When King David heard about all these things, he was furious. Absalom didn’t say anything to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon since he disgraced his sister Tamar. (2 Samuel 13:21-22)
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about God’s common grace and wondering where our world would be right now, if we never had it. I wonder how much darker and destructive this life would be without God’s grace. Would the human race still be around today, if it weren’t for his grace holding us back from our full potential to sin? I mean, just how much sin is God actually preventing us from committing on a daily basis? I think if it were not for the daily dose of God’s grace over history and the human race, we would have wiped ourselves out by now.
Sin destroys everything it touches, and this is what it was doing to David’s family. David’s son Amnon was infatuated with his half-sister. He knew it was wrong and shameful, but because of his sinful flesh, Amnon didn’t care about the consequences, and he did what he desired. Amnon gratified his desires of the flesh, and we know that, “the mind set on the flesh produces death” (Rom. 8:6). This is exactly what Amnon’s sin did. It ripped apart his relationship with his half-sister, his father, and his brother Absalom. Absalom would continue the downward spiral of sin by killing Amnon. Now David’s family had to live with the consequences. And if it were not for the grace of God and the calling over David’s house, his entire family probably would have been wiped out by their own doing. These dark chapters in 2 Samuel tell us that David’s current family (“house”) is not the kingdom Nathan had prophesied about (2 Sam. 7:16). God’s people needed a much better king, family, and kingdom.
Sin is destructive by nature. Your sinful nature teaches you to get what you want despite the cost. Genesis 4:7 tells us that, “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you.” However, it concludes with this solution “you must rule over it.”
We rule over sin through the Holy Spirit. You beat sin by staying close to the One who is without sin. Only someone without sin can help you beat sin, and this is the Holy Spirit who dwells in you (Ezek. 36:27; 1 Cor. 3:16). You also beat sin by being filled by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18). We love to fill ourselves with Netflix, YouTube videos, social media, shopping, surfing, jogging, working, or some soothing substance. But what if you filled yourself with times of worship? Reading and meditating on Scripture? Going for a prayer walk? Fellowshipping with God’s people? This is how we fill ourselves with the Spirit and “rule over” sin. How can you fill yourself today?