{"id":1138,"date":"2026-10-05T03:12:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T03:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carolinebongo.com\/blog\/?p=1138"},"modified":"2026-10-05T03:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T03:18:10","slug":"the-story-of-god-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinebongo.com\/blog\/the-story-of-god-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story of God..Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who Is Sitting on the Throne of Your Life?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflections from Sunday\u2019s message at NHC, shared by Pastor Lee.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is possible to love God and still find ourselves looking elsewhere for security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone strong. Someone impressive. Someone who seems capable of putting our world back together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is where Israel\u2019s story met us in church today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people came to Samuel, their aging judge, and asked for a king. Samuel\u2019s sons were not following his ways, and the people wanted someone to lead them like the nations around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their request wounded Samuel. But God helped him understand what lay beneath it: they were rejecting God\u2019s rule over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Lee connected this ancient story to the modern American church. How easily we can place our faith in a political leader, expecting a human being to provide the security and deliverance we should seek in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel wanted a king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But would a crown be enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The King Who Looked the Part<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saul, Israel\u2019s first king, had the appearance people admired. Tall and impressive, he looked like someone who could lead a nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David\u2019s arrival challenged that way of seeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Samuel went to anoint the next king, God directed him beyond appearances. People could see stature, strength, and presentation. God could see the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David was anointed before he was publicly celebrated. Before the crown came sheep, lonely fields, and responsibilities that offered little applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His public victory over Goliath grew out of years of hidden preparation. Later, he spent years fleeing from Saul before taking the throne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That part stayed with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a generation that can turn almost every achievement into a photograph, there is still work God does where no one is watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quiet responsibility. The promise kept. The small task completed faithfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God sees those places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David also brought his real self before God. His songs held fear, sorrow, gratitude, anger, and hope. He did not wait until his feelings were tidy before praying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Pastor Lee put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA psalm a day keeps anxiety away.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the King Stayed Home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, David became king. He brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. After so much waiting and struggle, his story seemed ready for a beautiful ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the rooftop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Samuel 11 opens during the season when kings went to war. David sent others into battle and remained in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From his rooftop, he saw Bathsheba bathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing her was the beginning of a moment in which he could have turned away. Instead, he pursued it. Even after learning she was Uriah\u2019s wife, he sent for her and slept with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She became pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then desire became deception, and deception became a plan that cost Uriah his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Lee gave us a painful lesson:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sin depersonalizes people. It turns those made in God\u2019s image into objects.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bathsheba became someone David wanted. Uriah became someone standing in his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That is a searching warning for all of us. When our desires take control, we can stop seeing the humanity of the people affected by our choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a while, David could make the situation appear respectable. Uriah had died in battle. The king had married his widow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a story that satisfies the public cannot conceal the truth from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And unconfessed sin changes us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou Are the Man\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God sent Nathan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nathan told David about a rich man who took a poor man\u2019s cherished lamb. David heard the injustice immediately. He was furious and declared that the man deserved to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Nathan identified David as the guilty man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story David had judged was his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David could have defended himself. He could have blamed Bathsheba, attacked Nathan, or used his authority to end the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, he confessed that he had sinned against the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Saul\u2019s tendency to offer explanations and shift responsibility, David acknowledged what he had done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 51 gives voice to his repentance: a plea for mercy, cleansing, and a heart made new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was not asking God to preserve his reputation. He was asking God to cleanse him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David was forgiven, but the consequences remained. Second Samuel 12 does not hide the suffering that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This helps us understand something about David being a man after God\u2019s own heart. His story includes terrible failure, but it also includes a willingness to bow when God confronted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Do We Keep David\u2019s Story from Becoming Ours?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Lee offered two practical calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, stay in the battle.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David had remained behind while others carried out the work of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question for us is whether we are still engaged in what God has entrusted to us. Are we serving, growing, loving, and pursuing things that matter to Him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not mean every quiet moment is dangerous or that rest is wrong. It asks us to examine whether we have abandoned our purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Pastor Lee reminded us, we do not retire from God\u2019s work. Our assignments may change, but faithfulness still matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, run from temptation. Do not negotiate with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David stayed with the moment long enough for it to become a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Lee\u2019s practical counsel was clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n