David and Nathan
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข When giving advice, do you hold back a little or say everything in that moment? Why?
โข Have you ever received correction for a mistake you committed? How did you respond?
โข How do you apologize to someone you hurt? What are some things you did to gain back their trust?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ! ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต? ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ด.โย ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ณโ๐ต
(Read also ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญโ๐ฒ; ๐ญ๐ฌโ๐ญ๐ฐ.)
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 Israelโs greatest kings, had to be corrected from a sinful action so that he could be restored and live for God again. Today, letโs look at what the Bible says about giving and receiving correction.
๐ญ. ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ . . . โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ! ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ.โโย ย ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญ, ๐ณ
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 Davidโs 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?
๐ฎ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฏ๐น๐.ย
๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ, โ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ; ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ.โย ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฏ
(Read also ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ญ.)
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?
๐ฏ. ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐น๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ. ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ฌ
(Read also ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ญโ๐ฎ๐ฏ.)
Rather than dwell on what he did wrong, David remembered Godโs goodness. In the midst of the dark time he was in and the correction he received, he trusted Godโs discipline and gave glory to God. It was Godโs way of creating in David a ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ตย and renewing ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต 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?
Godโs 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 12:24โ25). That same restoration is made available to us today through Davidโs descendant, Jesus, who sacrificed Himself to cleanse us from our sins and bring us back to a right relationship with God.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข 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?
โข 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?
โข 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?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for sending people to give you godly correction as a way of molding and shaping you for His purposes.
โข Ask God to guide you when you go through discipline or correction. Pray that you would focus on His goodness instead of your shortcomings.
โข Ask God to give you courage to speak up and correct in love when needed.ย