What’s your reaction when you come flying over a hill on the QEII and find a patrol car sitting in the median? Does your foot immediately go for the brake pedal? Do the palms of your hands get sweaty and your stomach churn? If the patrol car turns on its lights and swings into your lane, those feelings only intensify don’t they? Why do police officers have to put us through such angst! Why don’t they busy themselves tracking down real criminals? You know the answer of course. If no one patrolled the highways, half of us would already be in heaven due to our crazy driving or someone else’s! Police officers patrol the highways to keep us safe.
In today’s Agents of Grace sermon we’re going to learn how David’s pastor, the prophet Nathan, was like a highway patrol officer. He pulled David over because the king was living recklessly in the fast lane. God used Nathan to keep David from throwing away his eternal future in heaven. That’s how God still uses pastors today. To tell you more, let me continue this sermon from the perspective of Nathan.
So you want to know what it was like to be King David’s pastor, do you? For the most part it was a delightful experience. David was not only an eager student of God’s Word, he was also eager to do God’s will. For example it bothered David that while he lived in a palace, the Ark of the Covenant was still in a tent. So he told me about his plans to build a temple, and I encouraged him to do it. But then God told me that David was not to be the one to build the temple, his son Solomon would do that. David didn’t pout about the matter, instead he just poured himself in getting everything ready for his son to build the temple. That’s the kind of believer David was: focused on doing God’s will...most of the time. There was of course that thing with Bathsheba. Let me tell you about it.
After David had solidified his position as king, he decided to take it easy. He sent his army out to fight while he himself stayed home. That down time got David into trouble. That’s usually the way it works, doesn’t it? When things are going well and life is easy, we sinners forget that we need the Lord just as much as when things aren’t going well!
One night when David went outside on his balcony to enjoy the fresh spring air, he noticed a young woman bathing. David should have turned away immediately, but he let his eyes linger, and then his mind filled with impure thoughts. When David asked a servant to find out who the woman was he replied: “That’s Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” God was trying to hold David back from sinning even more, for the servant might as well have said: “Oh King, she is a married woman, and married to one of your most faithful soldiers!” You see, Uriah was one of David’s 30 most valiant men. But inflamed by passion, David could care less about that. And so he rushed further into sin heedless of the consequences, like a drunk man running barefoot through a bonfire. David called for Bathsheba and spent the night.
Why did David do such a thing? Not because God hadn’t already blessed him with much. Not because he didn’t have a good upbringing. But because even in the man after God’s own heart, evil lurked and when given the opportunity it struck hard! Evil also lurks in your heart dear friends. Don’t give it the opportunity to take control of you as it did David for a time.
In his mercy, God made it impossible for David to cover up his sin, though he tried. When David found out that Bathsheba was pregnant, he called Uriah home from the battle front and tried to get him to spend a night with his wife so that when the baby was born, he would think that it was his. David even got Uriah drunk to accomplish his wicked plan. But a drunk Uriah displayed more integrity than a sober David, for he refused to enjoy the luxuries of home while his fellow soldiers were still toughing it out on the battlefield.
So David thought up another plan. It was the despicable plan of putting Uriah in the thick of the fight so that he would be sure to die. Uriah did die, and David, thinking he was in the clear, took Bathsheba home to be his wife. But God knew what David had done. And so David’s life was far from peaceful. Over a year later David would write about this time: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” (Psalm 32:3, 4).
The guilt over what he had done to Bathsheba and to Uriah ate away at David. But at least David felt guilt! The worst is when we don’t feel guilt over the sins we commit and the lies that we live. For then it means that we are shutting God out, like a man who shrugs on an extra layer of clothes to keep out the cold.
While we may be able to ignore our guilty conscience, we will not be able to ignore a righteous God on Judgment Day who will call us to account for our unrepented sins. But God does not delight in seeing his people lose salvation and heaven, any more than a parent delights in seeing a child lose a necklace she received from Grandma! Because God does care about us, he sends messengers to call us to repentance. I was God’s messenger to David.
Now I did wonder why God didn’t just speak to David himself. I mean he had done that with the many psalms David had written. Why didn’t he do that now in this matter with Bathsheba? I don’t know. But one thing is clear: it’s how God speaks to you today—through the Christians around you, including your pastor. Don’t ignore your pastor’s call to repentance. Don’t suppose that his words are just the opinions of a middle-aged white guy who is slightly out of touch with how the world works today. When he points out how the Bible says that the way you are living or thinking is contrary to God’s will, listen! Listen because it’s as if God himself is speaking to you. Your pastor is his agent of grace.
But we often treat God’s messengers like our kid brother don’t we? When he comes to tell you: “Mom says it’s time to come in now because we’re going to eat,” don’t you often just ignore the summons? Mom may send out that sibling again. And again the message is relayed. But because Mom hasn’t come herself, you don’t take the message seriously. But what will happen when Mom herself finally does come out to fetch you? She won’t be happy that you ignored her previous summons, even if she didn’t deliver them herself. Well an even greater anger awaits those who keep putting off God’s messengers. And it’s an anger that no excuse can quell, for it’s an anger that will burn forever!
Of course, we don’t like it when others, including our pastors, point out our sins. We feel like they’re the police who sit in the median looking for speeders. Trust me, your pastor is not sitting around looking to catch you in some sin. God has called him to be a shepherd, not a detective or a bouncer. But like the police, when he finds that you’re tearing through life like a maniac, disregarding God’s laws, he’s going to pull you aside to speak to you about this. He does this because he doesn’t want you to hurt yourself and others.
The Holy Spirit used me to bring David to repentance. I did so with that story about the rich man who took his poor neighbor’s only lamb, the one that had been like a pet, and fed it to one of his guests. David burned when he heard that story and was ready to tear that rich man from limb to limb. That’s when I announced: “David, you are the man.” The king could have denied it. He could have made excuses and said that it was Bathsheba’s fault for bathing outside. Instead he simply confessed his sin and acknowledged that he had been wrong. David put it so wonderfully when he later wrote: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge” (Ps. 51:4).
After David confessed his sin I immediately announced: “The Lord has taken away your sin!” I didn’t tell David that he should be ashamed of himself. I didn’t make him grovel. I didn’t have to because that’s not how you get God’s forgiveness. Forgiveness is something that God gives to you. He does that because of Jesus. Did you know that there are some parallels between Jesus and Uriah? Uriah for the most part had proven himself to be a man of integrity. He was eager to serve the king and did not take advantage of the king’s kindness while the rest of his fellow soldiers were undergoing hardship. But that righteous man would die while the conniving sinner, David, lived. It wasn’t fair at all. David should have died and Uriah lived. Not only that, David got to enjoy what really “belonged” to Uriah: Bathsheba. In the same way Jesus, the Son of God died not just for your sins, but because of them. And you get to enjoy what really belonged to Jesus: peace, joy, eternal life.
Those who truly believe this won’t knowingly and purposely live in sin. If you do, then your pastor (and other Christians) need to call you to repentance. When they do, don’t blow them off. Don’t make excuses of why you can’t follow God’s Word. Just do it and you will be blessed.
I would go on to serve David until the day he died. I pray that God gives you faithful pastors to serve you until he calls you home to heaven. But the work of a pastor is not easy. Not when the world laughs at God’s definition of sin. Pray for your pastor. Pray that he doesn’t shy away from calling you to repentance. But pray too that God would open your ears to his message because your pastor is an agent of grace, and is meant to be a blessing to you. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
How could David, a strong believer, commit the sins of adultery and murder?
How did Uriah show himself to have more integrity than David?
Explain: Guilt is both a blessing and a curse.
How do we often treat our pastors like a sibling who calls us in for dinner?
What are the parallels between Uriah and Jesus?
