Please open your Bibles to 2 Samuel, the twelfth chapter, and I will begin reading at verse 1.
Perhaps you’ve come tonight, your heart full of sorrow, your mind turns again and again to that one sin. It haunts you like a recurring nightmare. That one sin was not an isolated event, over and done with. Yes, you’ve confessed and repented. Yes, you’ve been forgiven. But the consequences of that one sin continue. Your conscience is wracked by guilt. That one sin – a relationship shattered and never restored. That one outburst of anger – it cost you a job. That one moment of carelessness – someone physically hurt, all because of you. That one sin. David knew the torment of a single sin – the adultery with Bathsheba, a moment of passion, over and done, maybe immediately regretted, maybe not. But at least the sordid affair is finished, never to be known by anyone but David and Uriah’s wife. Then her pregnancy. Then David’s attempted cover up. He murders Uriah. That one sin. It’s gravity before God. It’s defilement of the soul. It’s toll on human life. That fall out from that one sin is only the beginning. It continues throughout David’s life. That one sin.
Tonight we sprint through chapters 10 through 20. We look at David’s sin, Nathan’s confrontation of David, violence in the royal family, and the death of David’s three sons. We pick up the story immediately after David commits adultery and murder, but before I read you God’s Word, let’s go to Him in prayer.
Man does not live, O God, by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from Your mouth. Tonight, grant us understanding of the Word that it might come with all its convicting and converting and comforting power, and this we ask in Jesus’ name, amen.
Hear God’s Word:
“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. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 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. 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.’ 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, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’
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. 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. 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. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’’ 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. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.’ Then Nathan went to his house.”
Here ends the Scripture lesson, and this is the Word of the Lord.
That one sin. You’re asking tonight, “What can I do? It plagues me. It crushes me. It fills my heart with sorrow. What can I do?” Well as a minister of the Gospel, I want you to do three things. First, own its guilt. Own its guilt. David doesn’t, at least not at first. He refuses to face the evil of his behavior. The Lord’s no silent bystander. He detests injustice. He deplores infidelity. He hates oppression. And what is David? He is unjust, unfaithful and ruthless. God responds. Look at verse 1, “And the Lord sent Nathan to David.” The prophet is sent to bring God’s Word to bear upon David. The Word that will awaken his conscience, the Word that will expose David’s guilt, the Word that will strike David with convicting power. Not any of this should surprise you. After all, God loves David. He is a man after His own heart. It is precisely because He loves David that He will not let him grow comfortable in his sin. No, David, he must own his guilt, so the Lord sent Nathan to David. And God loves you, His redeemed child, and that is precisely why He will not leave you or me in our sin. Our consciences must be awakened. We must own sin’s guilt, so God sends ministers and other messengers to bring His Word to bear upon us with all its convicting power. He does that because He loves you. Because the Lord loved David, He sent Nathan to him.
Now Nathan is a prophet. He has access to the royal throne room, but David is a dangerous man, especially now. Nathan must approach him with care. Here’s his strategy – he doesn’t deliver a thundering denunciation of the king’s sin. He tells David a story, a simple story, that appeals to the king’s conscience. A rich man and a poor man, they lived in the same city. The rich man had many flocks and herds; the poor man only a single lamb. The lamb’s owner raised that lamb with his own children, sheltering it, feeding it, cradling it in his arms. One day, an out of town guest pays the rich man a visit. Exploitation comes second nature to oppressors, and this rich man preys upon his impoverished neighbor. He steals the poor man’s lamb, kills it, roasts it, and feeds it to his guest. His own multitude of lambs goes untouched. Poor man is left with nothing.
David’s sense of justice is aroused. He is outraged. Look at verse 5. “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die! And he shall restore the lamb four fold because he did this thing and because he had no pity!” Now comes Nathan’s gutpunch. “David, you say the rich man deserves to die? Well David, you are the man! David, the Lord made you rich. Everything that belonged to wicked King Saul He gave to you. He bestowed upon you a kingdom. What more could He have given you?” And the Lord says to David, “You despise My Word. You treat it, it’s prohibition of adultery and murder with contempt. You took everything that belonged to courageous Uriah. First, you stole his wife and then you took his life. David, you are the man!” His conscience awakened – and this is what I don’t want you to miss – his conscience awakened, David owns his guilt. He says to Nathan in verse 13, “I have sinned against the Lord.” In his great confession recorded in Psalm 51, as David meditates on this event, he pours out his heart to God and he cries, “Against You and You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.” “If I had obeyed Your Law, had I not sinned against You, Uriah would be alive, married to Bathsheba, and my conscience would be clear.” David owns his guilt.
And you and I must too. If we are ever to deal with that one sin, we must own its guilt. Now tonight, in a crowd this size, there has to be someone that’s come with that one sin. You’re working to cover it up, refusing to admit its seriousness, trying to silence the voice of your conscience. Well, I plead with you tonight as you hear the Word of God, own that sin’s guilt. That one sin, make tonight the night that you own its guilt. Tonight we’re talking, we’re talking about that one sin. You’re asking, “What can I do? It plagues me. It crushes me. It fills my heart with sorrow. What can I do?” Three things – first, own its guilt.
And next, grieve its consequences. Because David despised the Word of the Lord and did evil in His sight, certain consequences will follow. You find one of the consequences found in verse 10. “The sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me. Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.’” We find another consequence mentioned in verse 14. “Because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” In coming days and decades, David will grieve. He will grieve the consequences of his sin.
And this leads us to a truth that you dare not forget, that I dare not forget. Sin, even when it is forgiven, still has consequences and it must, it must. Consequences are part of the divine discipline that teaches us to fear God. Are you skeptical? Don’t believe me? Well read Hebrews 12. The chapter reminds us that “The Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son He receives.” The painful consequences of our sin are part of His gracious chastisement of the children He loves since consequences are His grace at work, deterring us and deterring others from sin. Now listen to me carefully, we thank God, we thank Him that He is merciful. Many times the consequences of our sin are much less than what we expected, but when the consequences of your sin are not as severe as you expected, take it for what it is – God’s undeserved mercy to you – and give Him the praise. Like forgiveness, the lessening of consequences is never something we deserve.
True, David is forgiven, there is no doubt about that. He responds to Nathan’s confrontation by confession. Look at verse 13. “I have sinned against the Lord.” The declaration of God’s forgiveness follows. Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die.” David is forgiven and some of his consequences are removed. He will not be put to death for his adultery or for his murder. But other consequences remain. I’ll point out three in chapters 12 through 20. The first terrible consequence we’ve already seen in verse 14. Look again. “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” That one sin, David’s sin, and it’s consequences – the child born to David and Uriah’s wife is dead and David grieves.
We mustn’t linger here but keep moving. Remember, God also said, “The sword, David, the sword shall never depart from your house.” Those words bring us to a second son of David, Amnon. We meet him in chapter 13. Amnon, David’s eldest, was crowned prince. Upon David’s death, it was expected that Amnon would succeed to the throne. But like his father – and we parents need to listen to this so carefully – like his father, Amnon was in the grip of a sin that dominated him. David’s dominating sin was lust, so was Amnon’s. Amnon’s lust kills him. He was captivated by the beauty of his half sister, Tamar. The text says he loved her, but it was a twisted love – nothing more than uncontrollable lust. Amnon sets a trap for Tamar. One day he pretends to be sick. Tamar comes to care for him and Amnon overpowers her and assaults her. When the violent act is over, the Bible tells us Amnon hated her with very great hatred so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. His lust gratified, his love vanishes.
Lust destroys. If it’s not mortified, it defiles the soul. It robs self and others of dignity. Lust destroys marriages. It devastates children. And the wise believer must know the difference between sinful desire and sexual integrity, the difference between lust and marital faithfulness. The wise believer must be able to tell the difference. Sexual lust seeks gratification without pledges of marital faithfulness. It determines to enjoy the pleasure without the responsibilities of marriage. Responsibilities that are so well summed up in our traditional wedding vows. Husbands and wives promise to forsake all others and pledge to love, comfort, honor and protect so long as they shall live. We’re talking here about the difference between sinful desire and sexual integrity, between lust and marital faithfulness. Lust is pursuing sexual pleasure without concern for a person. Lust fantasies about people; marital faithfulness commits to a specific person. Lust exploits; marital faithfulness gives – gives sacrificially, gives willingly. Love. Lust distrusts and refuses to commit; marital faithfulness entrusts and pledges one’s life to another.
Amnon didn’t care about the difference between lust and sexual integrity and it cost him his life. Amnon had a half brother; his name, Absalom. They shared the same father, David, but had different mothers. When Absalom hears about the abuse of his sister, the Bible puts it bluntly. “Absalom hated Amnon because he violated his sister, Tamar.” And when David refuses to discipline Amnon for raping his sister, Absalom takes the law in his own hands, he plots, he waits patiently, and then he kills Amnon. That one sin. David’s sin and its consequences – “The sword shall never depart from your house.” Amnon is dead and David grieves.
Now Absalom – what can we say about him? Well one thing is for sure, he couldn’t have been more different than Amnon. His father’s favorite son, the Bible tells us, that from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. Not only handsome, Absalom was charming; he won people’s affection. They loved him; they found him endearing. He inherited many of his father’s best attributes – courage, administrative skill, judicial wisdom. He put people around him at ease. They implicitly trusted Absalom. But unlike his father, his skills were not tempered by grace. He has no respect whatever for David, either as a father or as king. After Amnon’s murder, Absalom is banished from Jerusalem. After several years, David has one of his generals broker his return. Father and son reunite. David kisses him, but this is no reconciliation. Absalom’s show of respect – that’s all it is, just a show. Absalom schemes. He never takes his eyes off his father’s throne. He destroyed Amnon; now he will dethrone his father.
Remember how I told you that Absalom put people at ease? Well, here’s one way he did it. He rose early and stood at Jerusalem’s gates as people from surrounding cities came to resolve disputes. Absalom would meet them. He would say, “Oh that I were a judge in the land, then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me and I would give him justice!” And then the Bible tells us whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. The people loved him. Absalom’s people and problem solving skills were so great that the Bible tells us he stole the hearts of Israel. Now his plan in place, the time has come, he rebels, and goes to war against his father.
Here’s what you need to know about Absalom, and it’s immediately relevant to you. Absalom had abundant gifts but no graces. It’s a wonderful thing to possess gifts and spiritual graces, but be warned. Be warned, people can have extraordinary gifts without the graces that come from knowing God. What about you? What about you? You’re a talented professional. You’re respected in the community. You’re a leader in this church. Your gifts, they are apparent to everyone. You’re praised for your gifts. You’re respected because of them. But here’s what I want to know – what about your graces? Do you have a prayer life? Are you hungry and thirsty to know the Word of God? When was the last time you repented? Was it earlier today? Was it yesterday? When was the last time you repented? Was it last week? Last month? Last year? Or you can’t even remember? Perhaps tonight the words of the hymn writer tell your story – “Where is the blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and His Word?” I want you to have the graces that come from knowing God. Tonight, return to Jesus in faith and repentance. Yes, rejoice in the gifts that He bestows on you, but especially rejoice in the graces that are yours in our Savior. Absalom – a man of many gifts, but no graces.
It’s a bloody civil war. Absalom’s cause is lost, David’s army prevails, and Absalom is killed on the field of battle. And you know the words of grief that poured out of David’s mouth – “Oh my son, Absalom! My son! My son, Absalom! Would I had died instead of you! Oh Absalom, my son! My son!” That one sin, David’s sin, and its consequence – “The sword shall never depart from your house.” Absalom is dead and David grieves.
Sadly, the bloody work of the sword is not over. Absalom’s rebellion weakened David’s kingdom. It gave opportunity for another rebellion. It’s recorded in 2 Samuel 20. The revolt was led by a gentleman named Sheba. Now I am a southerner, born and raised to call other men, “gentlemen.” The Biblical authors were not southerners and were under no such constraints! The best that the writer can say about Sheba is that he was “a worthless man.” His rebellion fails, but again, oh the bloodshed, the anguish, and all of it so needless. Another consequence of that one sin, David’s sin – “The sword shall never depart from your house.”
That one sin. You’re thinking about it tonight. That one sin – grieve its consequences. And I know that some of you are grieving that one sin right now. You’re asking, “What can I do? It plagues me. It crushes me. It fills my heart with sorrow. What can I do about it?” Well as a minister of the Gospel, I’ve asked you to own its guilt, I’ve asked you to grieve its consequences. No, I’m asking you to accept its forgiveness. Look at verse 13. “David says 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.’” These are the words of forgiveness, divine forgiveness. David penned a confession of sin – Psalm 32. It begins with these words – “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Here is the good news – In His mercy, God provides a covering for your sin, for that one sin, for all your sin, and that covering is a person. “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress. Fully absolved through these I am, from sin and fear and guilt and shame.” There’s forgiveness in Jesus. There is forgiveness tonight for that one sin. There is forgiveness for all your sin.
Psalm 32 continues, “Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.” Why does the Lord not count our iniquities against us? Good question. And the answer is, God doesn’t count them against us because they were counted against His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, when He suffered on the cross. In our place, He was condemned. As our substitute, He satisfied the demands of God’s justice. So when God forgives you, He does it on the groundwork of the just forgiveness. “He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” What does that mean to you tonight? It means this – If God has pronounced you forgiven, if God has declared you righteous, who can condemn you? No person can! Your conscience can’t condemn you. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn?” Your sin is forgiven.
So now what? When we refuse to own the guilt of our sin, we will not pray. Your sin is forgiven, now pray! You can’t pray when you refuse to own the guilt of your sin. Your conscience is accusing you. Your unconfessed sin hinders your access to God. Like David before his confession, when we remain silent and refuse to confess our sin, we waste away. But when we are forgiven, we pray. Go back for just a moment to chapter 12. Look at verse 15, and there we’re told that, “The Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David and he became sick.” David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. The reflex action of forgiven sinners is to pour out their hearts to God. The broken relationship is restored and prayer follows. You who are forgiven in Christ, tonight I am calling upon you to pray. Pray! Your access to God is open to you through the Savior, Jesus Christ. That word of forgiveness has been pronounced upon you. Pour out your heart to God in prayer. Your sin is forgiven.
What now? Pray, and worship. So intense was David’s prayer and fasting that his companions thought he would harm himself. But after they tell him of the child’s death, we’re told in verse 20 that, “David rose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.” Forgiven David worshiped and so should you. Grieving David worshiped, and so should you.
Lynne and I know someone whose brother was a Marine Corp officer, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran. More than thirty years ago, he left the service and decided to build a home in the mountains of North Carolina for his wife and children, near to the home of his parents that he loved so much. I knew his dad – a godly elder in a Presbyterian church. On a Saturday morning, a truck bringing lumber to the site where he planned to build the home overturned and he was crushed. He died instantly. The man who had survived so much in Vietnam, dead in a moment. His father’s pastor told me that the next day, the Lord’s Day, he entered the sanctuary from the front as he always did and he looked out on one of the front rows and there where they always sat was the dad and his wife, the grieving widow and their three children, now fatherless. The pastor walked over to the dad and said to him how glad he was that he had come, that he was surprised they had come just the day after the tragedy. And the father said, “This is where we come for comfort.”
This is where we come for comfort. The place of worship. This is where you must come for comfort too – to hear God’s Word declared, as you hear every week in this sanctuary, that as you believe in Christ your sins are forgiven and you are not under God’s condemnation. The place of worship. This is where you must come for comfort, to submit your will to God’s will, where you say before the throne of grace, “Nevertheless, not my will, O God, but Yours be done.” The place of worship. This is where you come for comfort as the Lord restores to you the joy of salvation and by His grace He rebuilds your broken life. The place of worship. This is where you belong when you are grieving. This is where you must come for comfort.
As you take your eyes off of David and those other weak, simple, and often failing kings of Israel that followed him, in this place of worship, you take your eyes off them and you fix your eyes on David’s greater Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He has borne sin’s penalty. He has won righteousness for you. He is sanctifying you by His Word. He is sustaining you by His mighty power. And He is coming to you in glory. Fix your eyes on Jesus, fully God and fully man in one person, King of kings, Lord of lords. As you grieve, come and worship here and fix your eyes on Him.
For each of you, I want you to be comforted in this place of worship. I want for you comfort tonight. I want it for you week by week. And you will find it here. You will find it. As you own sin’s guilt, as you grieve its consequences, and as you accept its forgiveness. Let us bow for prayer.
Almighty God, we come now before Your throne of grace, thanking You, praising You for the comfort of the Gospel. As these dear brothers and sisters in the Lord come this night, many are grieving that one sin, are grieving other sins, and they’ve come to this place, their hearts broken, confessing their sins. Reassure them that by grace they are Your adopted sons and daughters. Cause them to know the joy of salvation. Comfort them in their grief. Rebuild them in their brokenness. Cause them to lift up their heads and focus their spiritual eyes on Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. We worship now in His presence and we ask that You hear our prayers and grant our requests as we present these prayers to You in His name. Amen.