"For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and he disciplines the son with whom he is pleased."-Hebrews 12:6 (Lamsa Translation)

The Bible is very different from every other book-it is completely honest in telling the stories of various people.

King David's wrongs were told about just as fully as were his good and heroic deeds. David had been a humble shepherd boy; he became a brave soldier and was a loving friend to King Saul's son, Jonathan. He had been loyal subject to the king who hated him.

But David was overcome in a weakness of the flesh when he had one of his soldiers, Uriah, killed in battle so he could marry his beautiful wife, Bathsheba.

God sent his prophet, Nathan, to King David who had smothered his conscience about his transgression. Nathan told the king a parable about a wealthy man stealing a sheep from a poor man. It made David angry that such a thing could happen and he asked Nathan the man's name.

The prophet declared, "Thou art the man!" This humbled David as he realized his terrible mistake and he wept and asked the LORD to forgive him. Because he was truly repentant God did forgive him, yet he did not withhold punishment for David's wrong course (2 Samuel 12:1-7).

The honesty of the Bible is shown in both the Old and New Testaments. Even though Abraham was very faithful to the LORD and was called "the friend of God" (James 2:23), yet he made many mistakes in his life.

The apostles had many faults. When Jesus was accused and condemned to die on the cross, his beloved friend, Peter, was so frightened he would not admit he even knew Jesus. Paul, the apostle who took the place of Judas, had been the cruel Saul of Tarsus. It was he who consented to the stoning of Stephen and caused problems for the early church. Peter and John were called "ignorant and unlearned men" (Acts 4:13).

God loves us and helps us when we ask for his forgiveness and strive to do better. In spite of his faults, David was loyal at heart to God. He became Israel's most beloved king and God promised him that the kingdom would come through his descendants.

The Bible tells about its heroes' weaknesses, as well as their good points!

The apostles had many faults, but were loved by God!

Prev  Index  Next