When David says…
“I was pure-hearted toward him
and kept myself from my sin.
Hence Adonai repaid me for my uprightness,
according to my purity in his view.”
2 Samuel 22:24-25
There are two interesting Hebrew words we should take a look at.
David is claiming Adonai repaid him for his TZEDEKAH…
And this was because he kept himself from AVON.
TZEDEKAH means “righteous works” or “righteous justice.”
AVON more means “guilt” or “depravity,” even though the Complete Jewish Bible translates it as “sin.”
Well, we don’t have to look back too far (just flip to 2 Samuel 12) to see that David’s inflated opinion of himself is far off the mark.
David may have thought his sins were no big deal.
That is, until Nathan the Prophet showed up and slapped him upside the head with a serious reality check.
Through Nathan, God called out the awful things David did.
Of course, this was referring to the affair David had with Bathsheba, and then the wickedness of arranging to have her husband, Uriah, killed, to cover things up.
The point is, David, from his high and lofty place on the throne, had been entertaining the idea that his behavior was simply a minor slip-up.
God had to let David know in no uncertain terms that that wasn’t the case.
And how did He do that?
By sending in a third party.
Nathan, in this case.
Herein lies your takeaway.
When we live life isolated from others, as David did, perched up on his throne, it becomes easy to become separated from reality and make excuses for our behavior.
We let our subjective thoughts take over.
We start to rationalize away the seriousness of our behavior and the sins we committed.
“What I did really isn’t that bad.”
“Everybody is sleeping around, anyway.”
“The Lord has already forgiven me because of His son’s sacrifice on the cross.”
Why do we fall into this tendency?
The answer is simple.
We don’t have outside accountability.
We don’t have a godly brother or sister nearby to say, “Hey, what you’re doing is seriously wrong and dangerous.”
That’s why God had to send Nathan to David to wake him up out of his slumber.
And that’s why if you’re not in regular fellowship with other believers…
It’s easy to descend into a sinful lifestyle and not even realize what’s happening until it’s too late.
That’s why we need BOTH God’s Word and a Godly community to keep us in check.
Ya feel me?
As the saying goes, “Iron sharpens iron.”
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Therefore, confess your sins
to each other and pray for each other
so that you may be healed.”
— James 5:16
“Brothers and sisters,
If someone is caught in a sin,
You who live by the Spirit
should restore that person gently.”
— Galatians 6:1
“Let us consider how we may
spur one another on toward
love and good deeds…
encouraging one another.”
— Hebrews 10:24–25
“But encourage one another daily,
as long as it is called ‘Today,’
so that none of you may be
hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
— Hebrews 3:13
“Therefore, encourage one another
and build each other up.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:11
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