Dover Assembly of God
We left off at the end of 2 Samuel 11. David had just heard the Uriah was dead and now he felt relieved.
No one would know, he would not be found out. He was safe.
But as we said these past 2 weeks, sin hurts others sometimes more than ourselves.
2 Samuel 11:26 NIV
2 Samuel 11:27 NIV
The Hebrew phrasing of this says “David sent and collected her” -- emphasizing the abuse of power that David was till engaged in.
Once he felt the problem had been dealt with, he renewed his arrogance towards others and continued to abuse his royal power. His position of authority was being abused in order to fulfill his wicked desires.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV
Things we see and hear in the news is nothing new.
But even as David is living like nothing happened and thinking he got away with it, 2 Samuel 11 ends with a truth that we all need to realize.
2 Samuel 11:27 NIV
God knows everything we do. Every secret sin or desire, God knows as if we broadcasted it on national TV. Even if people don’t know, God knows.
Another thing to note about this: God saw the whole thing, but He didn’t intervene.
Think about it, God could have caused any number of things to happen that would have stopped David from sinning in the first place.
Don’t have the mistaken impression that if God didn’t want it to happen, he would stop it. Free will means that he will let us play out our sins.
2 Samuel 12:1 NIV
Doing God’s will is sometimes an unpleasant task. Sometimes we have to confront others about their sin or maybe even just confront them with things that aren’t right.
If we let these situations go unaddressed, then we are being disobedient to God.
2 Samuel 12:1-3 NIV
Nathan is setting David up--getting him to be emotionally invested in this story. He wants David to see and feel what God is feeling at that time.
2 Samuel 12:4 NIV
David has no clue that this is about him. He is blinded by sin or maybe he doesn’t even think he did anything wrong.
Since our sins make us selfish, that also makes us not feel guilty about them. We rationalize away any guilt or conviction that HS may have brought.
But we get doubly mad at others who may be sinning.
Matthew 7:3-5 NIV
That is why we need to constantly evaluate our own lives to see where we really are. It’s easy to drift off course a bit and think we’re ok.
We don’t want to get to David’s position where God has to get involved.
2 Samuel 12:5 NIV
David gets so angry about this, he is so tied into the story that he gets irrational about it.
Stealing a lamb was not a capital offense, yet David wanted him to die for it. He was so blind to what was happening here, he was actually passing judgement on himself.
He was alert to others sins but blind to his own.
Joseph Butler says: “Many men seem perfect strangers to their own character.”
Are we blind to our character? Do we fail to see how we sinful we are? But notice the same traits in others?
Nathan realizes that David is angry but he is unguarded. He is ready for God’s word to pierce him.
He is ripe for the sword of the spirit to cut him to the quick.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
2 Samuel 12:7-9 NIV
First David had forgotten how good God had been to him. He blessed him more than abundantly. He met his every need and even whim.
And yet David despised all that and wanted probably the one thing God said he couldn’t have.
Sounds like Adam & Eve? Eat all you want except this ONE TREE.
Do we forget all the blessings that we have received in our lives? Do we look at the few things that God says NO to and want them, rather than appreciating all we do have?
2 Samuel 12:9 NIV
To despise means “to break his commands and to incur guilt and punishment.”
God reiterated David’s sin:
~ You killed Uriah!
~ You TOOK Uriah’s wife!
Now for the punishment...
2 Samuel 12:10 NIV
David was a man after God’s heart, but he was not above God’s law nor above God’s punishment.
No matter how spiritual we think we are or how long we have served God or our position in God’s economy, none of us is above God.
2 Samuel 12:11-12 NIV
Look at what happens to David after this.
God fulfills his promise.
~ Calamity does befall David.
~ Amnon rapes Tamar
~ Absalom sleeps with David’s wives in broad daylight. (What David did in secret, Absalom does in public)
~ Adonijah tries to get his dead father’s concubine.
Notice how all these things are all variations of the same sin that David did.
Children learn what they live.
2 Samuel 12:13 NIV
To his credit (of course after he was busted) he repented. He didn’t try to justify it or wiggle out of it. He acknowledged his guilt.
If we are confronted with situations that we need to address in our lives, we would do better to acknowledge them rather than trying to explain them away or not accept responsibility.
2 Samuel 12:13-14 NIV
Forgiven but still suffering the consequences of his actions.
The baby was conceived while she was still Uriah’s wife and she did not belong to David, therefore the child cannot belong to David.
2 Samuel 12:15 NIV
God won’t let you enrich yourself through your sin.
Through this chastening (not punishment), David was able to humble himself, accept responsibility and endure the suffering that came his way.
Chastening is difficulty permitted by God wants us to submit to His will and develop Godly character.
David learned that during this time.
Psalm 32 & 51 are David’s prayers of a person who had lost everything--Psalms that each of us has likely read at some point or another and we take comfort in them.
The take-away from this is that God is always looking to redeem each of us regardless of our sin.
He will use the consequences of those sins to get our attention and hopefully push us towards him.
Proverbs 3:11-12 NLT
Whatever fallout you may be experiencing now, do not take it as a punishment from an angry God, but correction from a loving father who wants to restore you to what you were always meant to be.