David and the Power of Restoration

ATTENTION

Mike Huckabee tells about his son, John Mark, who was 4-years old. He was playing in the yard when he got a splinter in his foot. He started to cry and ran to Mike crying, “I got a splinter in my foot.” Mike made him sit down on the couch so he could look at it.

When John Mark held up his foot, Mike reached down to pull out the splinter, and John Mark said what every kid says at that point. What do they say? That’s right! “Don’t touch it!” "What do you want me to do? Take a picture of it and mount it on the wall? I've got to touch it, Son. I don't levitate splinters out of your foot. There is no choice." "It will hurt," he moaned. I said, "It might, but it won't hurt as long. It will sure feel a lot better when I get the splinter out."

But somehow that wasn't adequate. So Mike says his wife Janet held down the top of him while he tried to hold down the bottom of him and pull that splinter out. He was kicking and screaming and jerking in all different directions, and here Mike was with the tweezers, trying to pull out the splinter. He said, “I was afraid that I would jab those tweezers way up into his foot.”

Mike said he wanted to say to him, "Son, don't you trust me? What do you think I'm going to do, cut your foot off? I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you, and if you don't let me help you, it's going to get worse not better. Trust me; I'm your father. I love you. I care about you. I do this only to help you. Be still. Relax."

I think sometimes God in heaven must look down upon us. We’re writing in the pain of the sin we’ve committed or the bad attitude we’ve nursed, and we must be like a little child who says, "God, I'm hurt. God help me." God reaches in to help us, and the first thing we do is say, "God, don't touch me! Don't do that God!" God is saying, "But I've got to reach in there and deal with the hurt. It may hurt a little, or even a lot but I've got to do it." We say, "No, God. Please, nothing like that!"

So here we are fighting with God. It is the equivalent of being in surgery when the surgeon has both of his arms up to his elbows in your abdomen, and suddenly you decide that you don't want to be operated on and try to get off the table. How many times in our lives do we find ourselves on the surgery table of the Almighty, where God is trying to work in our lives that miracle of making us like Christ, and when we realize what God's doing, we wake up and say, "God, I don't want you to do this. Let me out of here!"

NEED

That’s the way so many are. They resist the change that God wants to bring to their lives. They fear it and think its destructive. You’re afraid that being thoroughly right with God would mean the loss of life as you know it. You’re like the kid who can’t stand the splinter in his foot, and he really is afraid of not getting it out, but he’s even more afraid of the pain that may come his way if he lets his dad dig it out. I want you to listen this morning because I want you to know that God’s restoration process is nothing to be afraid of. It’s the only way to really be healed, spiritually speaking.

Others of us genuinely want God’s restoration in our lives. We look over all the bad decisions we’ve made in our lives and think, “There’s no way to ever be right again. What I’ve done is so bad that I can’t and most of all, I don’t deserve to be forgiven.” I am praying for you this morning if you think that in your heart. You see, real restoration is possible. Real forgiveness can come to your heart. You can once again experience the unbelievable grace of God in your life. One reason I am so glad that God lets us in on this experience David had with Bathsheba is because it gives me and you hope. If David could steal his friend’s wife, have him killed, then try to cover it and, yet, have God restore him, surely God can forgive and restore you.

BACKGROUND

And that is just what God does for David. The last two weeks we have suffered through David’s terrible sin and his cover up. We’ve listened as God has so powerfully confronted him that he reaches a point of absolute brokenness. Now look at chapter 12, verses 13-25 and let’s see how God restores him:

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. 14 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.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.

And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

And they said, “He is dead.”

20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

This passage shows us two principles of restoration. The first is this

DIV 1: RESTORATION REQUIRES TRUE REPENTANCE

EXPLANATION

I read you 2 Cor 7:10 last week, do you remember what it said? It talked about 2 kinds of sorrow, one which led to real repentance and the other which lead to death. David had real sorrow for his sin. It’s interesting to note that Saul, when he is confronted by Samuel for his rebellion and sin, uses the very same words that David does in his confession. Both of them admit that they have sinned, yet one goes on to the restoration of the favor of God, while the other one continues down the road of abject rebellion.

What makes the difference? One of them truly repented and the other did not. You see, David really repented. True repentance requires a definite choice, and that’s what David makes in v 13. You see, when David confesses, he turns. When he confesses he makes a definite choice to let go of his sin and turn to God. True repentance always involves a definite choice.

I meet people all the time who want repentance on the “cheap.” They think if they just admit their sin, but they don’t do anything about it, that’s all they need to do. But just admitting you have a problem isn’t the answer to it. Someone might say, “But wait a minute, Rusty. Doesn’t the Bible say ‘If we confess our sin, God will be faithful and just to forgive us?’ O yes, that’s exactly what the Bible says, but when the Bible uses the word “confess,” it doesn’t mean what we think it means. It doesn’t mean to just sit down with your youth pastor, teenager, and with a little defiant gleam in your eye admit to all the pot you’ve smoked or the beer you’ve been consuming. That’s not confession. What some people call confession is nothing but a celebration of the very sin God hates.

Biblical confession means to “agree with God” about your sin. When I confess my sin, I agree with God about the presence of sin; I agree with God about the ugliness of that sin; and I agree with God about the remedy for that sin. I confess and forsake that sin through His power and by His grace. And all of this begins with a decision. True repentance involves a definite choice.

ILLUSTRATION

A few years ago I had a sore place come up on my back. I didn’t know what it was, I just knew that every once and a while it would itch like crazy and I’d be standing at a door frame somewhere scratching like a hog on the side of that door. Well, it stayed that way for a long time, more than a year, in fact. Gradually it got worse and worse. After a while it got really sore so I didn’t like to scratch it. It started to grow and get bigger. Finally it got so sore that I couldn’t sit back in a chair, I could lay down on it, and I got to the point that I didn’t even want to put on a shirt. So like most men, when it got to the place that I couldn’t bear it anymore, I decided that going to the doctor would be a good idea.

I went in and he numbed it up real good (or that’s what he said) It actually hurt pretty bad when he lanced it, but O what a relief it was! Now at the risk of seeming really juvenile, let me ask you a question. When did I get relief? It was when I made a decision to do something about that sebaceous cyst. If I hadn’t made a decision, I’d might still be in pain.

Listen, true repentance involves a definite choice. You’re not going to find restoration until you make a decision to turn from your sin.

EXPLANATION

But true repentance also involves genuine grief. There’s something interesting that happens in this story. Nathan has told David that the child is going to die, but, even though he hears what Nathan says, the Bible says in v 16

David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died.

You ever wonder what David was praying for seven days. Now I know he prayed for that child. He fasted and he prayed with great intensity, in fact, it says he “went in and lay all night on the ground.” But I think David may have been talking to God about more than sparing that child. One commentator wrote:

Grieved as he was at the child’s sickness, and at the mother’s sorrow, yet his grief was mainly for his sin; and he was willing that all should know how intense was his shame and self-reproach. And even when the most honourable of the rulers of his household , perhaps even his uncles and elder brethren, came to comfort him, he persists in maintaining an attitude of heart-stricken penitence.

ILLUSTRATION

I think that, just maybe, it may have been in those moments lying prostrate on the ground in repentance, David may have composed Psalm 51. Listen to a few of these verses the way Eugene Petersen paraphrases them:

Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.Scrub away my guilt,soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down. You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing.Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash,or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.

EXPLANATION

David was restored because he truly repented. That genuine kind of repentance involved a definite choice, and a true grief, but it also involved a new direction. Something even more interesting than his abject grief happens in the next few verses. Look at v 18

Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

And they said, “He is dead.”

20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.

No recriminations against God; no blaming God for being mean in allowing the child to die; Not even anymore grief. David gets up, washes himself, anoints himself, changes his clothes and goes to church! Its as if he’s saying, this is the way things are. I brought this sorrow on myself, but I have been forgiven and today is the beginning of my new relationship with God. His repentance sends him in a new direction. True repentance always does.

ILLUSTRATION

In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church’s integrity problem (O, and we definitely have one!) is in the misconception “that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior.” He goes on to say, “It is revival without reformation, without repentance.”

The Christian community is so known for confession without repentance and one cynic wrote, “A Christian is a man who feels repentance on Sunday for what he did on Saturday and is going to do again on Monday.”

J. Edwin Orr, the revivalist and historian, was with Billy Graham when the evangelist addressed a meeting in Beverly Hills attended by a very interesting guest. No, it wasn’t the latest movie star, it was the notorious gangster, Mickey Cohen. Amazingly, Micky expressed an interest in Christ. Orr later wrote, ``several of us talked with him, including Dr. Graham, but he made no commitment until some time later when another friend urged him—with Revelation 3:20 as a warrant—to invite Jesus Christ into his life.”

Finally, he made a profession, but like so many people today, nothing in his life changed. There was no evidence of any repentance, so the friend that led him to the Lord confronted him. Micky was offended. He told his friend, “You never told me I’d have to give up my work.” By his work, he meant his illegal gangster activities. He said, “You did not tell me that I would have to give up my friends!’ He meant his gangster associates.

“He had heard that so-and-so was a Christian cowboy, so-and-so was a Christian actress, so-and-so was a Christian senator, and he really thought he could be a Christian gangster.

“The fact is,” said Orr, “repentance is the missing note in much (of our) modern evangelism.”

APPLICATION

Well, it may be missing in our evangelism, but I can guarantee you that it isn’t missing in God’s!

We have way too many glib decisions for Christ today. There is what we call “salvation” without any real sorrow. There is what we call “salvation” with absolutely no real conviction of sin. Listen to me, my unsaved friend, I don’t care how many prayers you’ve prayed to God, you will never be converted until you see your sin and understand your need of God. You will never be saved until you are convicted by the Holy Spirit.

And if you are a Christian this morning, but you know that you are backslidden; you know that you, like David, need to genuinely repent, please remember that it is more than just admitting your sin; it is turning from your sin.

You see, repentance is a return from rebellion to discipline. When I truly repent of sin, I am willing to make myself accountable. I am willing to be absolutely transparent with my life. That means if I have been involved in pornography on the internet and I really repent, I am willing to have you look over my shoulder to insure that I don’t go back. It means that if I have been dishonest, I am willing for you to stick your nose into my business, and keep it in my business to make sure that I am telling the truth. It means that, if I have an anger problem, I allow you to confront me about it when it rears its ugly head. A return to Christ is a return to accountability.

And it may go even further. Sometimes genuine repentance is a recognition of new limitations. Look, if a pastor falls into adultery in the church, he must accept the fact that he may have forfeited his privilege to ever pastor again. Now, I’m not saying that’s a definite thing, because God’s grace can restore anyone. It sure restored David! What I’m saying is that real repentance is willing to accept the limitations that are brought about when a straying brother returns to Christ and places himself under the watchcare of a local body of believers. One of the reasons the world has lost so much respect for the body of Christ is because we have revolving door offenders: men or women who are never disciplined, but simply move from sin to confession to restoration right back to sin. A man or a woman who will not accept the limitations that their repentance and discipline puts upon them is exhibiting the same rebellious pride that got them in trouble in the first place.

Restoration is available. God wants to restore us when we fall, but the requirement is repentance, a genuine, God-caused turning from sin to Him. It is a definite choice; it involves real sorrow, and it sets you in a new direction. Restoration requires GEUNINE repentance, but

DIV 2 RESTORATION BRINGS GOD’S GRACE

EXPLANATION

Now, I have to tell you to get ready to be amazed! That’s what always happens when you view God’s grace. There’s no other word for it but amazing. Once David has been confronted and once he genuinely repents, God’s grace is released in His life. You see it in vv 24-25

Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

God’s grace just infuses these two verses. When David repents he steps out of the barren, dry desert of his own guilt into a downpour of God’s grace. That grace heals his relationships. V 24 says, “Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife and went in to her and lay with her.” You know, if I had been David, I don’t think I would have ever wanted to see Bathsheba again. Even though he had been just as guilty as she was, if not more so, I think that being with Bathsheba would have only brought him some terribly painful memories, especially since he had gotten thoroughly right with God and realized the full extent of the evil he had done. I think it was only the amazing grace of God that allowed David to still have a relationship with Bathsheba.

But God’s grace did even more. V 24 goes on to say “ . . . so she bore a son and called his name Solomon.” You would have thought that if God was going to close up any woman’s womb and make them childless, it would have been Bathsheba, but He gives her a child, and that child’s name is significant. “Solomon” literally means “peaceful.” God had pronounced to David that He would raise up adversity from his own household, and, indeed that did come to pass. But in the middle of that strife, and in the middle of all the suffering, David could still see a little boy named “peaceful” running and playing around the palace.

Isn’t that just like God’s grace? We suffer and we realize that we can’t turn to God and point a finger of blame. Everything we ever get from God will be better than what we could ever deserve. Constantly in our broken lives God sends little “Solomon” messages soothe our hearts and remind us that, even though we may suffer the consequences of our sin, His grace will never leave us.

Yes, God’s grace healed David’s relationships and brought peace into his life. But God’s grace did even more than that. Look at the last phrase of v 24. It says, speaking of Solomon, “Now the Lord loved him, and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord. Inspite of the fact that Solomon was born to two former adulterers and one murderer, God loved him. In fact, the Bible says, He loved him so much that he sent Nathan back to David to tell him to call his name “Jedidiah.” Want to know what “Jedediah” means? It means “beloved of God.” Even after everything David and Bathsheba had done, God was so intense about showing his grace to them that he gives them a son and names that son, “beloved of God.”

You see, the world will try to tell you that it’s over. Satan will tell you, “You’re nothing but a hypocrite. If I had done what you’d done, I’d just give up on God, throw in the towel, and quit. But I want you to know that God’s grace specializes in cleaning up broken down lives. He’s just waiting for you to turn to him in repentance.

ILLUSTRATION

One of the main characters in the movie Seabiscuit is a broken-down, unemployed cowboy named Tom Smith. Millionaire Charles Howard, who is about to engage in a horse racing enterprise, has a campfire interview with Smith, and asks why he bothered rescuing an old, lame horse that was sentenced to death because of a broken leg.

Tom replies, "You don't throw a whole life away just 'cause it's banged up a bit." Every horse is good for something, Tom claims. This devotion to horses convinces the millionaire that Tom should be his trainer.

Together they find and purchase Seabiscuit, a horse whose physical shortcomings and temperament make it an unlikely prospect for racing success. Tom's method of training, while unorthodox, is tailored toward curing the horse of its inner demons?a byproduct of the neglect shown by its previous owners.

Tom hires a second-rate jockey named John "Red" Pollard to ride Seabiscuit. At 5'7", Red is considered too tall to be anything but a bush-league jockey and a bad match for this undersized horse. But Tom notices a mystical connection between Red and Seabiscuit.

Red has another handicap. He is blind in one eye, and he has concealed the handicap fearing that track officials would no longer allow him to race.

During a crucial race at Santa Anita, Red's limited vision allows a competing horse, Rosemont, to overtake Seabiscuit on Red's blind side, costing them the victory.

Tom, trainer, is outraged that the jockey failed to urge Seabiscuit to keep the winning pace. He presses the jockey to explain how he could let this happen. Finally, in a burst of emotion, Red shouts, "Because I'm blind!"

Stung by the loss and betrayal, Tom scornfully urges Mr. Howard to fire Red. To Tom's surprise, Mr. Howard requests that Red remain as his jockey. Dumbfounded, Tom demands a reason. Mr. Howard states, "You don't throw away a whole life just because it's banged up a bit.

APPLICATION

Listen to me, my unsaved friend. You may think you’re a hopeless case, but God’s grace waits on the other side of your repentance. You have no idea what He wants to release into your life. Just ask some of the people in this church whom God has touched and changed and they’ll tell you. You have no idea of how wonderful it is to be God’s “Jedediah;” to be absolutely confident of His grace in your life. God is waiting to pour His love and His grace into you, but it all begins, not with you believing some set of facts. It begins with you turning from your sin to Him.

Christian, you’ve been avoiding repentance because you’re afraid of what it will mean for you: You think it will mean loss of respect. You think it will mean loss of reputation. You think your repentance would just hurt other people who don’t yet know what you’ve done. You think repentance is too scary because it will mean loss of control over what happens next. You are afraid, but I want you to know that’s the devil trying to intimidate you to stay in the shadows. God has incredible grace waiting for you if you will simply turn to him

VISUALIZATION

Can God really save a “Hit-Man?” You know what a hit man is, of course. He’s the guy the Mafia or the drug dealer calls when he needs to teach somebody a lesson. From a distance with a scope and a rifle, or up close in some violent confrontation, hit men kill people they may not even know with one purpose in mind: making money.

Is it possible for God to save somebody like that? Is is possible that a hit man could be so radically changed by the power of God that he would become a Christ-follower, mature in Christ, and finally enter the ministry and become a church planter? Seems kind of “out-there” doesn’t it?

Well, I just happen to know of one. He didn’t kill for money, at least not directly. He did it because of anger. He was mad that people weren’t doing what he thought they should do. Like some crazed Neo-nazi, he was trying to purge the world of the “subversive” people who were trying to destroy the way of life he held dear. He was so crazed with zeal and anger that he was consumed with his mission. It was what he ate; it was what he slept; it was what he thought about; it was what he breathed.

The Bible says in Acts 9:1, “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord . . . Yes, Saul, who later became Paul, was a hit man who was so filled with hatred that they didn’t even have to pay him to do what he did. Could he be forgiven? Could God’s grace reach him? Listen to Paul’s testimony: . . .

14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Yes, you might be saying, that’s great for Paul, but he was . . . Paul. That has nothing to do with me. O no! Listen to what Paul goes on to say about God’s grace:

However, for this reason I obtained mercy, (What reason, Paul?) that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Listen! If God can save a hit man, He can save you! If God can restore Peter, who denied Him three times, He can restore you! The grace of God is exceedingly abundant! It can reach you no matter where you are:

You say, “But I’ve cheated on my spouse and destroyed my family.” God’s grace can restore you!

“I’ve told so many lies to the ones who love me that they’ll never believe me again.” God’s grace can restore you!

“I’ve seen so many images that are dirty that I’ll never be able to get myself cleaned up again.” God’s grace can restore you!

“I’ve quit on God so many times in the past that He could never forgive me.” God’s grace can restore you!

“I’ve been so angry at God that I’ve accused Him and said unimaginably bad things to Him.” God’s grace can restore you!

“I’ve been a hypocrite for years and I don’t even think I can believe myself when I talk about changing.” God’s grace can restore you!

If God can save a hit man, He can restore you if . . . if you come to Him in genuine repentance and like David truly repent!