Special Study Outline

DO OVER
Do you remember as a kid yelling, “do over”, when a backyard homerun ball was interfered with by a power line? Or maybe in some board game when a roll of the dice was negatively affected and slid off of the game board? I’m sure all of us can recall times in our childhood when someone, either us or a friend, yelled, “do over” for the chance to do something again - hopefully with a better outcome. You know “do overs” are not just for kids playing games in the backyard. Big people cry for “do overs” also. A failing marriage, poor parenting, the use of bad judgment and ‘empty-headed’ decision making resulting in terrible circumstances all call for us as adults to yell, “do over!” The Bible is full of people who needed a second chance. From Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God to Job the suffering saint of our Savior, many characters looked to the God of heaven for a “do over”. Yet, maybe none benefited more from Jehovah’s mercy than the “man after God’s own heart” - David. David’s story is one of our favorite in the Bible. From shepherd boy to giant killer to king. Along the way he became a great warrior and leader for God. Being selected by God to lead his people, we know David was not an ignorant man and therefore knew the commandments of God. And in knowing the commandments he also was fully aware of the punishments. But David was also very human and therefore susceptible to all the weaknesses of man. And so as is told to us by the Holy Spirit in 2 Samuel 11-12, David sinned! Although at the time he could probably convince himself of excuses and all the “whys”, he later (Psalm 51) simply admits his sin before God. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and for all intents and purposes had her husband, Uriah killed (2 Samuel 12:9). The penalty for these sins individually and collectively was death (Exodus 20; Lev. 20). David knew it and God knew it! But do you know what David really needed? Right! A “do over”, a second chance. So when Nathan the prophet appears to David in 2 Samuel 12 and “opens David’s eyes” to his sin, he also informs him of these words, “you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). Now according to the law, did David deserve to die? Yes. Was what he did worthy of death? David himself admitted less was worthy of death in 2 Samuel 12:1-6 when he would have had a man put to death for taking and killing another man’s lamb. But God gave him a second chance! Maybe nobody else would have - but the One who created the universe gave him a “do over”. What about you? Been yelling, “do over” about your shortcomings and sins? Nobody is better at giving people a second chance than God. Read your Bible and ask some of God’s best. Ask Peter. Ask John. Ask Paul. They will all tell you that God is the God of the second chance. No matter your sins. No matter what others have told you or how they have treated you. You can have a “do over” in and because of Jesus Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…” (2 Cor. 5:17-18 ESV). A clean slate...better yet a clean heart is available in Jesus Christ! Richard O'Connor

Do you remember as a kid yelling, “do over”, when a backyard homerun ball was interfered with by a power line? Or maybe in some board game when a roll of the dice was negatively affected and slid off of the game board? I’m sure all of us can recall times in our childhood when someone, either us or a friend, yelled, “do over” for the chance to do something again - hopefully with a better outcome.

You know “do overs” are not just for kids playing games in the backyard. Big people cry for “do overs” also. A failing marriage, poor parenting, the use of bad judgment and ‘empty-headed’ decision making resulting in terrible circumstances all call for us as adults to yell, “do over!”

The Bible is full of people who needed a second chance. From Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God to Job the suffering saint of our Savior, many characters looked to the God of heaven for a “do over”. Yet, maybe none benefited more from Jehovah’s mercy than the “man after God’s own heart” - David.

David’s story is one of our favorite in the Bible. From shepherd boy to giant killer to king. Along the way he became a great warrior and leader for God. Being selected by God to lead his people, we know David was not an ignorant man and therefore knew the commandments of God. And in knowing the commandments he also was fully aware of the punishments. But David was also very human and therefore susceptible to all the weaknesses of man. And so as is told to us by the Holy Spirit in 2 Samuel 11-12, David sinned! Although at the time he could probably convince himself of excuses and all the “whys”, he later (Psalm 51) simply admits his sin before God. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and for all intents and purposes had her husband, Uriah killed (2 Samuel 12:9). The penalty for these sins individually and collectively was death (Exodus 20; Lev. 20). David knew it and God knew it! But do you know what David really needed? Right! A “do over”, a second chance. So when Nathan the prophet appears to David in 2 Samuel 12 and “opens David’s eyes” to his sin, he also informs him of these words, “you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). Now according to the law, did David deserve to die? Yes. Was what he did worthy of death? David himself admitted less was worthy of death in 2 Samuel 12:1-6 when he would have had a man put to death for taking and killing another man’s lamb. But God gave him a second chance! Maybe nobody else would have - but the One who created the universe gave him a “do over”.

What about you? Been yelling, “do over” about your shortcomings and sins? Nobody is better at giving people a second chance than God. Read your Bible and ask some of God’s best. Ask Peter. Ask John. Ask Paul. They will all tell you that God is the God of the second chance. No matter your sins. No matter what others have told you or how they have treated you. You can have a “do over” in and because of Jesus Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…” (2 Cor. 5:17-18 ESV). A clean slate...better yet a clean heart is available in Jesus Christ!

Richard O'Connor