Bible reading notes
The surprising truth about God’s grace and forgiveness (2 Sam 12:15-31)
2 Sam 12:15-31 I don’t know if you have ever felt as a child that you had to be on your best behaviour after some major upset when you had done something wrong. Although the storm may have blown over,…
Forgiven but punished? How to make sense of David’s sin and its aftermath (2 Sam 12:10-15)
2 Sam 12:10-15 As a young Christian, I remember reading Nathan’s message from God, which describes a number of things that will happen in David’s life as a result of his sin and wondering how this fits in with the…
The real issue in David’s sin (2 Sam 12:1-10)
2 Sam 12:1-10 David’s downfall is one of the most well-known in the Old Testament, but familiarity may rob us of understanding his sin as Scripture explains it. While adultery and murder loom large in the story, this is only…
The whirlpool of sin and its effects (2 Sam 11:6-27)
2 Sam 11:6-27 When I hear of the spectacular downfall of prominent Christian leaders, I always wonder what was in their heart as they were sucked deeper and deeper into a whirlpool of sin. Were they riddled with guilt but…
Self-awareness and our feet of clay (2 Sam 11:1-5)
2 Sam 11:1-5 Some years ago, I looked up online one of my former professors in theology, curious if he had retired. He was painfully shy, the stereotype of an absent-minded academic who speaks dozens of dead languages but cannot…
How to live faithfully for God (2 Samuel 10)
2 Sam 10:1-19 As a young Christian listening to teachings about love, forgiveness and turning the other cheek, I used to be uncomfortable with the impression that Christianity was the religion of the weak and the meek. In many churches…
The challenge of treating a potential rival as a friend (2 Samuel 9)
2 Sam 9:1-13 A church known to me had quite a power struggle over electing a pastor. The man eventually chosen was a charismatic personality, a great preacher with a conservative evangelical theology and a strong leader. Given the earlier…
The right response to a promise-keeping God (2 Samuel 8)
2 Sam 8:1-18 I must admit that the long list of David’s military conquests does not make riveting reading, since the ancient place names and people groups are unfamiliar to most of us. Yet it is an important point in…
Lessons on how to take God’s grace (2 Sam 7:18-29)
2 Sam 7:18-29 All of us, I suspect, have known times when God’s grace reached out and touched our hearts in a special way. It could have been when we first understood how Jesus died to save us, or when…
Why accepting God’s ‘no’ is a better way (2 Sam 7:1-17)
2 Sam 7:1-17 A few years after I started working, I felt the stirring for Christian ministry. An opportunity arose with a mission in the UK reaching out to international students and during my interview, my future supervisor raised the…