Sermon: You Are the Man!

And let's take a moment and pray for the Lord's blessing of the reading and the preaching of the word this morning. Uh, before we hear,

father, we do thank you that you are a God who speaks. And even this morning we say that we would hear your voice. You would hear the voice of your Son by the power of the Spirit who has inspired these very words. As word goes out, we pray it would not return void, but it would accomplish your purposes. And we say that we are in need.

You know how each of us have need and we pray that you would work as only you can work. And we pray all of this in the strong name of Christ Jesus, the one mediator between God and men. Amen. This morning, second Samuel chapter 12, verse one through 15, this is the holy inance, sufficient word of God. And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, there were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.

The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little Yu Lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up and it grew up with him and with his children. He used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or her to prepare for the guest who had come to him.

But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing. And because he had no pity, Nathan said to David, you are the man thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. I anointed you king over Israel

and I delivered you outta the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah, the Hittite with the sword have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be your wife, thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun for you did it secretly. But I will do this thing. Before all Israel and

before the sun, David said to Nathan, I've sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin and you shall not die nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord. The child who's born to you shall die. Then Nathan went to his house. Though the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Lemme give a little context for this passage since I wasn't here last week. We had a guest preacher last week. And uh, as we jump back into this, uh, you will remember that David is the king of Israel. And David was supposed to be out battling the enemies of the nation of Israel, but instead he had chosen to stay at home and being unfaithful foot home, he was on his rooftop. And while he was on that rooftop, he looked out

and when he looked out, he saw a woman bathing on her roof. He inquired about the woman he sent for the woman he slept with the woman and then he sent her home. The woman was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, who was one of David's great soldiers, one of the mighty men. And then word comes from Bathsheba, this wife of Uriah, the Hittite to David. I'm pregnant. So David begins to scheme and he begins to plot. He decides that he will send for Uriah from the front

to come back to Jerusalem so that he contempt him with laying down with his wife so that then Uriah would go back to the front and he would believe that this child that was conceived was indeed his own child. But Uriah is a faithful man and all the nation is at the front. All of the army is there, his fellow soldiers and the Ark of the Covenant is there. And so he will not lay down with his wife. And David continues to scheme and to plot,

and Uriah will not give in. So David then sends Uriah to the front with a message. That message has his own murder plan in it so that Uriah will be sacrificed on the front lines and David has killed him.

All this, the coverup, David's sin.

And then we read in verse 27 of chapter 11, and when the morning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son. That means that for at least nine months this has gone on, but it's even longer than that because she's gone through the period of mourning. So it's probably at least a year, maybe even longer, since David has committed the sin with Bathsheba. He's schemed, he's orchestrated, he seemingly covered it up,

but it was not covered up.

It's a folly of men to think if we hide it from the gaze of people, we have shrouded it from the eyes of God. Look back up to verse 27. But the thing that David had done, displeased the Lord

Five points this morning. David's madness, God's mercy, David's fury, God's forgiveness. And lastly, David's freedom. David's madness, God's mercy. David's fury, God's forgiveness. And finally, David's freedom. First David's madness. He thought he could hide his sin.

There are two Psalms, almost all scours believe were written in the background here. As David is reflecting upon this sin and these events with Bathsheba and Uriah, the first many of you can immediately name Psalm 51 does that great psalm where David confesses his sin. And and no doubt was right after Nathan has confronted him. The other is Psalm 32, and I wanna start with Psalm 32 this morning to give a little bit of context of

what is going on in David's own soul and his own heart. And in Psalm 32, David begins the psalm this way. He says, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. You'll notice that as he begins that Psalm, Psalm 32, David uses three different words to refer to sin transgression, which has the idea of rebellion against that is that when you

and I sin, we have committed cosmic rebellion against God who reigns over all the second he calls sin. Sin has the idea of missing the target. There is a moral target, a law that God has set up a rule for how you and I are to live as his image bearers in this world. It's a moral target and sin misses the target. And then he calls it iniquity. Ini iniquity speaks of our depravity, speaks of what you have been given and misappropriating

or abusing what you have been given.

He's using these different words, speaking about his sin. And what you'll notice is that he knew his sin, he knew it, but he was simply trying to hide it.

In fact, as you go on in Psalm 32, now we go to verses three and four, he, he's been wrestling with it and he's been wrestling with it for at least a year trying to hide it. Listen to the next verses three and four of Psalm 32. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long for day and night. Your hand was heavy upon me. My strength dried up as by the heat of summer. He was silent though he knew his sin

and he knew his need to confess his sin. The knowledge of that sin is so gripping to him that he's literally suffering physiological and psychological things.

He says he feels like his bones are wasting away. It feels like you're melting on the inside. You're just collapsing in on yourself. He says that his strength is, is being dried up. He's weary. He says that he is groaning all day long. He will complain, but he won't confess. He'll grumble about the effects of his unconfessed unrepentant sin, but he will not grieve over it.

He says it's night and day pain within guilt ridden. And all he needed to do was was confess and repent.

But David sought to hide it and he thought he could hide it.

We've hidden it from the gaze of people. So we think we have shrouded it from the eyes of God. That's madness.

Madness.

There's also this internal voice that it seems we have that says, well, if I've hidden it from men, I can eventually hide it from myself. That's madness

thinking. You know what, pass over it. I'll get to the place where I stop thinking about it. I'll forget about it. I'll, I'll push it aside

and I'll be able to just kind of go on.

Maybe you're there right now this morning

been overtaken by drunkenness bitterness

that night of adultery.

It'll no longer bother me. Eventually I can put it away madness.

'cause if it doesn't bother me, eventually if I succeed, I've seared my conscience. It's not just a temporary hardness like David is experiencing here, but I'm destroying myself madness.

And David here, he, he's on the brink.

Why? There's that old ancient proverb that says, when the gods would destroy, they first make the man proud. We might change it and said, say whom Satan would lead. He encourages to be proud.

Jesus says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy late and I'll give you rest.

You come to me when you're weighed down with your sin. Come to me when you're weary and heavy laden and I give you rest.

Simply turn to him in humility. I'm weary. I'm burdened. You've run to Jesus. Why him? Because it's God we've sinned against. David will say there in Psalm 51, the other psalm that is in the background here, he will say, against you, you only have I sinal Lord. And that that seems like crazy talk. Why? Why would he say that against you? You only have I sinal, Lord. What? Look at verses nine and 10 in our passage this morning,

verse nine, why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil? His sight. You disobeyed the word, you disobeyed the rule. You disobeyed the law. Now verse 10, you have despised me. Violation of God's law is a violation of God. Mocking his truth is mocking him. Turning away from his rule is turning away from him. How can David say against you, you only have I sin the Lord. Didn't he sin against Bathsheba? Yes, he did.

Didn't he sin against Uriah? Yes he did. Didn't he sin against Israel? Yes, he did. Is he minimizing that or distancing that? No, he's actually magnifying it. He's saying, ultimately I've sinned against God. And that makes this even worse.

Turning away from him. And he sees all you have despised me.

You'll notice there in verses seven and eight, he just, he rattles off the Lord does through the na, through Nathan the prophet. He says, I, I, I, I, I gave you this, David, I gave you that. I gave you this. I put you in this place, and if you needed it anymore, I would have provided it for you. This is a sovereign God who sees all, who knows all, who gives all. And David is mad. He's absolutely mad thinking he can hide his sin from God.

And so are you. So am I. If we think that's even a possibility, let alone a reality,

So this is the second point. God's mercy.

David has been a great man of action in chapter 11. He's a busy, busy little bee in chapter 11. But then chapter 12 begins, the Lord sent Nathan to David. The prophet comes and and. And he comes with wisdom. In wisdom. He's bold in approaching David. But notice it's not a head-on confrontation. As we minister to people, there is not a one size fits all situations or all approaches. It takes real pastoral wisdom. It takes real thoughtfulness.

It takes real peripheral. Sometimes you come in through the front door, sometimes you come in through the back door. Oftentimes you come in, you come in through a window. Paul instructs in Galatians six, one. If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Not every situation needs a hammer. Most don't. And Nathan knows, he knows that David has a heart and heart.

He's full of himself. And so he elects enter, enter through the side door, not through the front door, not head on. He tells a wonderfully graphic, real life relatable heart touching case study. Also, he can grip. David's heart centers upon two men. One rich, one poor, one has flocks and many sheep, one has one yu lamb.

One has sheep that he doesn't even know

the other has a sheep that he considers like a daughter in his family. He feeds it from his table. He lets it drink from his cup, he holds it in his arms.

And then there is the catalyst. The traveler comes and he visits the rich man's house. Hospitality is demanded, dinner is required. But for the rich man, the cost seems too much. So instead of taking one of his mini sheep, he takes the poor man's one sheep and the daughter becomes dinner.

And Nathan, it says verse four, he was unwilling to take one of his own flock of her to prepare for the guest who had come. Instead, he takes the poor man's and he quote, prepared it for the man who had come to him.

And Nathan told David this story, all because of those glorious opening words. The Lord sent Nathan, David's madness is met with God's mercy.

He could have let him go, let him go on this fool's errand of madness. But he, but he didn't let him go. He chases after him, him in mercy.

There's a famous poem in the 19th century by Francis uh Thompson. It's called The Hound of Heaven. Many of you have read it and it begins this way. I fled him down the knights and down the days I fled him down the arches of the years. I fled him down the labyrinth ways of my own mind. And in the midst of tears, he is running from God. He is running headlong from God. And he will go on for pages about his running from God.

And then what he brings to bear is that, but God was running after him. He's like a bloodhound. He was chasing after him and he had him. He wouldn't let him go. And that is what we have in this text. It is the hound of heaven. It is God who says David is my man and I am extending mercy to him. And so he sins Nathan the prophet after him, though he is trapped in utter folly and mischief and sin and darkness, it's mercy that he extends.

He wouldn't let him go.

There's been a handful of times over the years as a pastor where I've sat across from somebody and they are steeped in heinous sin. They know it, I know it. And they refuse to confess and to repent. And a handful of times where I have said almost the exact same thing to those individuals. So there's only two options here.

If you keep going down this path, there's only two possibilities and there's gonna be great suffering with both of these. The first is that you keep going down this path and the Lord chases after you. And what he will have to do to bring you back, all the pain that you will have to endure as he brings you back, it will be monumental. But the worst is even more painful.

And that is that you prove not to be his by continuing to go down this path. And he doesn't chase after you.

But that could all end right now.

You just confess and you repent and you turn to him.

Sin will be dealt with his mercy to sinners. It, it's ever flowing. It's available, it's effective. It's abundant. You just, all you have to do is turn to him.

You know, often when our sin is brought to light, we see it as some kind of harshness. We say it's severe. It's a word we like. It's severe. It's not severe. It it's a severe mercy that your sin comes to light.

It's an act of incredible mercy by our God that he would bring it to light and you confess it and you repent God through Nathan has has brought it to light and he's extending mercy.

A third point, David's fury.

David's response is anger. Verse five. Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And then he makes this bold announcement. Remember, David is king. He can affect this very thing that he says here in verse five. As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. And he does. The man deserves to die. The law said such as one commentator said, he means to pass verdict upon another, but actually passes verdict entirely upon himself.

And Nathan, that old prophet now opens up the front door fully. And I imagine him with his old bony fingers standing up and looking at David in the eyes and taking that bony finger out and putting it right in David's chest. And then as he looks him in the eye, he says, you are the man

used to be strange to me. I thought it was an anomaly at this or that person that I knew that was, had been quite outraged by this or that particular kind of sin that it later came out. That while they were enraged by that particular kind of sin, they were neck deep in that same particular kind of sin. It's not an anomaly. I've watched it over and over and over again. It's just part of the craftiness of sin. We will excuse,

or maybe better said, we can be prone to suppress our own guilty conscience by judging someone else. And that's David here.

He is so hardened by his own sin. What righteous indignation as the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. And he does.

And David's madness was met by God's mercy. But now David's fury is met with God's forgiveness. He's ready to condemn. God is ready to forgive.

Fourth God's forgiveness. You're the man. Nathan declares And and David's response is so simple all this time, at least a year, that he's orchestrating and scheming and trying to set things up to hide his sin. All of this for months and months and months and months and weeks and weeks and weeks and days and days and days and hours and hours and hours. Minutes and minutes and minutes. This is what he's doing.

And then you just get this very simple verse 13, I've sinned against the Lord. Great. Let's meet out punishment. Here's what you need to do. Here's what you need to, no, that's not what happens.

Nathan's immediate response is very quick. It's very comforting. The Lord also has put away your sin and you shall not die. David. Simple confession. Nathan responds with simple forgiveness. No penance, no pleading, no purgatory. The Lord has also put away your sin. You shall not die. What about the pound of flesh that is due?

Forgiveness. Forgiveness.

Could there be a more gospel statement in all the Old Testament scriptures and that the Lord has put away your sin? It's so simple a confession.

It it's so, such a confident assertion of forgiveness by Nathan.

Really? Yes.

'cause God is merciful. He forgives if we turn to him.

You remember when Moses was up on the mountain and he wanted to see the glory of the Lord? He said, I want to see you. And and, and the Lord said, well, you can't see me face to face and live. So what I will do is I'll put you in that cleft of the rock. And when I put you in the cleft of the rock, I will allow all my glory to pass you by. And you will get a glimpse of my back. And then as he passes in the in front of the cleft

of the rock, as Moses is hid there, he declares about himself. He says who he is. When God says who he is, you should listen. I should listen. And while he's passing in front of Moses, he says, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name the Lord. And I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And throughout the scriptures, as he speaks of his covenantal name, as he speaks of his relationship

to his people, he says, over and over it's to refrain throughout the scriptures. I am the Lord your God, who has slowed anger and abounding and steadfast love. It's so simple because he's so merciful, so great, so great gracious, so abounding and steadfast love towards his people. It's not penance, it's not pleading, it's not purgatory that saves. It's not even our tears that cleanse, a guilty conscience that removes the weight and the burden of sin.

It's him. He saves.

Augustus, top ladies said it as well as any, not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law's. Demands. Could my zeal, no respite? No. Could my tears forever flow for all, all for sin. Could not atone. Why? 'cause thou, thou must save. And thou alone,

David fury, God meets him with forgiveness. Now there are all kinds of severe consequences for David's sin. And we're gonna spend the rest of Second Samuel walking through all of that. He has a mess of a life ahead of him 'cause of his sin.

And no doubt, the worst of it is what we will tackle next week with the loss of his son. But he has forgiveness,

which leads to our final point. Fifth, David's freedom. David's freedom, the word of God. It came to bear upon David's soul as Nathan is now sharing this truth with David. He's very different than soul. The first king, as Dale Ra Davis said, to be a man after God's own heart is not to be sinlessly perfect, but to be among other things utterly submissive to the accusing word of God. John Owens said it this way, when the heart is soft

and tender, it is humble and contrite and ready to tremble at the word of God. David had stopped listening to the word. That's what the Lord points out to him. You stopped obeying my word and you forsook the word, which means you forsook me. But now David's awakened. He had lost freedom. He was hard of hearts. He was trapped. He will say in Psalm 51, restored to me the joy of my salvation. He was trapped. He didn't lose his salvation,

but he did lose the joy of it. Sin had made a wreck of his life and his life in God. And some of you are there this morning.

You know, as you sit here this morning, you know that there is unconfessed, unrepentant sin.

And you think you can hide it. That's madness.

And it's making a wreck of your life, your marriage, your relationships, your finances, your health, your time. You have anxiety and fear. And on we go,

it's not worth it 'cause you aren't hiding anything.

David heard the word he confessed. He repented. And he says in Psalm 51, his spirit was renewed. He's renewed In Psalm 32. He, he ends with this, be glad in the Lord and rejoice so righteous and shout for joy. Why does he say shout for joy? Because you can, if you're in Christ even more that you Should, If you're in Christ, You're right. Been set free.

His banner over me is love.

David found this freedom. How

some have suggested that David's son dying here was a substitute for him. No, No. That's not how he found this freedom. He, he's all the way down. Often think of Christian and pilgrim's progress that burden on, on the back. I mean, it just, it's such a good picture. It just makes you, makes you, you're going through life, but you're going through life where you're, you're, you just, you're carrying it around with you everywhere

and it just, it zaps your energy. It it just, you all, you feel it at times. You can, you can forget that it's there because you're ah, you're looking at the ground, but you're, you're continuing to walk and it's just there. But all, all it takes is Christian finds out in Pilgrim's Park. All it takes is one thing. And that thing comes off. There's freedom.

It's not that David's son here dying for him was a substitute. That's not a source of freedom.

He found it in another son, The greater son of David, the son of God, that he looked forward to the promised Messiah that David himself said he knew of my Lord, said to my Lord, he trusted in him, looked forward to him. He knew that this son of God, this one that would be descended from him, and yet from above one that was from his loins, and yet one that was ancient of days and was before him would become flesh. And that one, that one took

sin and iniquity and our guilt and our death and the very wrath of God that one lived perfectly. Because David could not and because you could not. And that one died a perfect sacrifice upon the cross. That was a lamb that was slain so that David could have all of this freedom he trusted in that son.

You say, well that seems so easy. Yes, for us it's that easy. You just confess, you just Repent. And you look to him in faith, it's that Easy.

And if you do even the words that were said to David, they are true to you. The Lord has also put away your sin and you shall not die.

What madness to think we can hide. Hide our sin.

What even greater madness

to turn away from the one who has made sin for us. That's where there's mercy. That's where there's forgiveness. That's where there's freedom. That's where there's life eternal.

Do you have it?

Do you have him?

If you do, then know the joy of your salvation.

'cause what a God we have and what a salvation. Four sinners. Let's pray.

Our Father, we do come before you this morning recognizing that we are sinners in every part of our being. That all we like sheep have gone astray. We have each turned to our own way. And truly it could be said of each of us that we are the man.

We are thankful that you are a God who is not only our creator, not only our sustainer, but is our very redeemer. That you would take sinners such as us and you would extend forgiveness and mercy and that you would give us true freedom. Now and forevermore, oh Lord, plead with you for every single soul in this room, that there would not be one that is lost. That every single soul in this room would know the joy of salvation, even today.

What glory that would give to you. And we pray all this in the strong name of Christ. Amen.