃ๐—ฆ๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—  ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿญ.)


David, even though he was king, chose to be humble, realizing the error of his ways. Instead of being bitter like his predecessor Saul, David understood the weight of his actions and accepted the consequences. Because of this, he was not put to death immediately, which gave him a chance to make up for his sinful act. Just like David, we can choose to receive correction from a position of humility. Though we are not perfect, God can work in our hearts when we allow others to correct and discipline us. Think of a time when you had a hard time accepting correction at first. How were you able to move forward from how you felt initially?


๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—น๐˜†.

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ. ๐Ÿฎ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ


(Read also ๐Ÿฎ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿญโ€“๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ.)


Rather than dwell on what he did wrong, David remembered Godโ€™s goodness. In the midst of the dark time he was in and the correction he received, he trusted Godโ€™s discipline and gave glory to God. It was Godโ€™s way of creating in David a ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ตย and renewing ๐˜ข ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต in him (Psalm 51:10, 12). In moments where shame and guilt may seem overwhelming, we can look to God knowing that He is restoring our hearts and renewing our minds to follow His ways. How did your relationship with someone who corrected you grow? How was your trust in one another strengthened?


Godโ€™s heart is always at work to restore those who have sinned and strayed from His ways. Ultimately, He brought David back to right standing with Him (2 Samuel 12:24โ€“25). That same restoration is made available to us today through Davidโ€™s descendant, Jesus, who sacrificed Himself to cleanse us from our sins and bring us back to a right relationship with God.


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

โ€ข Is there someone in your life who will speak to you and correct you out of love? How will you respond when you receive correction?

โ€ข Is God calling you to courageously and humbly correct someone? What are some practical ways you can do this as Nathan did with King David?

โ€ข How can you help the next generation love God and do away with sin? What are some things you can do this week to accomplish this?


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข Thank God for sending people to give you godly correction as a way of molding and shaping you for His purposes.

โ€ข Ask God to guide you when you go through discipline or correction. Pray that you would focus on His goodness instead of your shortcomings.

โ€ข Ask God to give you courage to speak up and correct in love when needed.ย