September 15, 2024 – A Study of Matthew – Broken and Blessed

Broken and Blessed

2 Samuel 12:1-14 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. ¹⁴ But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

Who told David “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and one poor” (verse 1)?

What did the rich man have (verse 2)?

How did the poor man take care of his “one little ewe lamb” (verse 3)?

What did the rich man prepare for the traveler who came to him (verse 4)?

How did David feel about the rich man (verse 5)?

What did David demand the rich man to do (verse 6)?

Who did Nathan say the rich man was (verse 7)?

How did David kill “Uriah the Hittite” (verse 9)?

Why would the sword never depart from David’s house (verse 10)?

Who will sleep with David’s wives “in broad daylight” (verse 11)?

How did David sleep with Uriah’s wife (verse 12)?

How did David react to Nathan’s accusation (verse 13)?

Who has taken away David’s sin (verse 13)?

What will happen to “the son born to you” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, where do we see the fruit of repentance in this passage?

Psalm 51:1-17 - New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

When did David write this Psalm?

What did David plead for (verse 1)?

How did David want God to treat his sin (verse 2)?

What does David know (verse 3)?

Who has David sinned against (verse 4)?

When did David’s sinfulness begin (verse 5)?

What did God desire “even in the womb” (verse 6)?

When will David be clean (verse 7)?

What does David ask be done with his “iniquity” (verse 9)?

What does David ask God to create (verse 10)?

Where does David not want God to cast him (verse 11)?

What does David ask God not to take (verse 11)?

What does David want restored (verse 12)?

Why will David “teach transgressors your ways” (verse 13)?

Who does David ask to “deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed” (verse 14)?

What does God not delight in (verse 16)?

What does David sacrifice (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, where do we see the fruit of repentance in this passage?

In your opinion, how is the anger and the sorrow of 2 Samuel 12:1-14 transformed by David’s knowledge of God’s mercy in Psalm 51:1-17?

Matthew 1:6b-7 – New International Version (NIV)

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

Who was the father of Solomon (verse 6)?

How is Solomon’s mother identified (verse 7)?

Who was Solomon the father of (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, where do we see the fruit of repentance in this passage?

In your opinion, why is the listing of Uriah’s wife as the mother of Solomon and an ancestor of Jesus in Matthew 1:6b-7 surprising when you consider what 2 Samuel 2:1-14 reveals? 

In your opinion, what does Matthew 1:6b-7 reveal about the way that God received the sacrifice David offered in Psalm 51:1-17?

Romans 4:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶ David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
⁸ Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

How is Abraham described (verse 1)?

Who could Abraham not boast about, if he “was justified by works” (verse 2)?

“What does Scripture say?” (verse 3)?

What are wages to “the one who works” (verse 4)?

Who is “faith credited as righteousness” (verse 5)?

Who “says the same thing” (verse 6)?

Who is “Blessed” (verse 7)?

How does David describe the “one whose sin the Lord will never count against them” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, where do we see the fruit of repentance in this passage?

In your opinion, how does David’s admission of his sins in 2 Samuel 12:1-14 play a part in the covering of his transgressions in the Psalm that Paul quotes in Romans 4:1-8?

In your opinion, how is trusting in God that Paul says in Romans 4:1-8 is an important part of the justification of the ungodly displayed by David in Psalm 51:1-17?

In your opinion, how do the words of David as quoted in Romans 4:1-8 when combined with the fact that David and Uriah’s wife were both listed in the genealogy of Jesus proof that God is able and willing to not count sins against us?

In your opinion, what do these passages from 2 Samuel, Psalms, Matthew, and Romans teach us about how we are both broken and blessed?

In your opinion, how can we live in “the joy of” God’s salvation today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 26, 2024 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Righteousness Credited by God

Righteousness Credited by God

Isaiah 53:10-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

What does the Lord make, “his life” (verse 10)?

 

Where will “the will of the Lord” prosper (verse 10)?

When will He “see the light of life and be satisfied” (verse 11)?

What will He “bear” ( verse 11)?

Where will He have “a portion” (verse 12)?

Who will He be “numbered with” (verse 12)?

Who did He make “intercession for” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

Luke 22:35-38 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

³⁶ He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. ³⁷ It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

³⁸ The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” he replied.

What did the disciples at the Last Supper say they lacked when Jesus sent them out “without purse, bag or sandals” (verse 35)?

How are they to get a sword if they don’t have one (verse 36)?

Who did Jesus say He had to be numbered (logizomni) with (verse 37)?

What did Jesus say “is reaching its fulfillment” (verse 37)?

How many swords did the disciples say they had (verse 38)?

How did Jesus respond to the number of swords (verse 38)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

In your opinion, what does Jesus in Luke 22:35-38 referring to Isaiah 53:10-12 “must be fulfilled in me” tell you about his understanding of what was going to happen?

Romans 4:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

⁶ David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
⁸ Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

How does Paul describe Abraham (verse 1)?

When would Abraham have “something to boast about” (verse 2)?

Where would Abraham not be able to boast (verse 2)?

When was it “credited (logizomai) to him as righteousness” (verse 3)?

What are wages “to the one who works” (verse 4)?

To whom is faith “credited as righteousness” (verse 5)?

Who does David say “the same thing” about (verse 6)?

How does David describe those “whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered up” (verse 7)?

Who else does David say is blessed (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

In your opinion, how does numbering the servant among the transgressors in order to “make intercession for the transgressors” in Isaiah 53:10-12 allow God to credit righteousness to those who trust him in Romans 4:1-7?

In your opinion, how does Jesus proclaiming He must be “numbered” (logizomai) “with the transgressors” in Luke 22:35-38 help us understand why Paul teaches in Romans 4:1-7 righteousness cannot be earned like wages but is “credited” (logizomai) to the ungodly who have faith? 

James 2:20-26 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

How does James describe the person who wants “evidence that faith without deeds is useless” (verse 20)?

When was “our father Abraham considered righteous” (verse 21)?

What two things “were working together” (verse 22)?

How was Abraham’s faith changed (verse 22)?

What was “credited” (logizomai) to Abraham when he “believed God” (verse 23)?

When is a person considered righteous (verse 24)?

What “alone” is not enough for a person to be considered righteous (verse 24)?

When was “Rahab the prostitute” considered righteous (verse 25)?

What is “the body without the spirit” (verse 26)?

What is “faith without deeds” (verse 26)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

In your opinion, do both Abraham, who we might consider a good person, and also Rahab, who we would not consider a good person, both declared by James 2:20-26 to be righteous in need of the transforming act of the servant (Jesus) in Isaiah 53:10-12 being “numbered with the transgressors”?

In your opinion, how might Jesus letting the disciples know in Luke 22:35-38 that after He is “numbered with the transgressors” their circumstances will be different than before be a way for Him to prepare them for adding actions to their faith, as James 2:20-26 indicates is necessary?

In your opinion, how do you reconcile Romans 4:1-7 saying that God “credits righteousness apart from works” with James 2:20-26 that says that “faith without deeds is dead”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Luke, Romans and James help us understand about the link between the suffering servant being “numbered with the transgressors” and those who believe being “credited as righteous”?

In your opinion, how can we make sure our faith is alive?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)