WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:07.000 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Collin Smith of Open the Bible. 00:00:07.000 –> 00:00:15.120 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365, or visit our website, OpenTheBible.org. 00:00:15.120 –> 00:00:18.160 Let’s get to the message. 00:00:18.160 –> 00:00:20.340 Here is Pastor Collin. 00:00:20.340 –> 00:00:23.980 The life of David is a story, as we have seen, in three chapters. 00:00:23.980 –> 00:00:27.959 His trials, his triumphs, and then his troubles. 00:00:27.959 –> 00:00:32.340 We are in the last of these three chapters and we saw last week as we began this journey 00:00:32.340 –> 00:00:40.139 that many of the troubles that dominated David’s life were troubles that he actually brought 00:00:40.139 –> 00:00:45.820 on himself through his own sin and through his own folly. 00:00:45.820 –> 00:00:53.380 We saw that David committed the sins of adultery and of murder and that what he did displeased 00:00:53.380 –> 00:00:54.380 the Lord. 00:00:54.380 –> 00:00:57.119 That’s chapter 11 and verse 27. 00:00:57.340 –> 00:01:02.160 So here we have a man who loved the Lord but we saw last week that what he had done over 00:01:02.160 –> 00:01:08.120 a period of time was he had actually carved out an area of his own life that was never 00:01:08.120 –> 00:01:11.419 actually submitted to the Lord. 00:01:11.419 –> 00:01:20.459 And because of that he allowed sin to grow in its power and gain a position in his life 00:01:20.459 –> 00:01:27.000 so that as he gave way to particular temptation, sin got to a place where eventually it over 00:01:27.040 –> 00:01:33.120 powered him and he ended up committing sins that he never thought in his earlier years 00:01:33.139 –> 00:01:37.419 he would ever have found himself doing. 00:01:37.419 –> 00:01:43.639 And that’s where we came to at the end of last week and we take it up today in Chapter 12. 00:01:43.660 –> 00:01:51.160 Now, it’s sometimes helpful when you’re reading the Bible to ask the question what do I think 00:01:51.160 –> 00:01:54.320 should happen next? 00:01:54.379 –> 00:02:00.680 What would you expect to happen after 2 Samuel chapter 11 where we’re told of these heinous 00:02:00.680 –> 00:02:03.459 sins that were committed by David? 00:02:03.459 –> 00:02:09.119 And I want very simply today for us to look at what David did next and then what God did 00:02:09.119 –> 00:02:10.639 next. 00:02:10.639 –> 00:02:12.279 These two things. 00:02:12.279 –> 00:02:13.759 Let’s start with David then. 00:02:13.759 –> 00:02:19.800 And what would you expect that would come after such serious sins in the life of David? 00:02:20.279 –> 00:02:27.679 And what I would expect that after two heinous sins like this there must be next the most 00:02:27.679 –> 00:02:30.639 profound repentance. 00:02:30.639 –> 00:02:35.979 Surely David of all people is going to come and to seek the face of God and to recognize 00:02:35.979 –> 00:02:40.240 the depth to which he has fallen and to turn to God in radical repentance. 00:02:40.240 –> 00:02:46.399 And what I want you to see today is that that is precisely what does not happen. 00:02:46.399 –> 00:02:53.960 By the time you get to chapter 12, the child that was conceived has been born. 00:02:53.960 –> 00:02:59.399 So more than nine months have passed since David committed these sins. 00:02:59.399 –> 00:03:03.119 And has there been any repentance in these nine months? 00:03:03.119 –> 00:03:06.820 Answer, none whatsoever. 00:03:06.820 –> 00:03:07.880 What has David done? 00:03:07.880 –> 00:03:13.580 He is simply covered up and he has moved on. 00:03:13.580 –> 00:03:17.139 And so here’s the first thing that we learned from the Bible straight away today that the 00:03:17.139 –> 00:03:22.279 natural sequel to sin is not repentance. 00:03:22.279 –> 00:03:24.360 Not in this story. 00:03:24.360 –> 00:03:29.679 And just so that you know that this isn’t an isolated incident, if you go all the way 00:03:29.679 –> 00:03:35.100 back to the beginning of the Bible, you’ll find exactly the same sobering truth. 00:03:35.100 –> 00:03:40.419 Remember, God places Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden in which everything is provided for 00:03:40.419 –> 00:03:41.419 them. 00:03:41.419 –> 00:03:44.320 They have the companionship of a loving marriage. 00:03:44.320 –> 00:03:46.039 They have meaningful work. 00:03:46.039 –> 00:03:49.779 They have all their food provided right there on the trees. 00:03:49.779 –> 00:03:53.820 And God says to them, I give you just one command, that there’s one tree that you shall 00:03:53.820 –> 00:03:54.820 not eat from. 00:03:54.820 –> 00:04:00.460 And do you remember how Eve was tempted and she ate, and she gave to Adam and he ate as 00:04:00.460 –> 00:04:01.460 well? 00:04:01.460 –> 00:04:04.580 Well now, what do you think would happen next? 00:04:04.580 –> 00:04:07.940 Here is a couple who have walked in fellowship with God. 00:04:08.919 –> 00:04:12.199 They’ve been walking with the Lord in the garden in the cool of the day. 00:04:12.199 –> 00:04:18.100 Surely, you would think what Adam is going to do immediately is to go and seek the face 00:04:18.100 –> 00:04:23.359 of God and to say, God I have something to confess. 00:04:23.359 –> 00:04:25.899 I’ve sinned against you. 00:04:25.899 –> 00:04:28.640 I’ve done the one thing that you told me not to do. 00:04:28.640 –> 00:04:34.000 I’ve eaten from this tree, and I’m cut to the heart by what I’ve done, and I want to 00:04:34.000 –> 00:04:37.239 ask for your forgiveness. 00:04:37.239 –> 00:04:41.079 But if you know the story in Genesis, in chapter 3, you’ll remember that that is exactly what 00:04:41.079 –> 00:04:43.440 does not happen. 00:04:43.440 –> 00:04:47.760 What does happen, we’re told, this, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden 00:04:47.760 –> 00:04:53.000 in the cool of the day, and the man and the wife hid themselves from the presence of the 00:04:53.000 –> 00:04:56.299 Lord among the trees of the garden. 00:04:56.299 –> 00:05:00.880 In other words, the natural sequel to sin is not repentance. 00:05:00.880 –> 00:05:03.179 It is hiding. 00:05:03.179 –> 00:05:05.440 It is to cover up. 00:05:05.480 –> 00:05:08.339 It is simply to move on. 00:05:08.339 –> 00:05:13.739 Adam knows that he is a sinner and the natural reaction of a sinner is not to come to God 00:05:13.739 –> 00:05:16.600 but to run from God. 00:05:16.600 –> 00:05:20.720 You see the same thing in the New Testament, in the story of Simon Peter. 00:05:20.720 –> 00:05:27.140 And early on, he catches a glimpse of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ through a miraculous 00:05:27.140 –> 00:05:29.859 catch of fish. 00:05:29.859 –> 00:05:33.920 And what is the response of Peter to seeing the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? 00:05:33.959 –> 00:05:38.339 Is it to say, oh Jesus, I see your glory, I’m going to follow you forever? 00:05:38.339 –> 00:05:44.920 No, it is for Peter to say, depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. 00:05:44.920 –> 00:05:50.459 That’s the natural reaction, you see, of a sinner in the presence of God. 00:05:50.459 –> 00:05:54.619 It’s not to come to God, it’s to run from God. 00:05:54.619 –> 00:06:02.760 Now, if the natural reaction then, the natural sequel to sin is not repentance but it’s simply 00:06:03.100 –> 00:06:09.760 up and moving on, what hope is there, then, of reconciliation with God? 00:06:09.760 –> 00:06:16.140 And the answer, of course, is that if we were left to ourselves there’s no hope whatsoever. 00:06:16.140 –> 00:06:17.980 So what did David do? 00:06:17.980 –> 00:06:21.739 He covers up, moves on. 00:06:21.739 –> 00:06:28.339 In regards to returning to God he does absolutely nothing. 00:06:28.339 –> 00:06:30.619 Now what is his experience during this time? 00:06:30.720 –> 00:06:35.700 What was it like for David during these nine months and more in which he covered up and 00:06:35.700 –> 00:06:38.339 tried to move on? 00:06:38.339 –> 00:06:43.440 Well David actually tells us this himself in one of the Psalms that he wrote sometime 00:06:43.440 –> 00:06:50.079 after this period in his life and he reflected back on what his experience was during these 00:06:50.079 –> 00:06:52.200 months of covering up and moving on. 00:06:52.980 –> 00:06:56.700 Let me quote to you from Psalm 32 where he speaks about this, 00:07:01.119 –> 00:07:08.200 In other words when during these months I did not confess, I just covered up and I moved on. 00:07:08.200 –> 00:07:09.200 What was his experience? 00:07:22.200 –> 00:07:27.480 Covered up as by the heat of summer. 00:07:27.480 –> 00:07:33.880 So don’t think for a moment you see when David covers up and he moves on that everything’s hunky dory in the palace. 00:07:33.880 –> 00:07:36.079 It was not. 00:07:36.079 –> 00:07:42.500 This was without doubt the most miserable year in David’s entire life. 00:07:42.500 –> 00:07:50.040 And he describes it very vividly here he speaks about his groaning all day long. 00:07:50.040 –> 00:07:51.940 Think about that. 00:07:52.019 –> 00:07:54.820 Here’s a man in a palace. 00:07:54.820 –> 00:08:02.519 He has money, he has privilege, and he has the wife that he wanted. 00:08:02.519 –> 00:08:07.579 But he lives with a nagging groan in his spirit. 00:08:07.579 –> 00:08:13.559 Even when he savors the greatest of pleasures the groan is still there. 00:08:13.559 –> 00:08:16.760 He groans when he goes to bed at night. 00:08:16.760 –> 00:08:20.940 And when he wakes up in the morning he groans at the thought of another day. 00:08:20.940 –> 00:08:26.100 And it was like that for months, this was my experience. 00:08:26.100 –> 00:08:29.119 And then he says, my strength was dried up. 00:08:29.119 –> 00:08:35.320 And I tried to cover up and move on, here’s what I found as a child of God. 00:08:35.320 –> 00:08:37.979 I found I lost all my energy. 00:08:37.979 –> 00:08:42.520 I found that the things that I was interested in doing in life, they seemed to lose their 00:08:42.520 –> 00:08:44.840 interest for me. 00:08:44.840 –> 00:08:50.679 I found that my strength was dried up, the blessing of God seemed to have departed from 00:08:50.780 –> 00:08:54.140 my life, and didn’t see any point in it anymore. 00:08:54.159 –> 00:08:57.260 Now, do you see what we’re learning here? 00:08:57.260 –> 00:09:01.919 The natural sequel to sin is not repentance. 00:09:01.919 –> 00:09:04.599 Just left to ourselves, that’s not what we do. 00:09:04.599 –> 00:09:07.520 The natural sequel to sin is not repentance. 00:09:07.520 –> 00:09:11.400 It’s covering up, it’s moving on, it’s hiding from God. 00:09:11.400 –> 00:09:17.340 And that experience, for a Christian believer, always proves miserable. 00:09:17.340 –> 00:09:26.859 By the way, David’s misery, as he records it in Psalm 32, is the sure sign that he 00:09:26.859 –> 00:09:29.659 really was the Lord’s. 00:09:29.659 –> 00:09:38.580 You see, a person who has never really loved the Lord will not miss Him when He is gone. 00:09:38.580 –> 00:09:42.099 That’s one of the ways that you know a person who has never really loved the Lord. 00:09:42.099 –> 00:09:45.000 They may have been religious or whatever. 00:09:45.000 –> 00:09:53.080 But a person who has never really loved the Lord will not miss Him when He is gone. 00:09:53.080 –> 00:09:58.919 But you see, if you are the Lord’s, you can never be happy as long as you are hiding 00:09:58.919 –> 00:10:01.679 from Him. 00:10:01.679 –> 00:10:06.080 And that was David’s experience, and it will be ours in any situation where we try 00:10:06.080 –> 00:10:11.039 to cover up and simply move on. 00:10:11.039 –> 00:10:12.500 So where are we going to go from here? 00:10:12.659 –> 00:10:17.119 I mean it seems like the story has stalled. 00:10:17.119 –> 00:10:19.719 David is miserable, but he is not repentant. 00:10:19.719 –> 00:10:21.619 There is no confession. 00:10:21.619 –> 00:10:23.900 Nine months have passed. 00:10:23.900 –> 00:10:27.239 There is no seeking the face of God. 00:10:27.239 –> 00:10:35.500 In all of this time, probably more than a year has passed and there has not been a single 00:10:35.500 –> 00:10:39.179 flicker of repentance in this man’s heart. 00:10:39.179 –> 00:10:40.179 Not at all. 00:10:40.219 –> 00:10:42.739 Not once. 00:10:42.739 –> 00:10:48.140 So, you see it is very easy for us to assume that repentance will be the natural sequel 00:10:48.140 –> 00:10:50.059 to sin. 00:10:50.059 –> 00:10:51.340 Not at all. 00:10:51.340 –> 00:10:59.260 Wherever there is genuine repentance, it is a miracle of God’s grace, and if it were not 00:10:59.260 –> 00:11:04.840 for the grace of God, then Adam and Eve would have remained hiding forever, David would 00:11:04.840 –> 00:11:09.200 have remained hiding forever, if it was not for the grace of God, you and I would be hiding 00:11:09.200 –> 00:11:12.979 from God forever too. 00:11:12.979 –> 00:11:18.440 So thank God that David’s inactivity is not the end of the story. 00:11:18.440 –> 00:11:20.539 What will David do? 00:11:20.539 –> 00:11:22.239 Nothing. 00:11:22.239 –> 00:11:25.239 What will God do? 00:11:25.239 –> 00:11:31.000 Well let’s focus in on what God does, because that is the subject of chapter 12 that’s before 00:11:31.000 –> 00:11:35.559 us today, and it’s a very wonderful and a very important chapter. 00:11:35.559 –> 00:11:37.099 Let’s frame it again in our winds. 00:11:37.099 –> 00:11:38.559 What’s the situation? 00:11:38.580 –> 00:11:47.179 David has committed two heinous sins, adultery and murder. 00:11:47.179 –> 00:11:54.640 One commentator points out that actually David had broken at least six of the ten commandments. 00:11:54.640 –> 00:11:59.739 He had put his own desires before God, that breaks the first commandment. 00:11:59.739 –> 00:12:03.919 He had committed murder, that breaks the sixth commandment. 00:12:03.919 –> 00:12:07.960 He had committed adultery which breaks the seventh commandment. 00:12:08.000 –> 00:12:12.539 He had stolen another man’s wife, that breaks the eighth commandment. 00:12:12.539 –> 00:12:18.320 He had lied and deceived Uriah and lies breaks the eighth commandment. 00:12:18.320 –> 00:12:23.559 And he had coveted and that breaks the tenth commandment. 00:12:23.559 –> 00:12:24.599 And think about this. 00:12:24.599 –> 00:12:32.919 This is the sin of a man who has been uniquely privileged and blessed by God. 00:12:32.919 –> 00:12:37.280 Looking back from the days when Samuel came and poured that oil over the young lad’s 00:12:37.280 –> 00:12:43.460 head, God has chosen you to be king, a man after his own heart and all the way in which 00:12:43.460 –> 00:12:49.880 God has stood with him in his fight with Goliath and in his flight from Saul and protected 00:12:49.880 –> 00:12:54.580 his life and brought him to the great triumphs that we looked at last year. 00:12:54.580 –> 00:12:58.039 God’s blessing has been upon this man in a singular way. 00:12:58.039 –> 00:13:04.900 And yet this man goes and breaks one commandment after another of the Lord’s. 00:13:04.900 –> 00:13:08.700 And I want you to notice the word of God that comes to him in verse 9. 00:13:08.700 –> 00:13:14.200 Why have you despised the Word of the Lord? 00:13:14.200 –> 00:13:15.140 Verse 10. 00:13:15.140 –> 00:13:20.119 You have despised me, God says. 00:13:20.119 –> 00:13:21.119 Verse 14. 00:13:21.119 –> 00:13:25.799 By this deed, you have utterly scorned the Lord. 00:13:25.880 –> 00:13:29.380 What a phrase, that is. 00:13:29.380 –> 00:13:30.539 Now here’s the question. 00:13:30.539 –> 00:13:33.539 What is God going to do next? 00:13:33.539 –> 00:13:43.099 How will God deal with this man so privileged who has scorned him, who has despised him, 00:13:43.099 –> 00:13:49.179 and has broken one commandment after another? 00:13:49.179 –> 00:13:52.859 What will God do next? 00:13:53.000 –> 00:13:59.400 Now, God might justly have said to David, 00:13:59.400 –> 00:14:02.820 this is the end of the line for you. 00:14:02.820 –> 00:14:06.039 It’s all over for you. 00:14:06.039 –> 00:14:09.799 That’s how it was for Saul. 00:14:09.799 –> 00:14:14.440 Why should it not be the same for David? 00:14:14.440 –> 00:14:19.099 Who would be surprised if we were to read something like this in the Bible, that the 00:14:19.099 –> 00:14:26.960 Lord raised up the Ammonites or some other enemies of his people, and they routed the 00:14:26.960 –> 00:14:34.260 armies of Israel on the field of battle, and David and all his sons died by the sword on 00:14:34.260 –> 00:14:35.260 that day? 00:14:35.260 –> 00:14:38.880 I mean, if we read something like that, we’d say, well, that’s exactly what happened to 00:14:38.880 –> 00:14:43.440 Saul and his sons, and the line ended right there. 00:14:43.440 –> 00:14:50.539 Who would be surprised, who could complain if such a thing was the outcome for David? 00:14:50.539 –> 00:14:54.440 And maybe you think that’s what God should have done and said, in regards to David, I 00:14:54.440 –> 00:15:02.219 mean, how can God allow this man to remain as king after this? 00:15:02.219 –> 00:15:12.159 But that is not how God dealt with David, because retribution is not how God deals with 00:15:12.380 –> 00:15:14.539 his children. 00:15:14.539 –> 00:15:17.179 Thank God for that. 00:15:17.179 –> 00:15:22.679 That is not how God dealt with David, because retribution is not how God deals with his 00:15:22.679 –> 00:15:23.679 children. 00:15:23.679 –> 00:15:28.020 If it was, there is not a single one of us would be here today. 00:15:28.020 –> 00:15:40.200 Or, God might justly have said, David, you have despised me and you have scorned me, 00:15:40.200 –> 00:15:43.979 and therefore I wash my hands of you. 00:15:43.979 –> 00:15:48.119 You can continue as king, but you will not have my Spirit. 00:15:48.119 –> 00:15:54.119 My presence will be taken from you, and my blessing will no longer rest on you. 00:15:54.119 –> 00:15:59.919 I will leave you to your own devices, you’re on your own now, I will have nothing more 00:15:59.919 –> 00:16:01.859 to do with you.” 00:16:01.859 –> 00:16:06.599 Now who can complain about that? 00:16:06.599 –> 00:16:13.500 And is that not precisely what we find in Romans in Chapter 1, when wicked men set their 00:16:13.500 –> 00:16:15.020 hearts on evil? 00:16:15.020 –> 00:16:18.200 How does God’s judgment operate in their lives? 00:16:18.200 –> 00:16:20.640 God gives them up! 00:16:20.640 –> 00:16:25.159 That’s Romans 1, verse 24 and verse 26 and verse 28. 00:16:25.159 –> 00:16:30.380 It’s repeated three times, the judgment of God on those who pursue evil, God gives them 00:16:30.380 –> 00:16:33.580 up. 00:16:33.799 –> 00:16:35.799 But we don’t find anything like that here. 00:16:35.799 –> 00:16:36.799 Why? 00:16:36.799 –> 00:16:42.140 Because that is not how God deals with His children. 00:16:42.140 –> 00:16:47.500 When it comes to His children, He never gives them up. 00:16:47.500 –> 00:16:56.340 Or again, God might have said, if David comes to me then I will forgive him. 00:16:56.340 –> 00:16:57.900 But he’s got to make the first move. 00:16:57.900 –> 00:16:59.260 He’s the one that departed. 00:16:59.260 –> 00:17:01.140 He’s the one that has sinned. 00:17:02.039 –> 00:17:08.699 Oh, I’m always, God might have said, open to reconciliation, but the ball is firmly 00:17:08.699 –> 00:17:11.859 in David’s court. 00:17:11.859 –> 00:17:18.859 He must make the first move, and unless and until he does, I’m done with him. 00:17:18.859 –> 00:17:23.140 Who could complain about that? 00:17:23.140 –> 00:17:28.380 But you see, in the light of what we have just learned, if that was God’s response 00:17:28.400 –> 00:17:32.699 to the sin of his people, we would all be lost forever. 00:17:32.699 –> 00:17:33.699 Why? 00:17:33.699 –> 00:17:35.920 Because we would never make the first move. 00:17:35.920 –> 00:17:40.619 None of us would ever come back to God because the natural sequel to sin is not repentance, 00:17:40.619 –> 00:17:45.280 it’s to cover up and to move on. 00:17:45.280 –> 00:17:50.500 And if God simply stood back passively and waited for David to make the first move, it 00:17:50.500 –> 00:17:52.819 would never have happened. 00:17:52.819 –> 00:17:55.780 It would never have happened. 00:17:55.780 –> 00:18:04.900 So thank God that he does not deal with his own children through retribution, and he does 00:18:04.900 –> 00:18:07.859 not deal with his own children through renunciation. 00:18:07.859 –> 00:18:16.199 What he does is he deals with his own children through the most marvelous restoration, and 00:18:16.199 –> 00:18:20.319 that’s what we have right here in 2 Samuel and chapter 12. 00:18:20.339 –> 00:18:26.760 David wrote later in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, and here’s what that means. 00:18:26.760 –> 00:18:31.380 He restores my soul. 00:18:31.380 –> 00:18:35.099 When there might have been retribution, when there might have been renunciation, there 00:18:35.099 –> 00:18:41.020 was instead restoration, and it was the Lord who did it. 00:18:41.020 –> 00:18:44.339 He restores my soul. 00:18:44.520 –> 00:18:51.060 Now, how does God restore the soul of one of his own children? 00:18:51.060 –> 00:18:56.040 Let me point out three ways in which God does this, directly from this chapter that’s before 00:18:56.040 –> 00:18:57.040 us. 00:18:57.040 –> 00:18:58.040 How does God restore? 00:18:58.040 –> 00:19:00.199 Thank God He does. 00:19:00.199 –> 00:19:01.959 How does He do it? 00:19:01.959 –> 00:19:05.640 Number one, God speaks. 00:19:05.640 –> 00:19:08.219 God speaks. 00:19:08.280 –> 00:19:12.699 Verse 1, the Lord sent Nathan to David. 00:19:12.719 –> 00:19:14.719 Who is Nathan? 00:19:14.719 –> 00:19:16.739 Nathan is a prophet. 00:19:16.739 –> 00:19:17.920 What does a prophet do? 00:19:17.920 –> 00:19:22.079 A prophet speaks the word of God. 00:19:22.079 –> 00:19:29.319 So, how God restores one of his own children, is rather than standing back and waiting for 00:19:29.319 –> 00:19:33.680 his children to make the move, God speaks. 00:19:33.680 –> 00:19:38.239 And he speaks through his word, and his word accomplishes a change in David that had not 00:19:38.239 –> 00:19:42.900 been accomplished by anything in the previous nine months. 00:19:42.900 –> 00:19:47.579 It was the same with Adam and Eve in the garden when they were hiding. 00:19:47.579 –> 00:19:50.119 Do you remember how did they come out of hiding? 00:19:50.119 –> 00:19:54.859 Simply this, the Lord called to Adam, where are you? 00:19:54.859 –> 00:20:00.119 So the way in which God restores his own children who are covering up and hiding from him is 00:20:00.119 –> 00:20:06.000 he cuts through the hiding, and he speaks through his word. 00:20:06.000 –> 00:20:11.520 That’s where restoration begins for any of us. 00:20:11.520 –> 00:20:18.280 Now Nathan speaks the Word of God to David, and he does it by presenting a story. 00:20:18.280 –> 00:20:26.359 Commentators often refer to what Nathan says here as a parable, but I want you to notice 00:20:26.479 –> 00:20:32.420 that Nathan does not say to David that it is a parable, Nathan presents this to David 00:20:32.420 –> 00:20:39.160 as an actual case on which David is being asked to pronounce judgment. 00:20:39.160 –> 00:20:44.020 Remember, David is the King and that means he’s the chief justice in the land, so it 00:20:44.020 –> 00:20:48.560 would not have been unusual for situations of injustice to be brought to David for him 00:20:48.560 –> 00:20:52.959 to pass judgment and to announce a sentence. 00:20:53.280 –> 00:20:57.119 Nathan comes, he doesn’t say, I’ve got a parable to tell you, he presents a case. 00:20:57.119 –> 00:20:58.880 And David is glad to hear the case. 00:20:58.880 –> 00:21:02.719 It’s part of his job, to hear cases like this. 00:21:02.719 –> 00:21:08.719 And so Nathan lays out this case, it is a case of two men in a certain city and one 00:21:08.719 –> 00:21:11.680 is rich and the other is poor. 00:21:11.680 –> 00:21:15.280 And the rich man has many flocks and many herds. 00:21:15.280 –> 00:21:20.959 The poor man only has a single ewe lamb which he loves greatly. 00:21:20.959 –> 00:21:27.359 The lamb eats the man’s food, the lamb drinks from the man’s cup and the lamb lies in the 00:21:27.359 –> 00:21:29.760 man’s arms. 00:21:29.760 –> 00:21:36.680 Well, a traveler arrives at the home of the rich man. 00:21:36.680 –> 00:21:42.520 And the rich man wants to entertain, welcome this traveler and to lay on a feast for him, 00:21:42.520 –> 00:21:46.000 but he doesn’t want to take one of his own lambs. 00:21:46.099 –> 00:21:52.520 He doesn’t want to take from his own flock and so he steals this dearly loved lamb from 00:21:52.520 –> 00:22:02.000 the poor man and uses that lamb to prepare the feast for himself and for the traveler. 00:22:02.000 –> 00:22:09.380 And as this case is laid before David who’s being asked to pronounce judgment on it, David 00:22:10.260 –> 00:22:12.839 angry, more than angry, outraged. 00:22:20.839 –> 00:22:27.180 It’s amazing how angry we can become at our own sins when we see them in the lives of 00:22:27.180 –> 00:22:33.260 others but we don’t realise it’s our own sins that we’re actually seeing. 00:22:33.260 –> 00:22:42.420 And David says to Nathan, as the Lord lives the man who has done this deserves to die. 00:22:42.420 –> 00:22:53.619 And he shall restore the Lamb four-fold because he did this thing and because he had no pity. 00:22:53.619 –> 00:23:01.459 Now that was more than the law demanded. 00:23:01.459 –> 00:23:06.420 If you check out the law of God on a situation like this in the Old Testament where there 00:23:06.420 –> 00:23:12.479 was the theft of a lamb, it’s specifically addressed in Exodus chapter 22, in verse 1. 00:23:12.479 –> 00:23:17.819 If someone steals a lamb, then the restitution is that four lambs must be given back in its 00:23:17.819 –> 00:23:18.819 place. 00:23:18.819 –> 00:23:23.020 And so what David says here reflects the law of God, but there is nothing in the law of 00:23:23.020 –> 00:23:30.800 God that imposes the penalty of death for the theft of a lamb. 00:23:30.880 –> 00:23:32.219 Why does David say this? 00:23:32.219 –> 00:23:37.219 Because he’s making a judgment out – not of justice, not out of the law of God but 00:23:37.219 –> 00:23:39.380 out of pure anger. 00:23:39.380 –> 00:23:42.119 He was greatly enraged. 00:23:42.119 –> 00:23:47.180 And from this I want to make this observation that is worth keeping in mind. 00:23:47.180 –> 00:23:55.140 If you are ever tempted to think that God’s judgements are harsh, remember that the judgements 00:23:55.140 –> 00:23:59.260 of sinners are invariably harsher. 00:23:59.380 –> 00:24:07.459 If you are ever tempted to think that God’s judgements are harsh, remember that the judgments 00:24:07.459 –> 00:24:12.000 of sinners are invariably harsher. 00:24:12.000 –> 00:24:13.979 God is just. 00:24:13.979 –> 00:24:20.020 A man would get justice from God, did not get justice from David. 00:24:20.579 –> 00:24:27.280 Now, Nathan then says to David, in these extraordinary words, 00:24:27.280 –> 00:24:29.859 you are the man. 00:24:29.859 –> 00:24:32.459 What a moment that was. 00:24:32.459 –> 00:24:36.939 David, this is actually a picture of precisely what you have done, and when you have said 00:24:36.939 –> 00:24:43.180 this man deserves to die, actually, you have condemned yourself out of your own mouth. 00:24:43.180 –> 00:24:45.420 Because your sin is not stealing a lamb. 00:24:45.420 –> 00:24:49.859 It is committing adultery, and it is committing murder, and the death penalty is the penalty 00:24:49.900 –> 00:24:53.979 for that in the law of God. 00:24:53.979 –> 00:25:02.119 And finally, after months of silence, and covering up, and moving on, and suppressing 00:25:02.119 –> 00:25:11.719 conscience, David says, I have sinned against the Lord. 00:25:11.719 –> 00:25:18.339 And that confession was the beginning of repentance in David’s life. 00:25:18.359 –> 00:25:21.540 What I want us to see at this point is this. 00:25:21.540 –> 00:25:27.400 That it was the Word of God that broke through in David’s life and brought about restoration 00:25:27.400 –> 00:25:30.160 when nothing else could. 00:25:30.160 –> 00:25:35.979 Don’t ever underestimate the power of the Word of God. 00:25:35.979 –> 00:25:42.500 Time did not bring David to repentance. 00:25:42.500 –> 00:25:48.239 Conscience didn’t bring David to repentance, he just pushed that down. 00:25:48.500 –> 00:25:54.280 A sense of misery didn’t bring David to repentance, he just carried on in it groaning day and 00:25:54.280 –> 00:25:59.439 night and he would have carried on like that forever. 00:25:59.439 –> 00:26:06.459 But God’s Word got under the defenses of this man and brought about confession that was 00:26:06.459 –> 00:26:08.500 the beginning of repentance. 00:26:08.500 –> 00:26:11.619 Never underestimate the power of God’s Word. 00:26:11.680 –> 00:26:14.979 My Word will not return to me empty. 00:26:15.000 –> 00:26:19.819 It will accomplish the purpose for which I have sent it and you know what? 00:26:19.819 –> 00:26:27.119 God’s Word can change your life from the inside out in a way that nothing else can. 00:26:27.119 –> 00:26:28.680 How does God restore? 00:26:28.680 –> 00:26:29.800 He speaks. 00:26:29.800 –> 00:26:33.839 Thank God because otherwise, David would just have remained as he was forever. 00:26:33.839 –> 00:26:37.280 Second, God disciplines. 00:26:37.540 –> 00:26:43.339 This is a very important part of how God restores his own children. 00:26:43.339 –> 00:26:50.219 Now the principle by which God disciplines, exercises discipline in the life of a believer, 00:26:50.219 –> 00:26:53.560 is stated in many places in the Bible. 00:26:53.560 –> 00:26:58.760 I’ve quoted from a number of places today, but perhaps where it’s most clear is Galatians 00:26:58.760 –> 00:27:01.500 chapter 6 and verse 7 where we read, 00:27:07.680 –> 00:27:19.459 Now think of what is happening in this moment where Nathan speaks to David. 00:27:19.459 –> 00:27:25.040 Nathan looks into the eyes of David, you are the man. 00:27:25.040 –> 00:27:29.500 Nathan speaks the very Word of God to David. 00:27:29.500 –> 00:27:32.040 And so for David, what is his experience? 00:27:32.040 –> 00:27:36.079 He hears the very Voice of God through the Prophet. 00:27:36.079 –> 00:27:42.479 The Word of God, indicting him on the sins that he has covered up and sought merely to 00:27:42.479 –> 00:27:45.540 move on from. 00:27:45.540 –> 00:27:50.479 In other words, in this moment, David’s palace where this scene takes place is as 00:27:50.479 –> 00:27:56.300 it were turned into God’s own courtroom, and the charges against David are read. 00:27:56.300 –> 00:27:57.400 And what is the charge? 00:27:57.400 –> 00:28:04.859 Verse 9, you have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. 00:28:04.859 –> 00:28:08.280 You have killed him with the sword. 00:28:08.280 –> 00:28:18.640 Verse 10, now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house. 00:28:18.640 –> 00:28:28.300 Do you see how God’s discipline is a direct reflection of David’s own sin? 00:28:28.300 –> 00:28:31.599 You have sinned with the sword. 00:28:31.739 –> 00:28:35.640 Now you’re going to find that you live with the sword. 00:28:35.640 –> 00:28:37.819 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. 00:28:37.819 –> 00:28:43.819 That which a man sows, that will he also reap. 00:28:43.819 –> 00:28:49.319 This is a very important principle in the Bible. 00:28:49.319 –> 00:28:54.540 I want us to grasp it and then I want to apply it in two particular ways. 00:28:54.540 –> 00:28:59.260 But let me give to you another place where the Bible states this very simply, 00:28:59.380 –> 00:29:03.760 and that is in Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 19. 00:29:03.760 –> 00:29:06.699 Jeremiah 2 in verse 19 we read these words, 00:29:06.699 –> 00:29:11.959 Your own wickedness will correct you. 00:29:11.959 –> 00:29:14.880 Did you know that God said that? 00:29:14.880 –> 00:29:16.420 How is God going to correct you? 00:29:16.420 –> 00:29:19.859 Well actually your own wickedness will play a role within this, 00:29:19.859 –> 00:29:24.699 because this is how the discipline of God operates in the life of a believer. 00:29:24.839 –> 00:29:29.160 Your own wickedness corrects you. 00:29:29.160 –> 00:29:32.239 Now let me give you an illustration of that from the Bible 00:29:32.239 –> 00:29:39.000 and we’re going to see it of course illustrated again in the life of David in the weeks that lie ahead. 00:29:39.000 –> 00:29:42.339 But do you remember the story of Jacob? 00:29:42.339 –> 00:29:45.979 Now what was Jacob’s great sin? 00:29:45.979 –> 00:29:50.640 It was that he was a deceiver, he was really good at it. 00:29:50.640 –> 00:29:55.640 Jacob was the kind of person who could pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, 00:29:55.640 –> 00:30:00.359 the sort of person who could look you in the eye and lie to your face 00:30:00.359 –> 00:30:06.180 and you would not know even a flicker looking into his eyes, that he was not telling you the truth. 00:30:06.180 –> 00:30:10.439 He was the master of deception, he deceived his own father 00:30:10.439 –> 00:30:14.660 and thereby got the blessing that would have gone to his brother. 00:30:14.660 –> 00:30:19.900 He impersonated his brother, as his father’s eyesight was failing his brother was a hairy man. 00:30:19.900 –> 00:30:25.680 You might remember this story and so Jacob puts animal skin so that the father will be deceived, 00:30:25.680 –> 00:30:32.880 he was the master deceiver. He loved deception, he was really good at it. 00:30:32.880 –> 00:30:41.699 And how did the discipline of God, how was that discipline exercised in Jacob’s life? 00:30:41.699 –> 00:30:48.199 The answer is that what he had sown, he actually reaped and you remember how some years later 00:30:48.219 –> 00:30:57.199 he’s on the other side of a great deception when his father-in-law Laban who has promised to marry 00:30:57.199 –> 00:31:05.280 his daughter Rachel to Jacob deceives Jacob on his own wedding day and after that day 00:31:05.280 –> 00:31:12.319 Jacob discovers that he is not married to Rachel at all, he’s been married off to her sister Leah 00:31:13.060 –> 00:31:17.640 and it brings untold agonies into his life. 00:31:17.640 –> 00:31:22.520 And you remember how years later the same thing happened again 00:31:22.520 –> 00:31:28.099 with his own children, his own sons came to him and they said to Jacob their father 00:31:28.099 –> 00:31:35.800 now Joseph, your dearly loved son, he’s been killed by wild animals and here’s his robe 00:31:35.800 –> 00:31:43.719 and you see that it’s, it has blood all over it and Jacob experiences grief for years why? 00:31:43.719 –> 00:31:53.520 he’s on the other side of a horrible deception. I’ll tell you by the end of Jacob’s life there 00:31:53.520 –> 00:32:00.280 was no sin that he would have hated more than deception. God dealt with him in such a way 00:32:00.280 –> 00:32:08.500 that he came to hate the sin he used to love. And you see that’s how the discipline of God 00:32:08.859 –> 00:32:18.140 operates in the life of a believer. Now, let’s apply that principle that’s very clear in the 00:32:18.140 –> 00:32:24.560 Bible… your own sins will correct you. Let’s apply it in these two ways. First, 00:32:24.560 –> 00:32:32.239 knowing that principle in the Bible will be a restraint to you when you are tempted to sin. 00:32:32.300 –> 00:32:37.979 Listen to how our Lord Jesus puts the same principle. He says this, 00:32:37.979 –> 00:32:45.459 with the measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. Or he says it again 00:32:45.459 –> 00:32:54.800 this way. Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. 00:32:55.079 –> 00:33:03.780 Now, you see, the point—the principle—is that your own sin will correct you. So, 00:33:03.780 –> 00:33:09.380 at a time when you may be tempted to act with harshness, or deception, 00:33:09.380 –> 00:33:19.640 or any form of unkindness, ask yourself, how would it be if I was on the receiving end of this? Would 00:33:19.640 –> 00:33:26.959 I want to be on the other side of this? If I go down the road of this form of action and it comes 00:33:26.959 –> 00:33:32.459 back upon me in my life, is that something that I would welcome or is that something I would shun? 00:33:32.459 –> 00:33:42.760 And, let, therefore, that principle act as a restraint to you in times of temptation. Your 00:33:42.760 –> 00:33:52.079 own sin will correct you. That’s how God’s governance works in regards to his own children 00:33:52.079 –> 00:33:57.920 in this world. That’s how God brings us to a place where we really hate what we used to love. 00:33:57.920 –> 00:34:04.060 And you see it in the life of Jacob, and we’re gonna see exactly how it worked out 00:34:04.060 –> 00:34:08.439 in the life of David in the weeks that lie ahead in this series. 00:34:08.659 –> 00:34:15.840 Now let me apply this very important Bible principle that isn’t spoken about very 00:34:15.840 –> 00:34:23.300 often I fear, and may apply it in this way by way of help and encouragement. I want to speak 00:34:23.300 –> 00:34:33.000 right now to the person in the congregation today who feels, wow I can see this in my life! I can 00:34:33.040 –> 00:34:38.679 see that I’m under the discipline of God right now! I can see that I am reaping what I have 00:34:38.679 –> 00:34:45.899 sown, and it’s not pretty, and it is very painful! Is there any help and is there any hope and is 00:34:45.899 –> 00:34:54.840 there any encouragement for me? Yes there is, listening! The Lord disciplines the one He loves, 00:34:54.840 –> 00:35:02.479 the book of Hebrews says. The fact that God is exercising discipline in your life means He 00:35:02.719 –> 00:35:13.800 has not given you up. It does mean that He has future work for you to do and He is committed 00:35:13.800 –> 00:35:21.040 to purging out of your soul the love of a particular sin, to make you a different and 00:35:21.040 –> 00:35:27.899 a better man or woman. There’s a comment from Dr. R. T. Kendall that I find very helpful. 00:35:28.139 –> 00:35:35.439 It’s in his book on Jonah who of course also experienced the discipline of God and experienced 00:35:35.439 –> 00:35:39.540 it because God wanted to bring him back, because there was more work that God had for him to 00:35:39.540 –> 00:35:45.739 do. God didn’t give Jonah up the same way as he’s not giving you up. And Kendall says 00:35:45.739 –> 00:35:54.360 this. God’s chastening, that is His discipline, is not meted out in proportion to our sins. 00:35:54.360 –> 00:36:00.719 You have to understand this, this is not retribution. These are two different things. God’s discipline 00:36:00.719 –> 00:36:06.340 is not retribution. It’s not meted out as punishment in relation to or in proportion 00:36:06.340 –> 00:36:15.739 to our sins, but God’s discipline is in proportion to the lesson we have to learn. And the greater 00:36:15.739 –> 00:36:21.919 the work that is ahead of us, the greater the trial right now. 00:36:22.020 –> 00:36:23.919 You see, restoring is more 00:36:23.919 –> 00:36:32.760 than forgiving, it’s not less, it’s more. Restoring involves purging out of the heart 00:36:32.760 –> 00:36:41.919 that which brought a person to love a particular thing that was a scorning of the Lord, to 00:36:41.919 –> 00:36:48.679 make you hate what you use to love. And it is for that purpose and with that goal that 00:36:48.679 –> 00:36:53.260 God’s discipline is exercised in the life of a believer. That’s why it’s exercised 00:36:53.260 –> 00:36:57.020 in this way, that you reap what you sow, so that you actually come to hate what you use 00:36:57.020 –> 00:37:02.540 to love. The Lord disciplines those who he loves. 00:37:02.540 –> 00:37:07.919 If you are saying today, boy, I can see this pattern in my own life, then thank God for 00:37:07.919 –> 00:37:13.540 this, it means you are a child of God. It means that he has not given you up. It means 00:37:13.659 –> 00:37:20.360 he will not let you go. It means that he has work yet for you to do. So receive this from 00:37:20.360 –> 00:37:26.060 the Scriptures. All discipline seems painful at the time, the Bible says, but later it 00:37:26.060 –> 00:37:33.939 yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 00:37:33.939 –> 00:37:41.139 How does God restore? Thank God, he restores! Thank God it’s not retribution and it’s not 00:37:41.540 –> 00:37:48.120 renunciation, it’s restoration. That’s what God’s doing, and how does he do it? He speaks 00:37:48.120 –> 00:37:57.219 and he disciplines. Number three, he forgives. He forgives. 00:37:57.219 –> 00:38:06.040 David said to Nathan, verse 13, I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said to David, 00:38:06.419 –> 00:38:14.620 the Lord has put away your sin. You shall not die. 00:38:14.620 –> 00:38:22.679 I’ve been very struck – as I pondered this over these last days – about the difference 00:38:22.679 –> 00:38:30.199 between Saul and David. You remember in the story of Saul that Saul broke the law of God 00:38:30.419 –> 00:38:40.760 was all over for him. The lord has rejected you. There was no repentance from Saul. There was no 00:38:40.760 –> 00:38:51.080 restoration of Saul. But when David sinned, God went after him. When David sinned, God spoke to 00:38:51.080 –> 00:38:57.800 him. When David sinned, God disciplined him. When David sinned, God forgave him. Why did God do that 00:38:57.800 –> 00:39:05.000 for David? And the answer surely has to be this, that God had bound himself to David with 00:39:05.000 –> 00:39:13.320 a covenant promise. We looked at that a while ago in 2 Samuel 7, in verse 14, 00:39:13.320 –> 00:39:21.000 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” And notice this, When he commits iniquity, 00:39:21.560 –> 00:39:31.719 I will discipline him with the rod of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him. 00:39:34.199 –> 00:39:39.399 God says to David, I’m binding myself to you in a covenant promise in which I’m a 00:39:39.399 –> 00:39:45.159 father. And I’ll treat you like a father treats a dearly loved son, 00:39:47.000 –> 00:39:49.959 That will involve discipline where there is iniquity. But 00:39:49.959 –> 00:39:54.199 my love I will never, never, never take from you. 00:39:55.879 –> 00:40:01.399 We saw when we looked at that promise that it all related to what God would one day do 00:40:01.399 –> 00:40:05.959 in regards to the line of David, to which he committed himself. Someone would come 00:40:05.959 –> 00:40:11.159 into that line and his kingdom would be established forever. David’s greater son 00:40:11.159 –> 00:40:17.959 would be the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Lord Jesus Christ, who never sinned, would 00:40:17.959 –> 00:40:23.639 be the one who would go to the cross and would die for the sins of others. So when 00:40:23.639 –> 00:40:31.399 God says to David here, the Lord has put away your sin, where did God put his sin? 00:40:31.399 –> 00:40:40.120 God put his sin on Jesus. He bore our sin in his body on the tree, 00:40:40.120 –> 00:40:47.080 and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The covenant promise that God 00:40:47.080 –> 00:40:57.879 made to David pointed to Jesus, and David is included in the covenant promise of the 00:40:57.879 –> 00:41:05.639 father’s commitment to his own son. And everyone who looks in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ 00:41:05.639 –> 00:41:16.280 is included in that promise as well. For someone who is smarting under the discipline 00:41:16.280 –> 00:41:24.439 of God, I want to say today that in Jesus Christ, you are a child of God. 00:41:24.439 –> 00:41:35.399 That in Jesus Christ, God has put away your sin. That in Jesus Christ, He still has work for 00:41:35.399 –> 00:41:45.879 you to do and in Jesus Christ, He will never, never, never let you go. Let’s pray together. 00:41:45.879 –> 00:41:53.300 Father in heaven, we are so profoundly grateful for your amazing gifts without 00:41:53.320 –> 00:42:01.100 which we would be completely and utterly lost forever. Thank you for your promise 00:42:01.100 –> 00:42:06.000 that you never abandoned your children, that in Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd 00:42:06.000 –> 00:42:12.020 you come after the lost sheep to restore the lost sheep precisely because 00:42:12.020 –> 00:42:19.459 it’s your own. Thank you for your word by which you speak and waken us up so 00:42:19.459 –> 00:42:25.659 that we do not languish in our cover-ups forever. Thank you for the gift of 00:42:25.659 –> 00:42:29.439 repentance that we see doesn’t come to us naturally but comes through the work 00:42:29.439 –> 00:42:36.659 of your Spirit. Thank you for your discipline because it means that you 00:42:36.659 –> 00:42:42.060 have not abandoned us and that you still have work for us to do and you’re 00:42:42.060 –> 00:42:49.040 changing us to equip us for it. Thank you most of all for your Son and for your 00:42:49.040 –> 00:42:56.399 Covenant promise which is ours in him. Thank you that he bore our sins in his 00:42:56.399 –> 00:43:00.879 body on the tree and that the death that would have been ours was on him, so that 00:43:00.879 –> 00:43:07.760 the life that is in him will be in us. Thank you dear father that you do not 00:43:07.760 –> 00:43:15.219 deal with your children in retribution nor in renunciation but in Jesus Christ 00:43:15.300 –> 00:43:20.979 you bring restoration, and for this we give you our thanks and our praise 00:43:21.300 –> 00:43:26.120 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 00:43:28.040 –> 00:43:31.580 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 00:43:31.879 –> 00:43:40.020 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website openthebible.org 00:43:45.219 –> 00:43:47.280 you
