Let's take our Bibles now and open up to 2 Samuel
chapter 12. 2 Samuel chapter 12, we're going
to look at verses 1 through 15 this morning.
We're continuing our sermon series through the
life of David. We're not hitting every location
in David's life, not hitting every chapter. of
first and second Samuel. We're hitting the highlights,
but if you know your Bibles well and you were
here last week, you noticed that we're skipping
over a very important chapter. You might say,
why are we not looking at chapter 11? Because
indeed you need to know chapter 11 in order to
know chapter 12. Well, what I'm going to do is
we're going to focus our efforts in chapter 12,
but I am going to summarize chapter 11 because
we need to understand it. We need to hear it.
It needs to be explained. It needs to be applied.
So we'll spend time in both chapters this morning,
2 Samuel 11 and 12, but for now I'll read chapter
12, 1 through 15. Let's give careful attention
to the reading of God's holy word. 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 yew 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 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. Then David's
anger was greatly kindled against the man. 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 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've 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 the 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. This is God's word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this word,
as convicting as it is. Lord, would you help
us to see from this how badly we need your grace,
your mercy, and your forgiveness? And would you
help us cause us, Lord? to do the work of spiritual
restoration of one another. Make us like Nathan
and put Nathan's in our lives and grant us understanding
now we pray in Christ's name, amen. What do you
think Jesus says in Matthew chapter 21? Jesus
we know can tell a parable just like Nathan.
So in Matthew 21 Jesus says what do you think
a man had two sons and He went to the first and
he said son go work in the vineyard today and
the son said To his father. I will not do it
But then later he came to his senses and he did
But the man also had a second son and so the
man said to his son go son work in the vineyard
And the son said, I will do it. But then he did
not. And Jesus said to the religious rulers,
the chief priests and the Pharisees, he said,
which of the two did the will of his father?
And those religious leaders said, the first one.
Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, the tax
collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom
of God before you. sometimes with a parable can
be really difficult to understand, right? But
sometimes with a parable, it's very direct. And
that's what happens in Matthew chapter 21 as
Jesus tells this parable to the religious leaders,
he's saying in effect, you are the man. You are
the ones who do this. And so if you're reading
Nathan's parable about this little lamb and you're
getting like tastes of Jesus' parables, I think
you should, right? Because that's exactly what
Nathan does. He tells a parable just like Jesus,
right? And so today we're gonna look at this
parable from Nathan, and we're gonna see what
Nathan was doing here. Nathan is cutting David
to the heart with truth. He's saying, David,
you have done this. And so let's see. what David
has done in summarizing chapter 11. You can see
in 2 Samuel 11 from the very get -go, from the
very start of verse 1, something is amiss. Something's
wrong in this text. Look there. In the spring
of the year, the time when kings go out to battle,
what does David do? He doesn't go out to battle.
He doesn't do it. David instead stays home. David
is idle here. That's his first problem. That's
his first offense. And what I want to show you
here is there's one little verb within the text
that kind of carries the narrative and it's this
one word send. I don't remember who pointed this
out to me, but once you see it, you won't be
able to unsee it. This verb send occurs over
and over and over again in the text. Instead
of David going off to battle, what does he do?
He sent Joab and his servants and all of Israel.
He sends them out to do the work that he should
have been doing with them. But let's look at
the second verb there, the second send. You can
see it in verses three and four. David spots
a beautiful woman as he is up top on the roof
of his house. He sees this beautiful woman Bathsheba
bathing and what does he do? He sends for her.
He sends for her. After this has happened some
time passes and what does she do? She sends word
to David and these are words that David doesn't
want to hear. She's pregnant. So what does David
do now? He tries to cover this up and So he sends
word to Joab send me Uriah the Hittite So David's
thinking if I can get Uriah the Hittite back
here, I can cover up my sin, right? Well, the
problem is that Uriah is just just about the
most upstanding man in all of Israel because
he comes back as David summons him, as David
sends for him, Uriah comes, but he will not go
to his own house. He says, I will not go there
while my men are out fighting or while the Ark
of the Covenant is out in the field. I will not
enjoy the comforts of my own home. David's like,
I got to try something else here. So what does
he try and do? He tries to intoxicate him with
strong drink and Uriah still won't go for it.
And so you just get this, imagine, you have this
thought here, I do, that David is probably at
this point pacing around the house, all right,
around the palace. This isn't going right. I
can't believe this is happening. What am I going
to do? I got to come up with a new plan. So what
does he do now? He sends a letter to Joab. and
he sends it by way of Uriah the Hittite. Put
Uriah on the front lines of the fighting and
then draw back. Uriah doesn't realize he is traveling
with this word about his own death. No doubt
this is what they intend to do, but something
goes wrong on the battlefield because it's not
just Uriah who is killed. When people pull back,
not everybody does. And so we learn from this
that it's not just Uriah the Hittite who dies,
it's other men. And the word of this catastrophe
is sent back to David. There's that word send
again. The damage is done. and the word reaches
Bathsheba about the death of her husband. And
then what does David do? One more time, he sends.
He sends for Bathsheba. Friends, what this story
really illustrates for us is that sin unchecked
runs amok. It runs wild. Think of all that David
does wrong in chapter 11. Idleness, lust, adultery,
abuse of power, causing drunkenness, murder.
He does all of these things. Friends, what we
need to learn here is that when we sin, we need
to immediately repent. We do not need to let
sin fester in our hearts. Think about our assurance
of pardon and grace today. The assurance of pardoning
grace from Psalm 32, when I kept silent my bones
wasted away through my groaning all day long.
Sin eats at us, doesn't it? Sin, unrepentant
sin, can destroy us. We do not need to treat
sin like it's a joke. We do not need to treat
sin like it's no big deal when we do that We
are doing injustice to the very holiness of God.
We don't need to make light of sin We need to
repent of sin again the assurance of pardoning
grace 32 5 this is what we need to do. I Acknowledged
my sin to you and I did not cover up my iniquity
I said I will confess my transgression to the
Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Friends, the sinful bent of our hearts is to
try and explain away sin. The sinful bent of
our hearts is to try and hide sin. We don't want
to look bad, right? So what do we do? If you're
like me, at times I would lie, I would cheat,
I would steal just to protect my own name. What
should we do instead? We should repent. We should
repent. Because when we try and hide our sin,
we're forgetting one very important fact. You
can hide your sin maybe for a little bit from
one another. You might even be able to hide it
from those who are very close to you. But children,
can you hide your sin from God? No, why is that?
Because God is omniscient. God knows everything.
God knows you better than you know yourself.
So trying to hide it is foolishness. David recognizes
here, and we're gonna talk about his repentance,
but we've read a little bit of Psalm 51. David
recognizes in this that we can try and hide our
sin, but ultimately we really can't. And so what
does he say in Psalm 51? Against you, you only
have I sinned and done evil in your sight. And
sometimes we look at Psalm 51 and we say, David
didn't just sin against the Lord, right? He sinned
against your eyes, he sinned against Bathsheba,
he sinned against all kinds of people within
this text. But what he is doing is he's acknowledging
that most obviously when we sin, we're sinning
against God. And you can't hide it. Do you remember
Cain? Do you remember when Cain killed Abel?
And what does God do? He's talking to Cain and
Cain says, I'm not my brother's keeper. He also
forgot God's omniscience, right? Or maybe you
remember Numbers 32, 23. It says, your sin will
find you out. Your sin will find you out. And
it's very much like what we tell our children.
Parents, you do this for your children, I'm sure.
Is that you tell your children, I'm here for
you. And if you ever get in trouble, you know
you can come talk to me, right? Don't keep things
from me. But when our children do keep those
things, or they try and cover it up, or they're
dishonest, that's when there's trouble in the
maple household, right? It's the same way with
God, isn't it? When we try and keep things from
God instead of repenting, that's where we're
in real trouble and you can see from this text
that what happens is that sin compounds sin.
So what do we need to do? We need to be honest
with God and we need to repent, right? But we
also see from this text and specifically from
chapter 12 that we need a lot of help with our
sin, don't we? Look at the parable that Nathan
tells David, verses one through six. This is
a heartbreaking story, right? So he tells this
story. There's two men in a city. The one is
rich and the one's poor. The rich man has everything
you could possibly want. He's got all kinds of
animals. He's got herds and he's got flocks.
But what about the poor man? What does he have?
Just this one little lamb. and he treats this
lamb like it's his daughter. But then a traveler
comes into town and he needs to be fed. What
does the rich man do? He takes from the poor
man. He takes the lamb from the poor man. Why
is Nathan telling a story about lambs to David?
Well, When we start to look at this parable,
we see that it very much describes David, doesn't
it? Think about who is the rich man within the
text. That's obviously David, because he takes
what is not his. But David's also abusing his
power here, isn't he? How was David even able
to spot Bathsheba? He was able to spot her because
of his lofty perch as king of Israel. His house,
his palace is taller than everybody else's and
so he's able to look down and see her. This again,
it's an abuse of power and it starts because
of his idleness, but it gets worse when he doesn't
repent. Now as you read this you're thinking
this is David. This is a man after God's own
heart, right? What happened to the David who
was more concerned about God having a house.
What happened to the David who the Lord made
covenant with? What happened to the David who
essentially adopted Mephibosheth at the table?
Where is that David? Well, friends, this is the
danger of sin. It's part of our fallen condition.
We've all fallen short of the glory of God. It
doesn't matter if you're a prince or a pauper,
right? We are all going to battle with this for
the rest of our lives and sin is blinding Consider
the book of James James chapter 1 verses 14 through
15 actually I'll read 13 through 15 Let no one
say when he's tempted. I'm being tempted by God
For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself
tempts no one But each person is tempted when
he is lured and enticed by his own desire Then
desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin
and sin when it's fully grown brings forth death
In other words desire gives birth to sin which
grows into maturity and brings death Sin is a
dangerous thing friends our sinful desires. We
have to put those away I like how God puts it
again to go back to Cain if you were to go to
Genesis chapter 4 You would see the way that
God speaks of sin there as he says essentially
that sin is crouching at the door friends sin
is a predator Waiting to pounce upon us. That's
we have to keep our guard up So how do we do
that? How can we ensure that we don't fall into
unrepentant sin? Well, this might seem very simple
and I don't mean to oversimplify it, but how
do we guard against sin? Read your Bible. Read
your Bible. Consider this from Psalm 119. Don't
worry, I won't read the whole chapter. Psalm
119, 9 through 16, and this is specifically addressed
to young people. So children, young people, listen
up, but all of us too. How can a young man keep
his way pure? By guarding it according to your
word. With my whole heart I seek you. Let me
not wander from your commandments. I have stored
up your word in my heart that I might not sin
against you. Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me
your statutes with my lips, I declare all the
rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies,
I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate
on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes. I will not forget
your word. Friends, do you love the word of God?
Do you spend time with it regularly, daily? David
acknowledges really two great things within just
that portion of Psalm 119. One, yes, God's Word
has the ability to keep us from sin as we meditate
on it, as we hide it in our hearts, but also
secondly, we should delight in it, right? We
should enjoy God's Word. God's Word is good food
for us. And so we can enjoy it. And when we enjoy
it, I think we will keep it even better, right?
Perhaps you've had an experience where you've
studied a book of the Bible or you've been doing
some reading and you're just like, I love this.
And then you have to remind yourself to do this
again and again. Why? Because it's so good for
you. but you thoroughly enjoy the word of God.
Friends, as you spend time with the Bible, you
will enjoy it more and you'll see that it's good
food for your soul. So we need God's word. But
secondly, we also need a Nathan. We desperately
need to be Nathan and to have Nathan's in our
lives. So let's talk about him for a few minutes.
You can see that Nathan is indeed an instrument
of the Lord. In chapter 11, I was pointing out
to you all those times when the Bible uses the
word send. Look at 12, verse one. And the Lord
sent Nathan to David. Nathan here is God's instrument
to help him to see the heinous nature of his
sin. We need people in our lives who can do this.
Do you know that you are to be a Nathan to others?
Do you know that? It's so very true. This is
one of the reasons why we desperately need the
church. If you will, and I've used a lot of scripture
here, but if you will, just go to Galatians for
a second. Galatians chapter 6. verse one And
take these words to heart Galatians 6 one brothers
if anyone is caught in any transgression You
who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit
of gentleness Keep watch on yourself lest you
too be tempted so Who is supposed to be doing
the work of spiritual restoration? Is it just
the elders? Is it just the deacons? Is it just
the Sunday school teachers? Is it just the wisest
woman or man within the church? No, Paul is very
clear. You who are spiritual. Who is supposed
to be doing the work of spiritual restoration
looking out for one another? It's to be all who
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are mature
enough to look out for temptation and say no
to it themselves. Meaning that every single one
of you who believes in Jesus, especially those
who are maturing, we're supposed to look out
for one another. We're supposed to help one another
when we're caught in sin, right? So do you do
that? Do I do that? We need to ask ourselves
these questions here. Realizing the work of spiritual
restoration is the job of the spiritual. Why?
Because sin is too sinful and temptation is too
tempting to go it alone. And so you can see how
effective Nathan was here as the Lord speaks
through him. Look in verse 13. He goes through
all of this and then David says to Nathan, very
simply, I have sinned against the Lord. I've
sinned against the Lord. Nathan says, the Lord
also has put away your sin. You shall not die.
David's heard all of this from Nathan. He's been
cut to the heart by it, and so he says probably
the only words that he could possibly utter,
and it's the words that we need to utter when
we sin. Lord, I've sinned against you. Forgive
me of my sin. Help me not to continue in these
sins any longer. We need to understand how heinous
sin is. And no doubt David here is confronted
with this sin in a very upfront kind of way.
But we can tell from passages like Psalm 51 and
from Psalm 32 that Indeed David did repent and
yet there can be lasting Consequences from our
sin can't there and so you see that's what Nathan
continues on to say right His house is going
to be plagued by violence He's going to lose
his wives to someone else there are lasting Consequences
to our sin, but friends just because there are
those consequences This does not mean somehow
that David is not forgiven. When we sin and especially
when we do so in a very egregious way there can
be consequences that are ongoing that are enduring
and for David actually when you look at the narrative
of his entire life what you realize this episode
with Bathsheba and Uriah this is the beginning
of the end for David. He's going to continue
battling all these things for the rest of his
life but this is the beginning of the end. And
yet, what a good work that Nathan did in confronting
him in his sin. Friends, I know it's not a fun
thing. It's a very hard thing to talk to one
another about sin. But imagine how much worse
it would have been for David if Nathan never
did that. Or imagine how much worse it would
have been for you if no one ever came to you
and said, brother, sister, I'm concerned about
you. Let's talk about this. This is the work
we all need to be doing. And so just three points
further of application. When we sin, we need
to repent quickly. We do not need to let sin
fester in our hearts. We need to understand how
badly we need to repent. And we need to have
Nathans in our lives. Secondly, let me jump to
1 Corinthians 10 13. And this indeed might be
one that you have memorized before because it's
so good for us. 1 Corinthians 10, 13. No temptation
has overtaken you that is not common to man.
And God is faithful, and He will not let you
be tempted beyond your ability. But with the
temptation, He will also provide the way of escape
that you may be able to endure it. I don't know
what temptations are bothering you these days.
I don't know what is going to confront you this
week, but I know this. From scripture God will
provide the way out so go to him and repent thirdly
and lastly Today if you've never repented of
sin Don't wait another minute Do not wait another
minute remember Jesus's words The time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and
believe the gospel We need to recognize that
Jesus has come, and He has come to take our place
on the cross. He is the substitute for sinners.
He has offered up Himself on the cross such that
you would be justified, such that you would be
forgiven, such that you would have a place with
Him forever. Friends, today realize that what
Jesus has done, He's given you Himself, He's
given you the gift of faith, and in doing so,
He's taken your sins and He's cast them into
the bottom of the sea. Let's pray. Father, in
heaven, thank you very much for your mercy and
your grace and your love. It is very true. You
have loved us before we loved you. You've chosen
us from before the foundation of the world. You
have poured out your grace upon us. Even though
we're sinful, Lord, we do sin daily and thought,
word, and deed, and yet you still pursue us.
You've still given us your Son, and you've given
us your Spirit. Lord, help us to be those who
repent quickly, and help us to be like Nathan,
to do the hard but necessary work of spiritual
restoration for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This we pray in Jesus' name, amen.