Holy Habits: Self Examination

2 Samuel 11

Connect:

• Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.

Prayer:

Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.

Review:

This series is focused on changing our lives by forming habits that will nurture our life in Christ and daily walk with Jesus. This week the focus is on the discipline of self-examination.

The Grand Tour of the message: Thinking back on what you heard this Sunday…

o What did you learn about God?

o What did you learn about people?

o What did you learn about yourself?

o What do you want to commit to putting into practice?

Reflection:

Personal Experience:

• Share about a time when you felt like you just needed a break from the constant struggle of ‘doing the right thing’. Maybe you felt used, or maybe just tired and needing a break. Maybe it was a season of feeling far from God or whatever… what was the internal monologue at the time?

• What are some of the warning signs that we are ‘letting your guard down” when it comes to staying alert to acknowledging God in all of our ways? What are some things that you have found helpful in staying alert?

  Group Discussion:

• Read 2 Samuel 11:1-4, Psalm 1:1-3, Psalm 36:2

  • David had fought many wars! This time, he decided to stay home and not go out to another fight.

    • Discuss the difference between healthy and unhealthy “taking a break”— when does that become a risk?

    • David delegated the war to his commander in chief— that sounds like a good idea? What went wrong here? (Hint: “An empty mind is the Devil’s playground”).

  • Compare The passage in 2 Samuel 11:1-4 with Psalm 1:1-3. How would “delight in the law of the Lord” apply to this story and how might it have changed the outcome?

  • Does allowing space for temptation to ‘brew’ by flattering ourselves (Ps 36:2) make us more vulnerable to falling into sin? Why or why not?

• Read 2 Samuel 12:1-14

  • Nathan came in to communicate the Lord’s judgement on David, and Scott made the point in the message that we need people in our lives who love us enough to speak the truth.

    • Discuss some of the reasons and ways we avoid finding and connecting with people who will hold us accountable to commitments we have made to God that honor Him.

    • The consequences of this sin affected everyone from David to Bathsheeba to their baby. Discuss how sin’s effects ‘ripple’.

  • Read Psalm 51:1-13 (which David wrote after Nathan’s challenge to him).

    • What do we learn about the character of true repentance in this Psalm?

    • Read 1 John 1:9. Talk about it— why is God “…faithful and just to forgive…”? Discuss in light of God’s holiness, our sin in the light of His holiness, and the sacrifice of Jesus.

Response: 

Scott ended the message this week with the question, “What is God showing you that you don’t want to confront?” Spend some time in prayer together that the Lord will give us tender hearts and open ears to hear what His Spirit is saying to us, and willing hearts to obey!

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