The Way Of Forgiveness

The way of Forgiveness

Psalms 51:1-13

Introduction-

Good Morning everyone,

This morning I am going off road a little bit on my sermon because most of the times I want to recruit warriors to carry the message of the cross. Today, I want you to be a bit selfish. I want you to think about yourself this morning.

This message is not for someone else, this is for you and me.

Lives are like a dash-

They have a starting point and an ending point.

The dash is the time between the two points.

All of us know when we were born, but none of know when we will die.

What we do with that time is what we will stay before God and give an account for.

King David long before he was King David was living his dash. He was not born rich, was not from famous parents, but even as a teenager was making an impact and mark in life.

As a teenager, he was sent by his father to the battlefield to check on his older brothers. He was not going to fight, but to see if they were okay. While he was there, he saw injustice, saw a bully throwing his weight around and dissing his God, and no one believed God big enough to step in and defeat him. He, (David) was willing to get involved, step up to the plate, and right a wrong. (1 Sam 17)

The event, the battle of David and Goliath. We all heard the story of how he defeated the giant with a slingshot and a stone. Young David defeats Goliath the giant and Israel never forgot it.

Adult David years later is now King of Israel, living in a palace, the finest of everything, many wife’s, can have anything he wants, even things that he should not have. He can’t sleep one night (because his men were in battle and he was at the palace) and he looks out to see Bathsheba, the naked wife of his officer Uriah. In a split second decision, he calls for Bathsheba to the palace. He has an affair with her and dismisses her. He finds out later that she is pregnant with his baby. He tries to being his officer back from battle to sleep with his wife so he will think the baby is his. Uriah would not sleep with his wife because he would not enjoy his wife while his men were in battle. King David has to resort to deception. He orders Uriah out front of the battle and orders his men to pull back. Uriah is killed in battle.

David was at the right place at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing. It was his home, but he should have been in battle with his men. He should not have been with Bathsheba, and should not have covered up his adultery by having Uriah ambushed in battle. The consequences of all that for another sermon.

King David lived with that guilt for a long time. (Anyone know what I’m talking about?)

King David later talking to Nathan the prophet and Nathan shares a story with him.

“There is a rich man and he has many sheep, and a poor man who has only one sheep and it actually was almost like a pet to him. The rich man has a traveler come to visit and the rich man instead of using his many sheep takes the only sheep from the poor man and makes a meal of it.

(5) “David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan as surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die. He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

(7) “You are the man” the prophet exposes all that David did with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah.

Keep in mind that the devil condemns and God convicts.

For years David lived with that guilt. He must have been ashamed, and he swallowed it down. God brought it to the forefront and he had to deal with it. He had to make a choice what he was going to do with it. Live with it or deal with it.

This morning we have a choice too, what are you going to do with it?

Forgiveness is what most people want of others when we do wrong things, but it is the hardest of things for us to grant to others who have wronged us.

We feel God cannot forgive so we stay away from him, and allow guilt to destroy human relationships and the relationship we have with the Lord.

We expect God to forgive us, even when we do not even ask him or confess it.