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God Remains Faithful

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18
God Remains Faithful Book Cover

“Pride goeth before the fall”—it’s a phrase you’ve undoubtedly heard before, a paraphrase of Proverbs 16:18. It is a warning to not think so highly of yourself that you let your guard down. There is no place so dangerous in our walk with God as the moment when we think we’ve got this and we’re doing well on our own. That is the place we find David in 2 Samuel 11, when temptation caught him in a place of vulnerability, and he failed to overcome.

David awoke from a late afternoon nap, walked out onto the terrace of his palace, and looked down on the city below. He saw a beautiful woman bathing. He inquired about her and learned that her name was Bathsheba, and she was married to one of David’s top warriors, Uriah. While Uriah was away at battle, David summoned Bathsheba, and, in an abuse of his kingly power, he had sexual relations with her before sending her home. Later, she informed David she had conceived, and David conspired to have Uriah killed on the battlefield. After Uriah died, David took Bathsheba as his wife and she gave birth to a son, who later died as a consequence of David’s sin.

Surely David did not wake that afternoon and plan to become an adulterer, conspirator, and murderer. But sin is crafty, and the temptation to sin most likely will not overwhelm us all at once. Rather, it often builds as one small compromise after another before you find yourself, like David, in a desperate place you never intended to go, damaging yourself and those around you with your destructive decisions.

Interestingly, no mention is made of David’s relationship with the Lord until the very end of this chapter when we read that David’s actions “displeased the LORD” (2 Samuel 11:27). From what we read in Scripture of David’s response, we can infer that David trusted in his own cleverness to get himself out of this situation rather than going to God for help. The end result? Death. And the fallout would impact David’s family relationships for generations to come.

David’s failure teaches an important spiritual truth: when sin comes knocking, we must humble ourselves before God and submit ourselves to his Spirit to help us overcome. Paul says it this way in the New Testament: “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:12–13).

Thankfully, David’s failure is not the end of the story. Even though David was unfaithful, God remained faithful. The fulfillment of God’s promises to David did not rest on David’s performance, and David was not to be the anointed one who would rescue God’s people. Instead, a son of David would rise who would be the promised heir to reign eternally and establish God’s kingdom forever.

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Daily Question

How does God’s faithfulness to David in spite of his failure comfort you when you face temptation and struggle with sin? (Check out 2 Timothy 2:13.)

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Comments (10)

Sin still happens, sometimes very easily, before I realize I am doing something I shouldn’t be doing. That God could forgive David of his sins tells me that God can forgive me of my sins. I like to say my sins are less than David, but in the end, sin is sin no matter how "bad" it is and we need forgiveness. I’m so grateful that if I repent, God will forgive all my sins. He will also always give a way out of committing a sin. Sometimes I listen to Him and sometimes I don’t and sin anyways. Then I feel bad because I know I should have done things differently. Repentance again. Forgiveness again. Thank you God!

Thinking about the big picture of David’s life and God’s faithfulness to him gives me ultimate hope for my life and hope for those I love. His faithfulness in my life is truly humbling. And a reassurance in my daily walking with God that He will be right there ready to guide me in His ways or back to His ways when sin comes creeping around. Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

David story reminds me that Gods truth is greater than my failures and his word is firm even in failure and that I have the chose to work through it to transform myself form it. I remind myself that God does not want us to be like his son Jesus but to follow him and his ways. In this I find peace.

Even when I fail, God will always be faithful. Our falls and mistake can’t reverse God’s promises to us. It’s an assurance knowing that my imperfect nature can’t undo His Covenant with me!
He will always be with me and never forsake me!!
How marvelous it is to really understand His faithfulness and His abundant grace!

God’s faithfulness to David in spite of his failure comforts me because it lets me know that God’s love for me is not dependent on how well I do in life or how much I stay away from sin. When I sin, I feel it, and I feel horrible, because I know I’ve separated myself from God and I’ve failed Him. However, just as 2 Timothy 2:13 says, God is faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to Him. He cannot deny His faithfulness, and that’s just how amazingly good He is. I’m so thankful I serve a God whose love is completely, 100% unconditional. That even when I mess up, I don’t have to stay stuck in it, because He loves me and makes me new each day. Thank You, God, for Your unfailing love!

It baffles me. That God still loved & blessed David just the same. Yes, there was major consequence for what he did. But he was still called a man after God’s own heart. And he was still in the lineage of Christ. It truly amazes me how gracious our Lord can be. God, I know I am not perfect. I have not sinned to the extent David did, but you Lord know the things I’ve done. And if you can be faithful to David I know you will continue to be faithful to me. May that change how I live every. Single. Day.

When temptation comes and I think I can handle it I always fail. When I bring my temptations to God and ask for His Holy Spirit’s power and way to escape, I find the way out! This is the beauty of God’s faithfulness and His provision! He’s right there to help, we just have to ask for it, and He WILL provide a way to escape!!! What a wonderful God we have!!!

I know that God wants us not to sin not because it means he’ll turn his back on us but because of the consequences it brings. And even though our sin hurts God, he still remains faithful to His promises.

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