Okay, you can turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 12, continuing the fall of David. We saw last week in 2 Samuel 11 his particular sins, his violation of the Ten Commandments, specifically the 6th and the 7th. He committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then he covered it up. And the way that he covered it up was by taking Uriah off the battlefront bringing him home and trying to get him to lay with his wife so that when the baby was found out or when it was found out that Bathsheba was pregnant, persons would assume that it was Uriah's.
And then Uriah was too much an honorable man to do that, so David tried again by getting him drunk. But even the alcohol didn't destroy Uriah's integrity. He still resisted. And then David sent a note via Uriah to Joab so that Uriah would be killed in battle.
And that's what we found at the end of the chapter. The last comment, 2 Samuel 11, verse 27b, but the thing that David had done, was evil in the Lord's eyes. So we know that God was displeased with this, so we come now to chapter 12 to see how God responds to David in this event, beginning in verse 1. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David.
And he came to him and said to him, there were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished. And it grew up together with him and with his children.
It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him. and a traveler came to the rich man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die, and he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.
Then Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more.
Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the people of Annan." Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, behold I will raise up adversity against you from your own house and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun.
You did it secretly but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die.
However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die. Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill. David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
So the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead.
For they said, indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm. When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead.
Therefore David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.
Then he went to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servant said to him, what is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive. But when the child died, you arose and ate food.
And he said, while the child was alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead. Why should I fast?
Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went into her, and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon.
Now the Lord loved him, and he sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord. Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah and I have taken the city's water supply.
Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name. So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. Then he took their king's crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold with precious stones, and it was set on David's head.
Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance, and he brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes. and made them cross over to the brickworks. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem." Amen.
Introduction and Sermon Outline
We're going to just take up the first half of the chapter this evening, specifically verses 1 to 14, the rebuke of God's prophet and the repentance of the king. And we'll look at it under three considerations. First, the instruction by God's prophet in verses 1 to 6. Secondly, the indictment of God's King in verses 7 to 12, and then the implementation of God's grace in verses 13 to 14.
And certainly as we look at this particular section, it truly does celebrate the amazing grace of God. I oftentimes think that God's grace looks that much more beautiful and glorious with the backdrop of sin. And certainly in chapter 11, that is what we have. God's grace shines most brightly when we see the sin and the depravity that God delivers persons from.
And that is precisely the emphasis here. It's not upon David's goodness, it's not upon the efficacy of his repentance, it's not upon his flowery confession because he only confesses by saying two words, I have sinned against the Lord, two words in Hebrew. It's because of God's grace and it's because of the work of God's son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that he extends this forgiveness to King David of Israel. Well,
Instruction by God's Prophet
let's look at the instruction by God's prophet.
God's Initiative in Sending Nathan
First, the initiative of God. Verse 1, then the Lord sent Nathan to David. That is a great blessing. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David.
We ought to praise God that He does not leave His servants in their sin. Remember that David committed adultery, he committed murder, and about a nine month or at least nine months had lapsed. David did not deal with his sin for all of that time. But God takes the initiative and God sends Nathan to David.
God is relentless in his pursuit of his people. He's not going to let David go. He may let him stumble, but he's not going to let him fall. He is going to deliver him, and the means by which he does that is to dispatch his prophet so that he can call David to repentance.
God is good. It's good when you have people in your life that are sent by the Lord. Maybe not directly the way that Nathan was sent by the Lord, but a wife, or a husband, or a child, or a parent, or somebody that's faithful and tells you that you're in sin, or somebody that's faithful and tells you that you are wayward. That is a mercy from God.
It's a thing to be terrified of when we are left to ourselves, but the fact that God does this is an evidence of His love and His concern for us. Even in preaching, praise God for applicatory preaching, because sometimes sins are found out in that particular way. Persons get convicted under preaching, they make resolution, or they repent before God, they resolve not to do it again. That's a mercy from the Lord.
Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. Ralph Davis says, the words and the Lord sent, they show us that grace pursues and exposes the sinner and his sin. They teach us that Yahweh will not allow his servant to remain comfortable in sin, but will ruthlessly expose his sin, lest he settle down in it. Again, a mercy, a kindness.
It may be a bit uncomfortable to have sin pointed out, It may have been uncomfortable for David to be in this verse 7 posture where Nathan the prophet says, you are the man, but a little uncomfort on this side of heaven is far better than to end up in hell because God didn't seek us out by his servant Nathan. David says, you may succeed in unfaithfulness, but Yahweh will come after you. John Calvin comments on this brief phrase, then the Lord sent Nathan to David. He says, let us note that there is nothing better than when God sends us messengers of His wrath. for then he can make us feel his mercy and cease to enjoy our sins so that we may apprehend his vengeance and our conscience may torment us to the extent of humbling us to seek pardon and remission in him until he has accepted us." I think this is another reason why it is most important for us to attend to the public means of grace.
I think that persons who only listen online, or persons who only used to, I don't think anybody does this anymore, but the cassette tape used to be a means by which persons got their sermons. Well, if things get a little bit uncomfortable, you can exercise the power of the finger to silence that cassette tape. You can exercise the power of the finger to silence that internet feed. But when you are under preaching, I mean, there are people and there have been people that will get up and walk out during the sermon, but for the most part, persons typically stay put.
And that is a means by which God sends His Nathans to His Davids in order to call them to repentance and faith, or repentance and a renewed faith in Him.
The Parable and Its Trap
Now note the parable of the prophet. Essentially this is commentary or in parabolic form what we've already seen take place in chapter 11. The persons involved, we have a rich man and we have a poor man. Notice that the prophet expands more upon the poor man than he does upon the rich man.
Because up to this point, we've got a belly full of the rich man. We know how David has been functioning. We know how David has been acting. We know how David has been conducting himself.
Verse 3, but the poor man had nothing, this is Uriah, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished And it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him." There was intimacy, there was communion, there was union, there was joy, there was happiness. Uriah had a good thing going with Bathsheba, his wife.
Now note the specific issue that comes to pass. And a traveler comes to the rich man and the rich man refuses to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him." Notice, look at what the rich man does with reference to the poor man. It says that he took the poor man's lamb. Notice in 11.4, he sent messengers and he took her.
David is the rich man in the parable. Uriah is the poor man in the parable. So he takes this little lamb, he barbecues it so that he can feed this wayfarer, so that he can feed this traveler. Now note David's response to this particular story.
Verse 5, David's anger was greatly aroused against the man. His anger was greatly aroused. Now, Nathan's methodology here is absolutely brilliant. He wants to bring David under conviction of sin.
What better way than to get David to see it for himself? He doesn't have to coax him. He doesn't have to bring all these things to bear upon him. He doesn't have to spend 20 hours trying to show him that what he has done is wrong.
He tells this simple story which takes up two verses And he is basically, in essence, reeling David in. So David is outraged. One man, Robert Alter, says that Nathan's rhetorical trap has now snapped shut. David, by his excess of anger, condemns himself, and he becomes the helpless target of the denunciation that Nathan will unleash.
Everything's going according to plan in terms of Nathan. And so David is outraged, his anger is up against this particular man. Now notice his judicial verdict. One of the aspects of being the king was to render a judicial verdict.
In the first instance, David calls for the death penalty. David's anger is greatly aroused. He says, as the Lord lives, he swears by Jehovah. An interesting thing for a man who's been living apart from Jehovah, a man who has been distant from Jehovah, a man who has made peace with being absent from Jehovah.
Nevertheless, he invokes the name of the Lord, and he says, the man who has done this shall surely die, or the man who has done this deserves to die. David, in essence, is signing his own death warrant here, and he doesn't realize it at this particular point. We, the reader, realize that this is indeed the penalty that is due for David. Committing adultery and committing murder were capital offenses under the law.
And David does speak rightly. But in terms of the parable, that would be overkill, pardon the pun. The death penalty was never applied for property theft. And so David then, I don't know if it's an adjustment or it's an addition or an addendum or what, but he says in verse 6, and he shall restore fourfold for the land.
That's what the law stipulated in Exodus 22 and verse 1. And as Gil points out, the Jews observed that accordingly David was punished with the loss of four of his children. It's precisely what's going to happen with David as the narrative unfolds. All the way from here to chapter 20, what do we see but the sword not departing from David's household?
He loses the son that is in Bathsheba. He loses Amnon. He loses Tamar in essence. She goes and is desolate.
He loses Absalom. He loses Adonijah. So there's different ways to tally the four, but there is a fourfold punishment involved in what David has done in this particular instance. And then note the clincher of David's complaint at the end of verse 6.
Because he had no pity. Exactly, David, we know that's the case. This rich man seizes or takes the poor man's ewe lamb in order to cut it up and to cook it for his traveling friend. And this was an act of pitilessness or pitilessness, and David rightly speaks concerning this.
Indictment of God's King
Now note, secondly, the indictment of God's king. You know, you probably think as you read scripture sometimes, I'd like to see the face on the person when this was said. I wonder how David looked when verse 7 was happening. The closest I get is John Knox leaning over his pulpit, preaching at the Queen of England and, you know, indicting him for this grievous sin.
Then Nathan said to David, you are the man. I mean, the weight of God's law just falls upon David. The amount or the enormity of his sin comes upon him in this very moment. It is truly an amazing episode in terms of the prophetic word.
The effectiveness of this. One man, Alexander White, said that Nathan's sword was within an inch of David's conscience before David knew that Nathan had a sword. David didn't know that Nathan was gunning for him. David only wanted to listen to this particular story, or was presented with this particular story of the rich man and the poor man.
David didn't realize that Nathan was brandishing this sword until verse 7. The sword is plunged in, Nathan confesses that you are the man, and now the indictment from God comes. And there's three things we ought to observe in verses 7 to 12. First, the grace given.
Secondly, the accusation leveled, and then thirdly, the consequences described for his sin.
Grace Given Before the Accusation
Note, God begins here with His grace, I think in order to exacerbate David's sin. I think if you look at a couple, a situation wherein a married couple, let's say one of the partners is unfaithful and engages in adultery, that is a heinous and a wicked and a vile thing. It's even more heinous and wicked and vile if the innocent party was only ever good. I'm not justifying it if that innocent party was bad, but if that innocent party was a good husband or a good wife, and they were fulfilling their roles according to Ephesians 5, I think it exacerbates the wretchedness and the sinfulness of the one who departed from that covenant bond.
And that's what God is doing. here specifically in verses 7 to 8. He is rehearsing the grace that he has given to David in order to make this indictment all the more stinging and piercing in David's soul. Note God says, first he anointed David king over Israel. I took you from the shepherd, I took you from shepherding the sheep in the field.
I brought you into this position. I brought you into this place. I exalted you over my people, my covenant people. He says the Lord, or the Lord then says that he delivered him from the hand of Saul.
David, you saw my grace for that however many years you were running from Saul. You came into some close contact with death. You came into some very dangerous situations. You were in situations that there was no earthly way out of it.
Twice God sends the Philistines to save David, or to save his skin from Saul. So God says, I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you from Saul. He then says that he gave David Saul's house and Saul's wives. Now we have no record of David taking Saul's wives, but this was an ancient Near Eastern practice of kings.
The succeeding king would take the preceding king's wives and houses and property and all that sort of stuff. And then God says that He gave David both houses of Israel and Judah. We've seen that in 2 Samuel, right? David in 1 Samuel occupies the leadership or the kingship over the northern tribes.
But then we come to 2 Samuel, there's the consolidation of the entire kingdom under David. And then this is just a clincher. Look at what God says in verse 8. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah.
Now this is our God, brothers and sisters, and if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more." In other words, David, the problem isn't with God. The problem isn't that I haven't provided for you. The problem isn't that you don't have the legitimate outlet to vent your sexuality. That's not the problem, David.
The problem is in your soul. The problem is in your heart. The problem is your sin and your rebellion. The sin of David could not be blamed on the stinginess of God.
The sin of David was exacerbated by the goodness of God. You see the wisdom here. God bringing this reproof upon his servant David. He could have just said, you violated my law, off with you.
But that's not what he does. He wants David. He wants to win David. He wants to woo David.
He wants to show David what's at stake when David sins against Bathsheba and Uriah. It is a rejection of the graciousness of God Himself. Davis says that Yahweh begins with grace. For sin to appear as lurid as it should, it must stand in the blaze of grace.
If you doubt this, look at Jeremiah chapters 2 and 3. Jeremiah is dealing with a very idolatrous people, and Jeremiah 2 paints the picture of gross sin and wickedness and depravity. We get to Jeremiah 3, and five times God says through the prophet to the people, yet return to me, says the Lord. I told the old people at Cascade today, if anybody ever tells you there's no grace, there's no kindness, there's no compassion, or there's no mercy in the Old Testament, you...
I didn't say laugh in their face, but resist that because it's all full of grace and mercy and kindness and compassion. Jeremiah 2, the gross immorality of the people of God. Jeremiah 3, yet return to me, says the Lord. He says, return to me and I will heal your backslidings.
He doesn't say, fix yourself and then come to me. He says, return to me and I will heal your backslidings. The same is true here. For sin to appear as lurid as it should, it must stand in the blaze of grace.
He goes on to say, treachery may only appear hideous when viewed against the fidelity it has despised. So Yahweh itemizes His grace to David. In this way, Yahweh stresses the senselessness of David's sin. In other words, He is saying there is no reason for it, David.
Think about this, and I think this is a good lesson and a good message to all of us. The Lord has been very gracious. He has been very kind. He has given us those things, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
He has justified us. He is sanctifying us. He is going to glorify us. There is no reason why we ought to stray or wander.
There is no reason why we ought to pursue vain things. There is no reason we ought to seek other gods, because our God has given us everything. He stresses the senselessness of David's sin by highlighting his great grace to David.
The Accusation Leveled
Now note the accusation leveled in verse 9. He highlights the lawlessness of David. He says, Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord? You see, this is what's at stake.
God commands it. Why don't I commit murder and commit adultery? Because God commands us not to. Why don't I have other gods before God?
Because God commands us not to. I realize that this is not something the modern church likes to hear, but the Bible everywhere is pro-law. The Bible everywhere is pro-namos. The Bible everywhere promotes to the people of God law-keeping.
In fact, Jesus says, if you love me, you will what? You will keep my commandments. John the Apostle tells us the commandments of God are not burdensome. The burden is in our own wretched hearts when we look at the law and we don't want to do what it has to say.
But God says, why have you despised the commandment of the Lord? Now this is very impressive in terms of who the audience is, because David did learn his lesson, didn't he? I mean, the man would go on to write Psalm 119. Certainly he learned not to despise the commandment of God, lest you think that this may not be the best approach to take in reproving a sinner.
It was a most excellent approach in reproving a sinner, because this sinner was not only reproved, but he confessed, he forsook, he found mercy with God, and he celebrated the commandment instead of continually despising it. Notice the gravity of David's act. He says, to do evil in his sight. To despise the commandment of God is to do evil in God's sight.
It is to violate his law. It is to engage in that which is evil. It is contrary to the will and to the word of God. And then notice the treachery of David's act.
He spells it out in full detail. No, you have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You say, but David wasn't even at the battlefield. David wasn't even at the battlefront.
Isn't that how chapter 11 starts off when kings went out to battle and David stayed in Jerusalem? Conspiracy to murder means that the conspirator is a murderer, okay? Conspiracy to murder means that the conspirator is a murderer. And God charges David with being guilty of the murder of Uriah.
He was however many miles away from the battlefront. He was however many miles away from Uriah when his blood was shed in battle. But it was him and upon him that the guilt was laid. You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword.
Notice, you have taken his wife to be your wife. Just like that rich man took that poor man's ewe lamb. I wonder if David is ringing with the parable and David is saying, I see the wisdom of Nathan. I understand the power of the parable.
I get what's happening here. I'm being laid low at this particular moment. God is rehearsing before me all of the wretchedness that I engaged in over this particular event. I've killed Uriah the Hittite, I have taken his wife to be my wife, and then notice, you have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
This is disgraceful for Uriah. For a soldier to be killed by the sword of an enemy soldier, this was a disgrace and this was shameful. I think that's why God brings this up to him.
Consequences Described
Now note the consequences described in verses 10 to 12. And this, you know, we need to understand, God does forgive our sins, but there may be consequences associated with our sins. And if the lessons of 2 Samuel teach you anything, teach you this, God may indeed forgive you of your transgression and keep you from hell. But God will not allow things to go undealt with or unchastised.
There may be temporal consequences should you decide to commit murder and to commit adultery. The Lord God is not mocked, the Lord God will not be despised, and the Lord God will maintain and uphold His holiness so that all may see and fear and tremble. Note the consequences described. First, the sword would not depart from David's house.
Remember David's little quip to the messenger back in chapter 11 at verse 25? It's thrown back in his face. Remember what he says to the messenger. Then David said to the messenger, verse 25, Thus you shall say to Joab, Do not let this thing displease you or be evil in your sight, for the sword devours one as well as another.
Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it. Little did David know that that would be thrown right back in his face, and God the Lord would say, the sword will not depart from your house. The irony is evident. The application is going to be spelled out in 2 Samuel.
Amnon dies by the sword in chapter 13, verses 28 and 29. Absalom dies by the sword in chapter 18 at verse 14. Adonijah dies at the hand of Benaiah in 1 Kings chapter 2 and verse 25. You see, God is not lying.
When God says there are going to be consequences temporally for your sin, David saw it. David experienced it, and hopefully we will be smart enough and wise enough to learn from David and resist the temptation to commit adultery, or to commit murder, or to engage in idolatry. Things never go well with the unfaithful. That's what Solomon says in the book of Proverbs.
The way of the unfaithful is hard. And David had expressed an unfaithfulness, and now his way would be hard. The sword shall never depart from your house. Now note specifically the reason.
Because you have despised me. If you compare verse 9 and 10, what do you find? To despise the commandment of Yahweh is to despise Yahweh. You see, you can't say, well, I love God, but I don't really have a lot of time for his word, right?
Really love God, but you know, those commandments, they're just, you know, soul testament. Well, to despise the one is to despise the other. To resist the law is to resist the law giver. To reject the Word of God is to reject the God of the Word.
This is the juxtaposition in verses 9 and 10. To despise the commandment of Yahweh is to despise Me, God says. And have taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be your wife. Now note, there will be insurrection within his own household.
Verse 11, thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. This happens with Absalom, doesn't it? That great usurpation where Absalom basically wins the hearts of Israel and turns the people against his own father. You see, everything that is specified here under the consequences described in verses 10 to 12, that's what takes up the rest of 2 Samuel.
That's what occupies our attention. In fact, next week we'll finish chapter 12, but then we get into the rape of Tamar by Amnon. I mean, it is unsavory stuff that comes as a result of David's sin. And you see, when a king sins and when a father sins, there is ramification upon others as well.
So there would be adversity against David from his own house. And then note the public defilement of his wives, 11b and verse 12. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel before the sun.
This is done by Absalom in chapter 16, verses 21 and 22, in such a public way that all Israel, or at least anyone in Ishot, would be able to see what's going on. Now, it may rise up in someone's hearts, hopefully not anyone here, to say, well, that seems a little bit severe that the Lord God would deal thus with David. The Lord God is a holy and a righteous and a just God. So we move through the narrative, the fact that the son of Bathsheba and David dies.
I can hear persons in the church saying, well, that doesn't seem right. That doesn't seem fair. Wait till we get to verse 31 in chapter 12 and really see you flip out when we look at that text in a little bit more detail. But you know what, brethren?
God always does what's right. God always does what's just. God always does what is holy. And so what he is executing here, in terms of consequences, in terms of chastisement upon David, is legit.
This is the living and the true God.
Implementation of God's Grace
Now notice, finally, the implementation of God's grace in verses 13 and 14.
David's Confession
Note David's confession. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. As I said, two words in Hebrew. Two words.
I dealt with this a little bit when we looked at Proverbs 28, 13, but trusting that your memories don't go back quite that far, I'll repeat some of the things that were said then. We may think David got off easy. Two words of confession and that's it? It's all done?
It's over? Two words of confession and he's off the hook? That doesn't seem right. Doesn't David have to suffer?
Doesn't he have to squirm? Doesn't he have to wear a hair shirt? Doesn't he have to go live out in a cave? Doesn't he have to put ashes in his soup for the next six months?
Doesn't he have to take a whip of cords and beat himself on the back? I mean, the Catholics teach that we have to go through this penance before we can actually appropriate the forgiveness and the mercy of God. Well, the Catholics are wrong. You see, David confessed his sin and God forgave him.
Davis says, some may consider this confession too brief. After all, David only says two Hebrew words and Nathan gives him an assurance aparted. Does David get off too easily? Is he only expected to say the right formula?
We would prefer him to wallow in his guilt and plead, beg, and agonize over the possibility of pardon. If only he would writhe in obvious misery. We should know better, but we still assume, listen, that intensity of repentance contributes to atonement. You see, David doesn't have to earn forgiveness because Christ has purchased forgiveness.
That's the problem with potpourri. This idea that we can somehow gain or earn forgiveness through our penance is an utter rejection of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It is a rejection of the grace of God. David is a biblical Christian.
David is a God-fearer. David is one who believes on the Lord Jesus. I have sinned against the Lord. If there was a 15-verse confession by David with flowery language, we may be tempted or inclined to think, well, God forgave him because of that prayer.
God forgave him because he invoked his own goodness in the past. God forgave him because David was able to prove to God that his good outweighed the past. No, I have sinned against Yahweh. The Berlberg Bible on the simplicity of his confession.
The words are very few. Just as in the case of the publican in the Gospel of Luke. What's the publican in the Gospel of Luke do? I mean, it's the Pharisee that has the long flowery prayer, who thanks God that he's not like other men.
And he thanks God that he tithes, and that he fasts, and that he does all those things. The publican can't even look up to heaven, but he says, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Whom does Jesus, or who does Jesus say goes to his house justified? He says it's the publican.
Do you know how offensive that was to Jesus' audience? We read that as Protestants and we've learned to accept it and we praise God for it. But in that original context, when those persons heard that it was the publican who would go home justified, that was scandalous and shocking. You mean the Pharisee, who prayed thus with himself and was able to present the reality that he was a great man?
That man didn't go home justified? Exactly. Because it's not by works, it's by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. The Berlberg goes on to say, I like that word, Berlberg, but that is a good sign of a thoroughly broken spirit.
There is no excuse, there is no cloaking, there is no palliation of the sin. There is no searching for a loophole, no pretext put forward, no human weakness pleaded. He acknowledges guilt openly, candidly, and without prevarication, or to speak or act in an evasive way. And I've often heard or I've heard in the past where persons have said something like this, you know, so-and-so got caught and so he confessed.
Well, David got caught and he confessed, right? Does it count? If you're in sin and somebody catches you and you repent, does it count? Well, evidently it counted for David.
Saul got caught in his sin, but he didn't repent. The issue isn't whether or not we got caught or got away with it. The issue is repentance. Oh, well, he only confessed because he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Well, praise God, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and he confessed it, he forsook it, and now he's right with his maker. You see, brethren, we need to be careful when persons get caught in sin. Hopefully, we don't get caught in sin. Hopefully, we repent far before that, or we don't even make a practice out of sin.
But I have heard that, oh, he only came clean because he got caught. Well, maybe that was God's means for him to come clean. Do you ever read 2 Samuel 12? Because that's what the Lord does with David.
He sends Nathan to tell him this parable, to bring this conviction, to lead him along by the hand, to bring him to that place where he says, I have sinned. You see, whether he's caught or not, the issue is repentance. Now notice, after David confesses, Nathan says to David, some of the most glorious words in our Bible, the Lord also has put away your sin. Isn't that amazing?
That's what we have in the gospel. That's ours, brethren. Isn't that the emphasis in 1 John 1? If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to make us feel miserable for six months and eat soup with ashes and wear hair shirts, and then maybe He'll forgive us of our...
That's not what the text says. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, the gospel logic is, because of that, I don't want to sin. It is a distortion and a perversion for persons to say, well, if that's the way it is, then everybody will just go out and sin because, you know, forgiveness is so easy to fetch.
Now, Paul deals with this in Romans 6. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? May it never be.
We died. We've been raised with Christ. No longer present your members as instruments of unrighteousness. Gospel logic means this.
Because I have this access to God through my Lord Jesus Christ, I don't want to sin. I don't want to commit adultery. I certainly don't want to murder people. I don't want to be an idolater.
But if I do sin, I have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. I have one who always lives to make intercession for me. I have one who pleads those wounds on my behalf. I have one who stands between me and the Father and who pleads my case before God.
That's the blessed beauty of the gospel itself. Nathan says to David, the Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. Gil says, though he should die a corporeal death.
Yes, of course, David's going to die eventually. David is not going to live forever. Though he should die a corporeal death, yet not by the immediate hand of God, or by the sword of justice as a malefactor." You see, God doesn't execute the death penalty. I've heard this in debate before.
You know, we argue for pro-death penalty, and people say, well, David wasn't put to death. Well, when the lawgiver suspends or commutes the sentence, he's free to do that. When the lawgiver himself says, I'm not going to inflict the death penalty, but when the people are supposed to obey the lawgiver, we meet out the death penalty as required. But that's an aside.
He goes on to say, as a malefactor, a murderer, and adulterer. as he, according to the law, deserved to die. Nor should he die a spiritual death, though his grace had been so low, and his corruptions had risen so high." So God gives grace to David. God puts away David's sin.
The Immediate Consequence
Now note the immediate consequence in view in verse 14. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme." Some of the versions have it a little bit different. The ESV has, you have utterly scorned the Lord. And there's some warrant for that sort of a translation.
The end game is the same. God has been dishonored, whether it is from the enemies of the Lord, or whether it is the direct affront to God himself. The problem, David, with what you have done, yes, it was a sin against Bathsheba, yes, it was a sin against Uriah, but ultimately it was a sin against the Most High God, and He has been brought to scorn. This is why David in Psalm 51 says against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil.
He's not negating Bathsheba and Uriah. He's not saying they're unimportant if I had it to do... No! He sees himself dealing with a thrice holy God.
That's the view in Psalm 51, that psalm that was composed after this particular event. Now note the immediate consequence. Because of this, the child also who is born to you shall surely die. The death of the son of David and Bathsheba.
And God willing, we'll see that next week in the following portion in chapter 12. But there is an interesting note here. The child also who is born to you shall surely die. There is a death that takes place, isn't there?
There's a death that takes place for David's sin. It sounds like something that might happen in the future from David's vantage point, right? There's a death that takes place because of sin. Davis says,
Application
So, thus ends our exposition. I want to just draw out a couple of lessons and then we go. In the first place, we need to consider that initiative of God. And brethren, I would even urge us to pray that God would show such initiative.
We are prone to wander and we are prone to leave the God we love. We are prone to engage in those things that dishonor our Lord. And so we ought to consider praying, God, send us a Nathan if we start to get out of line. God, so work in my wife that she'll be man enough to stand up to me in my sin.
God, use my husband to correct me when I'm wrong. or when I'm in sin. Not, you know, you didn't pick up the socks, honey, so I'm going to be your Nathan. I'm not talking about that. Use my brothers at the church.
Use my sisters at the church. Use the preaching at the church to be the means in your hand to keep me from going to Davidic lengths in my sin and depravity. I don't want to live away from God. I don't want to spend nine months away from God.
I don't want to engage in adultery and murder. Brethren, if we're going to deal with sin properly and righteously and biblically, we need to take radical aims to deal with it. And if that means asking God to send us a Nathan, perhaps on a Sunday morning you pray, may God bless the preaching in such a way that Nathan the prophet will come and show me that I am the man. Brethren, that's the best thing about preaching.
Not, wow, there was great structure in that sermon, but, wow, that's a great God, and I need to repent, and I want to follow Him and serve Him. That's the mark of sermons that are blessed of God, when genuine change is wrought in the heart. So we ought to welcome the initiative of God. We ought not to want it to be the case that we get away with it.
I told my children many times in the past in their upbringing, whenever they were caught in sin, or when they were caught in an infraction, or when they were caught in something, I would always remind them, this is a blessing from God. Because if you were not caught, guess what you would do? You would be hardened, and you would go further and further and further. There was one or two of them that, praise God, they got caught all the time.
And I am so thankful to the Lord for that, because if they had not, they might have gone to Davidic lengths in sinning against the Lord Most High. As well, we ought to appreciate from this passage the wretchedness of sin. The act itself as seen in chapter 11. And then as explained in verse 9 of our chapter.
Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife to be your wife. You have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
Talk about applicatory preaching. Oh, pastor, you shouldn't say such things because it'll make people feel bad. God says, David, David, David, this is what you've done against me. It is a despising of the commandment of the Lord.
And it is a despising of me. Don't do that. That is wrong. It is wicked.
So we see the wretchedness of sin. And then when we place it in the context of God's grace in 12, 7 and 8, it becomes that much more heinous. I mean, how could anybody in their right mind sin against such a good God? Well, you all know the answer.
We do it. Maybe not to the degree that David does in chapter 11. But brethren, consciously recall the grace of God in your life and let that be a motivator so that you might not sin against Him. What does Newton write in Amazing Grace?
"'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear." Right? Not grace that gave me liberty, though it did that. Grace that gave me salvation, it does that. Grace that gives me an interest in Christ, it does that most certainly.
It was grace that taught my heart to fear. What does that fear do? Hopefully it causes us to pursue God in a way that is pleasing to God. That's what we consciously need to recall, the grace of God, the context we find ourselves in and see how wretched it is to engage in sin.
And then just to develop that point, the grace of God, we see the grace of God toward David prior to his fall into sin. I mean, verses 7 and 8 encapsulate everything we've studied in 1 and 2 Samuel up to this point, isn't it? I mean, if you want a great summary of everything that has come before 2 Samuel 12, just land on verses 7 and 8. God anointed David.
God set him as king over Israel. God delivered him from Saul. God gave him both Israel and Judah. I gave you Saul's houses.
I gave you Saul's wives. And if this was not enough, I would have given you not just more, Look at the emphasis, but much more. Isn't this what Paul says with his great grace? I mean, grace in itself is great, isn't it?
But for Paul, he's got a heap on great grace. Grace isn't enough when we're dealing with this God. We have to speak of great grace, super abounding grace, and that's what God alludes to here. I would have given you much more, David.
As well, we see the grace of God toward David after his fall into sin. The Lord has also put away your sin. That's grace, that's mercy, that's kindness, that's justice, founded upon the cross of our Lord Jesus. The grace of God toward David as a result of the redemptive work of Christ.
I pulled a Luther quote out of Galatians. Luther on Galatians 3.2. He says, ìBut we must learn by all means that forgiveness of sins, Christ and the Holy Spirit are granted, and granted freely only when we hear with faith.î I love this, ìEven our huge sins and demerits do not stand in the way.î Even our huge sins and demerits do not stand in the way. God's grace is super abounding.
But we need to recognize the grace of God toward David did not remove the temporal consequences resulting from his sin. there would still be the sword, there would still be the insubordination on the part of Absalom, there would still be the public defilement of his wives. We need to get that in our heads, brethren. God does forgive us, He does cleanse us, He does wash us in the blood, but there may be temporal consequences associated with sins that we commit in this world. And then as well, we ought to see the character of David.
Verse 13 is beautiful. I have sinned against the Lord. Notice what David does not do. David didn't try to argue with God.
I mean, some of them, I wasn't being God, I don't know, you must have had somebody else, I wasn't there. David doesn't try to blame others for his sin. Notice that verse 13, David doesn't say, well, you know, if Bathsheba hadn't have been on that roof bathing naked, then, you know, I wouldn't be in this mess. People do that, don't they?
Adam did it. A woman whom you gave me, she gave me to eat. David doesn't do that. He's laid bare.
You see, when you're laid bare by the sovereignty of God, by the penetrating word of God, through the prophet of God, there's no argument to offer. There's no, you know, lawyer to hire. There's no, you know, Bathsheba this or Uriah that. No, he didn't offer his good works as a bargaining chip either.
He doesn't say, but God, I've done so much. I mean, can't you just allow me this one? God, I've accomplished so much in terms of my rule over Israel and over Judah, and we're dealing with the Ammonites as we speak. We've dealt with the Syrians, and we've broken the back of the Philistines, and we've got things quieted down, the kingdom is stable, people have money, there's economic prosperity.
He doesn't do that. All he says is, I have sinned against the Lord. Now, we need to couple 2 Samuel 11 and 12 with 1 Samuel 16. where God chooses the man after his own heart. Does David stop being a man after God's own heart in chapters 11 and 12?
David's always the man after God's own heart. Well, how do we reconcile the two? I like what Davis says. He says, to be the man after God's own heart is not to be sinlessly perfect, but to be among other things, utterly submissive to the accusing word of God.
In other words, David sides with God and says, you're right. That's what Psalm 51 is. David just saying everything God says is true about me. I'm a wretch.
I'm horrible. I'm monstrous. Save for the grace of God, everything about me is just polluted and evil and wicked. So to be the man after God's own heart, at least with reference to the sons of men, not the Lord Jesus, He is the man after God's own heart perfectly.
But with reference to us, it doesn't necessarily mean that we're sinlessly perfect, but by God's grace we are submissive even to His accusing word. We don't try to argue ourselves out of it. We don't try to redefine it and say, well, you know, I'm just doing what other kings would do. No, he doesn't do any of that.
He says, I have sinned against the Lord. And then finally, with reference to this chapter, it would have reminded the faithful Israel to long in heartfelt anticipation for the promised heir of 2 Samuel 7, 12 to 14. We saw that last week. When we saw David's sin, we reminded ourselves of 2 Samuel 7, the promise of the Davidic covenant, the promise that God would raise up a king that would rule forever and ever.
We saw that death does not annul the promise, time does not exhaust the promise, and sin itself does not destroy the promise. And so the faithful Israelite would come out of 2 Samuel 11 and 12, say, you know, I love David, but I love his greater son even more. And I look forward to the day when he will come and he won't go into Bathsheba and murder Uriah and do all manner of wickedness. So it was a promotion of the Messiah for the people of God.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for your grace as we see it so clearly in 2 Samuel 12. May we not forget it in our own lives, in our own context, and in our own experience. Certainly you have been gracious to each of us that you have brought us here, that you brought us out of darkness into marvelous light, that you've given us life eternal in Christ Jesus. May these things all mount as arguments against a sinfulness and a and a pursuit of those things which are ungodly and unholy.
Would you go with us now and watch over us in the remainder of this week and bring us together on Saturday to do some work here, bring us together on the Lord's Day to worship and to serve you. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.