Lesson: God takes his people through times of testing, times of trial, months or years in the wilderness, times of stripping away, in order to make us more fruitful, to bring clarity to our lives, to bring a simple focus to our time and energies.
Text(s): 2 Samuel 18:33; 2 Samuel 15-18; Psalm 3; John 15:1-3
Ice-Breakers: (opening questions to ask the members of the group)
1. What was the time in your life you felt most stripped or pruned by God? What things in your life got stripped away?
2. Tell us about the friend who always stands by you, no matter what.
Background:
David was run out of Jerusalem by a general revolt led by his son Absalom, the one most like him: ambitious, a gifted leader and politician. David was stripped of his throne, the privileges and prerogatives of power, his military might, his majesty and the dignity of his office. His nation was now divided. He was a man on the run with a loyal band of a several hundred soldiers and a retinue of supporters —much like the old days when Saul was chasing him twenty years earlier.
Do you ever feel like you’re going around the same mountain again in life? Digging Deeper:
God used this time of turmoil in David’s life to restore him to the man and the king he used to be. Skim through 2 Samuel 15-16 to find examples of the following:
- He became proactive (Be sure to notice the instructions given to Hushai)
Chapter 18 tells us how David took up his old position as the chieftain leader of a guerilla warrior band and developed a fine strategy which gave his much more experienced guerilla fighters the advantage over Absalom’s larger force.
- He appreciated his friends again Hushai, Ittai the Gittite. Can you find any others mentioned by name?
- He pressed into prayer again 2 Samuel 15:30-31
Why do you think the news of Ahithophel’s treason spurred David towards prayer? 2 Samuel 16:23 (Which was easier: asking Ahithophel, or asking God?)
- He began to walk in humility again
This is the same David who took Bathsheba, murdered Uriah, ignored his children - even the daughter who was raped and the son who murdured his cousin to avenge her. Yet how does he now respond to Shimei? 2 Samuel 16:11-12
- He embraced suffering and sorrow again
How did David’s treatment of Absalom in 2 Samuel 14:23 compare to God’s treatment of David in 2 Samuel 12:13? David entered into a profound sorrow, a deep brokenness, for he realized fully that in order for him to retain his kingdom his son had to die. And David knew that his own sins had paved the way for the sacrifice of his son. 2 Samuel 18:33
Wrap Up:
David was, in fact, restored to his throne, to his friends and family, to a right-minded humility, to a helpful brokenness, to dependency on his God—in short to his truest self, to his humanity. He was reminded, as we are, that we should live in gracious forgiveness with those around us always, reminding ourselves that we have received such in our lives already. Read John 15:1-3 Is God stripping you? Pruning you? Is there a spiritual deconstruction going on in your life? What has encrusted your life, dragging you away from God: your benefits and privileges (like David) or anger and bitterness from life’s failures? Reaching Out:
Take a deep breath and pick up the phone, or get in the car, or send that email. Extend God’s grace to the one who has hurt you - and the one you have hurt. Like David’s Absalom, the two may well be the same person. |
