Things Heard
During the year-plus military campaign at Rabbah, David was sinning and covering his tracks until this chapter teaches us one essential lesson: “God’s word should never be despised.”
David Hears a Parable (1-6)
After a year, God sent Nathan to David with a parable to elicit a self-condemnation from the king. Enraged by the subject of the parable, David thought the man worthy of death and ordered fourfold restitution (1-6).
David Hears a Charge (7-10)
Nathan then made a devastating announcement, “You are the man!” Nathan went on to remind David of all God had done for him (7-9). Then Nathan asked why David had despised the word of the Lord by assuming God would not respond to the violation of His word. Nathan then left David no denial room by defining David’s precise evil (10).
David Hears a Conviction (11-12)
The penalty would come to David in three ways:
He would have bloody, murderous feuds within his own house.
Disloyalty and betrayal would occur against him from within his own family.
A conquering king would have sex with the former king’s wives before the nation as a show of power. David was going to lose his throne at some level (11-12).
Nathan Hears a Sin (13-14)
David made no excuses and acknowledged his sin. Nathan accepted David’s confession and assured him he would live. Then Nathan added a final consequence: due to David’s sin of scorning (despising and rejecting) the Lord, the child would die (13-14).
God Hears a Prayer (15-23)
The child lived for seven days. David fasted and prayed, hoping the Lord’s mercy would intervene. His prayers were so intense that when the child died, David’s advisers were fearful to tell him. David discerned their whisperings and immediately arose, washed, changed clothes, worshiped, and ate. David’s turn of emotions bewildered and confused those attending him, so David explained, “He shall not come to me, but I shall go to him.” This statement suggests a strong belief in resurrection and immortality (15-23).
Nathan Hears a Prophecy (24-25)
After all of this ordeal, David comforted Bathsheba, and she conceived a son, whom she named Solomon. For no given reason, the Lord had a special love for him and sent Nathan to declare a second or “blessing” name for him—Jedidiah, “beloved of the Lord” (24-25).
David Hears Rabbah Defeated (26-31)
While David was in Jerusalem dealing with his mess, Joab was laying siege to Rabbah. Eventually, Joab overcame the lower city, “the city of waters,” the area where the water supply was located. With the end in sight, Joab sent for David to take credit for the battle. So David led the final assault against the fortress. David took either the crown or the jewel in the crown for his own head, along with rich spoils, and made the survivors forced laborers (26-31).
Yahweh's Excellent Word
Psalm 119 is a “Wisdom Psalm” whose author is unknown, and yet there is reason to believe it was written by Ezra in the post-exilic times. It is an acrostic Psalm, constructed into twenty-two eight-verse stanzas corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
The Psalm is self outlined in the sense of the acrostic, so let me fill in the literary background of the Psalm to give it meaning in relationship to the time of its writing. Because the evidence of Ezra's authorship is most likely, I will assume throughout my review that Ezra is the author.
Ezra's main theme in the Psalm is Yahweh (appearing twenty-four times in the text). Ezra's main subject of the Psalm is the “word” which appears 175 times in 176 verses in some form, and it appears in every verse except verses 3, 37, 84, 90, 121, 122, and 132.
The basic words used for “word”:
“Law” 25 times,
“Testimonies” 23 times
“Precepts” 21 times
“Statutes” 22 times
“Commandments” 22 times
“Judgments”/“ordinances” 33 times
“Word” (Hebrew davar, ordevarim) 23 times
“Word” (imrah) 30 times
Ezra uses afflictions as the circumstantial backdrop for his Psalm, the word appearing in verses 8, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28, 39, 42, 50, 51, 53, 61, 67, 69, 71, 75, 78, 81–87, 92, 94, 95, 107, 110, 115, 121– 23, 134, 136, 141, 143, 145–47, 149, 150, 153, 154, 157, 161, 170, and 176.
The aim of Ezra is clear: he is calling upon Yahweh to deliver him, thus Judah, according to His word and for the sake of His lovingkindness, so that those who consider the act of honoring Yahweh and His word fruitless will have their insults buried beneath Yahweh's faithfulness. He further commits to bearing faithful witness to the world concerning Yahweh's promise-keeping nature, and further he is ready to surrender to wholehearted obedience to Yahweh's command.
Place this Psalm against the background of Judah’s returning from Babylon to rebuild the Wall of the City of Jerusalem on the basis of God's word. You can see Ezra writing this Psalm to imprint on the heart and minds of Yahweh's people the great faith they should have in Yahweh to fulfill what He had started, according to His promise.
Observation: This Psalm serves as a motivating song, reviving faith in Yahweh's word against the adversaries wishing to stop Judah's resettlement and rebuilding. After Judah had rebuilt the wall, the nation asked the scribe Ezra to come and read the law. He did so at the Water Gate (Nehemiah 8). A revival of God's word was sweeping the nation at this time. It is hard to imagine this Psalm not being written by Ezra at this time.
Purpose: To show us how to pray when we are partway through God’s completing and fulfilling a word Yahweh has spoken into our lives, restoring and renewing our faith in His promises.