GOD DEVISES MEANS /

"For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him."
2 Samuel 14:14

The background to this verse is contained in two sordid and separate stories. First, David had children by different wives. One son, Amnon, "loved" his half-sister, Tamar. He loved her, or lusted for her, so much that he feigned being sick so that Tamar would come and take care of him. While she was preparing his food, Amnon propositioned her and then raped her. Afterwards, he was filled with hatred for Tamar and sent her away in utter shame and disgrace.

The brother of Tamar, and half brother of Amnon, took his time in getting his revenge. Months went by and he did nothing. The Bible says he neither said anything good nor bad to Amnon. Like a serpent, he was looking for the right moment to strike. When that moment came, he struck with deadly force and Amnon was assonated by Absolom.

The second story is about how reconciliation took place between David and Absolom. This reconciliation was never complete, but partial. David's Chief of Staff, Joab, feared that if David died unexpectedly there would be no clear heir to the throne. He asked a wise woman to go to David and pretend to be a woman grieving over the loss of her child. She was to tell David that her two boys got in a fight and one of them killed the other. Now if the one living son would be executed she would be left without an heir. David, moved with compassion, ordered a pardon for the one living son. Then the woman revealed here real cause. She drew an analogy between her two boys and David's two sons. She pressed upon David the necessity of a pardon so that a clear heir would be in place in case David died. She then speaks the words of our text: "For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him."
2 Samuel 14:14

I would for you to consider four beautiful truths that come out of this text from 2 Samuel.

I. First, is there not a word of PRAISE to come from this verse? Our God devises means so that we might be able to come before Him.. It is right that we praise Him.

Praise Him; Praise Him
Jesus our blessed Redeemer
For our sins He suffered and bled and died
He our Rock, our Hope of eternal salvation
Praise Him; Praise Him
Ever in joyful song

II. This comes into sharper focus when we understand the PROBLEM to which this text alludes. There is something that has come between God and man, something so terrible that God Himself had to devise a means by which fellowship between God and man could be restored.

To understand the nature of this problem we first have to understand that God is an infinitely holy God. The Bible says that His eyes are so pure they cannot even look upon sin. God said, "I will by no means spare the guilty." Since He is an infinitely holy God His moral standards are perfect. Jesus Himself said "Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

But the painful truth is that we have all failed that standard of moral perfection. We are sinners because of what we have done. The Bible says there is "none righteous, no not one." The Bible says that we have all "sinned and come short of the glory of God." But our case is worse than that. We are also sinners because of who we are. The truth is that sin is a part of our nature. We were born sinners. Nobody has to teach a child to lie. They come into the world with that knowledge. We have to teach them to tell the truth. This means that we are not just people who have sinned, we are sinners. We are not sinners because we have sinned, we have sinned because we are sinners. And we are sinners because of what we have not done. The Bible says "to him who knows to good and does it not, to him it is sin." The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength. Who of us can say that we have done that? And since we have broken the greatest commandment, we are the greatest of sinners. And we are sinners because of what we have felt and thought. We have committed thoughts of covetousness, greed, resentment, jealousy, and rage. All of these are sins.

Here, then, is a problem. It is not a problem for God, but it is a problem for us. How can sinful man have fellowship with holy God? We can see how seriously holy God takes our sins when we read his righteous sentence against sin. "The wages of sin is death."

You can see the righteous sentence of holy God upon our sin in this text: "For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again." Yet, we also see His grace, for it says "Yet God does not take away a life: but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him."

III. This leads us to the third point of our text: The PROMISE and PROVISION God has made for our problem, which is sin.

Let us examine what God had provided for all men.

Undoubtedly this wise, crafty old woman was referring to the Cities of Refuge. There were six of them. Three of them were on the eastern side of the Jordan River, and three were on the western side of the river. There were well paved and well marked roads that led to these cities. God provided these cities because He knew that people were going to be killed accidentally, and there had to be places where those who killed by accident would be protected.

The example in the Old Testament is that of a man chopping wood. The head flies of the handle, strikes a man, and kills him. There was that which was called the "avenger of blood." As long as this man is outside one of the Cities of Refuge, he was in danger of the avenger of blood. But if he fled to one of those cities he would be safe. He could not leave the city, however, until the death of the High Priest. (Numbers 35:25)

What a wonderful picture of Jesus this is! We have sinned, and He has provided a place of refuge in Jesus. The law of God might pursue us forever, but we are safe in the keeping of His grace. We are also set free by the death of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

One beautiful thing I want you to notice about the Cities of Refuge is that they were provided for in the law of Moses before they ever entered the Promised Land. In a similar way, God knew we would sin and provided for us a place of refuge in Jesus Christ. He is the "Lamb slain from the foundations of the world."

Now let us examine what God has provided for you as an individual.

Some of you were saved by the faithful witness of a Sunday School teacher. Some of you were told of Christ by a godly mother or father. Some of you were prayed into the kingdom by a praying grandmother. Some of you were won to Christ in a vacation Bible school, or a revival meeting. God, in eternity past, ordained that you would hear about Jesus and you followed in the wake of His glorious plan.

IV. Now let us consider our PRACTICE, as it relates to this verse.

Some of you are devising your own means of getting into heaven. Stop it! Some of you are counting on your church attendance, baptism, being good and following the golden rule and many other things. You have devised your means, but that is not the means that God has devised. God has set aside Jesus to be your personal savior, and any other means is a false and failing means.

And, some of you have children you have not spoken to in years. You have a parent that you cannot say hello to. You have a neighbor that you cannot look in the eye. And you are willing to make up if they are willing to make the first move. But our text says "God devises means." Shall we not devise means by which others can be restored in our sight? God expects us to take the first step, and live out His own creed of kindness and love.


site administration* site map | log out
Contents © 2008 First Baptist Church of Alto, Texas | Site Provided by mychurchwebsite.net | Terms of Service | site map