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good evening to everybody welcome to Free Grace Baptist Church you can turn in your Bibles with me for our call to worship this evening to Psalm 33. Psalm 33 as we open worship this Lord's Day evening when you get to Psalm 33 we're going to start at verse 10 and read to the end of the song Psalm 33 beginning at verse 10 this is the word of God the Lord brings the counsel of the Nations to nothing he makes the plans of the peoples of no effect the counsel of the Lord stands forever the plans of his heart to all generations blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord the people he has chosen as his own inheritance the Lord looks from Heaven he sees all the sons of men from the place of his dwelling he looks on all the inhabitants of the earth he Fashions their hearts individually he considers all their Works no king is saved by the multitude of an army A mighty man is not delivered by great strength a horse is a vain hope for safety neither shall it deliver any by its great strength behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him on those who hope in his Mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine our soul waits for the Lord he is our help and our shield for our heart for our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in His holy name let your mercy O Lord be upon us just as we hope in you amen well let's turn together in our uh psalter and our Trinity salt or hymnals we're going to stand and sing 150c that's psalm 150c [Music] praise God [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] let's go to our Lord in prayer let's pray Heavenly Father we come to you rejoicing on this Lord's Day evening that we can gather in this place to sing your praises and truly Lord we we ask that you would help us to worship you are right this evening we seek to worship Father Son and Holy Spirit in a manner Lord God that is worthy your most high name so please give us your spirit this evening that having gathered together of the as the Saints of Christ we might give you all honor and all praise we thank you that you have called us out of the world to come into this place that we can worship you and it is the case Lord God that your people long to worship you in spirit and in truth we have such a great God to worship we have such a blessed God to rejoice in we have such a blessed gospel to sing the Praises of we thank you that you have called us forth from Darkness to light that you have called us forth from the deadness of sin to life and light in Christ Jesus that we might behold the riches and the excellencies of so great a savior we do pray Lord God that you would help us to reflect with great joy this evening upon the doing and the dying and the rising again of the Son of God that we have in him saving Perfection we do not come with works of our own but rather we have those Works those perfect works of the Lord Jesus Christ that righteousness not our own that is his imputed to us and received by faith alone and we thank you for that perfect work upon calvary's cross where he bore in his own body our sins upon that tree we thank you for that Perfection of substitutionary saving work and we do pray that you would just forgive us afresh by virtue of the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ and that precious cross work we do pray that you would cause Us by your grace and For Your Glory to rejoice in your Amazing Grace and to conduct ourselves in this lower World in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we to pray Lord God that you would be with those who are unable to join us this evening we think of those who are traveling and those who are sick we pray that you would give those traveling mercies as they travel that they might enjoy their time away and they might return to us safely we pray for those who are sick who are injured and recovering Lord God from sickness and injury we do just pray that you would strengthen them in body that you would heal them that you would cause them to know daily gains and in strength and you would cause them not to be anxious in anything but to cast themselves upon the god of Heaven and Earth who does right according to his own will and for the good of his people we do pray Lord God that you would be with our brothers and sisters throughout the world who suffer and who are imprisoned for the cause of Jesus Christ and his gospel we hear often on Wednesday nights on Sunday mornings of those who are persecuted Lord God for their faith in Jesus Christ and we do just pray that you be with these fellow Christians that you would cause them to be able to remain steadfast in their faith that you would give them daily strength and daily confidence in the Risen and exalted Christ and we do pray Lord that you would deal with their persecutors that you would come swiftly upon the wings of gospel truth and by the power of the spirit and bring them forth from The Madness of their irreligion to Faith in Jesus Christ and Lord once again as we often pray for those who would remain in Rebellion against you seeking to oppose to bring tyranny upon and to persecute the people of the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray that you would take them out of the way that they may no longer harm your people we pray Lord God for missionaries throughout the world we pray that you'd be with them we pray as they as they travel as they go about in in hostile territories as they bring the message of hope the message of Jesus Christ and salvation by him to uh to needy people throughout the world Lord we pray that you would give them protection that you would give them confidence and that you would cause them Lord God to be lights in this lower World bringing that message of Jesus Christ to Sinners uh in in every nation under heaven we do pray for your churches throughout the world as well Lord God we pray that you would cause your those preachers of yours in churches throughout the world to bring the full and saving message of our blessed Jesus Christ we pray for those churches that are no churches of yours Lord God but synagogues of Satan that you would shut them down and cause those churches that are yours to be lights that your people may find their way to a church that brings that brings the truth that proclaims the truth and that that holds the Triune God and the the Blessed realities concerning Jesus Christ as as that as those high things among the people of God to be uh to be studied and to be gloried in and we do pray that you would cause your people throughout the world to be a worshiping people to be a a prayerful people Lord God as we look around the uh the world round about us as we see so many things that grieve us we do pray that you would cause your people to remain faithful we pray that you would give them that courage in the Risen and exalted Christ knowing that uh the the nations of this world are the nations of our God and of his Christ and Lord God that you are sovereign over all and that uh that truly the hearts of Kings the hearts of princes the hearts of those who rule over us are in your hand and we do just pray that you would cause us to remain faithful in this lower world come what may upon us we pray that you would cause us to look with eyes of faith upon the Risen and exalted Christ and to find our confidence and our courage in our King of Kings we do pray that you'd be with us now and worship Lord be with Pastor Butler as he proclaims Your Truth help him Lord God to know confidence up in this Pulpit to be able to open up his Bible and speak well concerning your truth and the Blessed Christ To Whom It points and we pray for each and every each and every one of us us Lord God we pray that you would help us to rejoice in your truth we pray that your Saints gathered here this evening your Christians here would be stirred up in the heart to lay hold of their God and to rejoice in Christ and to be all the better equipped leaving this place to sing your praises and to live in a manner worthy of your gospel and any of those Lord God who entered in here outside of Christ this evening by grace and For Your Glory cause them to leave singing your praises and it's in the name of Jesus Christ we pray amen well let's stand together again and sing this time it'll be hymn 166 that's 166 let's stand and sing together [Music] this is [Music] God's children [Music] [Music] tears [Music] forever [Music] for our Old Testament scripture reading you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy and chapter 1. Deuteronomy chapter 1. and we will start reading at verse 19 and read to the end of the chapter Deuteronomy 1 beginning at verse 19 once again the word of God so we departed from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible Wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the amorites as the Lord Our God had commanded us then we came to Kadesh barnea and I said and I said to you you have come to the mountains of the amorites which the Lord our God is giving us look the Lord your God has set the land before you go up and possess it as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you do not fear or be discouraged and every one of you came near to me and said let us send men before us and let them search out the land for us and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up and of the Cities into which we shall come the plan pleased me well so I took 12 of your men one man from each tribe and they departed and went up into the mountains and came to the valley of of eschkel in spite it out they also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us and they brought back word to us saying it is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us nevertheless you would not go up but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and you complained in your tents and said because the Lord hates us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the amorites to destroy us where can we go up our Brethren have discouraged our heart saying the people are greater and taller than we the cities are great and fortified up to heaven moreover we have seen the sons of the anakim there and I said to you do not be terrified or afraid of them the Lord your God who goes before you he will fight for you according to all he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until you came to this place yet for all that you did not believe the Lord your God who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents to show you the way you should go in the fire by night and in the cloud by day and the Lord heard the sound of your words and was angry and took an oath saying surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers except Caleb the son of jephine he shall see it and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked because he wholly followed the Lord the Lord was also angry with me for your sake saying even you shall not go in there Joshua the son of nun who stands before you he shall go in there encourage him for he shall cause Israel to inherit it moreover your little ones and your children who you say will be victims who today have no knowledge of Good and Evil they shall go in there to them I will give it and they shall possess it but as for you turn and take your Journey Into the Wilderness by the way of the Red Sea then you answered and said to me we have sinned against the Lord we will go up and fight just as the Lord Our God commanded us and when every one of you had girded on his weapons of war you were ready to go up into the mountain and the Lord said to me tell them do not go up nor fight for I am not among you lest you be defeated before your enemies so I spoke to you yet you would not listen but rebelled against the command of the Lord and presumptuously went up into the mountain and the amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and faced you as bees do and drove you back from Sarah to hormone then you turned and wept before the Lord but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you so you remained in Kadesh many days according to the days that you spent there amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the word of God to us and what it discloses concerning your Holiness concerning your Justice concerning your Perfections and Lord God we rejoice in the fact that you have gone before us that the Lord Jesus Christ himself truly has gone before us that he has lived that he has died that he has risen again and that he brings many sons to Glory through by grace through faith in him and we do uh pray Lord God that you would cause us to always love your word that we would love the Christ To Whom It points and Lord God that you would bring us many occasion into your word that we might learn of our god there that we might learn of our Christ there and that we might rejoice in Amazing Grace so we pray Lord God that you would now continue to be with us as we sing another hymn we pray that you would help us to sing it with cheer in our hearts we pray that we would sing to you and as the scriptures say that we would sing to one another we pray Lord God that you would cause us as well after we sing that hymn to be focused in that act of worship the preaching of the word do help our minds to be alert we pray that you would Rouse us to attention in the word towards that word proclaimed and that we would leave this place singing the Praises of so great a God we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our Savior amen our final hymn then before the preaching if you'll stand with me another Psalm it's Psalm 119 l Psalm 119 L let's stand and sing that together [Music] foreign [Music] foreign with me in your Bibles to the book of second Samuel we were there last week we're going to be there tonight second Samuel chapter 22. second Samuel 22 I'll read verses 1 to 31. so II Samuel 22 beginning in verse 1 then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul and he said the Lord is my rock and my Fortress and my deliverer the god of my strength and whom I will trust my shield and the Horn of my salvation my stronghold and my refuge My Savior you saved me from violence I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised so shall I be saved for my enemies when the waves of death surrounded me the floods of ungodliness made me afraid the Sorrows of Shield surrounded me the snares of death confronted me in my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God he heard my voice from his Temple and My Cry entered his ears then the Earth Shook and trembled the foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken because he was angry smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth coals were kindled by Goliath he bowed the heavens also and came down with Darkness under his feet he wrote upon a cherub and flew and he was seen upon the wings of the wind he made Darkness canopies around him dark Waters and thick clouds of the Skies from the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled the Lord thundered From Heaven and the most high uttered his voice he sent out arrows and Scattered them lightning bolts and he vanquished them then the channels of the sea were seen the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke of the Lord at the blast of the breath of his nostrils he sent from above he took me he drew me out of many Waters he delivered me from my strong enemy from those who hated me for they were too strong for me they confronted me in the day of my Calamity but the Lord was my support he also brought me out into a broad place he delivered me because he delighted in me the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands he has recompensed me for I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God for all his judgments were before me and as for his statutes I did not depart from them I was also blameless before him and I kept myself from my iniquity therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness according to my cleanness in his eyes with the merciful you will show yourself merciful with a blameless man you will show yourself blameless with the pure you will show yourself pure and with the devious you will show yourself shrewd you will save the humble people but your eyes are on the hottie that you may bring them down for you are my lamp O Lord the Lord it shall Enlighten my darkness for by you I can run against a troop by my God I can leap over a wall as for God his way is perfect the word of the Lord is proven he is a shield to all who trust in him amen well let us pray our gracious God and Father we thank you for your word we thank you for these Psalms of David we pray that you would guide us now by the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit to understand what is spoken of in terms of his righteousness we thank you for the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for your mercy and your loving kindness we thank you that you have uh been so kind in saving us from all all of our transgressions and iniquities and we even confess remaining corruption now asking that you would wash Us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his wonderful name amen well our focused this evening is going to be specifically on verses 21 to 25. last week we considered the riches of God's grace in the case of David in second Samuel 11 and 12. remember in second Samuel chapter 11 David commits great sin he commits the sins of adultery uh he commits the sin of adultery and then he covers it up by way of conspiracy to commit murder and so when we consider that and when we consider first Samuel chapter 13 specifically at verse 14 where David is identified as a man after God's Own Heart by God himself it might be a difficult thing for some to reckon verse 21 with those gross sins committed by David notice in Psalm chapter 22 verse 21 the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands he has recompensed me for I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God for all his judgments were before me and as for his statutes I did not depart from that I was also blameless before him and I kept myself from my iniquity therefore the Lord has recompense me according to my righteousness according to my cleanness in his eyes now there's a few chapters obviously separating chapters 12 and 22 but in that section we see the consequences of David's sin and there we see him compound his sin so tonight I want to try to reckon with this fact that David was a man after God's Own Heart David was recorded by God a rewarded by God according to his righteousness and yet he had engaged in this kind of sin now when we look at this chapter it is substantially the same as Psalm 18. a few differences in wording but it's the same exact thing and the psalm was likely sung by David during his life and here we see that it was song at the end of his life and it was prepared according to the subscript in in Psalm 18 for the chief musician to be in included in the Salter to be utilized by all of God's people in all successive ages and when David comes to engage in this song of Praise he's not praising himself now he does allude to his righteousness but I think by the end of the sermon tonight we'll understand what he's talking about there and spoiler alert it's the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith alone so just so you know where we're going with this but in terms of this song of Praise notice that he's not praising himself he's not saying my military Savvy my ability on the battlefield my ability to evade Saul my ability to evade the Philistines that's what brought me to this place of a hoary hat as I Muse on my life knowing ascribes power to God Deliverance to God praise to God for what God had in fact done in terms of David in his life so basically just an outline of the chapter of the psalm we see the object of his praise in verses one to four secondly we see the desperation of his condition in verses 5 to 7 then the manner of God's Deliverance in verses 8 to 20 the faithfulness of David in verses 21 to 31 and then finally the psalm ends with the invincibility of his kingdom according to to God's power in verses 32 to 51. so that's kind of an overview of the psalm or of the chapter and as I said I want to look first of all at the righteousness of David and then secondly at the Theology of David because I think that will help explain why he says what he says in this particular sacchat but in terms terms of the righteousness of David note the Declaration again the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness I've already alluded to the Bathsheba and Uriah incident but turn back to second Samuel chapter 13. this is one of the consequences of David's sin as he had committed with Uriah or with Bathsheba and Uriah remember God said the sword would not depart from his house there would be consequences temporal consequences for his having gone into Bathsheba and then covering it up by way of murder second Samuel 13 is a very unsavory chapter of Holy Scripture it's the rape of Tamar when David learns of the rape of Tamar notice what it says according to II Samuel 13 at verse 21 but when King David heard of all these things he was very angry now that's a legitimate response if you had heard that your daughter was raped there would certainly be an anger there would certainly be a a rage there would certainly be a a desire perhaps to requite or to to engage in Vengeance but that's all that the text says David didn't do anything David didn't engage in that David didn't recompense David didn't go after this offender Davis makes this point he says of course Legions of expositors say that David himself found himself a prisoner of his own Folly after all how could he call amn into account when he himself had violated Bathsheba and eliminated her husband in other words he had no moral Authority upon which to stand in order to address this crime that obtained in his own house he said hardly a solid basis for exercising moral Authority and yet such an argument does not negate David's responsibility he holds nevertheless the office of a magistrate one might say both in his kingdom and in his family as both father and King he is charged with maintaining Justice whether he is personally compromised or not one may understand David's failure to act to failure to act one may not however excuse it so eminent remains an unpunished felon Tamar languishes his damaged goods and Absalom becomes a seething vigilante it's not helping the case we've already seen adultery with Bathsheba murder with reference to Uriah and now sort of a complicitness with reference to the rape of his own daughter so how do we vindicate David well there's been several attempts to try and explain II Samuel 22 away some have suggested that this song was not composed by David that was inserted by an editor some suggest that this song was composed prior to the events recorded in second Samuel chapter 11. so that is one way of trying to evade the the perhaps tension that we see in terms of his criminal activities sinful activity and his own declaration here concerning his own righteousness and some suggest it was written later after the life of David and inserted here by an editor now I opt for the fourth position this is God breathed scripture it is profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote what he wrote and with reference to the Theology of David we see how it squares we see how he can say what he says concerning his righteousness in light of the fact that he himself had been a great sinner so let's turn to the Theology of David now secondly and the first line of evidence I want to look at is the example of David in Romans chapter 4. you can turn there Romans chapter four we ought to go to later Revelation to help us understand previous Revelation and in Romans chapter 4 the Apostle Paul is explaining justification by faith alone and the Apostle Paul is highlighting that this is not a new thing the only way any sinner has ever entered into the presence of God Almighty is through the righteousness of Jesus Christ it is through his blood it is through his righteousness whether in the New Covenant or whether you're in the old Covenant the way of access to the father is through the son by the spirit and so when Paul comes to defend or argue with reference to the the doctrine of justification by faith alone he points to Two Old Testament examples he points first to Abram Abraham and then he points to David So notice specifically the example of Abraham in verses one to four the Patriarchs background we don't typically Ponder this or think about this but Abraham was an idolater in a few verses down well specifically at verse 5 notice it says that uh to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly I doubt that for the most of us we think of Abraham and David at least at one point in their lives as having been ungodly but that's precisely what they were see the gospel doesn't come to righteous men the gospel doesn't come to accomplish men the gospel comes to sinful man to ungodly man and this is an encouragement tonight for you if you're not in Christ The Gospel is for Sinners the gospel is about a righteousness imputed by God and received by faith alone the gospel is about forgiveness for even sins like adultery and conspiracy to murder and even being complicit in the daughter's rape or at least not acting in in light of that daughter's rape in a way that is consistent with God's law so the gospel comes to the ungodly and that's precisely what Paul is highlighting year in terms of the glory of justification by faith alone Abraham's background was one of idolatry he wasn't brought up in a Reformed Baptist Sunday school he didn't have his pencil and his cassette tape of of Al Martin preaching he didn't have his 1689 with his wide margin Bible he didn't have all that Tara was an idolater that served other gods and therefore Abraham his son would have served those other gods as well and so when Paul comes to deal with justification by faith alone he points to this patriarch and he points to King David So notice the patriarch's background he had been an idolater the patriarch's righteousness there's a negative statement and then a positive statement notice in verse 1 of chapter four What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh for If Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about but not before God so negatively he condemns the thought of justification by works the thought that we as Sinners can do enough Good Deeds to find our acceptance with God if you reflect for just a moment on scripture you will know that's a Fool's errant all we like sheep have gone astray there is none righteous no not one there is none of us who seek after God according Holy Scripture so justification by works is futile the doctrine of justification by works as well inevitably leads to Pride in man notice in verse 2 for If Abraham was justified by words he has something to boast about in other words he can Pat himself on the back he can Muse on the fact that he contributed to this salvation but notice how Paul shuts this down but not before God in other words justification by words is in fact a Fool's errant nobody will be able to do this you'll never be able to stand before God and say I'm here based in large part upon my own performance or upon my own conduct or upon my own law keeping he shuts that down but then there's a positive statement with reference to Abraham's righteousness so notice Us in verse 3 for what does the scripture say Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness in other words it wasn't his acts it wasn't his performance it wasn't his doings it was rather the righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith alone this is James's argument in James chapter 2. when he wants to show that Faith justifies that saving faith is the alone instrument of justification but it's not alone in the person's Justified he demonstrates that by Genesis chapter 22 when Abraham takes uh Isaac up to Mount Moriah that's the demonstration or the evidence of his Justified of his being justified by faith in Genesis 15. so the Apostle handles this in light of justification by faith alone and he says that that's how Abraham came into the saving presence of God most high and with reference to this language accountant it sounds kind kind of legal and Technical doesn't it absolutely positively it's legal and it's technical it's not transformational transformation happens by the power of the spirit working in Us in sanctification sanctification is the spirit at work in US justification is Christ's work for us and it's faith in that that brings us to that place of peace with God that forgiveness of sins that righteousness that is imputed this word accounted means literally to determine my mathematical process to reckon to calculate to count to take into account can also mean to credit to credit to something someone as something the new King James margin on verse 3 has imputed credited reckoned counted all very good glosses on this particular term and all very much what justification by faith consists of it's not us getting better it's not us engaged in moral reform it's not us stopping certain things and putting on other things it is rather Christ for us and belief in him that belief which is a gift given by God is what brings us into saving Union with our blessed savior now notice he then draws out this implication in verse 4. now to him who works the wages are not counted as Grace but is debt in other words if you can work your way to heaven that's not a gracious arrival it's God's indebtedness to you and again there is nothing that that could be farther from from the ability of a sinful man now notice he then points to the example of David notice first in verse 5 but to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly his faith is accounted for righteousness now it's not the Act of Faith that's accounted for righteousness it's the object of Faith it's the Lord Jesus Christ it's not my faith brought to the table and God says oh therefore where you brought this faith I'm going to reward you now Faith is the instrument by which we receive the benefits secured for Sinners by our Lord Jesus Christ so but to him who does not work but believes on him now that does not work doesn't mean go you know lay on your couch and watch TV all day no it does not work for salvation does not work for acceptance with God does not work for his his righteousness with God to him who does not work but rather be leaves on him who justifies the ungodly see that's what the gospel is all about it's not working your way unto Heaven it's not working your way for salvation it is rather accepting by God's grace the gift he has provided the righteousness of Jesus the Forgiveness of sins by Jesus and that's precisely what the Apostle is emphasizing in this section his faith is accounted for righteousness now notice he points to David verses six to eight just as David also isn't that interesting just as David also what should we glean from that we should glean that the way of acceptance but the way to acceptance rather by God in the old Covenant and the New Covenant is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that's clear it's not two separate ways the Jews were put under the Old Testament law and they must you know meet that law as best as they can and then they'll be accepted into heaven old school dispensationalism that's not it at all when Paul is demonstrating the the glory of justification by faith alone he goes to Abraham and he goes to David so it's the same thing it's the same way it's the same means by which God accepts Sinners so just as David also describes the blessedness of man of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from the work of from works now he cites Psalm 32 blessed are those whose Lawless Deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin so the justification of sinners in the New Covenant is the same as justification of sinners in the old Covenant and also notice the content or the subject matter of the song Psalms of David salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ when we sing the Psalms of David we enter in with David to praise the god of our Salvation we enter in with David using the inspired word of God to glorify God for his goodness to us our brother referred in part he alluded to Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3. what happens when we sing in public worship it's an act of prayer it's an act of praise and it's an act of proclamation we teach and admonish one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs we we proclaim the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord through the Psalms of David through good written hymns we sing these praises to God acknowledging his goodness but in this instance Again David says blessed are those whose Lawless Deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin so in other words David's not saying this blessed is that guy out there who is really undone in sin and really grows in Wicked and vile I'm glad that that God has forgiven him you don't think that when David writes Psalm 32 1-2 he's thinking about David he's thinking about his own sin he's thinking about the fact that he himself had engaged in Gross immorality in terms of adultery and murder and not acting at his daughter's rape and and a whole host of other things later on in the application I'm going to suggest that that a man's life isn't just a snapshot and as well praise God there's no second Samuel 11 or 12 about us in the most popular book that has ever been penned and the most popular book that has been as widely circulated as the Bible what could be your second Samuel 11 or 12. what could be your complicitness or mine I'm not you wretches I I'm right there with you all praise God most I that not all of us have a chapter in Scripture that describes the most heinous act we've ever committed I mean that's Grace Grace for us to be sure but Grace to David as well in terms of the display of God's loving kindness and goodness to a man after his own heart who nevertheless was not a perfect man so as we come to consider David we ought to appreciate that what Paul writes here is in fact commentary on the Theology of David you can go back to second Samuel second Samuel chapter 22. we see the example of David in Romans 4 at the handy Apostle Paul specifically in verses 5 to 8 and then the Theology of David David was a king was it David had been a shepherd and then David is Anointed by Saul and uh Samuel rather in first Samuel chapter 16 set apart as the the the one the man after God's Own Heart that's announced in first Samuel 13 when Saul just continues to engage in Folly I mean it's a sad and pathetic situation who would have been The Heir Apparent who was The Heir Apparent to the throne it was Jonathan Jonathan suffered for the sins of his father like you know that that was pretty ratchet so God basically cuts off the solid house and and brings the davidic dynasty into play so it's in first Samuel 13. a couple chapters before David's even anointed will we find out that he's a man after God's Own Heart and so in first Samuel chapter 16 he's anointed by uh Samuel with reference to the kingdom but prior to that he was a shepherd and then he was a king and as well we know he's a psalmist but he's a theologian just like Solomon how do you read the the the the the the the the the description of the dedication of the temple in First Kings 8 not realize that Solomon was a very skilled Theologian well he had good parentage he had David teaching him and so David's theology is riddled throughout the psalter to be sure but we see it also here in this particular Psalm Psalm 18. notice in the first place David recognized his own sin it's not suggesting he's a sinless man he's not suggesting verse 21 the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness because I'm perfect and I've never done anything back never done anything evil now I don't take it that this was written later and it was inserted by an editor perhaps David didn't write it David wrote it David had it inserted or the the author uh Samuel perhaps had it put here so they're realizing we're not going to forget second Samuel 12 by the time we get to second Samuel 22. so David's not pretending that he's without sin notice what he says in verse 24 I was also blameless before him and I kept myself from my iniquity again he's talking about the overarching theme of his life but what does he highlight they're my iniquity he's not professing perfectionism he's not professing sinlessness he's not suggesting that he is like his greater son will be holy harmless and undefiled he knows he's a sinner Psalm 51 is Psalm of repentance on the occasion of Nathan's rebuke of his hardened heart the the psalters filled with allusions to David's sinfulness when I kept silent about my sin my bones got my bones ached there was a weary Nest that was happening to David as a result of this silence concerning his sin so David understood the reality that he was a sinner it's not suggesting Perfection he's not suggesting sin less and as as well David understood the necessity of atonement turn back to second Samuel 12. second Samuel 12 specifically at verse 13. if the language isn't used the concept is certainly present so when David confesses according to 13 a so David said to Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said to David the Lord also noticed has put away your sin you shall not die the Lord has put away your said isn't that beautiful language so that a few chapters later we can actually read a man read about a man celebrating the fact that God rewarded him according to his righteousness this culture and many professing Christians would do well to learn from God how is it when we forgive one another for their sins against us do we put them away we forget about them do we go deep sea fishing with them because God does in Micah chapter 7 it says that God takes our sins and he casts them into the depths of the sea he doesn't put it into the Shallow Brook he doesn't put it in the shallow Meadows so that they can bubble back up and be used against us sometimes husbands and wives do this you know 15 years ago you said this and I'm still you know I've still got an ax to grind this culture that cancel culture what does that reflect it reflects no forgiveness it reflects no recognition that sometimes people do horrible things but that horrible things do not Define their lives David understood the necessity of atonement turn to second Samuel 21 there's an instance of atonement wrought by David on behalf of the gibeonites notice in second Samuel 21 verse 1. now there was a famine in the days of David for three years that that's always bad news in scripture when you see famine in scripture it's not like oh we got to fix our irrigation session better call Southern get them out here and fix the lines no typically the announcement of famine means god is angry that's usually the way to proceed when there's famine when there's drought they didn't you know think in terms of mechanisms they didn't think in terms of systems they didn't think in terms of oh if we just fix this or we dig you know deeper ditches I guess there's a place for that I mean I think in California they divert lots of water because they're trying to save a particular fish I mean that's just Folly let the fish die and let the people live with water I mean that seems you know like a no-brainer to me but here notice now there was a famine in the days of David for three years year after year and what does David do he had choirs of the Lord and the Lord answered it is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house because he killed the gibeonites so the king called the gibeonites and spoke to them now the gibeonites were not of the children of Israel but of the remnant of the amorites the children of Israel had sworn protection to them but Saul had sought to kill them in his Zeal for the children of Israel and Judah notice in verse 3 therefore David said to the what shall I do for you and with what shall I make atonement that you may bless and uh the inheritance of the Lord David understood the necessity of atonement he says in Psalm 65 specifically in verse 3 iniquities Prevail against me as for our transgressions you will provide atonement we see it in second Samuel chapter 24 as well at the threshing floor of Arana there is atonement wrought for sin committed David understood atonement and with reference to atonement what's the presupposition God's holy we've sinned against him and his wrath must be satisfied his Justice rather must be satisfied David understood all that David knew that he understood total depravity he understood the necessity of blood atonement and he understood as well the imputed righteousness of Christ he understood it because he celebrates it in Psalm 32. the Apostle appeals to it in Romans chapter 4 the Apostle expounds on it in second Corinthians 5 21 he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him Philippians 3 9 that I might be found in him not having my own righteousness which is from the law but that which is from God received by faith so David had a robust dare I say it Protestant understanding of justification by faith alone to his grace that taught his heart to fear to his grace that kept him near the Lord most high when he said he repaired to God for forgiveness he came to God for forgiveness I dealt with that last week he was caught and we might be suspicious about that well you know he got caught he hadn't got caught he wouldn't have come come clean God is the catcher God catches us sometimes so that will come clean it's a mercy it's a Grace it's a good thing you've probably heard of some person that that sinned and they got caught and then they repented we're always a bit suspicious about that repentance repentance is repentance whether you've been caught or not praise God that he caught David through the snare of Nathan the prophet and then finally let's just look at the life of David the life of David not you know exhaustively but just a few points of of Doctrine here first I would suggest the benefit of Christ's atonement I've already made the point that old Covenant New Covenant Sinners were saved the same way we're not dispensationalists brethren we are Covenant theologians in this church and we aspire to be that's what our our documents teach it teaches covenant theology Hebrews 9 15 speaks of the retroactive work of the the crosswork of our Lord Jesus Christ in other words it is the case that everybody who entered into heaven went by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone Hebrews 9 15 and for this reason he Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant by means of death for the Redemption of the transgressions under the first Covenant so Christ's blood is the reason why Abel is in heaven Christ's blood is the reason why Abraham Isaac and Jacob are in heaven Christ what is the reason Moses is in heaven why Isaiah's in heaven why Nahum is in heaven why why Jonah's in heaven I mean John is a curious Prophet isn't he God says I want you to go to preach what does he do he goes the other direction and in chapter four what's Jonah upset about I knew you were kind I knew you were merciful I I knew you were gracious and I knew you'd save these dirty rotten innovites I mean that that's an interesting you know kind of an approach to the blessing of God upon needy Sinners the the Bible is filled with interesting people the Bible is filled with with curious people we've looked at Samson and not too distant not too distant past Jeff the consider that judge Jeff that now there's a couple of ways to interpret the sacrifice the burnt offering that came out of his house and one of them is pretty hardcore if you you contemplate it or you or you ponder it in other words God Saves you Sinners he justifies the ungodly and it's based on the fact that Christ went to that hour that Christ lived that Christ died and that Christ was resurrected from the dead so the benefit of Christ's atonement was David secondly the imputation of Christ's righteousness again at 22 21 the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands he has recompensed me in Psalm 18 that's verse 20. and John Gill makes this observation though it is best of all to apply it to Christ and understand it of his righteousness which he as mediator has wrought out for his people this is perfect pure and spotless and entirely agreeable to the law of God what will bear the sight of God is satisfying to his Justice is well pleasing to him and is what he accepts of and imputes to them that believe in Christ and by which they are Justified from all things so the benefit of Christ atoning work as well the imputation of Christ's righteousness thirdly the Forgiveness of sins as a result of Christ's death that's Psalm 32 that's why Nathan can say the Lord has put away this sin David knew the blessedness of forgiveness David understood what it was to be cleansed from the sin of adultery to be cleansed from the sin of murder to be cleansed from this you know this failure to act with reference to the rape of Tamar David understood all too well that it was by grace alone through faith alone In Christ Alone by which he stood fourthly you have the testimony of others in David's life Jonathan speaks glowingly of David Abigail speaks glowingly of David but most importantly you know who speaks glowingly of David subsequent to his death is the most high God look at First Kings chapter 3. First Kings chapter 3 David becomes as it were a benchmark for the Kings of Israel to walk in his paths to walk in his ways First Kings chapter 3 specifically at verse 14. so if you walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my Commandments as your father David walked then I will lengthen your days again Brethren you see how glorious God's forgiveness is he doesn't always you know what was the Scarlet the The Scarlet Letter she had to wear the a for adulteress wherever she went that's not God's way blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute an equity blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven blessed is the man whose sins are cast into the depths of the sea you probably all have known this or have experienced this where somebody you find out really hasn't forgiven you and a year later they've confessed to being bitter with you about something perhaps you even forgot about I'm not talking about my dear wife here just talking in general this happens right there is this unwillingness to let it be an unwillingness to extend Grace and unwillingness to treat others the way that God has treated us aren't we called upon in Ephesians and Colossians to forgive one another even as God in Christ forgave us does that mean we hold on to it we keep a list we keep it in our phone we got a note there this person sinned against me you know on August 4th you know 2002 and you know I'm just not going to let that go andra's not going to be done first Corinthians 13 there's a part in translated by the NIV it says that love does not keep a record of wrongs isn't that beautiful it doesn't keep a record of wrongs you know every time you do something there's somebody right there to hit you with your record of wrongs that's not how our God treats us Brethren it is Grace it is glorious it is wondrous he casts those sins into the depths of the sea so the testimony of God and there's another one you can look at First Kings 9 4 First Kings 11 33 and 34 First Kings 14 8 you get the point God says to the kings in Israel and Judah northern and southern tribes well by this time the the north is gone the the the the the southern Kingdom of Judah those kings are supposed to walk in the righteousness of David now the fifth thing is the faithfulness of David as a as a contrast with Saul go back to second Samuel 22. second Samuel 22. specifically in our section and notice what he says in verse 23 for his judgments were before me and as for his statutes I did not depart from them again Brethren this is not a claim to sinless Perfection on David's part he's already acknowledged that he's a sinner he's already recognized the fact that God has provided atonement but in terms of defection from God David didn't do it he didn't he didn't defect he didn't apostatize Saul did how does Saul end we know he ends on the battlefield in a very gruesome way but prior to that Saul ends in first Samuel 13. that's the beginning of the end for Saul in in first Samuel 13 Samuel says just wait here Saul I'll be back Samuel's a bit late so what does Saul do Saul says I'm going to sacrifice to the Lord you're not supposed to do that Saul you're supposed to wait first Samuel chapter 15 they go into battle against the amalekites what Saul's instructions utterly destroy egg and the amalekites don't don't take any prisoners don't keep any livestock do the job that God's called you to do so he goes to battle comes back to Samuel Samuel says how'd it go oh it went great wonderful so Samuel says why am I hearing sheep why am I hearing cows the the the instructions were clear you're supposed to cease or keep everybody uh from breathing of amalekites and it's there that the the kingdom is transferred formally to the David Dynasty and then by first Samuel 28 what does Saul do when he wants a word from on high well God doesn't speak to him anymore so he consults the witch at Endor David never did that sort of thing now again Brethren I'm not here you know go ahead get that adultery go ahead and you know commit murder and go ahead and you know despise your daughter but still come to church and everything's going to be fine that's not the point the point is defection the point is apostasy the point is abandoning God David didn't do that he never did that in fact one commentator says the distinction between Saul and David between a rejected King and an accepted one is not that one is a sinner and the other is not for both are sinners rather than the distinction lies in the very different attitudes to Faith and repentance displayed by the two and at a deeper level still in The Sovereign election of the one the man of God's own choosing over the other Matthew Henry said it this way though he had sometimes weakly departed from his duty he had never wickedly departed from his God let that simmer Brethren because that's a big statement that we typically don't think of there is a difference when Peter denies the Savior before the servant girl that's horrible it's ratchet but it wasn't a calculated defection or apostasy from the gospel and there was a bitter repentance that we see on the heels of that Saul didn't repent Esau doesn't repent the Godless don't repent David does David didn't depart from the Lord and then the last thing I want to suggest in terms of this brief sketch of the life of David is his pursuit of those things that were pleasing to God again read his Psalms read his songs of Zion read his songs of praise and the way that he desired to praise God one instance is back in first Samuel chapter 26. I'm going to make a plug here for public worship you can turn to First Samuel chapter 26. I am not suggesting that Allegiance or Fidelity to God is only seen in public worship there's more to the Christian life than public worship there's not less than that many respects that's sort of the foray into that's sort of the you know consistent practice of the people of God to meet with their God in the place where God has promised to meet with that in the New Covenant setting what is it it's the church we come to the father through the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit as we gather together with the people of God Psalm 87 makes the makes the statement uh Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the Dwelling Places of Jacob huh that doesn't mean he hates The Dwelling Places of Jacob that doesn't mean he's got an ax to grind with the the families in Jacob but it means that when the the saints of God gather together as the people of God on the day of God in the house of God God is especially present with that and you see this emphasis in David specifically in first Samuel chapter 26 he had been basically chased once again by Saul and now David is in a position to bargain with Saul he could have killed him he could have had him dad he could have had his throat caught while he slept but David doesn't do that touch not the Lord's anointed now notice specifically in first Samuel 26 at about verse 18. and he said this is David's response to Saul why does my Lord thus pursue his servant for what have I done or what evil is in my hand now therefore please let my Lord the king hear the words of his servant if the Lord has stirred you up against me let him ex let him accept an offering in other words if this is of God then can I sacrifice to God and repair the breach that exists between us all David you know he's perplexed why are you trying to kill me what's happened I I don't get it I I understand why are you hunting me like a dog why do you why do you want to rid me rid the world of my presence so that's the the the the the the point here so now therefore please let my Lord the king hear the words of his servant if the Lord has stirred you up against me let him accept an offering but if it is the children of men may they be cursed before the Lord now notice for they have driven me out this day from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord saying go serve other gods now David's theology proper allowed for him to be worshiped outside the confines of Palestine but David's theology proper understood there was special blessing and special benefit within the confines of Israel specifically in the Tabernacle and later Temple so for David this was an argument as to why he didn't like Saul driving him away from his land he doesn't say I miss my wife I miss my kids I miss my food I miss my this I miss my that he says I I miss my God they're telling me essentially get out and go serve the other gods notice what he says in verse 20. so now do not let my blood fall to the Earth before the face of the Lord the face of the Lord is present there in the earth where David's blood could fall specifically in the land he goes on to say for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains now two quotes we're almost done John Gill makes this observation in a more technical theological exegetical sense he says for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord meaning not from his own house and family nor from the Palace of Saul but from the land of Canaan the Lord had given to His People Israel for an inheritance and from the worship of God in it which made it dear and precious to him Brethren if we were being vacated from our lives what would it be that would tie us to that life my job my wife my kids my grandkids not bad things at all in fact very good things my dog my lawn my car what what is it that we don't want to be driven from for David it was the special presence of God when the people of God gathered together to sing his praises and to hear his word now listen to Davis his isn't so exegetical it's a bit more amplification he says didn't David know what every enlightened Christian knows that you can pray and commune with God anywhere you've met them I don't need the church I mow my lawn and I have great times with God I go sit on the top of mountains and I commune with God and I'm not suggesting don't commune with God while you mow your lawn great way instead of listening to your latest podcast you can pray you do know that right you don't have to get on your knees every time you pray and and uh you know close your eyes and and fold your hands you can pray to God he he hears you when you're mowing your lawn when you're sitting on the top of a mountain but me thinks that at times that's a Weasley way out of the church and then you hear things like wow the church is full of Hypocrites I always think what better place for Hypocrites to be than the church like saying you know the the hospital is filled with sick people well good that's where they ought to be because hopefully they'll get healed hopefully God will heal us of our hypocrisy when we're sitting under the preaching of the word so says David didn't even know what every enlightened Christian knows that you can pray and commune with God anywhere apparently the writer of Psalms 63 139 and 142 was well aware of that but David was more enlightened than many enlightened Christians he knew that to be cut off from yahweh's inheritance verse 19 was to be cut off from yahweh's face verse 20. and when when when one had left Israel there was no possibility of public worship this is not the place to sketch a Biblical Theology of worship suffice it to say that David would have made a poor Space Age Evangelical he would never have been content with his Study Bible prayer list and a quiet cave yahweh's face or presence was especially seen in the sanctuary Psalm 63 2. yet David was being driven away and cut off from the Tabernacle and Sacrifice from priest and Festival he was being shot out of the land in sanctuary where Yahweh met with his people to be cut off from the ordinances of public worship as David's most severe grief would that cause me anguish Christians have surpassed David and privileges but few have approached him in appetite I think he's right well not for you he's certainly speaking to me here we need to Value the public worship of God again this isn't all that marks David is one who hadn't defected or apostatized from God but it certainly plays to that Saul had to seek out a witch at Endor David gets on his face and prays to God David goes and meets with the people of God David has as it were aligned with God as a result of his faithful walk before God so two thoughts and then we close God's grace is Rich God's grace is glorious God's grace is able to cover the sins of adultery the sins of murder and the sins of even being an ineffective King and an ineffective father again not go thou and do likewise but understand that when you bring great sin to God you bring great sin to a great savior he is in the business of taking such people and washing them and cleansing them and justifying them and sanctifying them that bit in First Corinthians chapter 6 when the Apostle Paul says do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God and then he lists this list of horrific things bad things wicked things horrible things and then he says and such were some of you what you mean these Corinthians weren't these perfect polished people sitting there just getting blessed by God no they had been homosexuals they had been idolaters they had been fornicators they had been all manner of sin and yet they were that because God had Justified them freely by his grace so for the unbeliever may I exhort you to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and find that blessed Joy of everlasting life and for the believer listen to Davis again he says as Christians or to Christians today have surpassed David in privileges but few have approached him an appetite you probably do read the Psalms if you don't you should but as you read the Psalms pray to God those psalms pray to God that you would have that kind of an appetite that kind of a dependence he cites Psalm 63. Psalm 63 David says because thy loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee do we think that way God's loving kindness is is better than life itself well that's the way David thought and David is able to Muse at the end of his days on the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to him and God's grace that had kept him again for the most part we have our issues we have our blemishes nobody has a spotless record on this side of our of our blessed savior but the overarching theme and trajectory of David's life was one of pursuing god well let us pray Our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the Lord's day we thank you for the house of God and the people of God on the day of God and we pray that you would be glorified in our local church we pray that you would go with us now that you would watch over us and keep us and protect us and bless us as well father we pray for the preaching of the Gospel throughout the Earth that that word would run swiftly and be glorified for we know that you are a great God a gracious God a God full of mercy and a God who is purposing to save a multitude that no man can number and we praise you and we bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation