Shame Series

THE VERY RELATABLE LIFE OF KING DAVID

SHAME

2 SAMUEL 11-12, PSALM 51:1-19

#kingdavid

Based off an older sermon of mine which has in the notes: “This sermon is based on a few ideas in Craig Groeshel’s book “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn’t Exist.” Zondervan, 2010. ISBN: 9780310332220”

INTRODUCTION

King David, if you ask people in general, is famous for two things. #1 David and Goliath. #2 David and Bathsheba. He is famous for killing a giant with a sling and a stone when he was a boy and famous for adultery with another man’s wife and then killing to cover it up. We have been looking into the life of King David for many weeks now. His life is relatable because of the ups and downs, but also because there are times when there is a Psalm he wrote that gives us a look into his mind and emotions and spirit that we do not get with other folks in the Bible.

The David and Bathsheba season of David’s life is contained in 2 Samuel 11-12 and then reflected on in Psalm 51. This morning, I would like to focus on Psalm 51 and the heart of David, but I can’t expect that we all just know what happens in 2 Samuel 11-12.

Here are the basics… it is a bit like a thriller crime movie. Here are the basics:

11:1 = David stays behind when he should have gone with the troops to battles.

11:2-5 = David spots a beautiful married woman, Bathsheba, bathing on a roof near his palace and fetches her, sleeps with her, and she becomes pregnant with his child.

11:6-13 = David freaks out, but has a plan. He calls in Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, from the battle field and acts like he appreciates his service and tells him to go home and enjoy life with his wife for a bit before going back to battle. Uriah’s conscience says that if his troops were on the field he should not be at home comfortable so… he doesn’t go home. If he had gone home, David could assume the pregnancy would be covered up.

11:14-27 = David sends Uriah back to the battle zone and instructs the general to leave him vulnerable and pull back when the fighting is fierce. He does so. Uriah dies. David marries Bathsheba.

12:1-15 = God sends Nathan the prophet to confront David about his sin and Nathan tells a sly story in which David pretty much confesses to what he’d done.

12:15-23 = The baby of David and Bathsheba dies after he is born as a direct result of David’s sin.

Those are the basics and those basics lead us to Psalm 51 because David wrote Psalm 51 during this time. The picture we get is that David writes Psalm 51 sometime during 2 Samuel 12:15-23.

INTRO/ILLUSTRATION… Smack in the face (p)

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a wedding ceremony. It was out of town and was a wonderful trip for our family. As part of the festivities, as it normally does for out-of-town guests, we stayed in a hotel. I do not mind hotels except for one thing… walking around in the dark. Let me explain what I mean. For most of us at home, we can get up in the night for lavatory engineering or wake up in the morning and get ready without turning on any lights. Why? We know where everything is… we can reach for the light switch or a door handle because we know where everything is located.

If I remember correctly, I woke up the night before the actual wedding ceremony and I was heading towards the restroom. I walked cautiously for a moment past the blissfully sleeping children and as I walked I began to reach for the bathroom door and ran smack into the wall. I do not mean I almost ran into the wall. I mean I smacked my whole self into the wall. I did it. I then felt along the wall in front of me, reached around the corner, and flipped on the light.

I immediately got worried. Did I wake people up with the smacking into the wall? Did I wake people up by turning on the light? Then the real issue came to my mind. Would there be bruises? I mean, as the officiant of the wedding, I am the most important person in the wedding and no one wants to see that person all battered and bruised… that would ruin the wedding! Would I have to share the sad tale of my bumps and bruises?

This morning I would like to take you on a similar journey. We are going to walk around in the dark a little while and talk about shame, definitely walk smack into a wall, and then flip on the light. To be honest, I don’t mind if we make a lot of noise and wake us up… in fact… I am hoping to wake up in terms of shame and our relationships with God.