Well, you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel 11. Our focus is actually 2 Samuel 12, verses 1 to 15, but we do need to set it in its larger context. We're presently going through the book of Ephesians in our Sunday evening services. We're taking a bit of a break from that study.
But one of the things that we have seen as we've worked through Ephesians is an emphasis on the grace of God. For instance, in Ephesians 1.7, the apostle says, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. And you see that emphasis again. in chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. And one of the curious things or rather interesting things about the Bible is it doesn't just state things like that in an abstract sort of a way.
It does, for sure, but it also illustrates it concretely in the lives of God's people. And I think that David is a trophy that demonstrates the riches of God's grace. 2 Samuel 11 is David's fall into sin. 2 Samuel 12 is his recovery from that sin. So I want to read beginning in verse 1 in 2 Samuel chapter 11. 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 and eat and drink and to lie with my wife?
As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. Then 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 Jerushabeth? 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. And 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.
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. You have killed 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 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. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Our Father, as we come to this passage now, we pray that you would guide us by your Holy Spirit. We pray that you would show us, demonstrate for us, highlight the exceeding wickedness of sin, and as well show us that glorious grace of God Almighty. We think of John Newton who said that, I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior. And certainly we don't read passages like this so that we may continue in sin, that grace may abound.
But certainly, when we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the righteous. May we never forget that. May you encourage our hearts with that reality. And may you help us and conform us further into the image of your beloved Son, that Son whom we love, that Son whom we, by God's grace, have believed in, that Son who has saved us from our sins.
We pray again for forgiveness and for cleansing in His blood and for guidance now by the Spirit. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as you look at the book of 2 Samuel, you'll see the emphasis, up until chapter 11, is on David's success. You see his commencement of his reign in chapters 1 to 4. And then you see the consolidation of his power in chapters 5 to 10. It's as if everything David touches turns to gold.
Everything, his international relations, his domestic policies. He is blessed by God richly. So you've got that commencement of his reign, the consolidation of his power, and here now you see the consequences of his sin. In fact, chapters 11 and 12 help us to understand the disaster in chapters 13 to 20.
In other words, what was just a glorious reign and a very awesome reign on the part of David, turns to a mess, ultimately, in chapters 13 to 20. Again, if we ask the question why, chapters 11 and 12, they provide the answer for us. Now, in terms of the immediate context, we see what happened in chapter 11. You've got David committing adultery with Bathsheba, chapter 11, verses 2 to 5.
David then attempts to cover it up by having Uriah lay with his own wife. there in verses 6 to 13. Then, when that is unsuccessful, David attempts another cover-up, but this time by the murder of Uriah on the field of battle. And the last statement, the last sentence in verse 27, gives us God's response to what has obtained. Notice the last part of verse 27.
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. It was evil in Yahweh's eyes. Same language that David uses in verse 25. Then David said to the messenger, thus you shall say to Joab, as he's waxing philosophical over the ins and outs and the ebb and flow in terms of battle.
Do not let this thing displease you. Don't let this thing be evil in your eyes. For the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.
So, when we come to chapter 12, as I said, we see David's recovery from sin. Now, it's not initiated by David, it's not orchestrated by David, it is God. The emphasis in chapter 12 is on God. In chapter 11, David sins, David takes, David is the subject, the actor of all of the action verbs.
In chapter 12, it's God.
Instruction by God's Servant
So I want to look first at the instruction by God's servant in verses 1 to 6. Secondly, the indictment of God's king in verses 7 to 12. And then finally, the implementation of God's grace in verses 13 and 14. Now, I alluded to this in my prayer.
When we look at a passage like this, it's not prescriptive. In other words, 2 Samuel 12 is not the Bible to tell us, yeah, you can go out and get away with some pretty heinous sins. You can go out and engage in, you know, murder and adultery and come back to God and you'll get forgiveness. This is not prescriptive.
The message here is not, go thou and do likewise. But it is descriptive. It does highlight that principle in 1 John 2. John says, I write these things so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the righteous. So ideally, you're not supposed to sin. Realistically, you will sin, but thankfully there is a Savior that cleanses us from our sin. And that's the instance that we have here with reference to David.
So let's look at the instruction by God's servant.
God's Initiative in Sending Nathan
The first thing we ought to appreciate is the initiative of God. It's not David that initiates this. It's not David that tries to get things right. This is a period of at least nine months that has occurred since David has fallen into this unrepentant sin.
But notice the emphasis in chapter 12 at verse 1. And the Lord, or then the Lord, sent Nathan to David. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. It was God's grace.
It was initiated by the Lord. The recovery wasn't as a result of David's sort of wisdom or David now found himself in a perplexing situation. He's tired of his bones aching. He's tired of all the ramifications associated with undelt sin.
That's not what's happening. God sent Nathan to David. Calvin says, let us note that there is nothing better than when God sends us messengers of his wrath. He goes on to say, 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.
Davis, a modern commentator, comments on, and the Lord sent. He says, they show us that grace pursues and exposes the sinner in 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 settled down into it. You may succeed in unfaithfulness, but Yahweh will come after you.
Again, an encouraging thing. We think about getting caught and our lives fall out of control. Do we ever consider the fact that getting caught is the gracious plan and purpose of God? We're going to notice that later when David repents.
What's that sort of problem that we face when David repents? Have you ever heard of somebody that repented from sin because they got caught? And you're just a little bit suspicious, aren't you? Well, they got caught.
That's why they made good on it. They got caught, that's why they repented. Did you ever stop to consider that getting caught was of God to bring them to that place of repentance? To bring them to that place of recovery?
The reality is, is repentance is repentance, whether you're caught or not. The reality is, is that when you, by grace, confess that sin to the Savior, There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. So God's initiative is highlighted in the first clause. And then
Nathan's Parable and David's Outrage
the prophet tells him this parable. The person's involved. There's a rich man. It shouldn't be hard to figure out what Nathan is talking about here.
Nathan is condemning David. Nathan is leading David to this conclusion and then he brings that hammer to bear, that hammer to fall upon him. Thou art the man. But the rich man, notice the rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
That's going to come up later in verses 7 to 8 to sort of exacerbate what David had done in terms of this particular evil. So the rich man is David, verse 1. There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
That's David, king of Israel, with all the bounty that the Lord God had freely conferred upon him. And then this poor man. And notice that the poor man, the description is much longer. Did you notice in the reading of chapter 11 how many times the name Uriah comes out?
Did you hear how many times the author wants us to know about Uriah the Hittite? To demonstrate his integrity, to demonstrate his fidelity, to demonstrate the fact that he's ready to put God and country before his own desires and before his own legitimate needs. Uriah the Hittite is the poor man in the story, and notice how he's described in verse 3. But the poor man had nothing except one little 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. See, it outlines or portrays the particular situation. David's the rich king. He has multitudes of things at his disposal, at his beck and call.
But this poor man, this Uriah the Hittite, he only has this one ewe lamb. He only has this one wife, this one called Bathsheba that he loves, that he cares for, that is the wife of his bosom. And yet, we find in verse 4, a great crime is committed by the rich man against the poor man. Notice in verse 4, 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." Again, the same verbal note that you find in 2 Samuel 11. Notice specifically in verse 4, then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her." So what Nathan is doing here is he's setting the trap. What Nathan is doing is he's putting the bread in that particular trap so that the animal comes, takes it, and then the trap falls upon him and captures him. David doesn't notice this yet.
David doesn't see this yet. Nathan's preaching is highly effective here. Nathan's preaching is absolutely polished rhetoric. He uses a parable to incite the king's sort of enmity against the rich man, only to turn the tables on the rich man himself.
So notice the response of David in verses 5 and 6. First, his outrage. It says, so David's anger was greatly aroused against the man. And as you read the story in chapter 11, don't you say amen to that?
Don't you find yourself looking at this Uriah the Hittite, who's a very sympathetic character, and you're rooting for him? He has every opportunity to engage in the sorts of things that were lawful in a situation, conjugal relations with his wife, but he forfeit that. He'd rather maintain fidelity to God, to Israel, to Judah, to Joab, and to his king. So it is Nathan who brings this to bear upon David, and his outrage is palpable.
Notice as well his verdict with reference to this rich man. He says, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die. Now in the next verse, he's going to stipulate what the law actually says in Exodus 21-1. This is a property crime.
The rich man took the poor man's ewe lamb, barbecued it so he could serve it to his traveling friend. So it's a property crime. But nevertheless, David is so outraged, he's okay with the death penalty for this kind of a fiend. This kind of a menace to society?
This kind of monster that would steal from a poor man simply to feed a traveler? So David is outraged and he renders the burden. There must be the death penalty. There must be restitution.
And then notice the rationale or notice the reason in verse 6. And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb because he did this thing and because he had no pity. Isn't that what you got from 2 Samuel chapter 11? Uriah the Hittite is a man of integrity.
Uriah the Hittite is a man of faithfulness. And yet David sends him out to his death? I've often pondered that. When he gives him the letter and he's told to take it to Joab.
How many of us wouldn't have looked at that letter? How many of us would not have sneaked a look at that letter? Perhaps Uriah did, and nevertheless delivered it. Or perhaps Uriah was more faithful than I am, because I'm sure I would have snuck a look, but he was more faithful and did it.
Now that doesn't mean you can't ever entrust me with a secret. I will not publish on Facebook or Twitter any of the things that you confide in me. up to criminal activity, I must iron you out, I must turn you over to the cops. But Uriah the Hittite is a man of integrity. And so what's the end result in terms of 2 Samuel 11 and the way that David treats Uriah?
He had no pity. He had no mercy. He had no kindness. He had just shown kindness in foreign relations.
He had just shown kindness to Mephibosheth. He had just shown kindness all around his kingdom. But when it comes to Uriah the Hittite, there's no pity. There's no kindness.
He's become a thug and he has engaged in absolute rebellion against the living and true God.
Indictment of God's King
That brings us to the indictment of God's king. Notice in verses 7 to 12. First, the application. Look at verse 7.
Then Nathan said to David, you are the man. You ever wish you could look at a scene and look at the face of the man that just heard that? There's that famous scene of John Knox sort of hanging over his pulpit preaching to the Queen of Scotland. And I would love to see her face in all of its lurid detail while Knox is bringing God's law to bear upon her.
Well, David has just now come face to face with that law of God. And Nathan says, you are the man. Alexander White made this observation. He said, Nathan's sword was within an inch of David's conscience before David knew that Nathan had a sword.
This is effective preaching, brethren. Every preacher I know would give their left arm to preach a sermon like that, where thou art the man. They're exposed. They're condemned.
They see it clearly. You're the one, David, that has had no pity. You're the one, David, that has treated this poor man the way the rich man treated him in the parable. And now
Grace That Aggravates Sin's Gravity
notice the explanation furnished by Nathan to David. And there's three things we ought to see in this section. 7b-12. Notice first the grace of God given to him. David's sin was not as a result of God's stinginess.
David's sin was not because God hadn't given him everything that he needed. It wasn't as if there was any lack in David. It wasn't as if there was anything necessary for David in terms of his reign and his rule. It is grace that exacerbates and demonstrates the gravity of his sin.
And that's what Nathan the prophet brings to bear upon him. Notice in 7b, I anointed you king over Israel. 1 Samuel chapter 16, that oil poured upon David, that Spirit of God coming upon David, that protection and provision by God for David when he's being hunted by a dog, or like a dog from Saul and from Philistines. So God is the one that made him king. Notice, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
There's intriguing passages in the David narratives where it's not God directly, but at times God uses the Philistines to bring salvation to David. That's quite intriguing, quite interesting. David is an enemy of the Philistines. David kills Philistines.
His comrade Samson had that mindset, the only good Philistine is a dead one. But there were instances, not that they came out and delivered him, but by God's workings and providence, God delivered David even through Philistines. Notice, I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping.
We have no record of that in 1st or 2nd Samuel, but that was common custom in ancient Near Eastern culture. That was just the way that things operated. So I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. David enjoyed a consolidated kingdom.
David enjoyed a prosperous kingdom. David enjoyed a reign. that would provide the context for Solomon, that man of peace, to come and build the temple for the Lord Most High. Before they could build the temple in the land that God had given them, they have to vanquish their enemies. Well, it's God's hand upon David to vanquish the enemies.
And so he has this consolidated kingdom. But then notice this last crushing blow in terms of God's grace that exacerbates the heinousness of David's sin. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more. David, just ask.
Don't go into Bathsheba, don't take the poor man's ewe lamb, don't engage in that kind of pitiless activity. If that was not enough, I would have given you more. The grace of God here exacerbates the gravity of David's sin. So the sin of David could not be blamed on the stinginess of God.
The sin of David was exacerbated by the goodness of God. Davis again says, It's a good lesson for all of us to ponder and to contemplate the senselessness of sin. In other words, we don't get better, we don't prosper, we don't make our way more complete by rebellion against God. I'm not suggesting, you know, where the health, wealth, prosperity group just pray to God for a brand new Cadillac and it'll appear in your garage.
I'm not suggesting that at all. The backdrop here is God's graciousness to David in the midst of this sinful treachery on the part of David.
The Accusation: Despising God's Command
Notice, secondly, in this brief section, the accusation level. Verse 9, he says, Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? And then he indicts him with the actual act of murder.
Conspiracy to commit murder is murder. Even though David didn't wield the sword, David is guilty of having the sword wielded against this innocent man, Uriah the Hittite. So 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. That wasn't a good way to die in battle. You don't want to die at the hands of your enemy. You don't want to be bested by an Ammonite soldier if you're an Israelite.
You want to bring the heat to bear upon them. And yet, by David's treachery, this is precisely what occurs in the life of this godly, faithful man, Uriah the Hittite, who, by the way, was one of David's mighty men. So when we come to this particular section, we ought to appreciate just how heinous David's sin is. Because again, I think it magnifies just how glorious God's grace is.
So please understand me. I'm not arguing contra Paul in Romans 6.1. He deals with an objection to the gospel of free grace. He says, what then shall we say?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? I mean, that's the world's logic. God loves to forgive sin. I love to sin.
What a great arrangement. But Paul says, may it never be. God forbid. See, gospel logic is thus.
When you are justified freely by His grace, sanctification is an inevitable consequence. You don't work because you want to be saved. You engage in good works because God has saved you, because God has begraced you, because God has justified you freely by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. And so when we come to a passage like this, it does pay. benefit to pay attention to the gravity of sin so we can appreciate the gravity of grace.
And then
Consequences Announced for David's House
notice in this brief section, lastly, the consequences described in verses 10 to 12. And again, this is programmatic for everything that follows in chapters 13 to 20 in the book of 2 Samuel. Our brother this morning mentioned, I think on two occasions, Acts chapter 1, Verse 8, you'll be witnesses to me, first in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. If you follow the book of Acts, that's how it all goes.
You've got the emphasis in Jerusalem there in chapters 1 to 7. You've got the emphasis in Samaria there in chapter 8. And then you see with the conversion of the apostle Paul, you get the uttermost parts of the earth in chapters 13 to 28. And so we have a programmatic text in Acts 1.8.
It sort of announces in outline form what's going to follow. Well, that's what happens here. It's embedded here in 2 Samuel chapter 12. If you wonder why bad things happen to a great guy like David, it's because of this sin.
It's because the rich man had no pity and exploited the poor man. It's because the rich man sent the poor man out to his death to die at the hands of filthy Ammonites. So notice in verse 10. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me.
Notice how God equates himself with his law. God equates himself with his word. Notice in verse 9, why have you despised the commandment of the Lord? To despise the commandment of the Lord is to despise the Lord of the commandment.
And that's the juxtaposition that you see there in those verses. So he says, 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. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel before the sun. You had deaths occur in David's family as a consequence of David's sin. You've got David's words from 1125.
Remember when he's waxing philosophically about the ebbs and flows of battle and warfare? Look back at 1125. Do not let this thing displease you or be evil in your eyes, for the sword devours one as well as another. Well, David's going to learn that all too well in terms of the consequences of his sin relative to his own family.
Amnon, his son, is killed by Absalom in chapter 13. Absalom is dead in chapter 18 after his usurpation of the throne, and then Adonijah in 1 Kings chapter 2. Solomon dispatches him because he's a contender for the throne. And when it comes to this insurrection, notice what he says specifically in verse 11.
That's exactly what happens in the Absalom narrative. Absalom usurps his father. Absalom sits at the city gates and he works the crowd. Absalom captivates the minds and the hearts of the people of Israel.
So much so that David actually has to depart from Jerusalem. But he doesn't depart without having left behind ten concubines and wives according to chapter 15 and verse 16. When you get to chapter 16, Ahithophel gives Absalom counsel to go up on the roof and have relations with David's wives. That doesn't occur in a vacuum, brethren.
That doesn't just happen haphazardly. It was actual genius counsel on the part of Ahithophel. So you've got Absalom rebelling against the crown. The people are now following Absalom.
But what if David and Absalom reunite? What if David and Absalom reunify? What if David and Absalom reconcile? What's going to happen to all those people that followed Absalom?
So Ahithophel says, take the wives, the concubines, up on the roof and have your way with them in the sight of all Israel. Then all Israel will know that you and your father are at odds never to return to reconciliation again. So all of this is announced. The consequences of David's sin with reference to Uriah, the Hittite, and Bathsheba, his wife.
Implementation of God's Grace
And that brings us finally to the implementation of God's grace in verses 13 and 14. Notice, what does David say here? What do you possibly say after? Wait, no, it wasn't me.
I was framed. I've got what they call those lookalikes, a doppelganger. That wasn't me. I was out on the field of battle.
I was commanding Joab. I was doing my job as I was supposed. What do you say here? What is it that you do here?
So I said before, when you look at this, I think some people think that maybe David gets off pretty light. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. He's caught. He's found out that the prophet of God Most High tells a parable absolutely parallel to David's situation.
Then the prophet of God takes his finger and points it right at David's nose and says, thou art the man. Then the prophet of God highlights the grace of God as the context and the reason why David's sin is so heinous. And the prophet of God announces the consequences of God most high that are going to obtain for David's rebellion against God. This is the legitimate response.
I have sinned against the Lord. But again, brevity. I think it's only two Hebrew words. Where's the groveling?
Where's the flagellation? Where's the promise that I'll never do it again, Lord? Where's this proffer of his previous good works in trying to bargain with God? Can't this sort of counterbalance?
Can't this just sort of outweigh it? The Berlberg Bible was a study Bible, a German study Bible, in the 1700s. And they make this observation on the simplicity of his confession. They said the words are very few, just as in the case of the publican in the gospel.
Remember those two men that went to the temple to pray, and the Pharisee stood thus and prayed with himself and said, God, I thank you that I'm so great. I thank you that I'm brilliant. I thank you that religious exercises are like drinking water to me. I thank you that I'm not unjust.
I thank you that I'm not an adulterer. I'm not an extortioner. And I'm certainly not like this publican here. What's a publican do?
He can't even look up into heaven. He beats his breast, and he says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Which one went down to his house justified? It was the one who beat his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
So the Broberg Bible highlights that reality. Our confession of sin is not the access by which we gain forgiveness. Well, you know, you had a lot of words, and it was flowery. You made a lot of promises.
There was a lot of self-abnegation there. There was a lot of despise. OK, I'll give you credit for that. That's not the way God's grace works.
That's not the way the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ works. It's not dependent upon us. It's not predicated on our ability or on our prayer. So they say the words are very few, just as in the case of the publican in the Gospel of Luke.
But that is a good sign of a thoroughly broken spirit. There's no excuse, no cloaking, no palliation of the sin. There's no searching for a loophole, no pretext put forward, no human weakness pleaded. He acknowledges his guilt openly, candidly, and without prevarication, which simply means to speak or act in an evasive way.
He owns it. The simplicity of his confession underscores the sincerity of his heart. God captivated him with his word. God brought him to appreciate and see the sin.
God got him to the place where he cast himself upon the atoning work. of our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Pardon Declared by Nathan
Notice how Nathan responds. 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.
So the prophet who highlighted David's great sin now highlights David's great grace or God's great grace toward David. Again, it's a very simple confession. I have sinned against the Lord. And then Nathan says, the Lord also has put away your sin.
You shall not die. John Gill says, though he should die a corporeal death. It's not saying you shall never die. He's going to die.
We see that in 1 Kings 1 and 2, when he passes the kingdom on to Solomon. He says, though he should not die a corporeal death, yet not by the immediate hand of God or by the sword of justice as a malefactor, a murderer and adulterer, as he, according to the law, deserved to die. You hear this as an objection to the death penalty. Well, David, if God determines to spare David, that's up to God.
But when God commands the civil magistrate to wield the sword against criminal offenders, then the magistrate must comply. The magistrate must obey. You can't use this as an argument against the death penalty. He was on to say, nor should he die a spiritual death, though his grace had been so low and his corruptions had risen so high.
And notice the provocation toward the enemies of the Lord. By this, you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. David doesn't conduct himself on God's throne over God's kingdom, his visible kingdom in this world, any better than the Ammonites, any better than the Canaanites, any better than any other thug that ruled a particular body politic in those days. So the enemies of the Lord had occasion to blaspheme the name of the Lord based on David's conduct here.
And then we see that last and final sort of judgment upon David. Verse 14b, the child also who is born to you shall surely die. Then Nathan departed to his house. And of course, that's what we find in the next section in this particular passage.
I don't want to continue on. I'll just read Davis here. going to cheat and just read Davis. He makes this observation. It is as if the child is David's substitute.
I do not intend to read New Testament meanings back into an Old Testament text. I only want readers to note the pattern here. For there are some of us who know this paradox of forgiveness that is both free and costly, because the son of David has been our substitute. I think that's a pretty perceptive comment at a very difficult point in redemptive history.
Application
Well, in terms of some concluding thoughts, then we'll close and we can go home. First,
Never Underestimate God's Initiative
never underestimate the initiative of God. One of the beautiful things about Holy Scripture, it's not, you know, the record of man's attempt to get at God. It's the record of God's reconciling the world to himself through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. When Adam and Eve sin, what do they do?
Do they run to God for forgiveness? No, they run from God. When the builders of the tower at Babel, what are they trying to do? They're trying to build a tower into the very heavens. to perhaps escape another flood, to perhaps show their glory and their pomp and their majesty.
Well, on the heels of that, what happens? It's God's initiative. What the tower builders at Babel do, God comes to promise to Abraham that He's going to do it. And you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
You see the pattern of the seeking God throughout Scripture. Our brother read from John chapter 4 this morning, and I realize that wasn't sort of the emphasis in terms of missionary passage, but it says that God is seeking worshipers. Again, brethren, in the Scriptures, the emphasis isn't upon man accepting Jesus into his heart. The emphasis is upon God receiving sinners unto himself.
The initiation of God's grace is God's grace. And the reality is, is that David was sent, Nathan, as the servant of God to bring the Word of God to recover this man from his sin and alienation. Secondly,
The Wretchedness of Sin
we ought to appreciate in the passage, not by way of imitation or emulation, the wretchedness of sin. The wretchedness of sin. Not only do we see the sin committed in chapter 11, we see the sin condemned in chapter 12 at verse 9, and then the sin exacerbated in chapter 12 verses 7 to 8. It's a horrible thing to sin against such a gracious God.
If that wasn't enough, I would have given you more. Listen again to John Calvin. He says, now here's a story which should make our hair stand straight up on end whenever we think of it. That a servant of God, as excellent as David, should fall into such a serious and enormous sin that he could be judged as the most morally lax and promiscuous person in the world.
Again, up to this point, everything turns up roses for David. Everything he does has the blessing and the sanction of God. Everything he does is turning up in great things. And on the heels of that, he sees a woman bathing, and he goes after her.
And he brings himself into this place of alienation from God Almighty.
The Grace of God Toward David
I would suggest, thirdly, we ought to appreciate the grace of God. And that's a pretty elementary observation, the exceeding riches of his grace, but consider God's grace toward David prior to this incident. David's not saved here. David is saved and he falls into this sin.
You know, brethren, there is remaining corruption. There is a proneness to wander and a proneness to leave the God that we love. I don't like to remind us of that, I don't like to celebrate that reality, but sometimes the people of God do some pretty horrendous things. Now don't go out and say, Butler said I can do horrendous things, God, and get away with it, that's not the point.
Peter denies Jesus three times, not to the emperor, it's not called before Caesar, he does so, in the presence of a servant girl. And David does this sin. In Psalm 51, he says, restore unto me the joy of your salvation, the joy of thy salvation. He's not praying or he's not becoming a Christian here.
He's a saved man. that declined, a saved man that defected, a saved man that fell into grievous sin. Again, I think that exacerbates and highlights the graciousness of God. And it's intriguing because at two occasions, David ascribes in shorthand form what he spells out in Psalm 103. Psalm 103 starts off, "'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.'" He says it again, "'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, and forget not all his benefits.'" And what does David do?
He outlines the benefits of God. David talks to himself and rehearses the fact that God has been very gracious to him. You know what heads the list in terms of the benefits? It is that chief boon of grace, to use a Spurgeonism.
It is the forgiveness of sins. So prior to the Bathsheba instance and after the Bathsheba instance, this is David's report concerning God Most High. 2 Samuel 4, 9, As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity. 1 Kings 1, 29, post-Bathsheba, post-consequences of the sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, he says, As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress. So God's grace is present to David prior to this sin. God's grace is present to David in the midst of or rather after this sin.
The Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. And the Lord's grace is predicated upon David's greater son, who was promised by God to David in 2 Samuel 7, in the Davidic covenant. God will send Messiah.
There will be a king who rises up from David's line, and God will have this one build a house for him, and then this king will have a forever reign, an eternal reign. So the grace of God toward David was a result of the redemptive work of Christ. This made me think of Martin Luther. Luther on Galatians 3.2.
Well, it made me think of it because I looked at my notes and I remembered this from the time that I've preached this here. He says, but 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. Even our huge sins and demerits do not stand in the way. Again, that's not so that you can go out and engage in huge sins and demerits, so that grace may abound.
But don't let your huge sins and demerits keep you from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the reason why Christ came into the world. See, Galatians 2.21, the apostle said, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
See, it was the object. It was the purpose. It was the focus. Jesus didn't just come to start a new religion.
He didn't come to start a revolution. He didn't come to set up some earthly kingdom in competition with the Roman Empire to subject all the enemies of the Israelites under their feet. He came to save His people from their sins. And sins is what we need to be saved from, right?
That's the whole point and the purpose. And if you're not a believer here this evening, you ought to consider God's grace. In the case of David, king of Israel, and a man who was a man after God's own heart, who nevertheless plunged into this kind of sin and into this kind of wretchedness. I was brought up a Roman Catholic, and one of the things I thought as a Roman Catholic is, I've never done a really bad sin, so I don't think I'm gonna, you know, go to hell.
What are the really bad sins typically quantified by people? Well, I've never murdered anyone. I've never committed adultery. It's murder and adultery that God cleanses David from in this very passage.
What's the point? He is a real Savior for real sinners. Isn't that what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6? Do not be deceived.
The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And then he lists, he gives a catalog of unrighteousness and filthiness and sinfulness and wickedness. And then he says to those Corinthians, and such were some of you. You were washed, you were justified, you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, He's a real Savior for real sinners. Learn that from the passage here in 2 Samuel chapter 12. And instead of saying, no, no, I don't want to believe that, I don't want to think about that, I don't want to have dealings with that. This is the very foundation, the very basis of acceptance with God.
Again, it's not your goodness. It's not your, you know, I'm going to live a better life. It's the grace of God that is the point in Scripture.
David's Response: No Blame, No Bargaining
And then finally, I want to look at the response of David. The response of David here. David didn't blame others. Notice after Nathan the prophet comes to him, Nathan the prophet gives the parable.
Nathan the prophet says, thou art the man. Notice what David doesn't do. Well, you know, if Bathsheba hadn't have been bathing there, if, you know, I didn't have the sort of urges that God gave. You know, we see people in the Bible do that.
When God comes to Cain and Abel, or I'm sorry, to Adam and Eve, what does Adam do? The woman whom thou gavest me, she gave me the fruit. I mean, it's her fault, but it's your fault for giving her to me. I was perfectly fine in this garden.
I was happy and content. And the woman whom you gave me, she gave me this fruit. We have this tendency to blame shift, don't we? We have this tendency to say, but it was the circumstances.
It was the difficulties. You just don't know how hard my life is. You don't know the pressures of being the king of a consolidated kingdom. You don't know what it's like to fight Ammonites.
You don't know what it's like to fight Philistines. I'm under a lot of pressure and a lot of... He doesn't do that. He simply says, I've sinned against the Lord.
David as well does not bargain with God by offering his previous good works as a counterbalance. Lord, all this other stuff I did, it should sort of outweigh the bad. Again, sinners think that way. I've done more good than bad, so therefore God's going to accept me.
See, we don't understand that any bad, any departure, any defection, any sin is liable to God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come. It's not the case that, oh, well, I've only committed 10 sins, which nobody ever has. No one can ever say that, even up to the time they get their first morning coffee. You know, I'm spotless and holy and so righteous.
You're not. You're wretched. You're filthy. You're vile.
You're contemptible. We have all strayed. We have all gone astray like sheep. We have wandered away from the true and living God.
David trusted in the promise of God concerning the coming of the Messiah in 2 Samuel chapter 7, specifically verses 12 to 16. And David trusted in the promise of the forgiveness of sins connected to that Messiah that would come. And then you know what David did? David wrote about this.
David celebrated this. David recorded this in the book of praise. David says things throughout the Psalter that should cause us to reflect upon the fact that he knew experientially the goodness and the graciousness of God. Consider Psalm 25, 11.
For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. You ever used as an argument for God's forgiveness the greatness of your sin? Again, we try to minimize it. It wasn't that bad.
God, you should forgive me. It wasn't that big. God, you should forgive me. It's not David's tact.
David says, pardon my iniquity for it is great. What's the implication? If God doesn't pardon my iniquity, I'm done. I'm dead.
Consider Psalm 32, 1 and 2. We read that at the outset of worship. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
David wrote the Psalms that he wrote because he knew the God that he knew. And that grace came out and he inscribed it in that holy book of praise. Consider Psalm 103 verses 1 to 3. I've already mentioned this.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. It's not a half-hearted game to bless the Lord. It ought to be all that is within us. When we gather for worship, we ought to sing with joy and happiness and relish to our great God.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Why do you think David says that?
Because there's a tendency to forget his benefits. Have you pondered the benefits of God recently? Have you said with the Apostle Paul, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ? You ever said with David in Psalm 68, God loads us daily with benefits?
David has to remind himself to forget not all of his benefits, and that first benefit is who forgives all your iniquities. In the Psalm that we sang tonight, Psalm 130, verses 3 and 4, if you, Lord, "...should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" That's the reality of it, isn't it? If God should mark iniquities, who could stand? We've all gone astray.
We have all defected. We have all become like an unclean thing. We've all departed. We've all apostatized.
We and Adam die. That's the reality that we find in Scripture. So David musing on that says, "...if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. He doesn't stop there.
He goes from this strict justice to this pardoning mercy, to this offer of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ, to the one in whom God the Father. the one rather whom God the Father sent to live for us, to die for us, and to be raised again for us. David was looking in faith to Him. And if you doubt that, read Romans chapter 4, because that is exactly what the Apostle Paul says. David understood that his righteousness was not by his own doing.
His righteousness was imputed by God, received through faith, and it was the righteousness of our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So when sinners, by that grace, come to the Savior, they're not only forgiven of their sins, but they receive that righteousness. They're not only cleansed by His blood, but they're clothed in His righteousness and fit and ready to stand in the presence of God Almighty. Well, may David encourage us to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ, whether we're saint or sinner.
We always find that need to be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these accounts in the Holy Scripture that give us these concrete illustrations of your grace demonstrated in the lives of your people. We are so in awe at your kindness.
We are so amazed with that grace, and probably not nearly as we ought to be. So God help us, cause us to reflect upon passages like these, and may you give us that grace to look with great fondness upon the Savior, to look with great gratitude to that grace that has delivered us from our guilt. I pray that you would go with us now, that you would watch over this church, that you would bless each of your people here she would cause us to glorify you each and every day and give us that that grace to shine his lights and a crooked and perverse generation and the boldness to hold forth your word of truth We pray for those traveling that you would bless them grant them mercies watch over them and give them The ability to return home safely. Thank you again that our brothers could be with us today Thank you for that good report concerning the work in the Far East cause us not to forget these things but to be prayerful for the ongoing work of Jesus Christ from the right hand of the Father as he builds his church.
And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.