(Read 2 Sam 11:1-13)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” I trust you have been learning about God’s Grace in this series. I know that I have learned a great deal about Grace and I pray we continue to learn and grow together. In the last message I provided you I told you that the message of God’s Grace does not exonerate us from consequences. Grace does not mean that God will always keep you from enduring the harsh results of bad decisions, it just means that God will use you in spite of them. We already know David was not perfect, but in today’s message the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David, to help the King realize the error of his ways.
Nathan the prophet was led of the Lord to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”
David was furious at the thought of Nathan’s story. The King vowed, “As surely as the LORD lives, any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.” Nathan then said something David was not expecting. The prophet said, “You are that man!” I can only imagine how David received those words. They must have hit him like a ton of bricks and the reality of what Nathan was saying must have pierced through David’s heart. What David had done in secret had come to light. He was being exposed by a hand servant of God. But Nathan did not stop there. He continued, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.” Notice how the Lord was taking credit for His part in David’s life. God was making it clear to David that he had not ascended to the throne on his own effort alone. No, God was working behind the scenes and without God David would have still been tending sheep.
The Lord through Nathan continued, “From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.” The Lord said so much that David’s head and heart were reeling. All David could say was, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
So what does this mean to you today? There is so much here. I will simply seek to glean a few golden nuggets:
1. You can’t take all the credit for your success. The Lord made it clear to David that He was behind his ascension to King. Without God David would have still been a Shepherd. God called him out of his family’s house, God graced him to kill the giant, God protected him while he was on the run, and God anointed and ascended him to the throne in his timing (once Saul was dead). Your name may not be David and your calling may not be to rule as king, but God has been involved in your life and success nonetheless. Whatever level of success you have enjoyed, God has been part of it. Make sure to acknowledge that!
2. Don’t think there are no consequences to sin. David initially thought he got away with it. Uriah was dead, Bathsheba was his wife, the baby was on the way, and life was looking good. But then it came time for him to reap the bad harvest on the bad seed he had sown. The message for you is simple: don’t tempt God. Now that you are forgiven of sin and sin has no power over you, you must make every attempt to live free from sin, because your actions (good or bad) will produce corresponding results.
3. It might be a secret to man, but it is not a secret to God. Nothing is hidden from God. There is no where you can go that God is not there, and you can’t even think a thought without God knowing it before it came to your mind. So while you might think you are getting over on others, you will never get over on God. Nothing is hidden from God. Live your life with the understading of that reality. God is always looking and He is looking for you to live a life that is pleasing in His sight.
4. It’s only by mercy that your wrong has not been exposed. When you think of how David was exposed, or when you think of how some of our modern day leaders are exposed on news broadcasts, don’t ever look down on them. Just be thankful that it is not you. Sure, maybe you did not do what they did, but you have not been perfect. What if all your sin were exposed on tonight’s evening news? How would that make you feel? So, instead of looking down on them, pray for them. I don’t need to name names, but enough leaders have taken a fall lately for all of us to think of a few people that we can pray for today. Let’s pray for them, their spouses, their children, their organizations and the condition of their hearts. When our brothers and sisters are down, that is no time for us to walk away from them. We are no better than them, it’s just that we have not been exposed. So let’s pray for them in earnest.
Closing Confession: Father, I know I cannot take all the credit for my success. I am who I am by Your Grace. I am not a self-made man/woman, I am a God-made man/woman. Without your grace I would be nothing. I know I have had a part in my success, but I also understand that the part I was able to contribute to my success also came by Your Grace, so I don’t even take credit for that. You have been much better to me than I have been to You and for that I will always be thankful. I know there are consequences to sin and I live my life with that understanding. I don’t do things in the dark, thinking I am going to get away with it, because I know there is nothing hidden from You. It is only by Your mercy that my sin has not been exposed. I am not perfect, so I refuse to look down on those who have been exposed. If all my wrong were on the evening news tonight, I would be a man-most-miserable. Thank You Father for helping me to live a life that is pleasing in Your sight and for covering me when I do go astray. I humble myself before You, I abstain from even the appearance of evil, I acknowledge You in all my ways, and I thank You for directing and blessing my path. I enter this day and this week cognizant of Your Grace and mercy. Your Grace empowers me to do what I could not do without You and Your mercy keeps me from receiving the full-brunt of my poor decisions. Thank You for Grace and mercy, and thank You for being so good to me. I am ready for this day, not because I am so good, but because You are! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
