Discussion Questions
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What can we learn (both positive and negative) from the life of David?
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David lived a holy life and from this other could be led to jealously of such a fulfilled life.
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We can learn positive things from David by thinking that humans are all like David. He was a man that loved God so much, but he sins like we all do. He was faithful to God but then he wanted more, like we all do. We have to remember David’s life was crazy just as we fall short too, and we can learn from David that we can be content with what God gives us and not want more.
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We can learn that we are sinful people who will make decisions that do not follow God’s commandments and this separates us from God and His will for our lives. We also learn that we have a gracious God who does not hide from us when we sin but offers redemption and growth.
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David was a man after God’s own heart. He wanted to honor and please God and he frequently sought the wisdom of God. Because of this God blessed David mightily. God was with David and allowed him to be successful in his battles with his enemies and allowed him to finish the conquest of the promised land that was started by Joshua. In this regard, we need to be like David and seek out the wisdom of God in our lives. However, David also had several moral failures including the episode of adultery with Bathsheba which led to the murder of Uriah. When confronted by the prophet Nathan, David replies that he has sinned against the Lord. Because of this confession, Nathan informs David that the Lord has taken away his sin, but there will still be consequences. We should heed this example as God always knows when we sin and there are always consequences to sin even if not immediately manifested. When we sin, we should be like David and repent so that our relationship with God can be restored.
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We learn from David’s life that God is faithful to his promises and plan for our lives. We are sinful and although we fall into sin and temptation, but in repentance we can be used to fulfill God’s plan for our lives. We can not escape God or our sinful nature. We can make a choice to serve the Lord daily with passion and fervor so that others can see him and be led to follow him as well.
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Where do you see God’s faithfulness to His people and His covenant with them demonstrated in 2 Samuel? Explain.
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God never stopped being faithful to His people. Although the people, including Saul, David and many others were constantly failing in their earthly faithfulness, God relented again, and again and restored His people. He had made a covenant with them, and He was sticking to that plan.
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He had allowed the people to have the king they had sought (Saul), but had chosen and brought to fruition a king who was set apart for His glory (David), one whose future kingdom would be eternal. God also gave His people victory over the people in the land He had given them, the last holdouts.
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He provided them with the entire Promised Land, completing it through David’s conquests as led by God. Then God made His covenant with David that an eternal king would come from his descendants.
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His covenant with David through Davids descendent Jesus.
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God’s covenant to his people was the Davidic covenant, where God told David that you will not build a house for me (the covenant that was physically there), but I will build a house, or family for you. He was letting David know that he was a man of war, and God wanted a house of peace. This is where Jesus comes into play. You see God’s faithfulness to His people in the beginning of 2 Samuel when David was honoring God, and God was rewarding him.