Admit It, Quit It and Forget It!
2nd Samuel 11:27
How many times in our life have we done things that was displeasing to God?
Things that seem to get us down in the depths of guilt and embarrassment when we attempt to come before a Heavenly Father with our sin
The bible tells us in Acts 13:22 that David was a man after God’s own heart.
He is credited for many of the psalms
He was a talented musician
He was a great warrior with many victories
He was a great leader of his country
He had passion - A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.
Did you see that? The same word that has an emotion for love and joy also has the same effects on hatred and anger.
Passion –
Can have you loving your God one day while committing adultery and murder the next day.
*Background of David’s Sin with Bathsheba
Read verse 27 – it displeased the Lord
So God sends Nathan to David. Nathan is being used by God to bring David’s sin before him.
David took BathSheba as his wife after the funeral
They had the son that she was pregnant with
No doubt in time, things got easier to cope with. It’s one of those things that if you do it for so long, you can find ways to justify it.
But what David did was a sin. And he must come to terms with it.
Nathan shares a story with David. (*share story)
The first thing you have to do when you fall into sin is:
1. Admit It! – David did that in Chapter 12:13
David knew what it felt like to be in sin and to be miserable. He gives us insight in Psalms 32:1-5
Nathan goes on to tell David that his son is going to die.
This is after David was forgiven for sin. But just because you have received forgiveness doesn’t mean you will get away with your disobedience.
Verse 15, “the Lord struck the child and it was very sick”
Notice what David did when the child became sick.
1. He besought God and fasted –
He spent day and night without eating praying to God that his son would get over this sickness and live.
Why?
David had become attached to something that was sick.
Even though this baby was born from an adulterous affair, David still loved the child and was attached to it.
But the baby died. Even after all of his pleading with God, the bay dies.
God will kill away something that we are attached to because He knows:
1. Its Sick
2. Its bad for us
3. It will kill us
v. 18 and 19 – The men are afraid to tell David that the baby is dead (*Describe the scene)
David realized that God was in control and was there all the time.
Surely now, I can quit playing games with God. Now that I know that He is in control and is taking care of me.
In this message, I want you to see the actions of David and learn from them.
Many times we will fail and this will not be the last time. But how you react after you have failed will determine how quickly you can get back in service, doing what you are suppose to be doing.
We have already discussed how David: Admitted to his sin. Watch what he does next.
2. David Quits It! Read verse 20 –
1. He Arose or Got Up!
You can’t do anything for yourself or for God when you are lying around in your pile of self-pity. GET UP!
Acts 1:8 says, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”
The Power to Get Up!
The Power to raise your standards!
The Power to raise your love for God!
The Power to raise your prayer life!
“Devil, I might be down but I’m not out!”
· My husband might have left me - but I will get up!
· I might have lost my job…
· Kids don’t respect me…
· Family has forsaken me…
· My church may not trust me…
· The entire world may look dim right now but watch me now as I start to get up!
2. He washed himself -
David has been laying around in ashes, dust and dirt crying out to God.
But what else was on him?
His past
Where he came from
What he had been through
Just like the prodigal son:
When you come to yourself… you can wash!
You will begin to say to yourself:
“What am I doing here?”… I am better than this.
That was then – This is now!
Hebrews 10:22
“…draw nigh to God with a sincere heart…having your hearts sprinkled to cleanse us…having our bodies washed…”
1st Corinthians 6:11
“…ye were washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord by the Spirit of God.”
Pick yourself up and begin to wash off:
The Hurt
The Pain
The Misery you have put yourself through
What other people think
That chip off of your shoulder
“I am better than this!”
3. He Anointed Himself –
David started feeling the power of God, the joy of the Lord. And he understood what the significance of the anointing really was.
For us to find out, we have to go back to Psalms 23. David is a Shepard and his job is to take care of the sheep. They are in his care. He has to do whatever he has to do to protect those that are in his care.
You have to understand sheep before you can understand David’s response.
Sheep are dumb animals.
They don’t know any better.
They have to be guided on every step.
They make bad decisions.
David remembered that sheep were always sticking their noses into snake holes. So to offer protection for the sheep, this Shepard would put “ointment’ on the tips of their nose. He would anoint them to keep the snakes away.
So when you are sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, you are putting yourself into position to get snake bit.
But the anointing of God is so strong: It will run:
Suicide right out of your room
Depression out of your spirit
Low self-esteem out of your presence
The anointing is so strong:
Isaiah 54:17
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.
The anointing will have you:
· Kill Goliaths in your life
· Run right through the enemy
· Leaping over walls
David had to first admit his sin.
Then he had to Quit It!
By picking himself up
Washing Himself
And anointing himself
Now David has to:
3. Forget It!
How does he do that? Verse 20 - David said, “I am going to church”
He knew that He could find peace in the presence of God.
It was of this experience that David wrote these words in Psalms 122:1 - “I was glad when they said unto me. Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
You can admit it and you can quit it…
But true victory in your life comes when you can forget it!
Victory comes when you let go of the past so you can look forward to the future.
It is only by His grace that you can truly forget what has been done to you.
Grace - being protected or sanctified by the favor of God
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord…
Esther found grace and favor with the king…
It is only by God’s grace that you are still here…
And it was grace that Louisa Stead had in her mind when she penned these words while going through her darkest hour. Her family was enjoying a beautiful day on the beach when they heard a boy screaming for help. Her husband went out to save the boy and never returned.
After the tragic drowning of her husband: She wrote:
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His promise
Just to know ‘thus saith the Lord’…
Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’re
Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus
O for grace to trust Him more!
· When you are down as low as you can go…
· When you feel that everything you have ever done is in vain…
· When sin has put you in a place where you can not
You too have to say:
“God, give me the grace”:
To let go of my past
To forgive what has happened to me
That when I mess up –
I can admit it, quit it and forget it!
