1. There is a man of whom God said: ¡°This is a man after my own heart.¡±
2. What a great expression and admiration from God that we can have, ¡®This is a man after my own heart.¡¯ Wow!
3. Who is this guy? His name is David.
4. I¡¯ve put a lot of thought into this issue of what made God love David so much and why was God so proud of David.
5. I¡¯ve come to the conclusion that David was a true worshiper. Something God is looking for in everyone. That¡¯s why David was loved by God.
6. Do you want to be a Christian after God¡¯s own heart? Then Listen carefully to my sermon today.
7. It had been 20 years since David acceded to the throne and He was in his 50¡¯s.
8. He had worked hard for about 20 years. As the king of Israel His country and His people lived in peacefulness.
9. But, He made a mistake and went through a lot of sorrow for quite some time.
10. Let us look in the Bible at 2 Samuel 11:1~5
11. 1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then [1] she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."
12. This is a disgraceful story about David¡¯s adultery.
13. Why did God write this kind of shameful story in the Holy Bible?
14. 1 Corinthians has the answer, 10:11, 12 say that 11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
15. We can find so many faults in the lives of the Bible figures including David.
16. The first reason for writing down their faults is to teach us not to make the same mistakes ie (that is) to learn from other¡¯s mistakes.
17. The second reason is to show that there is no one who is not guilty of sin and that God¡¯s love and forgiveness are for all who repent and turn their backs on sin.
18. Now, let¡¯s have a deeper look into the story and learn a lesson from David.
19. David was a very able general; He spent much time on the battlefield. He was a good strategist and a tactician at war.
20. But scripture says that He sent his generals and his whole army to the battlefield and he remained in Jerusalem during spring, the time when other kings go off to war.
21. So, when the other kings went off to war he stayed at home.
22. He did not try to do his best, He was idle and lazy. He shifted his job on to his generals. This is the first motive for his adultery.
23. He permitted a shameful sin while he turned his face from his duty.
24. Dear Brothers and sisters! Remember this: Temptation comes to Christians when they are doing nothing; neglecting their duty. Remember: The devil finds things for idle hands to do.
25. The second and third motive for his crime can be found in verse 2. It says one evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful
26. ¡®One evening¡¯, it means he took a long nap and got up from his bed.
27. He took a nap and fooled around on the roof of the palace while his generals and soldiers were in battle bleeding and losing their lives for him.
28. And The Bible says: He saw that the bathing woman was very beautiful.
29. We can imagine from verse 2 that He did not glanced but he gazed at the woman. It put David in practice to permit adultery.
30. There are so many things that can knock us down spiritually.
31. After booting my computer, the first thing that I do, is erasing spam mail which contains illegal messages and pictures from my e-mail box.
32. When I worked for Daejeon Institute church, there were many motels around the institute.
33. I had to take out so many voluptuous advertising cards from our church vans.
34. Psalm 119:37 says that 37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
35. We can not live with our eyes closed; we can¡¯t avoid taking a look at them or glancing at them but we can avoid gazing at them. Don¡¯t fix your eyes on them.
36. I can not stop birds flying over my head, but I can resist them from building their nest on my head.
37. A tiny sin always brings bigger sin. And then bigger and bigger.
38. David neglected to do his duty and work. You may think it is not a serious sin but at the end he broke the 7th commandment of God.
39. It was not all, after hearing the news of pregnancy David ordered to place Uriah who was the husband of the woman in the very front of the enemy to be killed in order to hide his adultery.
40. He broke the 6th commandment of God.
41. After killing her husband King David brought her to his palace and thought it was over.
42. But He couldn¡¯t stop the ringing of God¡¯s voice in his heart that pointed out his terrible crimes.
43. David¡¯s testimony of that time is found in Psalm 32:3, 4.
44. 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer
45. He had a guilty conscience. He had been dying spiritually and physically for his sin.
46. God sent the prophet Nathan to make him realize that He knew all about his crime and that David has to repent.
47. David knelt down before God and confessed all of his sin.
48. Let¡¯s look in the Bible at Psalm 32:5, 6.
49. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD "- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.
50. Psalm 51 was written by David while he confessed his sin to God after Nathan¡¯s visit.
51. We find a very important sentence in verses 16 and 17 that explains to us what true worship is.
52. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are [3] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
53. God is looking for a broken and contrite heart from us.
54. Do you want be a true worshiper of God?
55. Then, Come to this place with your broken spirit.
56. Come with all of your sin and confess everything to God.
57. Proverbs 28:13 says that He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
58. Why was God so pleased with David?
59. David was a man who gave thanks to God in spirit and truth.
60. He even danced and praised God¡¯s name with joy and a thankful heart when the Ark of covenant came back to his palace.
61. He knew how to worship and please God.
62. There is another way to worship and please God.
63. Bring your sins to God and confess and ask Him for his merciful forgiveness.
64. God loves a sinner who confesses his sin and repent.
65. The first message of Jesus Christ after the fast of 40 days in this world is ¡®Repent!¡¯; Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near.
66. These were Jesus¡¯ first words He said to start His ministry. We can see how important it is to repent!
67. Do you remember the message of the Apostle John to the church in Laodicea? It is the message of repentance.
68. We understand that the church in Laodicea represents the spiritual conditions of our days before the second coming of Jesus.
69. Repentance is a consistent theme throughout the Bible.
70. The message of ¡®Repent!¡¯ contains another meaning.
71. It means that our God is already ready to forgive us.
72. Jesus Christ who died on the cross is asking you to repent and promising you that he will forgive your sin no matter how big and serious they are.
73. When you come to worship God, come with your broken heart, kneel down and raise your hands and ask his mercy and forgiveness for all of your sin.
74. Remember! The sacrifices in being a true worshiper of God are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart.
75. I pray that we are born again through our worship attitude of repentance every worship service. May God bless you. Thank you.
