Let's be turning to 2 Samuel chapter 13. We're going to begin by reading this chapter. And I want you to take notice that it speaks to the further chastening of David. And this is in accordance with what the Lord said to David by the prophet Nathan back in chapter 12 verse 11 when he said, behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. And this was as a result of David despising the Lord when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and put to death her husband Uriah. Now, after we read this chapter, I want to say a few things about the chastening of the Lord. And then we'll look at how the sin which David committed was actually being reflected back to him in the things which we read here in this chapter to the sinful deeds that were committed by his two sons, Amnon and Absalom. So let's begin here with verse one. And it came to pass after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a fair sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon, the son of David, loved her.

Now, mind you, this is after the Lord had worked repentance in David's heart. He had wrought repentance in David's heart for what he had done with Bathsheba and against Uriah. And Amnon, verse 2, was so vexed that he fell sick for his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her. He was just lovesick, as it were.

But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimea, David's brother, and Jonadab was a very subtle man. And what that means is he had an ability to tactically figure out a way to solve problems for people. And in this case, Amnon, who didn't know what he was going to do. I don't think that we would call him a friend. If anything, he was a friend of the flesh, if you will. He was a wicked man, it seems. And he said unto Amnon, Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day? Wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

At this point, it seems like a fairly innocent, though strange thing, but this was going to be removed, this innocence, under the words and counsel of Jonadab here. And Jonadab said unto him, lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick. And when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand. So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick.

And when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes of my sight, that I may eat at her hand, And so here he's making David a party to this. Then David sent home to Tamar saying, go now to thy brother Amnon's house and dress him meat.

So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house and he was laid down. And she took flour and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and did bake the cakes. And she took a pan and poured them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, have all men from me, have out all men from me, and they went out every man from him. And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come, lie with me, my sister.

And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing ought to be done in Israel, do not thou this folly. And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? And as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore I pray thee, speak unto the king, for he will not withhold me from thee.

She is giving him and out, in order to subdue his lusts, because there was at least a seeming lawful way to go about this if he did love her. Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice, but being stronger than she, forced her and lay with her, which is to say he raped her. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise. begun. And so we see how the horrific ugliness of this sin, this horrible, wicked sin, which Amnon did against his sister, how it begets even more sin. Sin is not a one and done kind of a thing. It's corrupting. It's corrosive. It bleeds on and on into other areas. And the damage just grows.

And she said unto him, There is no cause. This evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken unto her. Then he called a servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this woman out for me, and bolt the door after her.

And she had a garment of diverse colors upon her. For with such robes were the king's daughters that were virgins appareled. Then a servant brought her out and bolted the door after her. And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of diverse colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.

It would seem that she was willing to hide his sin if he would have taken even the right steps after the fact. If he tried to make it right, she would have kept it quiet and allowed him to marry her, it seems as it were, but since he would To none of that, she's now being very open with the wickedness that he had committed against her.

And Absalom, her brother, said unto her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? But hold now thy peace, my sister. He is thy brother. Regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house. But when King David heard of all these things, he was very wroth, very angry. And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon, neither good nor bad. In other words, not at all.

For Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. And as we shall see, that this hatred led to the truth of what our Lord tells us, that if you hate a man in your heart, you've already murdered him in your heart. If you hate a man, you've already murdered him in your heart.

And he does follow through on that. And it came to pass, after two full years, that Absalom had sheep shearers in Balhazor, which is beside Ephraim. And Absalom invited all the king's sons. And Absalom came to the king and said, Behold now, thy servant hath sheep shearers. Let the king, I beseech thee, and his servants go with thy servant.

And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not now go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. Unless we put this big burden on you in going there. And he pressed him, how be it he would not go but blessed him. Then said Absalom, if not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, why should he go with thee? It's well known that there's a strain in their relationship, and Amnon probably wouldn't have gone. Maybe he wouldn't have even gone. But again, he's pressing his father, let him go. I'd like him to at least go if you're not going to go.

So Absalom pressed him that he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine. And when I say unto you, smite Amnon, then kill him, fear not. Have not I commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant. And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded.

Then all the king's sons arose, and every man got him up upon his mule and fled. And a wise idea to get out of there just in case it would continue. And it came to pass while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left, which turns out to be a false report. Then the king arose and tear his garments and lay on the earth, and all his servants stood by with their clothes red.

And Jonadab, this is the same fellow that counseled Amnon with that wicked counsel, The son of Shimea, David's brother, answered and said, let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons. For Amnon only is dead. For by the appointment of Absalom, this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar. It's odd, isn't it, that Jonadab was so confident in knowing this. He counseled Amnon to do this wicked thing, and he knows that Absalom now is purposed to slay Amnon for what he's done, and yet he does nothing to warn his friend, if you will, Amnon. Or he doesn't warn the king at all.

He just allows it to happen. And while we can hear the hiss of the serpent's voice in this man's voice and what he says, We will acknowledge that this man, Jonadab, his name means Jehovah is willing. In other words, the Lord did permit this, right? Captures that sense that the Lord allowed this to happen, right? There was a purpose and he allowed this to happen. Verse 33, now therefore, let not my Lord the king take the thing to his heart to think that all the king's sons are dead for Amnon only is dead. But Absalom fled.

And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there came much people by the way of the hillside behind him. And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king's sons come, as thy servant said, So it is. And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that behold, the king's sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very sore.

But Absalom fled and went to Talmai, the son of Amahud, king of Gesher. In other words, his grandpa's house. This was his mother Mekah's father that he went to. And David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom fled and went to Gesher and was there three years. And the soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. In reading this text, we see a lot about Amnon, about Tamar and Absalom.

But this really isn't about them. This is not them as the primary characters in the Lord's recording of this sin. It makes us mindful, too, to remember that the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that we would all hear the faith of Christ, that we would all believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So, this isn't even about them. Now, this sin is horrific. It's terrible. It's wickedness. It speaks to what is in the heart of man. It speaks to what is true of our nature and our flesh.

But this chapter here is put here to show us the chastening of the Lord upon David. This is a chastening of David for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of Uriah, her husband, which he did, which the more I think about it, he put Uriah to death to justify what he had done. right, to justify himself, to say, well, you know, the man just died in battle anyway. I got a little ahead of it, of course, but now all things are made right. And so now he's taken Bathsheba, as far as he was concerned, at the time when he did it, it was fine, although now he knows it was wickedness. It was wickedness in what he had done.

But in this chapter, as we read it, and as you think about it and ponder it, why the Lord has this here, you really begin to see a lot of similarities in what is recorded here in the sons of David that are likened to what David himself did, what he did, the sin that he had done.

And we can imagine how this would have hit David, how this would have struck David, how this would have broke his heart. As he thought about this, as he heard what was going on, and just as it's slowly unfolding over the course of two years, this is really heavy, no doubt, on David's heart. And as I was preparing this, I was remembering Cain, who slew his brother Abel. Cain slew Abel, and not only did Adam and Eve then suffer the loss of a son who they loved, Abel, but they knew their other son was a murderer of that son, and how it must have struck Adam, how it must have burdened Adam to consider, the humbling of that, the chastening of realizing, I did that.

I'm the one who rebelled against the Lord and brought sin and death into the world, and here it is, just as the Lord said. Just as the Lord said, Romans 5, 12, wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And Adam, no doubt, when he saw what Cain did to Abel, no doubt, realized I opened that door, I brought that in. And he was, I'm sure he was chastened by that again, thinking of his rebellion against the Lord and going against what the Lord had said.

And so because of that now, because of what Adam did, we all come forth sinners. When Adam sinned in the garden against the Lord, he died just as the Lord said, in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. He died spiritually and all in Adam, was corrupted, was defiled, and therefore his seed is corrupt seed. And we do come forth as sinners.

We do come forth from the womb, speaking lies. We are rebellious, every one of us. There's none good, no, not one. There's none righteous. There's none that can save himself or justify himself by the law, which is why our Lord says you must be born again, because we come forth first by the birth of a corrupt seed of Adam, but we are born again of the incorruptible seed of the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. He must be born again. So these things, though, when we see it, it brings a remembrance, and it must have brought a remembrance to Adam of his own sin and chastened him. So what do the scriptures teach us about chastening?

Well, for one, in Proverbs 3.11, Solomon wrote, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction.

And in Hebrews it says, Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Don't despise that chastening. When you sinned and the Lord shows you your sin, and he brings that chastening, that mourning into your heart, where he breaks your heart, and he gives you that contrition, that broken heart for what you've done, don't despise that. Don't despise that.

He's given it to you for a purpose. Hebrews 12 adds in verse six and seven, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, and that means that chastening can last for some time. If endurance is involved, it's going on for some time in certain cases. God dealeth with you. If you endure it, God dealeth with you as with sons.

For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? And then in Hebrews 12 verse 11, a little further down, The Apostle says, Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

I don't know if you've ever done any exercising, but you might reflect that exercise is more than one motion. It's not just the same motion over and over again. There's many different exercises, and when you go to exercise, you often are doing a number of different movements when you're exercising. Some movements, some things train muscles in different ways. Some people train for beauty, some people train for strength, some people train for endurance, some people train for health, right? There's various reasons why people train.

Well, so it is that the Lord chastens us and puts us through those exercises, that we would be grown in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we would be exercised in him, that we might show forth the beauties of his grace, that we might be that might have the strength of the Lord, be strong in the Lord, not in ourselves, but in Christ, that we would endure in the difficulties, the afflictions, the persecutions, the sorrows that we suffer in the name of Christ, for Christ's sake, that we would not be sick and dying, but that we would live unto the Lord.

And the new man, by his grace and power, So, let me just say again that chastening is not punishment. God doesn't punish his people. He punished Christ for our sins. Christ bore the stripes of our sins upon himself. He bore them for his people. He put away our sins. He bore the punishment and wrath of Almighty God that we might be forgiven of God, that we might know the true and living God, and be brought out of that death and darkness.

And so chastening is not punishment. It's not punishment. But when we are chastened, though, there are times when the chastening is so severe that it can feel like we're being punished. It can. It can be very troubling to us at times. But think about it. When we exercise, it's not to punish our body. We don't exercise to punish our body. We do it to train our body for good. And so we are put through those exercises, if you will.

And so what the Lord shows us in the scriptures is that without Christ, there is no mercy. Without Christ is justice or judgment without mercy. But in Christ, that's where the mercy of God is given unto us. That's where the mercy and grace of God is shown to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when the Lord is chastening his people, it is to turn us to Christ.

It's to teach us of him. It's to cause us to be turned into the way of Christ, that we might know him, seek him, be led of him, be taught of him who reveals unto us the Father. It's that we might know the true and living God in all his glory. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We might know Him.

If you look at Romans 12, just in the first three verses there, the Scriptures say, by the Apostle Paul here, he says, I beseech you, in verse 1, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. And so these verses here speak of presenting our bodies to the Lord, of being transformed in the renewing of our minds, of proving God's will, of thinking of ourselves soberly according to the measure of faith that our Lord has given to us.

Well, chastening is a significant part of accomplishing that in us. Chastening is a very significant part because chastening has a way of humbling us. It has a way of stripping us. It has a way of delivering us from the love of this world and the lusts of this world and the affections that we would have in it.

And that word exercise used in scripture in the Greek actually means to exercise naked. naked. It's exercising, as the Greeks did, without clothes. And what a picture that gives us of the exercises that the Lord does when we are being chastened. He's stripping us down. He's humbling us, the same way we are when we're naked. We're stripped and humbled in that way.

Additionally, when we worship the Lord and we praise Him, One of the central reasons why we worship and praise the Lord is because he has redeemed us, is because he has obtained the forgiveness of our sins so that our sins are put away, that we would have fellowship and know the true and living God and worship him in spirit and in truth. That's not a natural thing. This flesh doesn't know how to worship and serve the true and living God.

But by His grace, He teaches us. In that new birth, He leads us out of darkness and strips us down of the vain confidences in this flesh that we would have that we might see the light, that we might know the true and living God who is the light Himself and the life of His people and live unto God. And so to that point about that central reason why we even praise God has to do with the forgiveness of sins is because that chastening makes us to see that sin. That's the relationship of it. But that we worship him, when we see in Revelation 5 verses 9 and 10, what are they praising the Lord for?

What are the saints praising the Lord for? It says that they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood out of every kindred, tribe, people, and nation. You've done that, Lord, and hast made us unto God, unto our God, kings and priests, we shall reign on the earth. That is the sovereign grace of God being rejoiced in.

How that we were dead in trespasses and sins, unable to hear the Lord, unable to serve the Lord and to know Him and worship Him, but by His grace the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for His sheep, and has raised us up again in Him. He's accomplished that redemption, and we are made unto our God, kings and priests, all by His blood.

Why did He shed His blood? Why did He come here? Because there's not a law in this book that we could keep to justify ourselves before God. Therefore, the Father sent the Son, gave us the law to show us our sin and to show us the exceeding sinfulness of our sin, and then in the fullness of time, He sent the Son. in the likeness of this flesh, yet without sin. And he faithfully served the Father in all things wherein we fail, and he fulfilled the law perfectly, loving both God his Father and his neighbor as himself perfectly. And so showed himself to be the fit, perfect sacrifice for his people, and then went to that cross, suffered and died in the room instead of his people, laying down his life that we might have life in him, and know him, and worship him, and rejoice in him. And so he did that.

And so our Lord records these sins, makes us to see what we are. that there's none righteous, save the Lord Jesus Christ, there's none righteous, no, not one, lest we should think more highly of ourselves than we ought, and he shows us our sin, so that we are made to see our sin in our heart, through various chastenings, through the Lord teaching us, being patient and merciful to us, that we would be driven to Christ.

That we would see that the outward form of religion isn't gonna cut it. that the dead letter works in religion is not gonna save me. That's not salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is our savior. He is salvation. He is life for his people. And that's where the Lord is driving us, to Christ, to Christ.

And the chastening, if you're being chastened of the Lord, it's to take that hope out of your hand and what you do for the Lord, that you would flee to Christ as a needy sinner, begging him, Lord, save me. I need your grace. I can't save myself. And Lord, you've shown me.

And that's what chastening accomplishes in his people. And so in this, in this grace we've got to do this, we are seeing how that all things, work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to purpose. God's sovereign, gracious, holy, perfect purpose. Not because I'm good or you're good. We're not. Because He is good and faithful and merciful and chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be found in Him. And we should know him in that grace and light.

Now, if you compare the sins I said, the sins described in this chapter 13 here, you can begin to trace them in the various forms and subtleties that David operated in when he was sinning with Bathsheba and against Uriah. Let me just give you six things that likely would have struck David in what his sons did, and there's other ones. I've read a number of ones from the commentators that all found different things, but these stood out to me, these six here, and I'll just kind of go through them. As David was taken by Bathsheba's forbidden beauty, forbidden because she was married, David had no business looking at her, let alone taking her.

So Amnon was sick with the love of his sister Tamar. That's not right. He shouldn't have even been looking at her, considering her in that manner. Two, as David was deceitful in bringing Uriah back on a furlough to try and get him to go down to his house and cover his sin by sleeping with his wife, so Amnon deceived David about his intentions for Tamar. He was deceived just as he was deceiving. Three, as Bathsheba might not deny her king of his wishes, she's his king, I don't know what kind of what she thought if she could say no to David. I don't know. It doesn't get into that.

Well, so Tamar was overpowered by her brother. And he took advantage of that fact there, too. Four, when David heard of Uriah's death in the battle, what did he say? Just very callously, he said, the sword devoureth one as well as the other. No big deal. Well, so Amnon showed the same kind of cold, hatred, callous response to his sister when she pleaded with him not to do that. And he was just cold and just bolted the door behind her. Five, as David had plotted to take Uriah's life, so Absalom plotted to take Amnon's life. And six, as David hid his scheme of murder from others, so Jonadab hid the murder plot against Amnon. and didn't reveal it.

And so I say this because the Lord would have brought these things to David's remembrance. David would have remembered his sin in various ways and what he had done, the sin and rebellion which he had done against the Lord. And that's how the Lord does chasten his people. David, when he wrote that beautiful Psalm 51 in the repentance which the Lord wrought in his heart, raw repentance in his heart, he said, I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.

And I think every one of us has the certain memories of certain sins that just really bother us. And they're not all the most heinous things, but there's just some things that we've done or said or thought or felt that just really bother us to the day. And it can go back decades, decades and decades, and still trouble us and remind us of what what sinners I am, what a sinner I am in this flesh.

Just make me to see and to know my weakness, and to humble me, and to make me sorrowful before the Lord. And just cry, Lord, forgive me. I'm such a fool, such a fool. And the Lord does that when it's brought to our remembrance. It's part of how He chastens us.

Now, understand, it's not about us forgiving ourselves. It's not about, well, you're in the Lord now. You've got to forgive yourself and don't think about that anymore. No. Salvation is not us forgiving ourselves. Salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ forgiving us. And that's where we seek forgiveness. Again, sin is brought to our remembrance. But that may never go away while we're in this flesh. But we find forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we find forgiveness, where to go to Him. It's not about solving things for yourselves. Sin is meant to drive you to the Savior of sinners. It's meant to drive you to Christ, to come to Him humbly, broken, and in a contrite spirit, and say, Lord, forgive me. I see my weakness.

And when we get proud, sometimes he doesn't make us fall in new sins. Sometimes he just brings the remembrance to us of old sins. That humbles us again. That we don't have to fall again in another sin. We can just be reminded of it in the past. It works that way.

Now, perhaps you think David wouldn't piece these things together as I laid out a few of them. But David was a feeling man. David was a very sensitive man and understood these things. And you can imagine that he would see how that he was deceived by Amnon to send Tamar to him, and how that would have troubled him. He made a party to that. And then how his son Absalom made him a party to send Amnon to go with him. Each time, David was brought into those things, each time. And David didn't see it. And David didn't recognize it. And how he probably would have beat himself up just about that, and it would just break his heart.

Again, just when we're made, it's not even always about the sins that we personally commit. It's just seeing the horrors of the nature of this flesh, the horrors of sin, and it just breaks our heart. And it humbles us, and it shuts our mouth in ways that nothing else could. Now understand, it's not that God remembers our sin. He's not holding this over our heads, but he makes us to remember our sin at times and to reflect upon it because it does humble us and it does make us tender before the Lord, especially when we have successes and a series of successes, we can get puffed up just like anybody else. And we can run away with those things.

And how often do we pray in a sincere heart when things are going well versus when we're humbled and troubled and burdened? by our sin, by the remembrance of a weakness. It's in tough times, it's in difficult times that we remember the Lord and go to him in a true heart.

Jeremiah writes in Lamentation 3, so if you wanted to see some of these verses in Lamentation 3, that would be the little book right after Jeremiah, right before Ezekiel. They're in those major books of the prophets, but Lamentations 3 That chapter begins with him saying, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. And that certainly is a set of Christ more than any other man. That could be said of the Lord Jesus Christ who bore for us. But we do see something of ourselves in this chapter here.

And after listing all the afflictions which the Lord brought upon him, He says in verses 19 and 20, remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me. And that's why we remember. That's why the Lord makes us to remember certain sins and to remember things, because they humble us. And this gives him to reflect on how God didn't destroy him, and how the Lord actually was merciful to him, that he's still breathing and remembering these things in that day, in that hour, because the Lord is being merciful to him, and the Lord is merciful to his people. And he says, verse 21, this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. And then we see how it drives us to Christ, which is the purpose for our chastening, to drive us to Christ.

And he says, verse 24, the Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. And so, that's where we see that the Lord does this, he purposes this in this way to drive us to Christ.

It's to drive us to Christ because that's, he's salvation. That's where we find forgiveness. That's where we find peace with God, not because We fixed ourselves, but because the Lord Jesus Christ has saved us and promised that. And now we walk by faith, not because we feel good all the time, not because we see perfection in ourselves. That wouldn't be a walk of faith, but we walk by faith because we see that with all these infirmities, with all these difficulties and trials and troubles and difficulties, yet the Lord says, I've called you. I've delivered you. I've put away your sin. Trust me. Believe me. And when you die, you shall rise again. Because it's the Lord.

We're hoping in Him. And all this chastening is preparing us for that day and preparing us that we would continue in hope and trusting in him. And so that's what faith, why he does these things is to grow us in faith and in his grace. And so without the remembrance of sin and being made to see the evil and corruption of it, we wouldn't be driven to Christ. Tenderness and contrition and brokenness comes because the Lord does show us that we are sinners, needy sinners, in need of his grace. And so that's where the cry for mercy and his grace and forgiveness comes from.

And so we don't readily see it in ourselves all the time, but many times we can see it, sometimes we might not get it. I'm sure David, I mean, David was given repentance, but as time went on, I'm sure things settled into other places that he didn't right away see in the heat of the moment when the Lord chastened him.

But over time, he began to see things more and more, just the depths of the sin. I see myself as a greater sinner now than when I first believed. Now I see just how, more and more, how wicked, how tricky, how conniving this old man nature is. And so now we see it more than, before it was just external things. Well, I don't do this, or I do this. And sin is much deeper than that. Sin is much, much, much deeper than that. It goes to the heart. And so David sees a similarity to his own sinfulness and how hurtful and harmful it is just in seeing what his two sons did, both of them together.

And had the lay thing. And we all know, if you've had children, You know how when you're looking at your kids and your kids are growing up, how you see things in your kids and it just reflects back to you like a mirror. That's me. I see something of myself in them and I'm reminded of it. And that's me.

And hopefully when the Lord shows us that, we don't just dismiss it, but we take it to the Lord in prayer and just confess it to him and say, Lord, I see myself in there. Forgive me, have mercy on me. and be merciful and gracious to my children. But now, having said all that, there's even a little more good in this that won't take me long to say, but a little more good that the Lord is bringing forth in all of this.

You see, providentially, Amnon is David's firstborn son, meaning he would have been the rightful heir to the throne of David. Amnon would have been. And then with Amnon gone, Absalom is the third born, but we don't know what really happened to Chiliad, the second born. We don't even know if he's still alive. And so he stood in good position to inherit the throne if Amnon died.

But there is one Solomon whom the Lord called Jedidiah because the Lord loved him. Solomon was born it says the Lord loved him loved him and he was going to be the king that would be seated on David's throne and so all these things arise because of David's sin here and the rebellion and sin of man they're nevertheless used by the sovereign God, the sovereign hand of God, to work and accomplish His purpose, His good purpose in the earth. He determined who would be sitting on that throne. Psalm 76 10 says, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. And the Lord did that. Abnon died and Absalom fled. And that just opened up the way. for the Lord to put his king on the throne.

And so it is that the beautiful thing about chastening, the chastening that we receive for our sin, every stroke, every remembrance of it, every time that the Lord humbles us because of our sin, however deep and painful it is, if you're the Lord's, it always results in the true and rightful king, the Lord Jesus Christ being seated on the throne of the hearts of his people. That's what it accomplishes. It accomplishes the right King, the Lord Jesus Christ, being both Lord and King of his people, and us being made to know it, to know it, and worship God for it in spirit and in truth. And so there's something that you can rejoice in when you're being chastened. It's because Christ is your King. Christ is your Lord and Savior, and God is making you, us, us, to know it and to rejoice in Him for it.