X-Ray Glasses, Garbage Bags, and Grace
We looked last week at David and how he was tempted. And we see how David really messed up. He wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He’s tempted by a beautiful woman. He invites her into his house. He commits adultery with Bathsheba. And then he has her husband killed to cover it all up.
But, as Paul Harvey says, now you’re going to hear the “rest of the story”. Let’s pick up the story in verse 26. Uriah dies; Bathsheba mourns for him, and then moves into the palace as David’s wife. Bathsheba gives birth to a healthy boy -- and to David all seems well. It looks like he has gotten away with adultery and murder.
We have all heard the expression, “Hands caught in the cookie-jar” or caught “red-handed”. We all know what those expressions mean. Many times those caught are caught because they think they can “get away” with it. I remember when I was a young lad I found a Hershey bar in the cupboard. Now you all know what I think about chocolate, how it’s a food group and all.
Well, that candy bar met an early demise. Trouble came later when my mom got home and found it missing. When confronted, my response was, “Well, I didn’t know what else to do with it, so I ate it.” I didn’t get away with it. Busted.
Or maybe you remember the Nestle’s Quik powder that came in the rectangular shaped box and you were supposed to mix it with milk and drink it. Not me. I would eat it right out of the box with a spoon. I can still taste it. But I got caught at that, too. Busted. Wendy spotted the powder on the counter that had fallen off the spoon. I didn’t get away with it and Wendy doesn’t buy Nestle’s Quik anymore.
We all think we can do things in secret, in the dark, no one watching, and that because of that, we can get away with our “dastardly deed”. Let me tell you, it won’t work.
Does anyone here remember those little square pieces of Bazooka gum, the ones where, if you saved enough wrappers, you could get those neat prizes? The only prize I remember is the one that I wanted– X-Ray Glasses. The ones promising you could see through walls and spy on what people behind those walls were doing.
Let me tell you, that was my first experience at false advertising. They didn’t work. I couldn’t see through cardboard, let alone a wall. So those people I wanted to spy on were safe whether they were doing anything wrong or not.
But those wrongdoers are not safe from the eyes of God. He sees all and He doesn’t need x-ray glasses to see what they’re doing, either. Even if no one else did, God saw exactly what David did behind closed doors, in secret, in the dark. And he didn’t get away with it, either.
God knew. God always knows. As the author of Hebrews puts it: “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb. 4:13)
As Jesus states in Luke 12:2-3, “There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”
So, Nathan pays David a little visit and tells him a parable. “Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man.” And he says the man deserves to die. So Nathan tells David, “You are the man!”
As Paul says in Romans 2:1, David passed judgment -- and in doing so he condemned himself, for he was guilty of the same crime. Busted!
So what does David do when Nathan confronts him? Does he use my line and say, “I didn’t know what else to do with it”? Did he try to justify himself, “Hey, I’m the king”? No. Look at verse 13: “Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
No excuses. Simply, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan tells David that “the Lord has put away your sin.” Confessed sin is always forgiven. 1 John 1:9 says that, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
That’s the first step to restoration. We need to confess, we need to admit our sins. Ask any recovering alcoholic or drug addict. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.
And if we don’t confess our sins, they build up like a pile of garbage. Unconfessed sin is like garbage in our spiritual lives.
Think about it this way. When we’re born we start out with an empty garbage bag. But as we go through life we slowly fill it up. A few little white lies here, some gossip there, some jealousy, bitterness, drinking, drugs, stealing, and the list grows and the bag gets heavier. "Confession" is taking the garbage out. Ask yourself: Is it time to take out the garbage? Do you need to empty the garbage?
Something good did come out of the whole sordid episode. It is Psalm 51, the Psalm David wrote after Nathan confronted him. The preface reads, "A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba."
The first words are important, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love." David is asking for mercy, God’s grace. He has confessed (taken out the garbage) and is now asking for mercy.
When we mess up, we need to confess our sin to God and ask for his mercy, too. It’s certainly not easy to do. But it is something we need to do - to admit our sin and our failure. This may come as a shock to you, but we don’t deserve God’s mercy. We don’t deserve His grace. It is something unearned and unmerited.
I like the words that David uses in verse 1 as he asks for mercy, “blot out my transgressions”. When I think of “blot out”, I think of how we spill something on the counter or floor and use a sponge to wipe it up. We run a sponge over the liquid and it’s literally sucked up into the sponge. The liquid is in the sponge and the counter or floor is restored to it’s original state.
David is asking that the sin be removed out of his life. He’s “taking out the garbage”. But what do you do after you take out the garbage? Generally you wash your hands, right? In verse 10 David asks God to “Create in me a clean heart..” He has taken out the garbage (confessed those sins in his heart) and now he’s washing his hands (asking God to wash or clean his heart).
But he continues on and asks God to, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” David is confident that, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We can be confident of this, too. We can be restored.
Now, I don’t have those useless x-ray glasses and I don’t know what sins you done in secret, in the dark. I don’t know if you’ve lied, committed adultery, or murdered anyone. That is none of my business. That is strictly between you and God. Maybe you’ve sinned against God and need restoration. But you think it’s too late. You’re thinking, “I did something terrible 30, 40, 50 years ago. I can’t change the past. And it’s too late to seek Gods grace and mercy.”
Well, you’re right about not being able to change the past. David couldn’t change the past. He couldn’t undo what he had done. But you’re wrong about it being too late. As long as you live and breathe there’s still time. Remember the thief on the cross? He said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And what did Jesus say? Did he say, "I don’t think so! You had your whole life to come to me. Now it’s too late." No! he said, "Today, you will be with me in paradise."
David did some pretty horrible things, probably much worse than you or I will (hopefully) ever do. He committed adultery, he lied, he murdered, bad stuff. But he also admitted he had sinned against God and asked for his forgiveness. Even, as he says in Psalm 51:3, “For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me”, God forgives him and “will remember their sins no more” [Heb. 8:12] We remember those sins we have committed in our lives. We remember eating that candy bar, telling those lies, whatever. But if we take out our garbage, God doesn’t.
Despite the fact that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, we “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
No matter what we’ve done in our lives, no matter when we did it, no matter how far we feel we have gotten from God, all we have to do is confess our sin, (take out our garbage) and we will be restored by God’s marvelous, infinite grace.
