Reading: 2 Samuel chapter 12 verses 1-14:
Ill:
• A young lady was sunbathing on the beach;
• When a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel,
• Came up to her and asked her, "Do you believe in God?"
• She was surprised by the question but she replied, "Why, yes, I do."
• Then he asked her: "Do you go to church every Sunday?"
• Again, her answer was "Yes!"
• He then asked: "Do you read your Bible and pray everyday?"
• Again she said, "Yes!"
• By now her curiosity was very much aroused.
• The little lad sighed with relief and said,
• "Will you hold my money while I go in for a swimming?"
Honesty is a great characteristic to have:
• King David used to be a man of integrity but at this stage in his life;
• All that has evaporated way!
• The last verse of last weeks study is very telling;
• And it is also a link to this chapter.
• Chapter 11 verse 27:
• “But the thing David had done displeased the LORD”.
Question: What had David done?
Answer:
• David had committed adultery with a lady named Bathsheba;
• It then got worse because she became pregnant with his child;
• And to cover up this messy situation;
• David then arranged for Uriah her husband to be placed in the front line of the battle;
• Knowing that he would then be killed.
• This selfish & evil plan worked perfectly;
• Uriah the husband was killed in battle;
• And after a time of mourning David then took his widow (Bathsheba) as his wife.
• Sp for David and Bathsheba the plan had worked out well,…or so they thought;
• Quote: Numbers chapter 32 verse 33: “Be sure your sins will find you out”
Ill:
The drunk husband snuck up the stairs quietly.
• He had been in a fight earlier that night.
• And as he looked in the bathroom mirror;
• He could see the cuts and bruises of his foolish actions;
• He cleaned them u p as best he could and then he proceeded to climb into bed,
• Thinking that his wife would never know;
• He had managed to put one over on his wife.
• When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood an angry looking wife.
• She said to him “You were drunk last night weren’t you!”
• He replied: “No, honey.”
• She responded:
• “Well, if you weren’t drunk, who put all the band-aid plasters on the bathroom mirror?”
• Quote: Numbers chapter 32 verse 33: “Be sure your sins will find you out”
• David is about to discover the truth of that verse;
• Because in this passage ‘his sins’ are about to ‘find him out’.
Notice the little word ‘sent’ in verse 1:
• Twelve times in the last chapter (11) the word “sent” is used by the author.
• A number of these instances refer to David “sending” someone;
• Or “sending” for someone.
• I think it emphasises the fact that David is a man of power and authority,
• He can “send out” for whatever he wants and he gets it!
• Including the death of Uriah.
• I wonder if David assumed he was so powerful that he was now ‘outside the Law’;
• Rules, commandments applied to others but not him;
• After all he was the great King David!
But now in this chapter, notice it is God who does the “sending.”
• “The LORD sent Nathan to David.”
• David needs a reminder;
• That you cannot just do what you want and expect to get away with it!
• David need to relearn that he might be a powerful, awesome king on earth;
• But he is just another sinner as far as heaven is concerned!
• Maybe that’s why in verse 7b&8 the Lord uses the word ‘I’ again and again;
• David you were a ‘nobody’ that ‘I’ (the Lord) made a ‘somebody’.
• But David seems to have forgotten that.
• Maybe that’s why in verse 7b&8 the Lord uses the word ‘I’ again and again;
• In fact the word ‘I’ is used 5 times in these two verses.
7 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more
• These verses are reminding us;
• That God is not just generous and good towards us;
• But that no-one, not even the great King David is ‘outside of God’s Law’.
• So God ‘sent’ Nathan the prophet.
• To confront David about his sin with Bathsheba.
• And when Nathan arrives on the scene it is payback time.
• ill: Credit Cards give opportunity for reckless and selfish spending & living;
• ill: But sooner or later the bills start arriving – and its payback time.
Quote Chad Walsh:
"The true function of a preacher is to disturb the comfortable and to comfort the disturbed."
• If you want an example of that look at Nathan in this passage;
• He disturbed David from his comfortable, lethargic position regarding his sinful actions;
• And yet he would also go on to comforts the disturbed, repentant David.
For Nathan this was not an easy situation:
• In 2 Samuel chapter 2 verse 7:
• Nathan had the privilege of delivering good news to king David;
• (every preacher likes to deliver a message of good news).
• Nathan had the privilege of delivering good news to king David;
• That God had promised, made a covenant with David and his descendants.
• He promised him 3 things - an eternal house, an eternal throne, & an eternal kingdom.
• But now in this chapter the prophet is going to deliver bad news:
• (no preacher likes to deliver a message of bad news).
• But now in this chapter Nathan is going to have to confront the king about his sins.
• That is hard enough to do with anyone you know;
• But to do it before royalty is even harder.
Ill:
• Hugh Lattimer once preached before King Henry VIII.
• Henry was greatly displeased by the boldness in the sermon;
• And ordered Lattimer to preach again on the following Sunday;
• And also to apologize for the offence he had given.
• The next Sunday, after reading his passage from the Bible;
• He began his sermon:
• “Hugh Lattimer, dost thou know before whom thou are this day to speak?
• To the high and mighty monarch, the king’s most excellent majesty,
• Who can take away thy life, if thou offendest.
• Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease.
• But then consider well, Hugh,
• Dost thou not know from whence thou comest - upon Whose message thou are sent?
• Even by the great and mighty God,
• Who is all-present and Who beholdeth all thy ways
• And Who is able to cast thy soul into hell!
• Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully.”
• He then preached the same sermon he had preached the preceding Sunday;
• Only this time with considerably more energy.
For Nathan this was not an easy situation:
• When God told Nathan the prophet exactly what David had done,
• It must have shocked him.
• This was not the David that Nathan knew.
• This David had committed some atrocities that Nathan could not have imagined him doing,
• This was not the ‘David a man after God’s own heart’.
• He might have begun to wonder if David’s entire personality had changed.
• It had happened to King Saul – had it now happened to David as well!
• Nathan may have been worried about his own personal well being?
• Would David’s anger flare up at him?
• Would he threaten, or even have Nathan murdered to continue his cover up scheme?
• Nathan had no way of knowing what the king’s reaction would be.
• So there was a great risk involved for Nathan as he confronts David about his sin.
• He did not know how the king would react;
• He might even lose his life for his obedience to Gods message.
I want to divide this passage under 4 headings:
(1). The Parable (vs 1-6).
ill:
Nathan Rap by Adrian Plass (‘Clearing Away The Rubbish’).
It was evening in the palace when the prophet came by,
There was trouble in his manner, there was thunder in his eye,
He was still for a moment, he was framed in the door,
And the king said, ’Nathan! ... What are you here for?’
The prophet said, ’David, I’ve a tale to tell,’
So the king sat and listened as the darkness fell,
While the hard-eyed prophet took a seat and began,
The story of a merciless and evil man.
’This man,’ said Nathan, ’had a mountain of gold,
Sheep by the thousand he bought and sold,
He never said, "Can I afford it or not?"
What this man wanted, this man got!
And one thing he wanted, and he wanted real bad,
Was the only living thing that a poor man had,
And he knew that it was wrong, but he took it just the same.’
’I’ll kill him!’ said the king, ‘Just tell me his name!’
’It was a lamb,’ said the prophet, ’just a little baby lamb,
But he saw it and he took it and he didn’t give a damn,
And he knew that it was special, and he knew it was a friend,
And he knew about the sadness that would never, never end,
And that same man began to plan a far more evil thing.’
Then David rose and cried aloud, ’He’ll reckon with the king!’
’So do you think,’ said Nathan, ’we should stop his little game?’
’I’ll smash him!’ shouted David, ’tell me his name!’
’Be careful,’ said the prophet, ’don’t go overboard,’
For David’s eyes were shining like the blade of a sword,
’Perhaps you should be merciful, perhaps you should try
To understand the man before you say he must die.’
But David said, ’I understand that wrong is always wrong,
I am the king, I must defend the weak against the strong.’
Then Nathan questioned softly, ’So this man must take the blame?’
And the king was screaming, ’Nathan! Will you tell me his name?’
Then a silence fell upon them like the silence of a tomb,
The prophet nodded slowly as he moved across the room,
And, strangely, as he came he grew more awesome and more wise,
And when he looked at David there was sadness in his eyes.
But David’s anger burned in him, he drew his sword and said,
’I swear, before the dawn has come, that sinner will be dead!
No more delay, no mercy talk, give me his name!’ he cried,
Then Nathan said, ’It’s you, it’s you!’ and the king just died.
It’s obvious that Nathan prepared carefully for his encounter with the guilty king.
• And he chose to confront him by way of a parable.
• An ordinary story which has a deeper meaning alongside it.
• We are used to parables because Jesus used this form of teaching;
• In fact he told 33 parables while he was here on planet earth.
• Jesus did not invent parables – this form of teaching is part of Jewish tradition.
• In the Bible there are about 250 parables/allegories.
• Now Nathan knew that in telling a story about the crime of another,
• David would let his guard down and be open to hear the message HE needed to hear.
• And as David listened to Nathan;
• He had no-idea that the parable was about him.
• He probably thought;
• Nathan was presenting him with an actual case from the local court.
• Since David had been a shepherd himself,
• Nathan knew he would pay close attention to a story about the theft of an innocent lamb;
• And as king, he was obligated to see that poor families were given justice.
The parable Nathan told is very, very clever:
• Notice:
• It is the story of a poor shepherd.
• That is exactly how David used to describe himself.
• e.g. 1 Samuel chapter 18 verse 23:
• When David heard that Saul wanted him to be his son-in-law,
• He exclaimed the same Hebrew word for “poor” in verse 1:
• “I’m only a poor man and little known”.
• Notice: Nathan’s use of language in verse 3:
• “It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms”.
• This should have reminded David of Uriah’s speech in chapter 11 verse 11:
• Where Uriah says: “How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife?”
• But notice: it wasn’t until Nathan told about the rich man stealing and killing the lamb;
• That David showed any response,
• At last David the former shepherd;
• Allows this parable to touch his heart as well as his mind.
• He is outraged by this mans selfish and uncaring actions.
• And he is now determined to do something about it.
David passed judgment on the rich man without realizing he was passing judgment on himself.
• Quote: Joseph Butler
• "Many men seem perfect strangers to their own character,"
• Quote:
• “Of all blindness, the worst kind is that which makes us blind to ourselves.”
• Self-deception had successfully blinded king David:
• He was unable to see the truth of his actions & situation;
Quote: Once commentator points out that
“God still provides two safeguards against self-deception: his Word and true friends.
In each case we get a view beyond ourselves”.
• God gave king David those two safeguards:
• He gave him his friend & spiritual advisor Nathan.
• He also gave him his word – through Nathan the prophet.
(2). The revelation (vs 7-9):
• When Nathan looked at the king and said in verse 7, "You are the man!"
• The parable had done its job;
• David suddenly understood not only the earthly story.
• But the deeper meaning that ran alongside it.
• ill: It was as if somebody had just turned the lights on and removed the darkness!
And for David - reacting to the parable before he realised its meaning:
• ill: David has just dug his own grave,
• ill: He has hanged himself on his own rope;
• Verse 5: “The man who did this deserves to die!”
Three reasons are given as to why David was guilty:
• First (vs 7-8):
• The king forgot the goodness of the Lord who had given him everything he had;
• And would have given him even more if he had asked for it!
• David forgot the blessings of God in his life!
• Second (vs 9):
• David had despised God’s commandment;
• He acted as though it was alright for him to sin.
• David assumed he had special circumstances or rights to sin.
• He was the king, he could do whatever he wanted to do.
• Thirdly (vs 9):
• David had broken four of the Ten Commandments.
• He had coveted, committed adultery & bore false witness & murdered.
• David forgot that sin matters to God.
• ill: He might sweep it under the carpet but God doesn’t!
(3). The Consequences (vs 10-12):
• The Bible teaches that ‘The wages of sin is death’.
• In other words the wages, the pay that’s comin’ is always destructive & devastating!
• How true that was for David:
• His consequences are threefold:
FIRST (VS 10):
• David you put Uriah to death by the sword.
• And for you ‘The sword did not depart from the king’s household’.
• Your peaceful reign as king is over
• From now on expect warfare.
SECONDLY (VS 6):
• David had said that the ‘traveller’ in the parable;
• Should payback fourfold the lamb he had taken.
• And so David fulfilled his own words – he would pay back fourfold,
• For the innocent life he had taken.
• i.e. Bathsheba’s baby died, and his sons Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah were all slain.
THIRDLY (VS 12):
• David you committed all your sins in private,
• But the consequences of your sins are going to be very public!
Note:
• For the rest of David’s lifetime, he experienced one tragedy after another,
• Either in his family or in the kingdom.
• What a price he paid for those few minutes of passion with his neighbour’s wife!
(4). The Confession (vs 13-14).
“Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.””
• This confession was short and succinct;
• But it came from the heart of a broken man;
• We know this because that one line of confession is expanded in two of David’s psalms:
• Psalm 32 and Psalm 51.
In those two psalms we see another element to this story:
• David may have appeared to have gotton away with his sin;
• But during that six months of silence,
• The psalms tell us that he had in fact suffered intensely,
• You see it so clearly when you read his two prayers of confession.
• ill: Psalm 32:
• Pictures a sick old man instead of a virile warrior king,
• ill: And Psalm 51 describes a believer who had lost almost every’ thing;
• His purity, his joy, his witness, his wisdom, and his peace.
Quote: One commentator writes,
• “One may wonder, perhaps, why David was not punished with death;
• As he had so sternly advocated for the guilty man.
• Adultery and murder both were sufficient cause for the execution of even a king
• (Exodus 21:12; Leviticus 20:10).
• The answer surely lies in the genuine and contrite repentance which David expressed,
• Not only in the presence of Nathan but more fully in Psalm 51.
• David’s sin was heinous,
• But the grace of God was more than sufficient to forgive and restore him,
• As Nathan could testify”
ill:
• A advertisement sign on the side of a plumbers van read:
• “There is no place too deep, too dark or too dirty for us to handle.”
• What a wonderful illustration of God’s forgiving grace:
• “There is no person too deep in sin, too dark in soul or too dirty for God to handle.”
Quote: Richard Baxter
• “As we paid nothing for God’s eternal love and nothing for the Son of His love,
• And nothing for His Spirit and our grace and faith, and nothing for our eternal rest...
• What an astonishing thought it will be;
• To think of the unmeasurable difference between our deservings and our receivings.
• O, how free was all this love, and how free is this enjoyed glory...
• So then let “Deserved” be written on the floor of hell
• But on the door of heaven and life, “The Free Gift”.
• A – Admit – your need.
• B – Believe – on Jesus Christ
• C – Consider – consider the cost
• D – Do – something – pray here and now!
