Forgiven And Free Series

Summer in the Psalms

Psalm 32: Forgiven and Free!

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

08-22-2021

David’s Mess

David stood on the roof of his palace looking out over his kingdom. It was the time that kings went off to war, but David decided to stay home for this campaign.

Something caught his eye. Or better said, someone. Bathsheba, the wife of one of David’s most trusted warriors, was bathing on the roof in the cool of the morning. She did this often as their was privacy on the roof. She thought no one could see her. But he was wrong. The lustful eyes of a bored king bore down on her bathing body.

David sent a servant to bring her to him. When reminded that she was married, David stared at the young boy long enough to let him know that he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Was it rape? Maybe not technically but he was the king and as they say, it’s good to be the king.

A couple of weeks pass and Bathsheba sends a message to the king that she is pregnant. David has a dilemma on his hands and needs to find a way out.

He brings Uriah, her husband, home from the battle and encourages him to go spend some time with his wife. But Uriah messes up the plan by having more integrity than the king. He sleeps on the steps of the palace two nights in a row. David even got him drunk but Uriah remains steadfast. He will not go enjoy a night with his wife when his men are in the field.

Uriah has forced David’s hand. He is stubborn and wouldn’t play along so David hands him a letter addressed to Joab, the commander of the army. What Uriah doesn’t know is that piece of parchment is his death sentence.

In the heat of the battle, while Uriah was close to the wall, the rest of the troops were ordered to pull back and Uriah fell, a victim of a desperate king.

When he heard the news, David shrugged and said, “The sword devours one and then another.” In other words, “Good riddance.”

Bathsheba mourned for her husband and, when the time of mourning was over, she became David’s wife.

The plan had worked brilliantly. No one knew the story. David had gotten away with it. Except, that was true.

2 Samuel 11 ends with this statement:

“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” (2 Samuel 11:27)

God sent Nathan the prophet to David with a story:

“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” (2 Sam 12:1-4)

David listened intently and then exploded with anger insisting that this man should be put to death because he had no pity.

Nathan took a deep breath and put a finger in the king’s face and said, “You are the man!”

David collapsed into complete despair and finally realize that he had sinned against the Lord.

In the book of Psalms, we read David’s journal entry concerning this event in Psalm 51. He pours out his confession to God and admits his sin. He begs God for forgiveness:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin…Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sin and blot out all my iniquity.” (Psalm 51:1-2, 7-9)

If God will answer his prayer, David promises to share what he has learned with others:

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.” (Psalm 51:13)

This is what we see happening in Psalm 32. It is called a “maskil,” which means “instruction.” Psalm 32 is a song of wisdom used to teach others.

It is one of the seven penitent psalms - psalms of confession and forgiveness.

The great theologian Augustine loved Psalm 32 so much that he had it engraved on his wall as he was dying so he could read it and meditate on it day and night.