When I got up this morning and
read our scripture reading for today, I knew immediately that
I had to lay aside what I prepared for today and preach to you again
from this remarkable, instructive passage of scripture in 2 Samuel
chapters 11 and 12. The title of my message, Lessons
from a Fallen Saint. Lessons from a Fallen Saint. They're lessons I've given to
you many, many times from many different portions of scripture.
But I trust God will be pleased today to write them upon your
hearts as I hope he has this day written them upon mine. God's servant David was one of
the most remarkable men ever to walk upon this earth. David
is described by God as a man after his own heart who would
fulfill all his will. David was by no means any better
than any other man by nature. By nature he was but a fallen
sinful, corrupt, depraved son of Adam, just like you and by
me. But David being saved by God's
grace was a humbled, believing, faithful man. God made him holy. God made him righteous. And as
he walked with God in this world, David stood head and shoulders
above all his peers. There was none like him. He was
a man chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, born again and called
by God the Holy Ghost. A righteous man, greatly used
of God, mightily used of God in his generation. This man,
David, is the songwriter of Israel. Most of the Psalms were written
by him. When you want to read in the
Scriptures expressions of your own heart before God, things
that you want to say but you just can't bring yourself to
openly say with your own mouth, you turn to the Psalms and you
find David speaking for you. David was in many ways typical
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This man David was one through
whom Christ came into the world. He who is our Savior who is the
son of God, came into this world in human flesh, the son of David. And yet, how is David remembered? When you think of David, the
first thing that comes to mind is what we read in 2 Samuel chapter
11. His horrible crime, his sin against
Uriah, his sin against God, his sin against Israel, his sin against
Bathsheba. I don't think this passage ever
really spoke to me as it did today when I read it. David took
Bathsheba and the scripture says she had cleansed herself, maintaining the religious customs. the religious ceremonies. And
David took her because now she was cleansed, purified ceremonially
from her uncleanness. He took her. When he took her
with great callousness, imagine the callousness which must have
overcome this tender-hearted man, this man who was contrite
before God. But what callousness overcame
him, he sent a letter to Uriah, his captain. And he said to Uriah,
you put, I'm sorry, to Joab, and he said to Joab, you put
Uriah in the hottest part of the battle and then withdraw
from them, knowing that Uriah would be slain by the sword of
the Amorite. But in doing that, Lindsay, he
sacrificed many of his own men. And when the report came that
the Amorites had taken so many of Israel, David said, you go
back and tell Joab, the sword devours one as well as another.
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that? Isn't it
astonishing that you can't imagine that? Oh, my heart, how hard, how callous,
how corrupt, how sinful, how proud. that I should be astonished
that David should behave in such a way. Because you see, David
was like me, a sinful man, saved by free grace,
whose only righteousness was righteousness God gave him, God
put in him, and God sustained in him. in Christ the Lord. Teach
me that. God teach you that this day.
This chapter, 2 Samuel chapter 11, was written not to sully
the name of God's servant David, but to teach us to be aware of
our own sinfulness and to teach us to adore God's marvelous free
grace in Christ. Let's read the last two verses
of chapter 11 again today. Lessons from a fallen saint. When the wife of Uriah heard
that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
And when the morning was past, David sent and fetched her to
his house. And she became his wife. Uriah's dead. She's born for
him for a proper amount of time so that everybody looks at it
and says, well, this is all right. This is all right. I'm working
on a message I hope God will enable me to prepare and deliver
to you on my testimony. We talk a lot about testimony.
I've been hearing about testimonies since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.
Every time you go to church, somebody give a testimony. Stand
up and testify. Give a testimony. Ever since
God saved me, I've been instructed that you want to have a good
testimony before the world. And what that means is you want
to live in such a way that the world will think highly of you
and say, he's a Christian. My testimony. Bathsheba and David
were real careful. to maintain a good testimony.
Do you see that, Larry? She's born for her husband. That's
the right thing to do. Now David takes her for his wife just in
time so nobody will know what's happened. It's all taken care
of, as if Joab didn't know, as if the messenger didn't know.
But we'll put up a good front, and everybody will think well
of us. That was as much callousness, hardness, corruption, and sin
as anything else. The fact is, testimony in Scripture,
in Scripture, speaks of two things. God's testimony laid up in the
ark. Law broken, law satisfied by
a Redeemer. And God's testimony in your own
conscience. Law broken and law satisfied
by a Redeemer. The testimony God gave Enoch,
he pleased God. Understand that? Understand that?
This outward show is just show, nothing else. It's just show,
nothing else. David waited a proper amount of time
and took Bathsheba to be his wife and she buried him a son.
There's just one thing that was out of kilter. The thing that David had done
displeased the Lord. The thing that David had done,
the whole thing displeased the Lord. The thing that David had
done displeased the Lord. Once God spoke, we see how displeased
he was. David committed these horrible
crimes. After he did so, God left him
alone for several months, at least nine months, maybe a little
more. The guilt of his sin lay heavy
on his heart. He was tormented with guilt.
I had no question about that. He wrote no psalms during that
time. God left David for nine long
months to seethe in his sins. He must have gone to bed night
after night after night after night with Joab's face glaring at him,
with Uriah's face glaring at him, with that messenger's face
glaring at him. What had they told him? What
did the messenger say? What's Joab said? Who all knows
about this? And then Uriah still glaring
at him. Glaring at him. Glaring at him. His conscience tormenting him.
It's tormenting him. Bathsheba glaring at him. His conscience tormenting him.
This is how David spoke of it. He said, when I kept silence,
my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was
heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the
drought of summer. When God wouldn't speak to David, and God wouldn't let David speak
to him, David said, my moisture turned
into the drought of summer. Your hand lay heavy on me. Your hand, my God, just kept
pushing me down. Then, after nine months of barrenness,
nine months of desolation, nine months of isolation from God,
Nine months of darkness, darkness, darkness in his soul. We read
in chapter 12, verse 1, and the Lord sent Nathan unto David. Now, just hold your Bibles open
here at chapter 12 and let's find what God would teach us.
Here are seven things, seven things. Remind you one more time, please
pick your Bible up in your hand, just like this. Please do. Ricky Dale, this book is God's
word. This book is God's word. Cherish
it as such. One of the most remarkable evidences
of the divine inspiration of Holy Scripture. is the fact that
God, in his word, inspired men who wrote the book to identify
in glaring, bold-faced terms the sins, the offenses, the iniquities,
the transgressions, the crimes of his most imminent well-known
saints in this world. And they're not written to mar
our opinion of those saints. Those things are not written
to cause us to think less of those saints. They're written
because the book of God deals with all things in absolute honesty. In absolute honesty. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. what a man Noah was. He built
an ark, and by that ark saved his household. Noah believed
God when nobody else did. Noah walked with God when nobody
else did. Noah built the ark at God's commandment
when nobody had ever heard thunder clap before. Noah was a remarkable
man. And one day after the flood,
His son found him in a drunken stupor and defiled his father. And the Bible says nothing to
excuse it. Abraham was the friend of God. Abraham, the father of
them that believe. Abraham is the first man of whom
the scripture speaks and says Abraham believed God and it was
imputed to him for righteousness. Abraham is identified as the
covenant head of Israel, the physical seed of Israel, but
he's also thereby a picture of Christ, the covenant head of
God's Israel. Abraham, a remarkable man. But
Abraham lied to Abimelech, subjected his wife to adultery, and took
Hagar, his wife's mistress, to have a son that God promised
by grace. and he got Ishmael instead. Moses
was the meekest man to walk on the earth in his day. Now Moses wasn't meek like the
world thinks about meekness. No, no. Anybody that looks at Moses today
and you say there's a meek man, they'd say, what on earth do
you call meekness? That's what I call meekness.
Moses knew who he was and whose he was, and he walked with God
in faith. He walked with God with boldness,
with confidence. He walked right into the throne
room of the most powerful king on the earth and demanded things
of him in the name of God. But Moses one day was so angry
that he took his rod when God said, speak to the rock, Christ
Jesus. and he smoked the rock. He took
his rod and smashed the Son of God with it. That's what the
book says. Aaron, God's high priest, Moses'
mouthpiece, that man who was anointed high priest in Israel,
that man who offered sacrifice for Israel, that man who alone
while he lived on the earth went into the Holy of Holies once
a year with the Passover lamb for Israel, that man representing
Christ our substitute, Christ our mediator, Christ our sacrifice,
Christ our high priest, that man Aaron once led Israel in
a brazen act of base idolatry. brought out golden calves and
said, these be thy gods, O Israel, and the children of Israel, dancing
naked around a golden calf by Aaron's leadership, worshiping
Jehovah, they said. Peter, oh, Peter gets a lot of
beating from fellows. Peter's spoken of as being impetuous. Peter's spoken of in so many
ways, so many negative ways. I tell you what, I'd like to have lived my life
as half the man Peter was. Peter was a remarkable man. But
Peter was a proud man, like Mark Henson and Don Fortner. Proud. Proud. We often use terms that will
not take the pride of a fellow that'll take the starch out of
him. Not much. Not much. Oh, that ugly, ugly
monster pride rages in us. Our Lord said, you're going to
forsake me. All of you are going to forsake me. And Peter looked
around and he said, they might, but not me. Not me. He had learned that he was no
better than James and John and Thomas. He was just like them.
Peter denied the Lord three times in one dark night. it appears to me, was used of
God in his generation more than any man in history. God used
him to write the bulk of the New Testament, used him to carry
the gospel to the Gentile world. The man labored ceaselessly,
day and night, in the preaching of the gospel. And finally, at
the end of the day, comes to Jerusalem And James urged him,
said, we've got some brethren here who still have trouble with
law, and they'd listen to you a lot better if you'd shave your
head and take a vow. And you know what Paul did? He succumbed to legalism to please
James and those folks at Jerusalem. Why has the Holy Spirit written
those things? Let me give you three reasons. He would have
us to understand and never forget those saved by His grace. Those saved by the blood and
righteousness of Christ. You and I, born again, redeemed,
justified, accepted in the beloved. We're still sinners. Sinners
saved by grace. I am a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all.
Second, the Lord God reminds us over and over and over again
that we're saved by grace alone. Grace chose us. Grace preserved
us, grace called us, and grace keeps us. And when we fall, it
is grace that restores us. Listen to this. The steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his
way. Christ is our way. Though he
fall, the good man, whose steps are ordered of the Lord, The
man whose way is Christ Jesus, though he fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand, with the right hand of his righteousness. And third, these things are written
to teach us that the whole of our acceptance with God is Christ. You have no righteousness, but
Christ your righteousness. No redemption, but Christ your
redemption. No holiness, but Christ your
holiness. No sanctification, but Christ your sanctification.
No hope, but Christ your hope. All right, here's the second
thing we must learn from David's sin. We must never cease to be aware
of our personal weakness. arising from the great depravity
of our own hearts. How often have you heard somebody
do something, heard the news, some horrible act somebody's
done, some horrible crime, or you've seen it in your own experience,
and you say to yourself, how could a person who knows God
do such a thing? How could David have done this?
How could he take another man's wife, have that man murdered,
and in order to cover up his own sin, have others murdered,
and do all things outwardly in religious ceremony to maintain
his good appearance before men? How could he do that? And a man
know God. And let me tell you what that
really says. Let me tell you what that really
says. Anytime you think that way, anytime
I think that way, about anybody's action, we're saying, I wouldn't
do that. I wouldn't do that. Not me. I wouldn't do that. God teach me to know my weakness
and my depravity, not to think more highly of myself than I
ought to think. Hold your hands here and turn
to Romans 12. Let me show you something. The secret to steadfast commitment
and consecration to Christ is a genuine awareness of our personal
depravity. God make me to know myself and
don't ever let me forget, don't ever let me forget what I am. Romans 12 verse 1, I beseech
you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice wholly 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. Now watch this. For I say, through
the grace given to 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. That means, Sam Wall, that God
gives you faith day by day, moment by moment, second by second. And the only reason you have
it is because God gives it to you. You stand day by day, moment
by moment, Don Fortner, second by second, only as God sustains
you. No more. No more. is in grave, grave danger, who
imagines that he or she is above committing some sin that would
bring reproach upon the gospel of God's grace, upon the name
of Christ, upon the church of God. We like Peter walking across
the water. He's walking across the water
just like he's walking on concrete, walking on steady feet. And then
he began to look around. Maybe he was looking at the water.
Maybe he was looking at the disciples looking at him. Maybe he was
looking at himself. Whatever it was, he took his
eyes off the Savior and began to seek immediately. God give
us grace ever to look to Christ, always our eyes upon him. Third, learn from David that
we are all naturally blind to our own faults, but quick to
see faults in others. Look back in 2 Samuel 12. The Lord sent Nathan unto David,
and he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men
in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man
had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing
save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up,
and it grew up together with him and with his children. It
did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay
in his own bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there
came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of
his own flock and his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man
that was coming unto him, but took the poor man's lamb and
dressed it for that man that was coming to him. Now, when
David heard this, this parable by which Nathan was exposing
David's sin, David responded with rage. He said, find that
man, I'll have him killed. Verse 5, And David's anger was
greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, As the
Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did
this thing, and because he had no pity. And Nathan said unto
David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I have anointed thee king over Israel, and I have delivered
thee out of the hand of Saul. Our Lord Jesus teaches us, judge
not that you be not judged. Now, I don't pretend to know
all that's implied in that statement, all that's declared in that statement.
He said, for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it shall be measured unto you again. And why beholdest thou
the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? Judge not that you be not judged. I don't suppose there's any text
of Scripture I've heard People quote, except perhaps John 3,
16, more often than Matthew 7, verse 1, judge not that you be
not judged. And I don't want to over speak. I
don't think I've ever heard that statement made except in a self-righteous
way. I don't think I've ever heard
it made. I'm talking about it in just outward conversation.
I'm not talking about it from the pulpit. I'm talking about
it just in an outward conversation. Folks, judge not that you be
not judged. Don't talk to me like that. No,
no, no, no, no. Don't do that. This I know the Savior's teaching. We ought always to be hard on ourselves in our
judgment of things. and extremely lenient in our
judgment of one another. God give me grace to put the
best construction possible on the actions of others that appear
in my eyes to be evil or offensive to me. And give me grace to be
harsh in my judgment of my own actions and words that are offensive
to others. We ought always to be very lenient
in our assessments and thoughts of our brethren and very hard
in our assessments and thoughts of ourselves. And the fact is,
Skip, we're always just the opposite. You and me both. We're real lenient
on ourselves. Anybody differ with that? Anybody? We'll defend ourselves? I like
that. If I said that glass got seven
pieces of ice in it and you think you've got six, since you've
got six, let's count them. Got to fuss about it. So demanding that we be right
and folks see us right. Be lenient with others. Hard on yourself. The fact is,
as the old Indian proverb goes, don't judge another man until
you've walked a mile in his moccasins. I was talking to Shelby just
this week, very concerned about a situation, and I said to her,
I don't know what I do. I've never been there. I don't know what I do. I don't
know how to handle that. But don't you know what's right?
I know what's right, Rex, but I don't know what I do. There's
a big difference. There's a big difference. I haven't
been there. I haven't experienced that yet.
Fourthly, this sad event in David's life teaches us that we all need
a faithful preacher. Lord sent Nathan to David. What a blessing. Blessed is that
man to whom God sends his Nathans. David was king in Israel, but
he still needed a prophet. David was himself a prophet,
but he still needed a prophet. David was a writer of inspiration,
but he still needed a prophet. The fact is when God has grace
to convey to his elect, he always sends a messenger to speak for
him. How shall they hear without a
preacher? God always sends a preacher to
the lost one he'll save, one way or the other. One way or
the other. We have this modern internet
thing. developed by a space program
and developed by war. Developed by the military and
developed by a space program. Folks who don't know God from
a billy goat and couldn't care any less. And we have the means
by which to send the gospel around the world like that. Like that. 24 hours a day. Anytime you want
to, you can download a message and listen to it. Anytime you
want to. God has fixed it. God has ordained it. And God
has fixed it. So that whenever there is a lost
one, he will save. He sends him a messenger. Wherever
there's a languishing soul, he will revive. He sends a messenger. Wherever there's a fallen one,
he'll restore. He sends a messenger. The wise reasons known only to
himself. God allows His saints to fall
into sin, sometimes even openly, like David. The fact is, what I read to you
this morning, these are things you have never seen in Don Fortner. Nobody's ever seen Don Fortner
behave like that. God forbid, you might tomorrow,
but you haven't yet. But out in Kibbe, these are things
that go on inside Don Fortner all the time. Yes, God allows his saints fall
into sin. Sometimes he leaves them to themselves
for a long time. But blessed be his name, he will
not leave them forever. God says, I've seen his ways
and I'll heal him. I've seen his ways and I'll heal
him. Nathan was sent to David. what
a faithful prophet Nathan was. Having received God's Word at
God's mouth, Nathan spoke God's Word faithfully, and he was David's
truest friend. He didn't say, I will not go
to David, for he sinned. He counted him not as an enemy,
but admonished him as a brother. He didn't say, David's king,
I dare not go and reprove David's sin. He was faithful to God and
faithful to David, told him the truth and was true to his soul.
He reminded David of all the great things God had done for
him and was willing to do for him. Look in verses 7 and 8,
Nathan said to David, thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel. I delivered
thee out of the hand of Saul. I gave thee thy master's house
and thy master's wives into thy bosom. I gave thee the house
of Israel and of Judah. And if that had been too little,
I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. And
Nathan plainly exposed David's sin for what it was. He said
in verse 9, Wherefore hast thou despised? the commandment of
God. He said, David, this is despising
God. You've despised God as God, His
authority as God. How is it that you, a man to
whom God has been so good, have despised God's commandment? And
he frankly told David what the consequences of his sin would
be. You can read it for yourself in verses 10, 11, and 12. He
said, the sword's never going to leave your house. He said,
I'm gonna raise up evil against you out of your own house. I'm
gonna cause your wives to be taken by your friend. And this
thing you have done privately, I'm going to do publicly so that
all Israel will know I'm displeased with what you've done. And David
bowed and received God's word. David said to Nathan, verse 13,
I've sinned against the Lord." Truly, David was a man born of
God, taught of God, who knew the grace of God. When God spoke,
David bowed. He didn't get upset with David
for delivering God's Word. I'm sorry, he didn't get upset
with Nathan for delivering God's Word to him. Rather, David bowed. to God and His Word. I was speaking to a preacher
friend just a couple weeks ago, having some difficulty. Folks
been around for years, got upset and left. I said, I'll tell you why. I'll tell
you why. You know too much. And they're
afraid you're going to behave like they would. You know too
much about what they've done. And they can't bear it. They
can't bear it. So they leave. I'll get another preacher. David
didn't say, well, Nathan knows so much about me. He's going
to tell everybody. He's going to talk to everybody about this.
No, he bowed. He bowed. He wasn't angry with
God for judging his sin. He bowed. And he frankly confessed
his sin. That's the secret of repentance. That's the secret of repentance.
It's opening your heart to God. I have sinned. I have sinned. Did you ever, Jerry, try to apologize
to somebody for something you'd done that you knew was wrong?
Ever try to do that? Let me ask you another question.
Did you ever do so without making some justification of it. You
don't have to answer that. I shouldn't have done that, but.
I shouldn't have done that, but if you hadn't. No, no, no. That's not acknowledging you're
wrong. That's defending yourself. What
did David do? He said to Nathan, I have sinned. Got nothing to do with anybody
else. Got nothing to do with what anybody else has done. I've
said. If we confess our sin, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Fifth, learn this. Our lies affect a lot of people
and a lot of things. None of us live unto himself. Everything we say and everything
we do affects others. Our companions, our children,
our brethren, our neighbors, our friends, our enemies, they're
all watching us. They're all watching us. My new friend, Brother David
Engstrom back there, Just turned 17. God just saved him. Am I
right? Let me tell you something, buddy. Everybody you know is
watching you. Everybody you know. Your little
brother and your little sister. Everybody you know. All the fellas
on your wrestling team. Everybody you know. Everybody
you know is watching you. And everything you do is going
to affect them from here out. Everything. Everything. everything. Lot was a righteous man. Is that
what the book says? Lot was a righteous man. Do you
know what that righteous man did, Bill? He led his family
to hell by his behavior. That righteous
man. Oh, pastor, pay attention to
yourself. Everybody watches and everybody's
influenced by everything you do. Mom and dad, watch yourself. Those children are watching and
they're influenced by what you do. Brothers and sisters, watch
yourselves. Live circumspectly before men
as God's people. Everything you do has an effect
on others. By David's sin, the name of God
was blasphemed. That's what Nathan said in verse
14. You've given occasion for the enemies of Israel, the enemies
of the Lord God, to blaspheme. The child of David's lust was
killed because of his sin. The child died. We read in verse
18. The sword never departed from
David's house. Just as Nathan said it would
in verse 10. And David reaped the consequences
of his sin in his children. Look at verses 11 and 12. Thus
saith the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against thee out
of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes
and give them unto thy neighbor. And he shall lie with thy wives
in the sight of this Son, for thou didst it secretly. But I
will do this thing before all Israel and before the Son. Verse
22, chapter 16. Chapter 16, verse 22. So they
spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house, and Absalom
went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. Where did he learn to do that,
David? David taught him how. Amnon, his son, learned to live
by his lust, watching his father gratify his own lust. Ahithophel,
his trusted friend, learned to betray his trusted friend by
David's deeds. Beware, beware, O my soul. Your sin will find you out. You
can't take fire to your bosom and not be burned. You can't
sin against God and get by. Your sin and mine has its consequences. Upon the name of God, upon the
family of God, and upon everybody we influence. You ever think about how many
lives you touch? How many lives you touch? Everything you do affects those
you touch. Everything. Here's the sixth
thing. I'll be very quick. The Lord
our God is merciful and gracious to forgive sin. David said, verse 13, I said
against the Lord, and Nathan said to David, the Lord also
hath put away thy sin. The Lord God forgave David's
transgression. It had already been forgiven
before it was ever committed and certainly before it was confessed.
Forgiven through the blood of the Lamb, slain from the foundation
of the world. And the Lord God spoke forgiveness
to David as soon as he confessed his sin. Immediate, complete,
absolute forgiveness. The strongest argument there
is under heaven to promote holiness in the lives of God's people
is this free forgiveness. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Now John says,
I'm telling you that because I'm writing these things to you
that you said not. The Lord God forgave David and
forgave David's sin freely. But David's sin forgiven freely
was not forgiven cheaply. It cost dearly. Someone had to
die. The innocent victim had to die
because of David's sin. His child, born to he and Bathsheba, was killed because of David's
sin. I don't really know what all
that says, but I know this. David had another son. born from Bathsheba. His name is Christ the Lord.
And he had to die for the forgiveness of our sins. David's sin was
forgiven by the sacrifice of David's son, the Lord Jesus,
who died the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.
Grace is free. but it's not cheap. It cost our
Savior everything. And then David, and this innocent one who died
in his place, who died for his sin, will one day be reunited. David said, he can't come to
me, but I'm going to him. And soon, soon, this man who has sinned And Christ,
the innocent, the just, the righteous one, who has made sin for me
and died because of my sin, he and I shall be reunited. What a day that will be when
my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon his face, the one who saved
me by his grace. One last thing. The Lord God our Savior is faithful
even to, especially to his fallen saints. Look at verse 24. David
comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and went in unto her, and lay
with her. And she bare a son, and called his name Solomon.
And the Lord loved him. And he sent by the hand of Nathan
the prophet, and he called his name Jedediah, beloved of the
Lord, because of the Lord. The faithfulness of our God is
nowhere more beautifully manifest than in God overruling even our
sin. for our good and his glory. God took their first son and
he gave them another one, a man by the name of Solomon, peace. God told David, said, your house
is going to be turmoil from now on. But David had Solomon and
he said, I'm going to have that turmoil But God, my Savior, is
my peace. And God sent Nathan the prophet
and said, you go tell David, call that boy Solomon, call him
Jedediah, call him beloved of the Lord. As if to say, David,
you are yet beloved of the Lord. No doubt Bathsheba was greatly
distressed with a sense of her sin and the tokens of God's displeasure. David was distressed, but God
showed them both his great grace. And Solomon, the one from Bathsheba
and David, is that one through whom came Christ our peace, in
whom we are beloved of the Lord. Amen.