Can We Delete This Chapter
2 Samuel 11:1
“And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.”
One morning when I was reading the Scriptures I came to this chapter and really didn’t want to read it. This is the chapter where one of my heroes messed up. This is a chapter I would like to delete from David’s life. If there was only a way to delete this chapter I would do it. I want to remember the story of David and Goliath. I want to remember the friendship between David and Jonathan. I want to remember the victories David led as king. I don’t want to remember this mark in his history. As much as I didn’t want to read this chapter, I knew I had to for this was also a part of his life. As much as I wish I could delete it, I can’t.
If there were only a way to delete a chapter in David’s life, everything would be different. Think about this, if we could delete this chapter from David’s life there would be no story of Absalom. If we could delete this story from David’s life, there would be no story of Tamar being defiled by her brother. If we could delete this story from David’s life, there would be not story of David running for his life because of a son’s treasonous actions.
On the other hand, if we deleted this story from David’s life there would be no Solomon. If we deleted this story from David’s life there would be no temple. If we deleted this story from David’s life there would be no Proverbs, Ecclesiastes or Song of Solomon. Deleting a chapter from David’s life carries good and bad. Let me give you a few lessons from this thought.
When looking at the life of great men from the past, don’t forget to read the part that left a mark on them. I know this sounds bad, but that mark will teach you lessons. That mark not only produced bad, but it probably produced some good. If you ignore the bad chapter in someone’s life, you are ignoring many things that can help. The past has a way of making a person a villain or a hero in the minds of people. You need to be sure that you read the whole book on the life of those in the past. God never deleted any part of someone’s life in the Scriptures. He left the bad chapters of their life as lessons for those in the future.
Moreover, be careful about your actions so that you don’t have a bad chapter that someone will want to delete. All it takes is one action to start a bad chapter in your life. One wrong decision and the bad chapter of your life begins. Always remember that your children will have to read the bad chapter in your life. You don’t want them to have to carry that bad chapter because of your bad decisions. Likewise, you will carry the regret of that bad chapter for the remainder of your life. Live your life yielded and submitted to the Holy Spirit of God so that you don’t have a bad chapter that someone would want to delete.
Finally, always remember that good still comes from the bad chapters. So much good happened in David’s life after the bad chapter. If it was deleted it would change much good that was done. Let me remind you that just because someone has a bad chapter in their life doesn’t mean they can’t be used of God. God can still use those who have bad chapters in their life. Likewise, if you have a bad chapter that you would like to delete, always remember that God can still use you. Life is not over! There is much good God can do through you, so don’t let the Devil defeat you because of one bad chapter.
Yes, I wanted to delete this bad chapter, but after looking at the whole story I find that it is worthy of keeping. Don’t skip the bad chapter, but learn from it and make good come out of it.