Dr Paul Allen

I was again overcome by the story of David’s sin against Uriah (murder) and Bathsheba (adultery) and God’s response in 2 Samuel 11–12. David acknowledges that the one who has done such a thing deserves to die (2 Samuel 12:5), but in the end Nathan says, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die” ( 12:13 ). This is amazing grace. God passes over the sin and takes away the penalty of death. Although the sin is taken away and the death sentence removed, Nathan says, “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die” ( 12:14 ). In spite of forgiveness, some “penalty” for the sin remains. Disciplinary Consequences I put  penalty  in quotes because I think we must distinguish consequences of forgiven sin (verse 13) from consequences of unforgiven sin . The latter are properly called penalties. The former we should probably call “disciplinary consequences.” That is, they are related to the ...

English: Nathan advises King David (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of the penitential psalms, Psalm 51 was written by David after he was confronted by the prophet Nathan . Nathan declared that David had grievously sinned against God in the taking of Bathsheba to be his wife and in the murder of her husband, Uriah. It's important to see the anguish and heartfelt remorse expressed by David, but we must also understand that repentance of the heart is the work of God the Holy Spirit . David is repentant because of the influence of the Holy Spirit upon him. Not only that, but as he writes this prayer, he is writing it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit demonstrates in Psalm 51 how He produces repentance in our hearts. Keep this in mind as we look at the psalm. Psalm 51 begins, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions" (v. 1). Here we see an element that is fundamental...

The Guilt of Janet Ames (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When we talk about God 's using guilt, it sounds strange to many people in our society because there's a widespread notion that guilt is something that is intrinsically destructive to human beings and that to impose guilt on anybody is wrong. The idea then emerges that God certainly would never use such a thing as guilt to bring about his will with human beings. If he did, that would be beneath the level of purity we would prefer in our deity. In biblical terms, guilt is something that is real and is objective, and I think it's very important that we distinguish between guilt and guilt feelings. Guilt feelings are emotions that I experience subjectively. Guilt is an objective state of affairs . We see that in our law courts. When a person goes on trial for having broken the law, the question before the jury and before the judge is not, Does the accused feel guilty? but, Is there a real state of affairs that we call ...

David and Bathsheba (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Psalm 51:1-19. Even in its heroes, the Bible does not cover up nor excuse sins . David was one of its heroes. The background to this psalm is found in 2 Samuel , chapters 11 and 12. It was a time of war. David should have been at the front with his army. He fell through a ‘look’. He was not the only one to do so, Gen. 3:6; 13:10, 14, 15, etc. Later, the sin he committed with Bathsheba could not be hidden. Bathsheba was pregnant and David was going to be found out. It led to Uriah ’s murder. The story would never be revealed. But David reckoned without one important factor, 2 Sam. 11:27—all was known to God . What happened in the year following is told in Psalm 32 verses 3, 4. Then Nathan is sent to David with his story of one little ewe lamb. David’s anger is aroused, but he does not see himself in the story. Oh the blinding effect of sin! We are strangely blind to our own faults and sins. We excuse sin in our own lives and are ve...

English: Nathan advises King David (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “What is the point of creation?” Answewr: Holiness . That people would glorify God by means of holiness. God is pursuing his glory through the reflection of his own holiness. The obvious problem here is the reality that none of us perfectly reflect this holiness. When we sin we are failing to be holy as he is holy. When you think about the divine pursuit and the human problem then the Bible’s tone makes a lot of sense. What you basically have is God speaking and acting in order to procure holiness by waking people out of their rebellion. How does God do this? How does he get people’s attention? How does he get your attention? It’s interesting. People and situations are different; and God uses various means to make this uniform point. Think of David when confronted by Nathan the prophet . He told a story and then wrapped in David to it to show his vileness ( 2 Sam 12.1-15 ). Then there is thundering of the Law in Exodus...

English: Nathan advises King David (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The account of David’s positive, dramatic rise pivots with the story of David’s sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:1–12:27). Through the prophet Nathan , God rebuked David and showed that He valued character more than competence (2 Sam 12:1–15). David’s humble response led God to promise forgiveness. However, God also promised continual trouble in David’s own family; these troubles dominated the remainder of his reign. • David’s eldest son, Amnon , raped his half-sister , Tamar (2 Sam 13). David failed to take action. • Tamar’s brother, Absalom , killed Amnon in retribution and fled north to Geshur , the neighboring kingdom from which his mother had come. David again failed to take action. • After Joab rebuked David through a wise woman, David recalled his son, but refused to meet with him until again prompted by Joab. David’s failures and inability to take proper action within his family contributed to...