When Life Is Painful | 2 Samuel 15-18

Summary

These chapters look at the most painful years of David’s life. Pastor Timothy Ateek guides us through snapshots in David’s life from chapters 15-18, and helps us find 5 keys to surviving the painful days, weeks, and years of life.

Key Takeaways

• Learning from David
  • God is sovereign in the midst of your pain.
  • Don’t play God in the midst of your pain.
  • Pray for miracles in the midst of your pain.
  • Grow in the midst of your pain.
  • Wait and watch for God’s grace in the midst of your pain.
• Looking through David
  • In the midst of God’s judgment for David’s sin, David believed that it was possible for God to intervene in his own judgement with grace.
  • Don’t forget that he already has in the person of Jesus. Remember, David points us to the greater David. If you think about it, Jesus became a curse for you and for me. The rocks that Shimei threw were symbolic of an execution, and David deserved to die for his sin. And yet Jesus on the cross was in fact executed. The sinless Son of God was executed in place of a sinful humanity. And in doing so you know what God was doing? He was intervening in his own judgment with grace. Romans 3 explains it as God being both the just and the justifier. He is at the same time the justice who takes the record of our sin and pronounces the punishment of death….eternal separation from God in hell. And yet that judge at the same exact time steps down off of the judge's stand and receives the punishment of death so that you and I not only don’t have to die, but we get to live.

Discussing and Applying the Sermon

• How does God’s sovereignty comfort you in the midst of difficult circumstances?
• Are you experiencing unnecessary or unavoidable pain about which we can pray? If so, the 5:30pm prayer service on Sundays would be a great way to let your brothers and sisters at Watermark carry your burdens alongside you.
• Are you trying to play God in the midst of your pain? How can you trust Him in this season of your life? Is there a promise to believe and cling to in God’s Word (e.g., John 15:1-2; Romans 8:28)?
• How is God working to grow you and conform you more into the image Christ in this season?
• Read Hebrews 12:3-11. How can knowing that Jesus willingly carried our ultimate burdens—sin and death—and bore the curse for our sins through his perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection give you hope in the midst of unnecessary or unavoidable pain?