Scripture Reading
Please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. I mentioned last week we're going to take some time in these summer months away from our study in the Gospel of Matthew. We're going to look at passages in the Old Testament where the grace of God is manifest. Last week we looked at his declaration in Exodus 34, 6 and 7 concerning his goodness, concerning his graciousness, his mercy, his willingness to forgive.
And certainly, as we wander around the Old Testament looking for the grace of God, a stop at David's royal court is absolutely necessary. I'll just pick up reading in 2 Samuel chapter 11 at verse 1. I know it's a bit of a lengthy reading. This morning, I would ask you to pay attention because much of what goes on in the coming moments reflect upon what is herein written in chapter 11 all the way up through chapter 12 verse 15.
It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman, And someone said, is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
Then David sent messengers and took her. And she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity. And she returned to her house. And the woman conceived.
So she sent and told David and said, I am with child. Then David sent to Joab saying, send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war prospered.
And David said to Uriah, go down to your house and wash your feet. So Uriah departed from the king's house and a gift of food from the king followed him. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house. So when they told David saying Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, did you not come from a journey?
Why did you not go down to your house? And Uriah said to David, the ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.
And David said to Uriah, wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him. and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter saying, set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retreat from him that he may be struck down and die. So it was while Joab besieged the city that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the people of the servants of David fell, and Uriah the Hittite died also.
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war and charged the messenger, saying, When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, If it happens that the king's wrath rises and he says to you, why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck Abimelech, the son of Jerubasheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of millstone on him from the wall so that he died in Thebes?
Why did you go near the wall? Then you shall say, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. And the messenger said to David, surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field.
Then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. The archers shot from the wall at your servants, and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant, Uriah the Hittite, is dead also. Then David said to the messenger, thus you shall say to Joab, Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.
So encourage him. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house. And she became his wife and bore him a son.
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. And 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 in 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 Ammon.
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 this sun.
For 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. The Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill. Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we come to you now, and truly, as we read this passage of Scripture, our hearts are warmed and encouraged at your grace. We are also horrified at the sin of David, and we pray that you would just teach us many good lessons this morning. As well, Father, I pray for any that do not know you, those who are dead in their trespasses and sins. those who have not been forgiven. God, how I pray that your spirit would be at work in their hearts, that you would show them the gospel of your dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him.
And may you encourage your people here. May you encourage your sheep, who so often struggle with sin. Help us to see Your freeness and Your graciousness and Your kindness and Your mercy and Your love. Help us to appreciate afresh the power of Jesus' blood.
And we pray in His most blessed name. Amen.
Introduction
I want to sort of set the context for what we find here in 2 Samuel chapter 11 and 12. You'll remember that David is the king that God chose. according to 1 Samuel 16 verses 1 to 13. David is a man after God's own heart, according to 1 Samuel 13 verse 14. In 2 Samuel, David is anointed king over Judah in 2 Samuel chapter 2.
He consolidates the kingdom. That means both Israel and Judah are under his reign, under his rule, according to 2 Samuel chapter 5. In 2 Samuel 5 we learn as well that Jerusalem is made the political capital. It is from thence that the king of Israel would rule, from his royal throne.
And then in 2 Samuel 6, the ark is brought to Jerusalem, and therefore it is the place, or it is the central place, or it is the religious capital in Jerusalem also. You'll remember 2 Samuel 7, God makes the Davidic covenant. He makes a promise to David that from his seed one would be raised up that would rule and his kingdom would have no end. That is, of course, a prophecy concerning David's greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 2 Samuel 9, we see David engaged in showing kindness. It's very interesting. He wants to show kindness to the former royal family and he finds this man Mephibosheth and he pours out mercy and grace and kindness upon this man in 2 Samuel 9. And then at the death of Nahash, the leader of the Ammonites, David sends diplomatically, of course, representatives to make peace and to pass on their condolences to Hanun, the king of Ammon.
So David is seeking to extend grace, kindness, and mercy, not only to the former royal family, but in his foreign relationships also. Of course, they reject that overture. There is a war with the Ammonites, and that's the backdrop to what we find here. in 2 Samuel 11. It will resume at the end of 2 Samuel 12.
But the author wants to take some time to leave the battlefield, to leave the war between Israel and the Ammonites, and to show us what goes on in the royal chamber. He wants us to see David's fall. He wants us to appreciate David's God. He wants us to understand just how great a grace we have in the God of Israel.
The Sin of David
So I want to look at four considerations as we look at the narrative this morning. First, we'll notice the sin of David, verses 1 to 5, the attempted cover-up, which takes the bulk of the narrative, verses 6 to 25, and then thirdly, the divine comment in verse 27, and then the Lord's response to this situation in chapter 12, verses 1 to 15. So there's a bit of a road map for where we are going this morning.
Setting: David Remains in Jerusalem
Notice first the setting. I've already sketched that for you. David is ruling as a king and Israel ought to rule. David is doing all those things that are requisite upon the king of Israel.
In this particular instance, however, instead of going to battle, instead of going as kings were accustomed to, David stays behind in Jerusalem and he dispatches Joab and the armies of Israel to Rabbah so that they can engage the Ammonites and destroy them. Of course, we know what David is then found doing. He's probably had an after-dinner nap. He's awake now, and he wants to stroll upon his roof.
Mustn't be dark all the way, or he wouldn't have viewed Bathsheba. So he goes up on his roof. He's starting to look about, and there he sees Bathsheba. And the text is direct.
The text is very brief. The text conveys specifically what David saw. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
The Progression of Sin
David should have stopped, David should have left his roof, and David should have went and found either one of his wives, or he should have went and taken a cold shower. But no, David begins this progression of sin. And this is a horrible progression. This is generally how it begins.
This is why you need to be careful about what you put in the eye gate. This is why you need to be careful about what you listen to. It is important that you take heed to the reality that you're not that strong. If the man, after God's own heart, could be enticed, then certainly us lesser men can be as well.
We ought to be careful. We ought to be guarded. We ought to watch and pray. We ought to realize the power of temptation and the tendency, the unfortunately dark tendency of our heart to search out those things which are evil and ungodly.
The text again is very brief. The text again is very clear. Verse 3, David sent and inquired about the woman after they reported who she was. Verse 4 says, then David sent messengers and took her and she came to him and he lay with her for she was cleansed from her impurity.
The irony is dripping, isn't it? She is ceremonially clean. She has purified herself from her customary impurity. And all the while, David is taking the moral law of God and engaging in abject wickedness and defilement.
And then notice what the text says. She returned to her house. She's not Bathsheba. She is the woman.
The woman conceived. So she sent and told David and said, I am with child.
The Attempted Cover-Up
Therein lies the conflict. Therein lies the tension. If she had not been impregnated, David would have committed this particular deed and it would have been over. But the surprise in the royal court is simply this.
Bathsheba is now with child, and so that causes David not to repent, not to own, not to confess, not to come clean, but to cover up. Isn't this the way that sinners operate? When Adam and Eve rebel against God, what do they do? They make fig leaves to cover their private parts, and they hide among the trees that the Lord God made.
When Achan sees and he covets and he steals, he hides that stuff and he shuts up about it. This is the nature of man. Instead of bringing our sin to God Most High who meets us with grace, forgiveness and mercy, we try and cover it and this is precisely what David does. So let's look at this attempted cover-up under two broad considerations.
First, David and Uriah, and then David and Joab. And if this seems to be a bit redundant, because after all we just read the text, again, I think it's absolutely crucial before we appreciate the emphasis in chapter 12, verses 1 to 15, we have to see how far David has fallen. We have to see how mucky his life has become. We have to see that God, the Gracious One, recovers us even when we've been into the depths of distressing sin.
Notice, David and Uriah.
David and Uriah
David calls for Uriah to come to him. He exchanges some pleasantries in verse 7. How are things? What's going on?
How's the battle raging? A little bit of nicety, a little bit of discussion, a little bit of greasing the palm with Uriah, and then he gets into his particular plan. He says, why don't you wash your feet, why don't you go home, and why don't you enjoy a bit of R&R? This is a command from the king, verse 8.
David instructs him to go home. You know what David is thinking, of course, that Uriah is going to lie with his wife, so that when it is known that she is pregnant, everybody will assume that the daddy is Uriah and not the king of Israel. What does Uriah do? Uriah disobeys the king.
And when we first read that, we might be a bit incensed. There's some Jewish tradition that says that Uriah had what was coming to him for this very reason, that he defied the king. Nothing could be further from the truth. Why does Uriah defy the king?
Uriah, at least in the depiction of the writer here, is the only faithful Israelite in the entire narrative. He says, how in the world could I go and lie with my wife when the Ark of the Covenant is out in the battlefield? That primary symbol of Israel's covenant is what Uriah the Hittite is actually concerned about. And as well, Israel and Judah are on the battlefield.
My Lord Joab, he's out on the battlefield. Uriah takes this oath seriously. As you live, Lord, or as you live, David, I will not go to visit my wife. The man has integrity.
One lady, one commentator, rather, says David had expected and hoped that Uriah would prove to be like himself. Instead, he proved to be a man of integrity, whose first loyalty was to the king's interests rather than to his own pleasure. Did you notice that he sent a gift of food, too? You think there's any accident in this?
What do you do on your anniversary? You go for a nice meal, don't you? There's something nice about the ambience of some candlelight, of a good steak. If you don't like steak, you should learn, because it's delicious.
David understands that a good meal, perhaps a glass of wine, will grace the wheels of romance. David wants off the hook. David is horrible in this passage. David is behaving like a thug.
The title of this morning's sermon is a rebellious king and a gracious God. We're not dealing with the king of the Jebusites. We're not dealing with the king of the Canaanites. We're not dealing with the king of the Hivites.
We're dealing with the king of Israel, a man after God's own heart. David's plan fails. Uriah proves to be a man of integrity. So David says, carry in the city one more night.
And David eats and drinks and then gets Uriah drunk. Again, what's the supposition? That Uriah's gonna stagger home and look for some lovin' from his wife Bathsheba. But you see, the alcohol did not destroy his integrity.
Uriah may have staggered because he was drunk, but he staggered right back to the servants, and he lay with them. He's a man of integrity. He's a man of decency. He is a man who values the God of Israel, His covenant, His ark, and His people.
David has met a worthy foe in this particular man. David wants nothing more than to cover up this sin so that he can resume his political dealings and his machinations and never be found out for this deed or misdeed with Bathsheba.
David and Joab
And then notice, David and Joab, verses 14 to 25. You talk about despicable. You know, this passage, I don't know how many times I've read it and even preached on it. It just chokes me up every time.
It's hard for me to understand how a man after God's own heart can do the things that he's doing in this passage. He sketches out a note. He writes it to Joab, he tells in the note his plan for Uriah's murder. He then hands the note to Uriah and Uriah dutifully takes it into the battle and hands it to Joab.
Joab reads the note, and then Joab executes the plan. Joab launches an assault upon the city. Joab makes sure that Uriah is right up in front where there's valiant men, because he knows that is the way to carry out the king's order to exterminate, to eliminate, to liquidate, and to get rid of David's problem. And note the dialogue.
Joab assumes that David is the type of military commander that likes to protect his troops. Joab assumes that the way David rules and operates in terms of battle plan is not to put innocent men in harm's way. That's that whole extended dialogue that Joab has with the messenger. If the king's wrath rises and he says, why did you go near the city gates?
Don't you know the archers will be able to take out our men? Make sure you punctuate this story. Make sure you punctuate this report with that juicy bit of morsel, with that sweet morsel that will take the sting out of this otherwise horrible story. Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
Do you see how many times that's emphasized in the passage? How many times you read 2 Samuel 11 and you read that Uriah the Hittite is dead? Uriah the Hittite is dead. Uriah the Hittite is dead.
Uriah the Hittite is dead. What does this tell us? David is sinning. David is despising the commandment of Yahweh, and in so doing, he's despising Yahweh himself.
So of course, the messenger comes to David, the messenger reports what's happened in the battle, and look at David's response. It's terrible! If I sound like I'm being hard on David, David could be equally hard on me for my sins. We're looking at him this morning.
Notice in verse 22, so the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. And the messenger said to David, surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field. Then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. The archers shot from the wall at your servants and some of the king's servants are dead.
Again, the former speech by Joab seems to assume that David didn't like this policy. David didn't like to send men in harm's way. David didn't want these men, his soldiers, to die. But, David, here's the encouraging bit, Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
Notice David's response. Well, you know, you win some and you lose some. That's what he says. It's just the price of doing business with the Ammonites.
It's just the way these sorts of things go. We might even put it this way, if you want to make an omelet, sometimes you have to break a few eggs. Well, not sometimes, you always have to break a few eggs. Look at David's report.
Thus you shall say to Joab, do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it, so encourage him. Go back and tell Joab to keep fighting, to keep marching on valiantly, and to do what it is you're supposed to do. As far as David is concerned, it's over. And just so that the author of our narrative can try and convince us of that, we find verse 26.
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son." Now, even for us, what's the word I'm looking for? Physiologically challenged individuals. Those of us who didn't do well in science.
Most of us in this room, I hope, know that the gestation period for a human being is nine months. You ever take a couple of weeks? Sometimes the ladies at the end like for a shorter gestation period. What's the text telling us?
David buried the sin for nine months. Israel's king is acting worse than the heathen. Israel's king is rejecting Israel's God. For nine months, at the minimum, he has put adultery out of his head, he has put murder out of his head.
As far as David is concerned, he has committed the perfect crime. He left no incriminating evidence at the crime scene. Oh, perhaps a few of the court servants saw what was going on. They saw Bathsheba delivered to his door.
They probably surmised what was going on behind closed doors, but nobody knew for certain. In David's mind, he was a free man. In David's mind, he had done it. In David's mind, he had committed adultery, and he had, in fact, committed murder, and now he's got a new wife to add to his harem.
As far as David is concerned, this whole situation, this whole affair, has worked out quite favorably for the King of Israel.
The Divine Comment: Evil in God's Eyes
Notice 27b. But the thing that David did was evil in the Lord's eyes. It's the same language that David employs previous. Verse 25, thus you shall say to Joab, do not let this thing be evil in your eyes.
God Almighty sees. Remember last week when we looked at Exodus 32-34. Moses is up on the mount with God Almighty. Israel is down dancing before a golden calf.
Israel is down ascribing redemptive power to a golden calf. God the Lord says to Moses, get down there. Deal with your people. Deal with the ones you let out of Egypt.
You see, what's the implication? Loud and clearly, God sees what men are doing. God sees when they're dancing before the golden calf. God saw the royal bedroom.
God saw this situation with David and Bathsheba. God knew the inner workings of David's heart. God knew the plan with Uriah. God knew the plan with Joab.
God knew most certainly. And that's where I suspect that many of you, or at least some of you, do fail. You think you can sit and get away with it. You think that as long as mom or dad or wife or husband don't see what I'm doing, then everything's okay.
As long as I don't get arrested, as long as I don't end up in a jail cell, as long as my reputation is not destroyed, as long as I can continue to run for political office, as long as I still get this paycheck, as long as I can at least keep up all appearances, it really doesn't matter what I do. I mean, after all, David, the king of Israel, is probably doing what every other king would do in his place. In fact, David, the king of Israel, is probably doing what any red-blooded, normal man would do. The thing that David did was evil in Yahweh's eyes.
Notice that God has not been mentioned in the narrative up to this point. It's almost as if we're operating in an atheistic world. It's almost as if we're operating in a world without rules. David takes one, David lies with one, David kills another, and everything is done and everything looks good.
He's got a new wife, he's got happiness, he's got everything going for him. Mephibosheth is taken care of. At least the Ammonites, we attempted to take care of them diplomatically. Everything is good in terms of the consolidation of power.
But if God the Lord is displeased with you, then everything's messed up. That's something we ought to take away from this passage. Your life may be peachy. Your life may be rosy.
Your life may be happy. You might have everything going for you. But if God the Lord is displeased with you, there's nothing worse. I mean, who cares if you're the most popular in your peer group?
Who cares if you've got the nicest car? Who cares if you've got the nicest house, or you've got the biggest bank account? If God the Lord is displeased with you, none of that stuff matters. It's an amazing reality that sin renders us irrational.
We start to value what others think about us instead of what God the Lord thinks about us. We start to clean up our messes so that we won't lose our position and not give any thought whatsoever to how God views the situation. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, the Proverbs say, beholding the good and the evil. What is a consistent and recurring theme throughout Scripture?
Your sin will always find you out. There's no such thing as the perfect crime. There's always an investigator out there. There's always the transfer that occurs at a crime scene.
In this instance, the divine God of heaven and earth peers into the royal court, and he knows exactly what's going on with King David of Israel. Don't fool yourselves. Ralph Davis says, Yahweh may be silent, commenting on the bulk of silence in chapter 11, but he is not sightless. He may be silent, but he is not sightless.
The thing David had done was evil in Yahweh's eyes. He then makes this perceptive comment, David may have Bathsheba's flesh and Uriah's blood, but he will have to face Yahweh's eyes. See, that's the setting. That's the stage.
That's the situation. That's where we find ourselves, and much like we saw last week. After that time when they danced before the golden calf, what do we expect from God? We expect obliteration.
We expect removal. We expect extinction. We expect Him to take the covenant people and hurl them away, never to have dealings with them again. But in that context, God the Lord says, I will make my goodness pass before you, Moses, and you will understand this, that I am the Lord God, that I am merciful, that I am good, that I am long-suffering, that I abound in mercy and forgiveness.
And the same is true here.
The Lord's Response to David's Sin
Let's look at the Lord's response. Four considerations. Don't be one of those four, oh man, that means we're going to be here for another hour. You're not going to be here for another hour.
You need to get what's going on in this passage. How does God respond to David's sin? I hope that you have seen David sin. David sinned big.
David sinned bad. David sinned horribly. God's grace is more abundant. I was thinking about that yesterday.
If you were to meet David right now, not in heaven, because I don't think that's what we'd talk about. We'd just be saying, there's Jesus, there's your greater son. But let's say he plopped out of heaven, he fell right down here, and we said, you know David, if you had it to do over again, would you? I am sure, in my heart of hearts, he would say, absolutely.
I committed adultery. I broke the seventh word. And I committed murder. I broke the sixth word.
Interestingly, those two commandments and their breach continue today. David murdered Uriah. Today, people murder babies to try and cover sexual sin. Those commandments do go hand in hand.
But I suppose that if you asked David, if you had to do it over again, David probably would say, I'd go out to battle. I'd rather be found on the plains of Rabbah killing Ammonites and satisfying my lusts with Bathsheba. But I also suppose he'd say, you know though, if I hadn't fallen that low, if I hadn't degraded myself that severely, I would have never known the oceans of grace that are available for God's people. I would have never known.
I know the brethren in this church relatively well. I know those who struggle the way I struggle, understanding and appropriating the free forgiveness of God. Let this passage inform you. Let this passage fasten itself in your heart and mind The great thing about God's salvation and grace is God's salvation and grace.
He overwhelms our sin. Paul says he has super abounding grace. Paul makes up words. Did you know that?
He takes a word and he throws prepositions on it to make it that much bigger. Because you see, the English language or the Greek language employed by the apostle or the Hebrew language employed by the prophets didn't contain words to describe adequately and sufficiently how gracious God really is. And I suspect there's something to this observation when I consider that hymn we sang before the preaching of the Word. In Psalm 51, when David is rehearsing his repentance, when he rejoices in the fact that he says to the Lord, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
Take not thine Holy Spirit from me. After he rehearses cleansing, after he rehearses his own sin and depravity, he then makes this comment, Then I will teach transgressors your ways. When David stands before you and says, the God of Israel is filled with grace, and you say, well, how do you know David? Come here, let me tell you.
Let me tell you.
The Initiative of God's Grace
Notice, with reference to the Lord's response, the first thing we need to appreciate is the initiative of God. David's the player in chapter 11. David does all the action in chapter 11. David sends, David inquires, David takes, David lays with, David calls for Uriah, David sends Uriah, David calls for Joab, David sends the letter to Joab.
Everything is David in chapter 11. Isn't this the case? God has to come and clean up us? When we undertake, we assume control, we operate accordingly, we make a mess of things, and thankfully, the Lord then sends Nathan to David.
Verse 1. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. I was thinking about this a little bit yesterday, too. It's probably something to investigate on another occasion, but, man, this is a tough job for Nathan.
Wow. You see, the nation surrounding Israel, the king was divine. Not in Israel's case. The king was the servant of the divinity, and therefore he was subject to the word of God, and the prophet would come and sue him when he was in sin.
The Lord sent Nathan. Calvin says, let us note that there is nothing better than when God sends us messengers of his wrath. See, we don't think it's that way. We try to trick ourselves, but that is a mercy.
I used to tell my children that, praise God, you got caught. Now, I realized when they got caught, they weren't doing jigs and dancing around and happily celebrating the fact that they were now being punished. But what a mercy, what a goodness, what a grace and a kindness that if you're in sin, God sends Nathan to you. Davis again says, the words and the Lord sent.
They show us that grace pursues and exposes the sinner in his sin. They teach us that God will not allow his servant to remain comfortable in sin, but will ruthlessly expose his sin lest he settled down in it. You may succeed in unfaithfulness, but God will come after you.
The Indictment of God's Prophet
Notice the instruction of God's prophet. This doesn't take a lot of explanation. Nathan tells him a story. But notice that Nathan does not say it's a story.
Nathan does not say it's a parable. One of David's jobs as king of Israel is chief administrator of justice, according to chapter 8. And verse 15, the king in Israel would hear cases and render verdict. All David knew is that he was being presented with a case that was pending in the court system.
Nathan is relaying it to him and wanting the king's advice in how to pursue justice in this particular matter. Now, in case you missed it, in the story, David is the rich man, Uriah is the poor man, and this poor little ewe lamb that Uriah loves is his wife Bathsheba. The language of the text is conspicuous as well. When the rich man's friend comes, the rich man doesn't want to part with any of his wealth, so he goes and he takes that ewe lamb.
Isn't that what happens when Uriah's out at Rabbah? Uriah is out defending the Ark of the Covenant, Israel, Judah, fighting for the God of Israel, and David sends messengers to take his wife out of his home. Notice the response. So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man.
You can see it, can't you? Look into the chamber and see David. He's just, nostrils are flaring. He's angry.
He's upset. He's mad. 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. The man who has done this deserves to die, which is interesting because it's a property crime.
It is theft. It wasn't a capital offense. David does demand that restitution be made, a la Exodus 22 verse 1. But he is so upset, he is so angry, he is so vehemently opposed to this man's attitude.
And that's what's described. Notice in verse 6, "...and he shall restore fourfold for the Lamb." Because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. He had no pity! David's right where Nathan wants him, doesn't he?
Isn't he? We, the reader, know this. Every time we read it, we know it. Every time we read it, we see it.
Every time we read it, we're right there. Every time we read it, we're waiting for this hammer to fall, and it's going to. Alexander White made this comment. Nathan's sword was within an inch of David's conscience before David knew that Nathan had a sword.
David's unwitting here. That's old potatoes. The Bathsheba thing happened at least nine months ago. The death of Uriah the Hittite happened at least nine months ago.
That's all ancient history. David perhaps has forgotten all about it. Unless, of course, we interpret some of the Psalms as him having that inner turmoil and groaning at this particular time. But for our purposes in this text, David's just upset that this rich man exploited a poor man and took his little lamb.
Isn't that amazing? He's upset about this little lamb. We love our animals, don't we? We love our pets, don't we?
I mean, David's got blood dripping off of his hands and he's concerned about a little ewe lamb. David has committed the grievous sins of murder and adultery, but boy, this lamb, that really incenses him and really angers him.
The Indictment of God's King
Now notice, secondly, the indictment of God's king. We know it's coming, 7b, here it is. You are the man. That's it.
David understands. David knows. God the Lord has come. He is displeased about his action.
He dispatches his prophet, and now the hammer has fallen. And notice the amplification of this. God highlights his grace to David. You see, sin looks that much worse when it is against grace.
When a man goes out and commits adultery against a woman who has been gracious, and who has been loving, and who has been kind, and who has been giving, that is disgusting. When a woman goes out and commits adultery against a man who has been loving, who has been giving, who has been godly, who has been upright, who has been kind, it is disgusting. That's what's going on in verse 7. God says, I anointed you king over Israel.
I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping. And I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And he says, and if that had been too little, I would have given you David is the king of Israel.
You don't need to go stealing other men's wives. As the king of Israel, you don't need to go murdering soldiers. As the king of Israel, you ask the God of Israel, and the God of Israel, according to His will, will give you these things. God is angry with His servant here.
God is upset with His servant here. The way that David is angry with this Ulam situation, God now is venting through the prophet on His servant, David. Notice in verse 9, He gets to the crux, He gets to the particulars. He tells them, this is the accusation.
Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in His sight? What's the matter with you, David? What are you doing? How are you functioning this way?
What's got into your head? Why have you despised me? To break the commandments of God Almighty is to despise God Almighty. That is the connection we find here with verse 14.
You may think it's some small thing just to go out and break God's commandments, but every breaking of God's commandments is to despise the God who gave the command. If you give your child an instruction and it's for that child's good and they go out and break it, and they go out and violate it, you get the vibe or you get the feeling they don't respect you. They don't love you. They're not esteeming you.
They don't prize you and honor you the way it's fitting. And the same thing is true here. Notice where the blame lies. In verse 9, you have killed Uriah the Hittite.
Conspiracy to commit murder is murder. David, you didn't wield the sword. You weren't on the field of battle. You didn't wet your sword with his blood, but you killed him.
You murdered him. You put that innocent man to death. of you, not the Ammonites, not Joab, not the messengers, not his friends. It is because of the king of Israel who should be looking out for his people and what does he do? He exposes him to the most heinous crime.
He murders him so he can cover up his sexual intercourse with his wife. It's a matter with you, David. Now, verse 10, therefore the sword shall never depart from your house. David, you use the sword against Uriah, the sword will never depart from your house.
Mark that in this text. There is forgiveness with God. There is spiritual blessing. There is restoration.
But that does not invalidate the consequences of sin. Chapters 13 to 20 are commentary on these few verses. Because you employed the sword against Uriah, the sword will never depart from your house. Domestically, things will be a mess.
Amnon rapes Tamar. Absalom kills Amnon. Absalom usurps the kingdom. And David, you hid with Bathsheba, your wives will be violated publicly.
Chapter 16, verse 22, that's precisely what Absalom does. He has relations with David's wives in the view of all Israel. Temporal consequences for sin.
The Implementation of God's Grace
Notice, finally, the implementation of God's grace. Verse 13. 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.
Now, I know in my Christian experience, I have heard before people say, you know, that person only repented because he got caught. Saul got caught and he didn't repent. David repented. Even though he got caught first, he repented.
Praise God, he got caught. Praise God that he catches us so that we'll repent. Be very loath to judge somebody because they repented after they got caught. They repented.
That's the point. That's the hope. That's the goal. That's the desire.
How they get to point Z is God's way. David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. He didn't call a press conference and say, you know, I'm sick. I need counseling.
I've got a sex addiction. It wasn't that bad. I only sent pictures. I only did it this one time.
He doesn't do that. He says, I have sinned against Yahweh. You see, we might want Him to grovel and to beg and to roll around on the ground. We want Him to feel bad.
We want Him to hurt and to ache and to agonize, and no doubt He does and He will. But in this instance, brethren, what He says is absolutely correct. This is what He should say, I have sinned against the Lord. This is why at times the peace of God does not flood your hearts and minds.
You want to make excuses. You want to shift the blame. You want to try and appear as something that you are not. You want to make it look like, oh, I'm really good after all.
No, you're not. You're bad. God is good. Confess it to Him, and He will have mercy and show forgiveness and kindness.
That is precisely what we find here. David says, I have sinned against the Lord. David says, some may consider this confession too brief. After all, David only says two Hebrew words, and Nathan gives him an assurance of pardon?
Really? You don't have to go to a confessional booth? You don't have to detail your litany of sins? You don't have to tell how you were feeling at that particular time?
You don't have to punch pillows? You don't have to go through therapy? You don't have to lay on a bed? You have to confess your sin to God!
That's it! David says, 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 that intensity of repentance contributes to atonement. But it doesn't. So we think, I have sinned against the Lord.
That's everything. It's an acknowledgment. It's confession. It's casting oneself at the mercy of God Almighty.
There's no better place to be. If you're here this morning, dear friend, you're not a Christian. Don't try to make excuses. Don't say, well, that's what everybody's doing.
You know the old adage, if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump off too? Honest kids say, yeah, I would. You can't minimize, you can't explain it away, you can't seek it, you know, forgiveness or restoration through any vehicle save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. David Davis points out another interesting thing in his commentary.
We'll close our exposition here, but he mentions that someone does die. David's son does die. there is the necessity of death over sins committed. And if we reflect from a New Testament vantage point, another one of David's sons ultimately dies so that we too can find atonement, so that we too can find mercy, so that we too can find grace.
Application
Well, in summary, we see in the fall of David, the reality that the best of men are men at best. David is a hero. David is one of my heroes. David was a man after God's own heart.
David fell. David fell grievously, but David's God restored him. David's God is gracious. David's God is merciful, and that's who David wants to bring us into contact with in a passage like this.
How do we account, or how do we bring this passage to bear with that statement concerning David as a man after God's own heart? Again, I think Davis hits the nail on the head. 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. He is utterly submissive to the accusing word of God.
In other words, when Yahweh indicts David, David is right there at his side saying, that's right, I did that, I sinned, I was grievous, I was a murderer, an adulterer. He doesn't try to hide it. He doesn't try to cover it up. When he is found out, to be sure, but his repentance is sure.
When Saul is confronted for his sin, he does all those things. No, I didn't do that. I wasn't there. It wasn't me.
It wasn't this. It wasn't that. Just own your sin, man. Just own it, confess it, forsake it, and you will find mercy.
That's what's happening in this passage. There is good news in 2 Samuel 12 concerning the God of heaven and earth. When we consider, secondly, the horror of sin, we ought to see its progression. Believers take heed.
Believers, guard! Believers, watch and pray! Believers, make sure that you realize what does lie in your hearts and fight! Take those passages seriously.
Galatians 5, Romans 8, put to death the deeds of the body. Let not sin rise up. Give it no vent. Give it no quarter.
Give it no space. But by the grace of God, slay it outright. David probably didn't think that morning, hey, I know what I'm going to do today. I'm going to engage in adultery and then murder a man.
No. It was when he saw the good-looking woman. She was beautiful to behold. Well, don't gaze on her.
Don't lust after her. Don't call and inquire about her. Cut it off. Cut it off.
You cannot take fire into your bosom and not get burned. If some of you have stepped over the boundaries, if you have started to cut corners, if you have started to be lethargic and apathetic in your Christian life, get serious! Pray to God Almighty for the power of the Spirit to keep us. When I think about this in terms of leadership, in terms of his ability to command troops, there would always be that lingering thought amongst the armies of Israel.
Maybe David's going to send me to the hottest part of the battle. Maybe David wants to dispose of me. Maybe I've crossed him. Maybe he wants to be rid of me.
Is there any reason why Israel doesn't carry out her tenor in the land in relative peace and calm and dignity? No! She's always warring, she's always factious, and her kings are abysmal. Don't play with sin.
Calvin says this instructs us not to let down our guard when we begin to do evil. You know, the devil will come and say, well, you know, you've already gone this far. Go all the way and then confess it. No, stop.
Don't murder. You've committed the adultery, but don't murder. You've gotten pregnant. Don't get an abortion.
Don't compound sin with sin. Don't pile crime on crime. Stop it. Just stop.
You flirted, you've gotten too close, you've gotten a little bit familiar. Stop it! Don't continue in that course. He says the devil will surely know how to make us plunge deeper and deeper until we are completely swallowed up.
He says, as I say, let us be fearful and not even think of covering one evil with another and hardening ourselves. When we are guilty before God, let us be prepared to admit it before men rather than to abandon ourselves to sin as David did. He's forgiven. The Lord covers his sin.
That means there is atonement. But there's temporal consequences. Amnon, Tamar, Absalom, his family, the dynamics, the rule, the reign, their place among the nations are all fractured and distorted because of these sins. Christian, understand the horror of sin and pray to God Almighty that He will keep you from venturing close to it.
And may I say, and may I beg you to pray for your pastors. Pray for us, brethren. Pray for elders. If the King of Israel is not immune to this sort of sin, then pray that God Almighty will put a hedge around His servants here.
Thirdly, we see the amazing grace of God. We sing of it. We sing of it today. We talk about it.
But do we feel it? I don't want to sound too Pentecostal or too charismatic or too subjective or too mystical. But when you're singing about forgiveness, or you're reading the Psalms about forgiveness, or you're reading this account about King David receiving forgiveness, I hope your heart is pounding. I hope it's throbbing.
I hope it's dancing. I hope it's delighting. I hope it's rejoicing in the presence of the God of heaven and earth, who sent his Son to die and rise again, so that we might have the forgiveness of sins. Luther said, 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.
I love what he says here. Even our huge sins and demerits do not stand in the way. Even our huge sins and demerits do not stand in the way. I was talking to a man recently, he's pretty new to the pastoral ministry, and something happened, and he said to me, I just can't believe that so-and-so did this.
I think I've heard some of you say that before, when you've known somebody's done something, and you say, I can't believe that so-and-so did this. I think I used to say that, I don't say it anymore. I hope it's not because I'm becoming an old salty, crusty pastor, cynical, In light of 2 Samuel chapter 11, what do you mean you can't believe that people do things? David was a man after God's own heart.
David was a Christian. David says, restore unto me the joy of my salvation. He was a Christian. God overwhelms him with his grace, with his forgiveness, with his mercy, with his son's blood.
We sing of it, we preach about it, we talk of it, but brethren, let it settle in and let it stir you up to worship, to praise, to adoration, and to glorifying His great and holy name. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound, Newton wrote, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see.
When we've been there, how many years? 10,000 years, bright, shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. Why is that? Because a holy God sent his holy son to live in obedience to his holy law. And that son was then delivered up, ultimately by the father, to be crucified. to take in his own body, to take in his own self the punishment due for sinners.
That son was then laid in the grave and on the third day he rose again. And the Bible says that everyone who believes in that Son, everyone who looks to Christ in faith, will have everlasting life. You believe in Him, and your sexual impurities will be washed away. You believe in Him, and your murders will be washed away.
You believe in Him, and your drug use will be washed away. You believe in Him, and your cheating will be washed away. You believe in Him, and your crime will be washed away. That is what the Bible calls gospel.
It really is good news. God is in Christ, saving His people from their sins. So Christian, learn. Beware, seek God's help, seek God's grace, seek God's protection.
But when you sin, seek God's mercy. And unbeliever, believe. Trust, look to Christ, and he will save you from your sins. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this account, and certainly the sin, the grievous activity of David sets the stage for the glorious display of your forgiving grace. How we praise you, God in heaven, as we look into our own hearts, we see crime, we see sin, we see things that are heinous and aggravated, And yet we know by your grace we have received forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray for my brothers and my sisters here. I pray that they would come to you for forgiveness, for cleansing.
I pray as well that you would protect each and every one of us, set a guard around us, Lord God, that we may not stray. As the hymn writer said, and we confess, prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love. And for those who have not come to Christ, God, work by the power of your Holy Spirit through your word, cause them to be willing in this day. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.