Darkness Brought to Light

Introduction

Recap Series

Matthew 1:1 CSB

1 An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

this has brought us to King David himself, we have seen him

anointed as the future king

defeat the giant

running from Saul and not killing the kings anointed

bless Mephibosheth

last week, his sin in killing Uriah and sleeping with his wife, Bathsheba

Today… Darkness Brought to Light

We will see the bandaid ripped off and the sin exposed

The quickest way to the heart is through a wound.

John Piper (Desiring God)

We do not always understand what sin does to us

we do not understand the treatment needed

Last year (my pinky) ingrown nail, infected, turned to sepsis

eventually had to go to the doctor, get a shot, and a much stronger antibiotic

David’s sin festered like a wound and in God’s mercy, the Lord sends Nathan to expose it all.

2 Samuel 12:1–14 CSB

1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him: There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very large flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest. 5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.” 7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword. 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’ 11 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight. 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’ ” 13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die. 14 However, because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.”

PRAY

The Lord confronts us in our sin because He desires for us to repent and live in eternal peace with Him.

David’s Four Steps in Repentance

First Step in David’s Repentance - Confrontation

Reminder of why the Lord sent Nathan

Chapter 11 - David’s sin

2 Samuel 11:27 CSB

27 When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.

We have made note before of the “buts” or “howevers” in scripture

Ephesians 2:4 CSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,

We like that one… this is not a good however for David

2 Samuel 12:1–12 CSB

1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him: There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

Retell Nathan’s parable in my own words

2 Samuel 12:1–12 CSB

5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”

David is unknowingly cast judgment on himself

a man who commits adultery was to be killed (Lev 20:10)

a man who took a lamb was to pay it back four times (Exodus 22:1)

2 Samuel 12:1–12 CSB

7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

I gave you everything and would have given you more if you would have needed it

I read this and imagine David weeping as Nathan is proclaiming his guilt

notice the condition of the human heart

ours is no different than David’s

all the blessings the Lord has given and we still chase after sin

2 Samuel 12:1–10 CSB

9 Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword. 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’

The Lord will confront his people with their sin

choosing words carefully, lost people do not feel the weight of sin

they may feel sorry, remorse for hurting another

they may be sorry they got caught

The Lord uses people to confront our sins

We have to be careful to not be so full of pride that we do not let people of God speak truth into our lives

we are good when people want to give a blessing

praying for a need and other things

but when people begin to touch our sin we begin to bow up and get defensive

who are you to tell me…

The Holy Spirit will use scripture when we read it and brothers and sisters in Christ to reveal our sin

The Lord will bring sin to light

maybe you can get away with it in this world, but you cannot hide it from God

Each person will stand and give an account for the sin in their lives (Romans 14:10-12)

that includes you brother and sister in Christ

when the sin and judgment is announced Christ will stand and proclaim that he has taken that punishment for us

Second Step in David’s Repentance - Turning

2 Samuel 12:13 CSB

13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.

The narrative does not sound too remorseful

I am sure reading through this there are some tempted to say that this does not sound very sincere

like when a parent makes a kid say sorry to a sibling

We may be tempted to add to it

you need more words than that

I have to make this longer so that the Lord knows that I am sincere

or so that I can appear to be sincere, though I am not convinced this is really sin

Some think you need to do something, some sacrifice, some certain type or amount of prayers

I would love to say that is only our Catholic brothers and sisters

but the truth is we all try to earn the forgiveness that Jesus freely offers us

David is repentant, we can get a better understanding of his heart in reading his Psalms (Psalm 32; 51)

Psalm 51:14–17 CSB

14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God— God of my salvation— and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.

God does not want your sacrifice, he wants your heart

too many are willing to give the sacrifice, that is easier

recited prayers are easy, giving money or a sacrifice is easy

turning from our sin, laying our sin down and turning to the Lord is true repentance and when we do we find true forgiveness.

Third Step in David’s Repentance - Forgiveness

2 Samuel 12:13 CSB

13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.

A much different response from David than that of Saul

when Samuel confronts the previous King, Saul, he made excuse s for his sin

the kingdom was torn away from him and the Holy Spirit was left him

David has repented when confronted of his sin

his sin has been removed

when we repent, our sin is not simply covered, as in hidden from God

like the sin is still there but the blood covers it up so that the father can’t see it, as in we have tricked him somehow

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Imputation

that sin is removed from us and put on Christ

His righteousness has been put on us

Psalm 32:5–7 CSB

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah 6 Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to you immediately. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. Selah

When we taste this forgiveness, we want everyone else to try it as well

you have to see how refreshing this feels

Fourth Step in David’s Repentance - Consequences

I would love to tell you that there are no earthly consequences to sin when we repent

to be honest, what scares me is if it were so, more people would be apt to repent as there are many more who are concerned with this world than the one to come

David told some pretty harsh things that will happen to his family due to these events

2 Samuel 12:10–14 CSB

10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’ 11 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight. 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’ ” 13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die. 14 However, because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.”

David’s sons were a mess

you have one that rapes his half sister, Tamar, then to have her full brother kill him in retaliation

the four oldest sons killed by the sword

one of which took the throne from David for a short time, Absolom, and while he did, slept with David’s concubines

After David repents, Nathan tells him that God will not leave him, but forgives him

David is forgiven but the die has been cast, there are consequences for his sin

this is not a “generational curse” that I hear people ask about

I do not believe there is such a thing

but there is learned behavior

Old drug commercial…

Dad confronts his son about drugs that were found in the sons room. Is yelling at him and asking where he got this from, the boy finally yells back, “ I learned by watching you, alright!”

I am sure David’s sons have seen him worship the Lord,

but now they have also witnessed that when it came down to it, you can put that aside and do what you have to do to get what you really desire.

Maybe worse yet, the baby conceived in sin dies.

we do not know the child’s name, or quite how old it was, though a baby.

the wording in v15 and later reminds us that this is a child bore in sin and shame

uses phrase child born to Uriah’s wife

the Bible says that God gave the child an illness

We must be careful that we do not make hard rules based on a single verse in the Bible

Not all children that die are the result of specific sin, or a punishment

some it is because we live in a Genesis 3 world, a world of sin

but what we see here, is in God’s sovereignty, he did not leave a child that would be a constant reminder to the world of the sin of the Lord’s king. The leader of God’s people.

David your children have seen your sin and it has effected them, there will be consequences

Conclusion

A young boy playing in a way he was told not to, discovered he had broken vase in the living room. Fearing punishment, he hid it, but the weight of his silence became unbearable. After several days, he mustered the courage to confess to his mother. Instead of anger, she embraced him with love, he would still be punished, but she loved him. The relief he felt in sharing this truth eased his heart. Similarly, confessing to God helps us release burdens and experience His embrace of grace.

Though we may still face consequences in this world, we are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.

we are at peace with God

this is God’s desire for your life

2 Peter 3:9 CSB

9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.