Making A Full Recovery
2 Sam.12
Let’s call him Pete. That’s not his real name, but this is a true story. Pete’s a married man from right here in TN, well-respected in his community and church. You’d like Pete; he’s a nice, ordinary guy who’d give you the shirt off his back. But Pete has a problem that God wants him to deal with. Listen to him explain in his own words:
I went to Promise Keepers in Indianapolis, knowing God was going to deal with me in an area I had held on to for over a year. It’s tragic to admit, but I had been unfaithful to my wife. Sure enough, God told me to tell her. I was frightened by the thought, yet I knew I had to tell her. When I arrived home… I told my wife. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but God has been faithful. My wife was very hurt and is still going through the process of healing, but she is committed to our marriage. God honored my honesty. I had to be anchored in him to survive the storm that followed, but…I had to confess [my sin], both to God and to my wife.
Did Pete do the right thing? Did God really want Peter to confess his sin to his wife? Why not just tell God and forget about it? Why go through all that pain and work?
It’s human nature to look for the easiest, most painless path to recovery. But the truth is it’s not always easy or painless to fully recover from a fall. You may fall in your living room at home and land on your bottom and after a good laugh, get up and keep going. But if the fall is more serious, the recovery can be more complicated. You may have to get a cast, or wear one of those boots. You may have to stay off your feet for awhile, and keep some extra doctor appointments. This is also true about falling into sin. With some sins you just ask God for forgiveness, get back up, and keep going. But for more serious falls, a full recovery becomes more complicated.
It is these kinds of serious falls I want to talk with you about this morning. I am convinced many of us still limp through life, crippled by guilt because we’ve never truly experienced a full recovery from a fall. You’ve asked God to forgive you, but there is still a lingering sense of guilt, a sense that something is not quite right. Maybe you’re not even sure how to make it right, how to come back to where you once were in your relationship with the Lord.
King David learns this lesson about recovery from sin. He had his own crippling fall- committing adultery, murder, and deceit. The Bible records his dirty deeds in all their ugliness, but the Bible also records his recovery from this fall. I want to look this morning at 3 steps David went through to make a full recovery, and see how those same steps can help you and I make a full recovery when we fall into sin. If you have your Bible, open them to 2 Sam. 12, and let’s learn how to make a full recovery from a fall into sin.
PRAYER
I. CONVICTION (v. 1-13a)
Driving through Texas, a New Yorker collides with a truck and a horse trailer. A few months later he tries to collect damages for his injuries. “How can you claim all these injuries?” asked the insurance company’s lawyer. “According to the police report, at the time you said you were not hurt.” “Look,” replied the New Yorker. “I was lying on the road in a lot of pain, and I heard someone say the horse had a broken leg. The next thing I know a Texas Ranger pulls out a gun and shoots the horse. Then he turns and asks me, ‘Are you okay?’”
The first step to making a full recovery from a fall is to admit I am not OK. I’ve heard stories of people who fall and break a bone, but just try to nurse it along without a doctor. Later, they run into all kinds of complications because they didn’t get proper medical treatment. You have to admit something is wrong before you can get it fixed.
King David is living in denial. It’s probably been at least a year since his committed the double crimes of adultery and murder. He’s trying to forget the whole thing, to bury the guilt of what he’s done. He still says his prayers, worships the Lord, and sits on the throne. But God won’t allow David to forget; God gets a conviction from David’s own lips.
Don’t overlook the mercy of God in vs. 1: the Lord sent Nathan to David. God could have rejected David, as He did Saul. He could have left David crippled by his guilt, but no: God’s goal is to lead David to experience a full recovery.
God’s speaks through the prophet Nathan, who skillfully weaves a parable to present his case. As the prophet spins his tale of treachery, you see David’s face turning red, and his blood pressure rising. The cold-heartedness of the rich man infuriates David. Finally he can’t take it anymore. He rises from his throne and passes sentence on this sinner: As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die!
Then, in tense, dramatic moment, Nathan fires the arrow into David’s heart. You are the man! A look of confusion, mixed with anger spreads across the King’s face, as Nathan delivers God’s message. Notice how God uses the word I in vs. 7-8: I anointed you king…I saved you from Saul…I gave you your kingdom…I would have done even more for you…Then the contrast in vs. 9-10: you have despised God’s commands…you have killed Uriah…you have committed adultery…you have despised Me…God’s sentence is passed in vs. 11-12: you will experience trouble and heartache in your own family…your wives will be taken from you…what you’ve done in the dark, I will bring into the noonday sun!
What can David say? He might continue to deny his sin. He could order Nathan arrested for treason. But David recognizes God’s voice when he hears it. He breaks down and in tears, admits he is guilty. God has convicted David; now David convicts himself by confessing his sin. After a year of limping around, David is now on his way to a full recovery.
Does this seem like harsh? Why doesn’t God just forgive and forget David’s sin? Because only through conviction and confession will David ever fully recover from his fall into sin. You and I must experience conviction and confession, too, if you want to fully recover from your fall.
First, you must allow God to convict you. It’s much easier to do as David did, and see sin worse in others than you do in yourself. How angry you can get at someone else’s wickedness, but how patient and forgiving you can be with yourself. But God is merciful; He will not let us die in denial; He will send a Nathan to help us face up to our own wickedness. Then you must decide: will I keep living in denial, or will you confess as David did: I am the man?
Being general director of the New York opera took a toll on Beverly Sills; she ballooned into obesity. “It made me sick to look at myself. It was too embarrassing. ” Eventually Sills was forced to face the problem. “I woke up one day and realized I was really ill.” She went to see a specialist. “He put me on the scales. They read 215 pounds. ‘I cannot possibly weigh that much!’ I gasped. And the doctor said, ‘Please look down. Are those two fat feet on the scale yours or mine?’” Beverly smiles. “Once I accepted the problem, I was on my way [to recovery.]”
Are you in denial this morning? Is there some area of your life where God is convicting you? The first step to a full recovery is to admit your guilt- both to God and yourself. Only after you have been convicted of your sin and confess it are you ready for the second step for a full recovery from a fall:
II. CLEANSING (v. 13b)
There is a wealth of hope in these 12 words. The Law of Moses was very specific about the penalty for David’s sin of adultery:
Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman;…
God’s penalty for murder went even further back to the covenant with Noah after the flood in
Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; …
The Law makes no distinction or exception for the king. David is under a double sentence of death. This is what makes Nathan’s words so remarkable when he says to the guilty King …the Lord has taken away your sin. You shall not die.
What’s the deal here? Why is God so lenient with a man who has committed such crimes?
Because God wants to make sure you and I get a very important message: God’s grace will forgive and cleanse the worst sinner who comes to Him in repentance and faith.
Now you could ask, Bro. Mike, how do you get all of that out of these 12 words? Flip over to Psalm 51- a song David wrote to describe God’s grace to him after his fall.
Look at v. 1-3. David is truly sorry for his sins. He doesn’t try to hide or deny. He knows he’s done wrong, and now he wants God to forgive him. That’s repentance.
Look at v. 7, 9, & 10. David believes God can forgive him. In fact, he knows only God can cleanse him from his guilt, and save him from the death he deserves. That’s faith. David’s faith looks forward to the Cross, as our faith looks back in time to the Cross. David clings by faith to God’s grace to forgive and cleanse him from his sin.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast.
God did not spare David because of his goodness. He did not commute his double death sentence because David was king. It is purely God’s grace that saves him and cleanses him.
This is how God cleanses you and me, too. God will never forgive you for your sins because you are good enough, or because you had good intentions, or because He just lets some people off the hook. The only way you and I can make a full recovery from our sins is by God’s grace. When you and I repent of our sins, and trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, God forgives us and cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:8-9 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Can you see God’s prescription for a full recovery from a fall into sin? Repent- change your mind about your sin. Be willing to turn away from doing wrong. Then trust Christ- believe that you cannot cleanse yourself, that only He can cleanse you, and that only He will cleanse you by His blood. This is an essential step in making a full recovery from a fall into sin.
One of the legends about the great reformer Martin Luther tells of a dream in which he stood on the Day of Judgment before God, and Satan was there to accuse him. When Satan opens his books full of accusations, he points to sin after sin of which Luther was undeniably guilty. Luther’s heart sunk in despair, until suddenly he remembers the cross of Christ--and turning to Satan, he said, "There is one thing you forget Satan." The Devil replies, "And what would that be?" Luther answers, "The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sins."
That same blood is available to cleanse you this morning. No matter what sins are in your past or your present- no matter how bad you’ve been, or how guilty you are- God will forgive and cleanse you today. If he could forgive David of adultery, he can forgive you. If he could cleanse the bloody hands of David the murderer, He can cleanse you. He offers you His grace this morning, if you will repent and trust Christ.
Conviction, cleansing- two steps in making a complete recovery. But there’s one more
III. CONSEQUENCES (v.14-31)
A little boy who broke the glass of a streetlight. He felt so guilty about it he confessed his crime to his dad. Finally, he asked his father, “Daddy, what should I do?” The father replied, “Do? We’re going to have to tell the authorities, and you will have to work to pay for the damage you did.” This is not exactly how the boy wanted to handle the situation. “But Dad,” he said, “I thought all I had to do was ask God to forgive me!”
As wonderful and as healing as God’s forgiveness is, it does not always free us from the consequences of our actions. Even after you recover from a fall, you may carry the scars with you the rest of your life. Though David is forgiven, he must face both the negative and positive the consequences of his sin.
First, the negative. In addition to the judgment Nathan has already pronounced, God also tells David his son by Bathsheba will die. When the baby gets sick, David still pleads for mercy, fasting and praying that God will spare the child. But in the end, the baby does die. This story serves as a sad reminder of how often the sins of parents cause their children to suffer. I am reminded of how the children of drug addicts or alcoholics suffer because of the wrongdoing of their parents. But David still expresses hope in vs. 23 (read).
God goes on to show His grace even more in the positive consequences of David’s forgiveness. David and Bathsheba have another son named Jedidiah = Beloved of the Lord. But you and I know this boy as Solomon= He [God] brings peace. You can see the irony of the fact that the next king of Israel is born to the woman David commits adultery with. Solomon would also have his problems with wives, following in the footsteps of his father, but remember Solomon would have never been born if David had not married Bathsheba. God takes something bad and brings good out of it.
Finally, the Ammonite city of Rabbah is defeated. It’s no accident that the author of 2 Samuel places this part of the story here. This military victory for the King demonstrates that God was not finished with David. David has sinned, he has repented and been forgiven, he will live with some terrible consequences, but God still had plans for the man after His own heart.
A farmer once had a young son who was getting into trouble. One day he called the boy over to a fence post and told him, “John, you are getting into the habit of doing wrong. From now on, when you’re naughty, I’ll drive a nail into this post. When you do what’s right, I’ll draw one nail out.” It wasn’t long until the boy saw quite a few nails going into the post, and it started to make him feel guilty. He started doing better, and the nails began to come out. Finally, the last nail came out, and his proud father called him over to see the post. But instead of joy, the boy burst into tears. “Son,” the father asked, “why are you crying? I thought you’d be happy at all the nails gone.” But the boy looked up in shame at his father, and said, “Yes, daddy, but look at all the scars left where the nails have been!”
Making a full recovery doesn’t mean there are never any scars from your sin. You cannot always undo what you’ve done; you cannot always unsay what you’ve said. There are always consequences when we fall that we will have to live with, even after God forgives us.
There are negative consequences. Your gossip may ruin a person’s reputation for good. Your lies may make it almost impossible for you to be trusted again. People who live together before they get married will one day have a hard time explaining to their kids why they should wait for marriage. God sometimes allows the negative consequences of your actions to act as a deterrent. Consequences make us think twice before making the same mistake again.
On the other hand, don’t forget that God can always take what you and I mean for evil, and turn it into good. God still reserves the right to use your biggest mistakes and failures to bring Him glory. God can redeem any person or any situation, if they are in His hands.
Charles was a man who worked hard to get to the top. He served in the Marines before becoming a lawyer, and then entering the field of politics. He worked hard there, too, and finally made it all the way up to the high position of special assistant to the president of the United States. He was so ruthless he was known as the president’s “hatchet man” who did his boss’s dirty work. One person quipped that Charles would run over his own grandmother for the president’s sake.
But Charles met his defeat during a scandal known as Watergate, when his boss, President Richard Nixon, was accused of serious crimes. Charles was one of the president’s men who was actually convicted of some of those crimes, and then put into prison. It looked as if this man who had tried to climb the ladder was now at the bottom of the barrel.
That’s when somebody came to talk to Charles about Jesus Christ. They gave him a copy of a book by C. S. Lewis titled Mere Christianity. Charles became a Christian, but he still went to jail and did his time. But when he was released, Charles was a changed man. He eventually started a ministry called Prison Fellowship, and later authored some of this century’s most important books on following Jesus Christ. Charles Colson- aka Chuck Colson- became a living testimony to the power of God that can produce a full recovery from a fall into sin.
What God did for Pete- what God did for David- what God did for Chuck Colson, He wants to do for you today. What must you do? You must come honestly to the Lord, confess your sin, and repent. You must believe that He can and will forgive you and cleanse you. You must believe that no matter what the consequences, it will be worth it to be free and forgiven. Will you come today and find the peace and healing you need?
