II Samuel 12:15-25
Facing Impossible Situations
Introduction
1. Are you facing an impossible situation?
2. II Samuel 12:15-25 David’s impossible situation is the death of his son:
I. DAVID BEFORE THE CRISIS 12:15-17
II. DAVID AT THE CRISIS 12:18-23
III. DAVID AFTER THE CRISIS 12:24-25
Are you facing an impossible situation?
I. DAVID BEFORE THE CRISIS 12:15-17
A. Be Right Ps. 51:1-4, 9-12, 16-17
*Before any impossible situation first, are you right with God?
*God doesn’t want religious activity. He wants “a broken and contrite heart”.
B. Be Requesting 15, 16
*He prayed! Here is a broken man asking that the child might live. He knows what
Godhas said, but who can tell… (v. 22).
*God allowed some childhood illness to strike. And the child was very sick!
*How helpless! The situation is beyond your ability to do anything about it.
*David besought the Lord. This should be the first response to an impossible situation.
C. Be Real 16, 17
It is encouraging to see this scene.
*David is not at the temple, but at his house.
*This is a soul searching time away from others. He is totally absorbed with the Lord.
*He fasted. He humbled himself. There are times when even kings must realize who is
in control. We will be brought to the end of ourselves.
*v. 17…He just had to be alone. Be real before God…no games here…no playing
church. There are no cute phrases. There is no one to impress.
Are you facing an impossible situation?
II. DAVID AT THE CRISIS 12:18-23
He yielded to a sovereign God (a God who is never surprised…a God who is in control).
A. Be Realistic To God’s Will 18-21
1. The Difficulty 18
At the end of seven days the child dies. How would David react?
*After the fasting…praying…sincerity…pleading…agonizing…the child dies.
*With all of the above it doesn’t mean that God will say, Yes to our prayers and
Pleading.
*We are part of a fallen world. If it can happen to those who don’t know Christ, it
can to the believer. The worst possible scenario has happened.
2. The Detection 19
*His servants were whispering. David perceived that the child was dead.
*Is the child dead? He is dead! What did David do?
3. The Dedication 20
He faced the fact realistically. He totally yielded to the sovereignty of God.
*He laid aside all signs of grief and went to worship God, praising Him for Who He is
*The baby is dead, but God hasn’t changed!
*When the impossible finally arrives we need to lift our eyes from our circumstances
and worship Him! Focus on all we really have and all that remains…the living God!
*He came home and ate (20b)…His reaction is also an indication that somewhere in
that ‘worship service’, he resigned himself completely to the will of God.
*David’s servants are confused (21). Most on lookers will never understand the one
who rests completely, totally on a God who is in control. Every person is
different!
B. Be Reliant On God’s Word 22, 23
1. v. 14 the child shall surely die…v. 22 who knows…that is why we pray for the
impossible! It should encourage us to pray!
2. v. 23 answers v. 21. He claimed the truth of God’s Word. Gives Hope!
3. David was looking ahead. This to me is the only comfort at death. Look ahead!
“I can’t change what has happened.” “I shall go to him. He shall not return to
me.”
*I don’t feel that we can reduce this to merely the grave. What comfort is there?
*His language implies much more. He had a firm conviction of his child’s future
existence. Someday he and his child would be reunited.
4. Claim the truth of God’s Word and look ahead! To dwell upon the past you
paralyze the present and bankrupt the future!
Are you facing an impossible situation?
III. DAVID AFTER THE CRISIS 12:24-25
A. God’s Goodness 24a
1. Others hurt. Others may be hurting because of the same situation.
2. The comfort by which you have been comforted, that you may be able to comfort
othersalso. (II Cor. 1:4)
3. His wife…the debt has been paid. (v. 15)
4. How can we comfort others? A little girl lost a playmate in death and one day
reportedto her family that she had gone over to comfort the sorrowing mother.
“What did yousay?” asked her father. “Nothing,” she replied. “I just climbed
upon her lap andcried with her.”
B. God’s Grace 24b, 25
1. They decide to have another child. When the impossible hits: life must go on. Life
will go on with or without you.
2. God doesn’t hold grudges. God can take those things Satan meant for evil and turn
them to good. God’s blessing was once again resting on David. This is seen in the
names.
3. It isn’t over until it’s over. Solomon: God is his peace. That’s his royal name.
Jedidiah: Beloved of the Lord. That’s his family name.
4. And the Lord loved him. Life can go on abundantly. God can take impossible,
deadly situations and turn them to His honor and glory.
God of all comforts who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them who are in any trouble, by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.