David and Nathan (2 Samuel 12)

well let's look to the Lord in prayer a loving Heavenly Father we're so grateful to you for your love for us we thank you that it is a love that never fails it is a love that pursues us even when we're running away from you that it is a love that is unconditional and eternal and so father even though we will study a passage that seems very difficult it seems like very harsh and yet we know that behind the this story is the loving hand of God in action so we pray father that we would see you we would as we see you that we would glorify you for these things we ask in Jesus name Amen how many of you have ever experienced seeing the check-engine light go on on your on your dashboard have you ever seen that you guys okay here's another quiz how many of you when you see that how many of you fix it right away you go to mechanic that same day or the following day and you want to make sure that it's taking care of it how many of you do that okay three okay how many of you ignore it the car seems to be going okay nothing's wrong it's still accelerating it's still braking so it must be okay must be minor how many just ignore it for a while how many of you know people who they take a black marker and they just kind of cover it up you know people like that no not you you know people like that who just cover it up now what happens when you ignore a check engine light after a while your car begins to sputter it might even die on the road and you find out that had you taken it in earlier the repairs would have been that expensive but now you have to pay big bucks so that you can save your car and so that you could get it working again and if you continue to ignore the warning light sometimes that car becomes inoperable you can't even fix it anymore morning lights are there to save your vehicle in this passage that we read David ignores God's warning lights and David ignores the fact that one of his servants said this woman is married and David was in such denial that when not only Uriah but other soldiers who were killed he writes a letter to job and says let not this thing be displeasing in your eyes we're displeasing is the word evil don't let this thing seem evil to you because it doesn't seem evil to me and yet at the end of that chapter chapter 11 we hear God speaking and he says but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord the same word yarra it was evil in God's eyes but David was in denial and as a result of his denial for about nine months God's hand was heavy upon David it's us in psalm 32 verse 3 as David was describing the intervening months from the time that he took Betsy but at the time that Nathan the prophet comes this is what he says for when I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long for day and night your hand was heavy upon me my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer so appropriate we all experienced that yesterday and maybe even today a little bit he had no strength why because he was in denial and God's hand was heavy upon him it was God's check-engine light upon his life but he ignored it so finally God has to send Nathan the Prophet last week I told you the 12 times the word sin occurs in chapter 11 one time it is attributed to Bathsheba when she sent a message to David to say that she is pregnant three times it is associated with Joab but eight times it is associated with David it says in the spring of the year the time when Kings go out to battle David sent Joab verse three and David sent and inquired about the woman verse four so David sent messengers and took her verse six so David sent word to Joab send me Uriah the Hittite verse twelve remain here today and also tomorrow and I will send you back in verse fourteen in the morning they wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah and in verse 27 and when the morning was over David sent and brought her into his house this passage you find a king who was in total control of his kingdom he had many servants under him he was influential he was powerful he could just send this person here send that person there and it seemed like he was not accountable to anyone but in verse 12 it says the Lord sent Nathan and he came to him and said this passage we find that there are grave consequences to sin but the God loves you too much to let you get away with it if you're a child of God understand that God loves you so much that he will not allow you to get away with sin he will send you a check engine light and that you will ignore that at your peril in this passage you find five things associated with God sending Nathan the Prophet first of all the confrontation from the Lord at this point David's heart was so hardened by sin that God had to slice through the layers of denial the the layers of deception and he does it by sending him his friend Nathan Nathan was David's friend how do we know that because one of David's sons is named Nathan when David wanted to build a temple for the Lord whom does he consult with Nathan the Prophet later on we will see Nathan again coming back to David and so this prophet from the Lord comes to David David's close friend and said to him there were two men in a certain city the one rich and the other poor David who was a judge over Israel was used to hearing cases brought before him and so he thought that his friend Nathan was just bringing another one of those cases that he had to adjudicate that he had to make a judgment on and he tells him a story about a rich man and a poor poor man and he describes the rich man first the rich man had very many flocks and herds in other words he was very wealthy in verse 3 but the poor man had nothing but one ewe lamb which he bought in other words he was so poor he had no animals he had to save up so that he could buy a little lamb one that would become a family pet it says in verse three and he brought it up and it grew up with him and with his children they loved this animal and and David who was a shepherd could relate he probably had delighted and playing with with the Lambs of his father's flock it's that he used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms and it was like a daughter to him he treated like one of the members of the family it was like a daughter to him the word in Hebrew for daughter is the word bath does it remind you of anyone that he treated it like one of his daughters now notice Nathan was very careful in how he chose the words that he would use he said this lamb would eat and drink and lie in the arms of the poor man do you remember last week when David confronted Uriah said why didn't you sleep with your wife you've been gone for a long time aren't you a man in other words he was questioning his manded I remembered the words that that Uriah used in second samuel 11 verse 11 shall i then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife so notice that nathan as he was bringing this case before david cleverly chooses these words but David wasn't aware he thought that it was just a story so in verse 4 he continues with the story now there came a traveler this is where it gets interesting rich man poor man had a lot had nothing but there's here's where the story turns it says and 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 guests who had come to him but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him who is this traveler like the insight from worse be he says the traveler whom the rich man fed represents the temptation and loss that visited David on the roof and then controlled him if we opened the door sin come senators as a guess but soon becomes the master it's not good that when you entertain sin when you allow it to linger it I was it's one thing for him to see a naked woman from the rooftop but he could have turned around but he allowed he stared and he allowed that that view - - to be entertained in his mind and he speculated and so that the next day he went after her he instead of saying no and turning away this lust right away what did he do he enjoyed it he entertained it he welcomed it that's why in the verse in verse 4 you notice that the verb came comes it's mentioned three times concerning this traveler it says now there came a traveler the guests who had come to him for the man who had come to him what's the implication it emphasizes the presence of the traveler it shows that this was a persistent ongoing temptation that David entertained and instead of kicking him out the door what did he do he enjoyed the thought of sleeping with Bathsheba and it got him in trouble verse 4 again this rich man going back to her story the rich man was then thinkable instead of sacrificing one of his many animals what does he do he took the poor man's lamp he robbed he stole from this poor man who only had one who treated this this one like a pet like part of the family and he wrapped the poor man verse five this got to David David who was a shepherd it got to him it he could relate to the story and he was furious he says then Davis anger was greatly kindled against the man and he said to Nathan asked the Lord lives we they even hadn't mentioned the name with the Lord four months and all of a sudden he got so angry he mentions the name of the Lord asked the Lord lives the man who has done this deserves to die David was tough verse six and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did thing because he had no pity David was correct in the fourfold part because in exodus chapter 22 verse 1 says if a man steals an officer a sheep and kills it herself that he shall repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep so he was right he was correct he shall repay fourfold but this was not a capital offense the man didn't deserve to die you know when when you're not walking with the Lord you're extra critical of people who are sinning aren't you when you're not experiencing God's grace you don't show grace and mercy to other people do you and so here David was what's the what's the word to use he was over overzealous and not only assessing what the crime was but in meeting out justice in fact it was the crime didn't fit the punishment and he one of the most dramatic one of the most dramatic verses in the Bible this was Nathan says just because he deserves to die Nathan looks them straight in the eye and says David you are that man David you are the rich man David you are the one they had an abundance of things you have wives and concubines and yet you took a poor man's wife David you now the text doesn't say but you could just imagine David you can just imagine David looking and wide-eyed and you know mouths open and maybe reeling back a little bit and thinking and before David could say anything this is what God says thus says the Lord the God of Israel notice it matches the fact that that the Lord is the God of Israel David might be the king of Israel but the Lord was the God of Israel and even though in those days monarchs were not accountable to anyone David was accountable to the Lord the God of Israel and this is what he has to say i anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul David I have made you rich I am the one that gave you your position I am the one that protected you against impossible odds against sauce elite soldiers 3,000 of them that came to you you would not even be alive if it weren't for my deliverance and my protection in verse 8 and I gave you your master's house and your masters wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah David I'm the one who gave you the the the possessions of Saul I am the one that gave you the prestige of being a king and that I gave you his harem and I gave you this house David you did not have to do what you did you did not have to take Bathsheba and this is the saddest part now when I read this I just shake my head it says and if this were to little make the king I gave you riches I gave you and gave you wives I gave you a harem David I gave you all these things but if that had been too little if it wasn't enough notice what God says I gave you an open charged account because I would have added to you as what much more not just I would have added to you David you had a blank check you could have asked any time and I would have given it to you why why did you do what you did verse 9 what was so grievous about what David did it says why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight why did you show contempt for my word why did you treat my word so lightly the same David who says thy word if i hid in my heart that i might not sin against thee the simple same david who says how can a young man keep us away by heeding god's word what did they ever do he despised the word of the Lord then it says you have struck down Uriah the Hittite with a sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with a sword of the ammonites David you might not have have killed Uriah directly but you did it but you did it indirectly to the sword of the ammonites you told Joel to put him at the front of the battle you told Joe to retreat from him so that he could die says David you are responsible for his death that word despise is so important because it's the same word that's use of the worthless sons of Eli it says thus the sin of the young man was very great in the sight of the Lord where the man treated the offering of the Lord with contempt or they despised the offering of the Lord and so what are the consequences here you find David with no choice but to plead but to know that he was guilty but then he had to hear the consequences what are the consequences there are consequences the same that if you enjoy it if you ignore that the check engine light understand that there are consequences to your sin it says in verse 10 now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house for the God says is your sons will die David lost his first son with Bathsheba David will later lose Absalom he would lose Amnon then Absalom then I denied you four sons why is it four remember what David says he shall repay four times and then it says because you have despised me do you see the connection when you despise the word of the Lord when you disobey God's Word you're disobeying God you are despising God why because God's Word is a reflection of his character it is a reflection of his will and when you despise the Word of God you despise God since why have you despised me again he gives the charge and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife verse 11 thus says the Lord here's the second part of the judgment behold I will raise up evil against you out of your own house there will be a rebellion in your house and we will study that in the in the weeks to come 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 son says for you did it secretly but I will do this thing before Israel and before the Sun in other words David what you did in darkness I will do in broad daylight what you did in secret I will do out in the open what happens and just give you a preview of what happens in chapter 16 it says so they pitch a tent for Absalom this was his son who led a rebellion on the roof and Absalom went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel the roof the rooftop where David was where he first entertained that traveler where he first gave in to his lust he says this will be the place were Absalom well one day do what David did in secret I didn't to open out in broad daylight David heard the charge and the consequences what would be David's response verse 13 and David said to Nathan I have sinned against the Lord I have sinned against the Lord notice David didn't give any excuses he placed the blame squarely on his shoulders I have sent against the Lord David didn't say well you know in my defense other Kings do it all the time he didn't say I'm only human you hear that excuse David then say well you know we were at war I was under a lot of stress I wasn't thinking correctly what do you say I have sinned he called sin what it is sin he didn't say he didn't couch it in terms like well you know it's an addiction or it's a weakness or it's a predisposition in my family no he called it sin he says I have sinned he called sin sin and when we confessed before the Lord we need to call sin what it is it's sin but don't make excuses don't say well you know I lost my temper Lord with my wife but you know you know what she was doing it was getting under my skin and you started giving excuses no caution what it is it's sin because I have sinned I noticed against the Lord it's interesting that that when God was bringing the charge to David the first thing is you have despised me and then he talks about the people whom David had hurt and when David confessed again he sinned against a lot of people he hurt a lot of people but primarily he recognized that sin is primarily what against the Lord against his word against his commandment Psalm 51 if you have time read Psalm 51 because it is an expression an expansion of what David met when he said I have sinned against the Lord Psalm 51 says have mercy on me O God according to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions in verse 4 against you you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your word and blameless in your judgment so David was not only confessing your sin David was saying Lord you have perfect right to do whatever you want to do with me it was Davis way of saying Lord I accept the consequences for my actions but if you read Psalm 51 don't miss 17 because there's the word that we've been we've been talking about the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart O God you will not hear the word again the spice David despised the word of the Lord David despised the Lord himself but he says when I come before you with a humble heart God he will not despise me but the God who was despised will not despise you if you come to him in repentance are the grace the riches of God's grace the wonderful mercy of God now I like what Psalm 103 verse 10 says he does not deal with us according to our sins no repay US according to our iniquities the God not gonna just not gonna just killed David for his sins and yet God had a flaw God out of compassion out of mercy since Nathan to convict David to show David where he has done wrong verse 13 and David and Nathan said to David the Lord also has put away sin you shall not die isn't it interesting David's offense was a capital offense twice Exodus 21:12 who are strikes a man so that he died shall be put to death he killed your eye he deserves death Leviticus 20:10 if a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour both the adulterer and the adulteress sir surely be put to death David himself in adjudicating the case pronounce death and himself but God forgave says David you shall not die in verse 14 nevertheless because this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord the child who is born to you shall die this this bothered me when I was studying this passage this bothered me because I was thinking what did the child do wrong the child didn't do anything wrong but I was studying I think the the words from the expositors Bible Commentary kind of explained it to me he says when David slept with the woman and created new life the woman did not belong to him but to Uriah the child cannot belong to David he cannot enrich himself through his sin and in a sense justice is done to Uriah that kind of explains it that this child doesn't belong to David and therefore he cannot keep this child it wasn't a judgment on the child it was a judgment on David it says in verse 15 then Nathan went to his house and the Lord afflicted the child that the urias wife wore to David and he became sick even before Uriah I mean even before Nathan got home what happened the child got sick God struck the child why because of David's sin so David cried to the Lord David cried to the Lord and in this cry you you see the heart of David once again that that heart that's been so callous didn't care about the deaths of soldiers all of a sudden you find Davis heart tender once again because God has has just pierced through the layers of the SAP and the layers of denial it says in verse 16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground and the elders of his house stood beside him to raise him from the ground but he would not the nor did he eat food with them David was so heartbroken that he he would not eat for a week and he has fasted for the child he prayed for the child he pleaded with God you know as sad as this section is it's kind of refreshing because all of a sudden you see David again dependent on the Lord you see David once again fellowshipping with the Lord you see David once again praying to the Lord months and months and months of being out of fellowship with the Lord now David once again is conversing with us God communing with this God verse 18 on the seventh day the child died God said no and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead for they said Behold while the child was yet alive we spoke to him and he did not listen to us how then can we say to him the child is dead he may do himself some harm they were afraid for David safety verse 19 but when David saw that his servants were whispering together they would understood the child was that David ever the the perceptive King understood what had happened and David said to his servants is the child dead they said he is dead David pleaded with God and David said no and God said no whenever whenever God says no to your prayers the proper response is not to ask why it is to worship it is to worship when God says no to your prayer the proper response it's not to say God why did you do that it is to worship it is to understand that God is a holy God and God is a loving God and he always does what is best for all he is a compassionate God that in the midst of his discipline God demonstrated his love to david verse 20 then David arose from the earth and wash and anointed himself and changed his clothes and he went into the house of the Lord and worship he then went to his own house and when he he asked they set food before him and he ate notice what did David do he worshiped he went to the house of the Lord in worship for the first time we see David once again enjoying the the the joy of his salvation once again in the presence of his Lord it says he changed his clothes and in the Bible changing of clothes means a new beginning' maybe some of you are here today and you your feeling that Pastor that's I've been out of fellowship with God for a while I'm here to tell you that God could give you new clothes I'm here to tell you that today could be a new beginning for you just as it was a new beginning for David that no matter how far away you are from God that there is no sin where God's grace it's not deeper still and that you you could once again fellowship with this holy and loving God if you will repent of your sins it says he went it says he went to his house and when he asked they set food before him and he ate notice that he worship even before he ate his hunger and thirst for God was greater that is than his hunger and thirst for food that he worshiped before anything else and then he ate verse 21 and this is where we receive so much hope in this passage he received comfort from the his the presence of God but but also notice what it says in verse 21 then his servants said to him what is the thing that you have done you'll fasted in what for the child while he was alive but when the child died your Rossa need food they couldn't understand they were confused David why did you cry when the child was still alive now you're not crying you're eating food this is what it says while the child was still alive I fasted in welfare I said who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live but now he is dead why should I fast can I bring him back again I shall go to him but he will not return to me what is the comfort the comfort is that with people who have passed on that we will see them again if a child dies in this age of innocence the Bible says I believe that that child goes to heaven we get confirmation of that in from Jesus lips in Matthew 19 but Jesus says let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven so I believe David was teaching here that when children die in their age of innocent that we will see them again and that was a comfort to David what else in verse 24 it says then David comforted his wife Bathsheba and went into her and lay with her and she bore a son and he called him his name Solomon and the Lord loved him amazing but the Lord not only forgave that he took the curse of this relationship he took the curse off this marriage and he once again bless this marriage notice the words David comforted his wife Bathsheba there was no longer Uriah's wife that when God forgives he totally forgives and even though we might say well no David David you can't bless David that way anymore God says no if I say I forgiven him i forgiven him and to show us that what does he do he gives them a son Solomon not only Sullivan who is Solomon going to be he's going to be in the line of Messiah and then the Lord sent Nathan the prophet and he called his name Jedediah because of the Lord dead to die the word Jedediah means love God God's beloved and so Solomon has to named the word Solomon means peaceable from the word Shalom and his other name his pet name from Nathan is Jedidiah Jedidiah comfort from fellowshiping once again with the Lord comfort of seeing his child again someday comfort of having a newborn son Solomon and then comfort of victory it says in verse 26 now Joab fought against raba of the ammonites and took the Royal City it took Joab almost a year to be the ammonites was it because the ammonites were great soldiers no it was because David's sin was keeping the nation from being blessed and so in verse 26 after David confessed God not only lifted his heavy hand upon David God lifted his heavy hand upon the nation so the nation could once again experience victory when you see a check engine light in your life it is God not only warning you to save you from part for their heartaches it's got warning you so that he could bless you once again he is drawing you close to him so that you could be in the position where you can once again be blessed by him what happened in verse 29 so David gathered all the people together and went to raba and fought against it and took it he was once again victorious he was once again where he needed to be the beginning of chapter 11 when Kings went off to war David stayed at the end of chapter 12 David went to war and captured raba he was once again where he needed to be this whole story chapter 11 and chapter 12 has been to to comfort the afflicted if you're those who have strayed away from the Lord it is to bring you back and say God God loves you God wants to bless you once again but you need to repent of your sins but it's also a great warning it is also a great warning that even though God's forgives there are consequences to sin and if you're tempted what you need to do is look beyond the temporary pleasures of that sin and look to the consequences that will follow you want to know the problem with a lot of sexual fantasies they don't go far enough I guess we don't think what happens a week later what happens a month later what happens a year later what happens to my reputation what happens to my ministry what happens to my family what happens to the family of the other person but most of all what happens to the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ do not focus on the momentary pleasures of sin yes there is momentary pleasures but only for a season look ahead to the consequences this story is for the Comfort if you fall in that God can restore you but it's a warning if you have not fallen but don't even go there but even before you go there God would flash a check engine light in your life and you need to pay attention because if you ignore it you ignore it to your own peril this passage we see the confrontation by the Lord David you are that man the consequences from the Lord the sword will not depart from your house what you did did in secret it will be done in the open the confession to the Lord I have sinned before the Lord the cry to the Lord God said no and David worship and finally the compassion from the Lord God can once again began to bless the life of David even though David's life would never be the same God's curse upon his marriage was lifted and he was once again able to to receive the blessings from the Lord God forgives me when I repent and loves me during times of discipline God forgives me when I repent and loves me during times of discipline it took the slaughter of a lamb for David to realize the gravity of his sin and it takes the death of a lamb or for us to realize just how sinful we are before a holy God I say a53 says talking about the Lord Jesus Christ he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter when Jesus came to earth this is the birth with this verse all close John the Baptist says the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world a holy God must punish sin but a loving God must save the sinner have you experienced this forgiveness of sins would you like to let's pray with all heads bowed and all eyes closed of today you've come and you're under a heavy weight of sin and shame Jesus died to forgive you of those sins he died to save you he died so that you could have fellowship with a holy God so in the quietness of this moment if you'd like to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior would you we just follow me in a simple prayer that expresses that desire just quietly where you're at in your heart in mind you say dear Lord Jesus I need you I believe you died on the cross for my sins was buried in the third day rose again I hear and now put my faith in you alone as my Lord and that's my Savior come into my heart and cleanse me of my sins come into my heart and saved me thank you for your gift of eternal life father thank you for anyone who prayed that prayer and I pray father that you would help them to grow and their faith in you maybe you're a believer and you've been ignoring the warning lights in your life for months and maybe just maybe God is speaking to you right now and he's telling you to stop covering it up stop ignoring it and come clean before him and if you would do that right now the Bible says that if you confess your sins that God is faithful and just to cleanse you from your sins and all other unrighteousness so if you would come before him right now just to do business with him would you do that that's the spirit leads the Spirit is speaking to you just say Lord I have sinned before you forgive me father I thank you for the convicting work of the Spirit forgive us Lord for for the many times we ignore him forgive us Lord for the many times we despise your word many times we despise you thank you Lord that your sacrifice is a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart father you've said you will not despise and so we thank you Lord for that promise we asked father that you would work in each heart that we would leave this place renewed refreshed knowing that we have been forgiven not because of anything we've done but because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross remind us Lord remind us of that great love as we partake of communion for these things we ask in Jesus name Amen at this time

Channel: Faith Bible Church of Vallejo

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Length: 43min 51sec (2631 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 04 2017