A Sinner Receives Forgiveness

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God is graciou to forgive the sins of His people when they repent.

Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Good Morning
Rachel and I sat down to watch a movie Friday night...
The reason that i bring that up is to contrast our experience on Friday night with our text for this morning. This story has the plot line and character development that makes for a great movie.
First of all the central characters are so intriguing with a passionate warrior king, a beautiful but passive woman, a pious and trusting husband, an obedient but amoral general and a prophet of God who shows no fear.
The events that make up the plot line also bring broad appeal: There is an adulterous scandal followed by deceit, blackmail, and murder all wrapped up in an elaborate conspiracy that travels all the way to the highest office in the land.
Many of us have spend a couple hours on our couch or in a theatre taking in a story with many of these same elements. I guess wise Solomon was right when he said
Ecclesiastes 1:9 ESV
9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
Tension
Tension
I wonder what is it that draws us into stories like this? What is it that causes so many people to go spend $10 on a ticket and twice that on popcorn and a drink to sit down and watch a story like this unfold?
You see I think that there is something in stories like this that somehow seem close and distant at the same time. Maybe our daily drama is not as flashy as all of this, but seeing the drama of decisions and consequences unfold in someone’s life grabs us at some deep level. And of course we want every story, not matter how far it plunges to eventually soar up into a happily ever after. We want that because that is what we want to be true in our story.
Well we are continuing in our Gospel Project where we are looking for the message of the Gospel through out all the stories of God’s Word. Lately, we have been exploring the life of David, the shepherd boy who slayed a giant and then became King. And the story so far has been more like a fairy tale. David’s honor and power just keeps getting better and better so that we have continued to lean into the decisions, loyalty and obedience of David as examples of what a life that honors God looks like.
“super-human”. Someone who is so far beyond the rest of us that really there is little we can learn from his life because we will never be as great as David.
If that is all we knew of David’s story then it would be easy to see him as a “larger than life” character with little that we could relate to.
1 Samuel 13:14 ESV
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
But our text for today bring’s out David’s “humanity” in a vivid and revealing way. It shows us how we should never put any person up on a pedestal, because then the only direction that they can go is down. It has served me well to remember that anyone that I might idolize, I will eventually demonize, because the sinful nature of man keeps us from being able to live up to a perfection that belongs only to God. This is just as true of King David as it is for any other person.
You see, in accomplishing his purposes here on earth, God is always forced to use fallible people, because fallible people are the only kind of people there are.
In accomplishing his purposes here on earth, God is always forced to use fallible people, because fallible people are the only kind of people there are.
True, some of us are better equipped at hiding our sin then others, but that doesn’t mean that it is not there. At the end of the day even David, described as “a man after God’s own heart” must confess himself to be the fallible sinner that he is... and seek the forgiveness of God in order to maintain any kind of relationship with Him.
You see that is the key element of forgiveness that is so vividly brought to the surface in our text for today. We typically want to see forgiveness as something that erases the consequences of our wrong decisions. But that is not the essence of forgiveness. The essence of forgiveness is not being released from consequences but bring restored in relationship. And we will see this clearly in David’s story, hopefully in such a way that we will be able to recognize it’s power over ours.
So open with me in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 11, p. 262 in the Bibles in the chairs. I’ll pray and we will dive into the essence of forgiveness together.
We typically seem forgiveness because we want the get rid of the consequences of our actions. Forgiveness repairs a relationship, but it doens’t automatically erase the consequences of our actions. Forgiveness of our sin does not make sin a safe choice.
Good news is that God can and will use even the consequences of a bad decisions to draw people closer to Him in relationship.
Truth
Truth
Beginning at the beginning of Chapter 11 we have a clear description of opening scene of our drama, where we are shown...

The King’s Captivity to Sin ()

is revealed.
2 Samuel 11:1 ESV
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
So the first thing to notice here is that David is not where he is supposed to be. The last couple of weeks we have talked about how God had given David rest from his enemies, but new battles would flare up from time to time. And it is not that Kings never stayed home and entrusted battles to their generals. Sometimes matters of the state were so urgent that the King had to remain at the capital to handle them. But this battle was not one of those times, the text clearly says that this was a time when the King would have been expected to go to the battle - but he didn’t.
hese ment and sent them back with a clear message of war.
2 Samuel 11:1–2 ESV
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
2 Samuel 11:1 ESV
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
So David sent out his general Joab to lead his army into battle, which was a good decision, but the question that is raised here is “Why didn’t he go?” It ‘s not that Kings never stayed home and entrusted battles to their generals. Sometimes matters of the state were so urgent that the King had to remain in the throne room to handle them. But this was not one of those times, the text clearly says that this was a time when the King would have been expected to go to the battle - but he didn’t.
2 Samuel 11:
What was so urgent? What was so pressing that he neglected his duty to take care of?
2 Samuel 11:2 ESV
2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
2 Samuel 11:1–5 ESV
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
What a picture that paints isn’t it? (yawn…) In the middle of the afternoon, the great warrior king turned couch potato. Since he wasn’t following through in the role that God gave him to do…he walks around with a wandering eye and too much time on his hands. One commentator I read said it this way:
“David now had leisure that he was not equipped to enjoy, he was a man of action, with a bit of time on his hands, a warrior who now took naps in the afternoon, and he may have felt the need for some excitement, for a new interest, or for an escape.”
Thankfully we don’t ever have to deal with this kind of attitude…or maybe it is too often the driving attitude of our culture. We have become so complacent over the freedoms that we enjoy in this country that we loose track of our identity and the purpose for our existence. We are entertaining ourselves to death!
David’s role was to lead God’s people well
And we can identify the downward spiral from look to lust
So we can identify with his lethargy, and many of us can relate the the downward spiral of the events that followed. David didn’t wake up from his nap looking for evil, but he didn’t wake up from his nap looking for righteousness either.
the mission that God gave us to make disciples and we wander around until something catches our eye. And we can identify, and probably relate to the downward spiral of these events. David’s wandering mind went from an innocent look to a diabolical plan. from look to lust
So we wander through our evenings until something catches our eye. Something exciting, something engaging. Something entertaining. We keep flipping the channels or scrolling through facebook searching for something that will catch our eye and distract us from the reality that we were created for a purpose that we are largely ignoring. The purpose of bringing glory to our creator in all aspects of our life.
This went from “look” to “lust” at the semi colon. From “Oh, well to dwell” The second look is what brings it into the “over-desire” of lust
Instead we become content with lesser things and many of us can relate the the downward spiral that comes from this kind of complacency. David didn’t wake up from his nap looking for evil, but he didn’t wake up from his nap ready to go after righteousness either.
in David’s life. David’s wandering mind went from an innocent look to a lustful thought and being the King it spiraled even further into a diabolical plan.
2 Samuel 11:3 ESV
3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
I don’t know if you can relate to this, but I sure can. In the heat of the temptation God gives David a way out. Sometime all it takes is a short pause, an interuption of sort to re-align our thinking and wake us up to our true selves. God promises to give us this:
God has given him rest, so he has lost his urgency to be diligent with the role that God has given him - USA Church!!
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
These declarations were not just information, but warning signs that should have flashed brightly in David’s soul: “Danger” “Wrong Way” “Turn back now”
These declarations were not just information, but warning signs that flashed brightly “Danger” “Wrong Way” “Turn back now”
This woman is someone’s daughter…David you have daughters, how would you have someone treat them!
So he takes the next step into sin.
2 Samuel 11:6–7 ESV
6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going.
This woman is someone’s wife…David you have a wife, how would you have someone treat her!
More than that, this particular woman is the wife of “Uriah the Hittite”, a man you know, a man who has faught valiantly by your side and is listed among your 30 mighty men.
Any one of these reminders should drove David into the throught process that showed him that what he was about to do was wrong!
more weightier than all of this, is that you know that the LORD your God has forbidden this evil thing that you are about to do.
But as many times as David did the right thing and obeyed in the past, today he was ...held captive by his Sin.
forbidden what your are about to do. But he did it anyway.
own Sinful nature and he choose to do the wrong thing.
2 Samuel 11:4–5 ESV
4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
2 Samuel 11:3–5 ESV
3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
2 Samuel 11:3
David stole another man’s wife and now the world will know because the evidence of his sinful choice is not something that can be hidden…or could it? Strange things happen to people who have been given great power. Sometimes they think that because they can do many things that others can’t, that they can do anything.
Understand that the child born to Bathsheba was not sin, only the choices that led up to his life. In our society of eliminating consequences instead of eliminating the wrong doing this could sound like an agreement. It was not!
David is the King, the highest office in the land, so there must be a way to cover up this sin, but as always, it just ended up making things worse.

The King’s Compounding of Sin ()

2 Samuel 11:6–7 ESV
6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going.
2 Samuel 11:6
This had to be an awkward conversation. Uriah was a mighty warrior, forged in battle he is not used to be a messenger boy. Still he honors his King with a report.
2 Samuel 11:
2 Samuel 11:6–11 ESV
6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
2 Samuel 11:8–11 ESV
8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
2 Samuel 11:6
Uriah the Hittite shows himself to be more honorable than his King. With the result of the war undecided, He won’t even go home to sleep in his own bed at night…but David is taking naps and leisurely strolls in the afternoon.
Speaking of dramatic Movies, Uriah’s attitude reminds me of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” Do you remember that one where a company was sent out to the battlefields of WW2 to retrieve one particular soldier by order of the President of the United States. They were sent to bring him back because the President didn’t want to have to write another letter to his mother because he was the last of her sons left. When this small company arrives to take him back with them, He wouldn’t go. They lost two of their men in the search for him, but he would not leave. His memorable line was
“It doesn’t make any sense, why me, everyone of these guys have fought just as hard as me. Tell my mother that you found me and I wouldn’t leave the only brothers I have left. She will understand that.”
He wouldn’t leave his company to go back home and rest when his brothers in arms were still in the heat of the battle.
2 Samuel 11:12–13 ESV
12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
This is the kind of loyalty that Uriah was displaying. On any other day, this kind of loyalty would be rewarded by David, but today it was getting in the way of his plans. So David tries something else. He gets Uriah slobbering drunk in hopes that in this state he would forget his honor and just go home. But Uriah even drunk Uriah shows more honor then David. So the depths of David’s sin spiral even deeper. He goes from lust, to adultery, to deception and now to murder.
2 Samuel 11:8–17 ESV
8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
down to verse 14...
2 Samuel 11:14–17 ESV
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
Joab was a military man, so he knew that what the King was asking was an impossibility. There was no way that he was going to try to convince the rest of Uriah’s company to fall back and let the honorable Uriah die alone. But he still wanted to obey his King, so he sent Uriah’s company on a suicide mission instead. If it worked then they would win the battle, if it didn’t then the King will have what he wanted. So among other men, Uriah was murdered to cover up the sin of the King.
Just when we think we have gotten away with something, it hits us. There is no such thing as hiding your sin from an all knowing God! So God sends the Prophet Nathan to David, and I just love how this happens because you still see the honor of King David even though he has developed this horrible blind spot in his mind.
When the news came back to David he was relieved. Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, mourned over her husband the appropriate amount of time and then David did the honorable thing and took her as his wife. It seemed his plan had worked and his secret was safe, but it is here where the plot thickens. For at the end of chapter 11 we read: But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
2 Samuel 11:26–27 ESV
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
2 Samuel 11:26–27 ESV
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
Or so David thought, but the story doesn’t end here, the plot thickens at the end of Chapter 11, with the words: But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
2 Samuel 11:26-27thanked Joab for his faithfulness. Urriah’s wife Bathshebeable to cover up his affair. The
2 Samuel 11:26-27Bathsheba mourned over her husband the appropriate amount of time and then David took her as his wife. All is well that ends well, or so David thought, but the last sentence of chapter 11 said something very different: But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
Bathsheba mourned over her husband the appropriate amount of time and then David took her as his wife. All is well that ends well, or so David thought, but the last sentence of chapter 11 said something very different: But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
thanked Joab for his faithfulness. Urriah’s wife Bathshebeable to cover up his affair. The
On a Just when we think we have gotten away with something, it hits us. There is no such thing as hiding your sin from an all knowing God! So God sends the Prophet Nathan to David, and I just love how this happens because you still see the honor of King David even though he has developed this horrible blind spot in his mind.
2 Samuel
You see there is no such thing as a “cover up” when it comes to an all knowing God. We can and do try to hide our sin from all kinds of people in our lives. Sometimes we even try to hide it from ourselves, by developing blind spots in certain areas of our lives... even as we rise up in righteous indignation over the sins of others.
This is the case in the life of David, and so God sends the prophet Nathan in to awaken David to his blind spot and he does it in a most dramatic fasion. Check out this dramatization of the encounter...
Check out this dramatizations of the encounter...
[David and Nathan] You see, it is a drama fit for the big screen.
You see, it is a drama fit for the big screen. So what was David’s response to this message from the LORD? Here we meet the third theme of our week.
2 Samuel 12:1–6 ESV
1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
2 Sam 12:1-
2 Sam 12:7-
2 Samuel 12:1–10 ESV
1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
2 Samuel 12:7–10 ESV
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
2 Samuel 11:1–10 ESV
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
So what was David’s response to this message from the LORD? Here we encounter the third theme of our week.

The King’s Confession of Sin (, )

2 Samuel 12:13 ESV
13 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.
Of course this is a short description of David’s Confession and repentance. In we find a more complete look into the heart of David’s response. I hope that you will read that Psalm in it’s entirety sometime this week, if not in your small groups after the service this morning.
I do want to just point out one very curious statement in this Psalm, especially as it relates to the essence of forgiveness. In verse 4 of David says to the LORD...
Psalm 51:4 ESV
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
:
It is the phrase. “you only” that is a sticking point for many of us, including myself. Didn’t David sin against other people? Surely his lust, lies, adultery, and murder were sins against others as well. We recognize them as some of the most grievous sins a person can commit against another person. How could they only be sins against God?
What David is saying here is every sin against another person is sin primarily because it violates the way that God created us to behave toward one another.
His list of horrible deeds are not sins because they hurt and harm people, they hurt and harm people because they are sins.
They are violations of the good way that God intended for things to operate in His world. The way that brings him the glory He deserves. We were designed to bring God glory, so that is why the vulgarity of acts like this hit us to our core.
So David’s confession of sinning against only God does not diminish the wrong that he did to others - it expands it into something even more grievous: The consequence of sinning against God, for David and for us, is that we are separated from God.
We often diminish the idea of sin to just one person hurting another, but it has more devestating effects that even that. The consequence of sinning against God, for David and for us, is that we are separated from God.
So David’s confession of sinning against “God alone” does not diminish the wrong that he did to others - it expands it into something even more grievous. We tend to think sinning against God is just a little thing, but sinning against others that is really bad. When the truth is that all sin is a rebellion against God himself that marks us as separated from our life giving, life sustaining God.
That is why we have verses like that starts out; “ For the wages of sin is death...
Romans 6:23 ESV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin, at any level, is serious business, and rarely do we give it the sober reflection that it deserves. But if we do, as David did, then we will have a better understanding of the significance of the rest of this verse...but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As “sin” as the Bible describes it is anything that we do in rebellion against the good that God created this world to be. So forgiveness of our sins is not a declaration that what we did was fine and so we will not suffer any consequences for our sins, but that God has not cut us off from himself.
Forgiveness is about the restoration of a broken relationship, and it may not include the understood that the reason that these things are sin is not because they sinned against Uriah in taking his wife and murdering him? Didn’t he sin against Bathsheba in taking her against her will.
Psalm 51 ESV
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
...but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lastly this morning, I am going to go a little “off book”. Of course, I don’t mean off the Bible that is never safe, I mean I am going to add a point to the message that is not included in your Gospel Project Study Guide.
Nathan told David that his sin was forgiven, and so his life was not taken from him…but that does NOT mean that he got away with murder.
David’s relationship with God was restored, but his life was never again the picture of honor that it once was. His life was never again the picture of rest that it once was. As Nathan prophesied, the sword never departed from David’s house, as he experienced

The Kings Consequence for Sin.

After Nathan promised David that he would not die, he continued...
his will be a turning point for David and his family as a sword will always be among them.
2 Samuel 12:14 ESV
14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”
And David hit the dirt, he prayed, he fasted, his servants thought he might die if he didn’t start caring for himself, but he would not stop pleading before the LORD for the life of his son, the son who was doomed to death because of his sin - but 7 days later his young son died.
2 Samuel 12:14
And that was not the ed
And not long after that one of David’s other sons, stricken with lust, stole the innocence of one of David’s own daughters
Then another one of David’s sons had that Son murdered for stealing their sisters purity.
Then that son fled, and tried to overthrow the Kingdom, and David had to leave Jerusalem for a time.
And the men of that rebellion, dragged David’s wives to the roof and before the entire Kingdom they stole their innocence.
And then that son of rebellion was killed in a battle he was fighting against his Dad.
Did David get away with murder? Having lost a son myself, I submit to you that there are consequences in this life that are worse than a physical death. The themes of David’s sin just kept coming back to him again and again. And David was honest before the LORD on the heartache that his sin had caused him and his family. We can read of this grief in so many of his Psalms of lament. He was forgiven. His relationship with God was restored, so he walked with God through the grief, but the consequence for his sin were not removed.
And David was honest before the LORD on the heartache that his sin had caused him and his family. Many of his Psalms were laments on these very occasions. His relationship with God was restored, but he still suffered consequence for his sin.
The themes of David’s sin just kept coming back to him again and again. And David was honest before the LORD on the heartache that his sin had caused him and his family. Many of his Psalms were laments on these very occasions. His relationship with God was restored, but he still suffered consequence for his sin.
The problem that many of us have when it comes to understanding the forgiveness of God is that we take the effects of our sin too lightly. We don’t think it really effects anything and so we see our forgiveness as some sort of magic eraser that we can pull out and just white out any of the consequences of our sin - and when that doesn’t work we turn and blame God, saying that He really isn’t forgiving.
Understand this, the forgiveness that we have in Christ Jesus does not make sin safe! Forgiveness is relational but consequences are circumstantial. To many people approach the forgiveness of God as if it is an eraser they can apply to the consequences in their lives that they just don’t want to deal with. It doesn’t work that way.
: his will be a turning point for David and his family as a sword will always be among them.
Going back to there were not consequences for David’s sin. To many people approach the forgiveness of God as if it is an eraser they can apply to their lives where as God’s is required to supernaturally
The forgiveness that we have been given in Christ Jesus does not make our sinning safe! Forgiveness is relational, it restores a relationship but consequences are circumstantial.
Galatians 6:7 ESV
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
God may forgive your adultery, but that is not a promise of a restored marriage.
God may forgive your adulty, but that doesn’t mean that your marriage is magically restored
So the forgiveness is about the restoration of a broken relationship, and it may not include the

The Kings Consequences of Sin (

Charles Stanley
Charles Stanley
Forgiveness is Relational, Consequences are circumstancial
God may forgive your adulty, but that doesn’t mean that your marriage is magically restored
God may forgive your alcoholism, but that is not a promise of a restored liver.
God may forgive your promiscuity, but that is not a promise of healing from an STD.
God may forgive your embezelment, but that is not a promise that you won’t do jail time.
Having the offer of forgiveness for our sins does not make sin a safe way to live. There are still consequences.
To this point Charles Stanley said this:
Forgiveness of our sin does not make sin a safe choice.
Truth
On this point Charles Stanley said this:
I could go into other illustrations, but perhaps the most compelling one comes from the cross itself. Christ made it clear that the thief dying with him was completely forgiven (). Yet moments later, the man died an excruciating death. His sins had been erased in God's sight, but he suffered the punishment for his crime.
Galatians 6:7 ESV
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
But there is good news in this as well, for the very next verse says
Galatians 6:8 ESV
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7–8 ESV
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
In his mercy, God may remove the consequences of some of the sinful choices in your life, but he Has not promised to always do so. The good news is that God can even use the consequences of our sinful decision to draw us closer to Him. His primary goal is not our happiness, but our holiness. His primary Goal is to restore our relationship with Him, a relationship that again brings him glory and brings us into a sweet fellowship with him. Scars and all.
Gospel Application
Do you have a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ? A relationship where God has forgiven your sins so that you can be with him in his perfect glory? You may still suffer under the consequences of your sin, but with repentance you can have a restored relationship with Jesus that will see even those consequences used for the glory of God.
If you don’t have a relationship with God like that then let me encourage you come see me after the service, or someone else you trust does have this kind of relationship. We would love to talk to you about what this kind of relatsionship looks like.
We are not free from all the consequences of our sinful choices, but in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, we are free to live for God’s glory even despite them.
Landing
Let’s pray and ready our hearts for the Lord’s supper.
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