Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter 12. I'm going to speak out of this
book, out of more verses, but I'd like
to just read one verse, verse 22. 2 Samuel 12. I've entitled this message, Will
God Be Gracious to Me? 2 Samuel 12, 22 says, And he
said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, Who can tell whether
God will be gracious to me, that the child may live. Now, that's an amazing question. Who can tell whether God will
be gracious to me? And the immediate answer that
any believer is going to say, going to answer is this, yes,
is God going to be gracious to me? His child, His son. And I say that because He promised
that He would. If the Lord has loved me, if
He's loved His people, if He's chosen me in Christ, redeemed
me by the blood of His precious Son and regenerated me and kept
me, I know that he's going to be gracious. He told Moses he
would. Show me your glory. The Lord
said, I'm going to cause all my goodness to pass before you.
And I'm going to be gracious to whom I'll be gracious and
I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. But in
light of the question that David asked, we know that the will
of the Lord in being gracious to his people may not be what
we necessarily think that he's going to do. The Lord is going
to be gracious to us, but what we think that he may do and what
he will do may be different. His ways are not our ways. So
let's consider for just a moment this amazing passage of scripture
A passage that we're all familiar with, a story that led up to
the death of David and Bathsheba's child. You know, the scripture
sets forth, and you can read this out of this 12th chapter
here, David saw Bathsheba one night washing herself, called
for her, scripture says he laid with her, she conceived, and
in an attempt to cover up his guilt, David arranged for her
husband Uriah to be put in the forefront. He was a faithful
soldier and a faithful servant to David. And David had him killed. David had him murdered. David
murdered him. That's what he did. And after
his death, David took Bathsheba to be his wife and she bore him
a son. But scripture says in verse 27
of the 11th chapter, last part, But the thing that David had
done displeased the Lord. And according to the mercy of
God, God sent a prophet to David. Now that's, you talk about mercy. That God would send a preacher
to his people and tell them the truth. And this prophet Nathan
told David that the Lord had put away his sin, and the Scripture
says that he told David in the 13th verse. David said when he
heard that, he realized, I'm the man, God has put away my
sin, But Nathan told him, he said,
the child's going to die. Now, the Spirit of God has been
pleased to move on his rider and have that book, have this
book, that event, written down. It really happened. had this story written down.
It was for our instruction. To teach us something in the
midst of adversity. Trial. But to show us in the
midst of these trials. Now listen, we all go through
them. The Lord promised that. In this
world you're going to have tribulation. You're going to have trouble.
But in the midst of the trials and the troubles that we have.
And again, we all have them. What I want to know is what has
the Spirit of God taught us in this situation right here concerning
tribulation for us? I've got three questions for
us to consider. I'm going to ask them concerning
David, but they're all for us. You can ask the same thing for
us. Here was my first question. After Nathan came, he said, you're
the man. The Lord's put away your guilt.
You're not going to die, but the child's going to die. And
David, when he heard that, he knew that this was so. Here was the first thing that
we're taught. What did David know concerning
this trial? What does any of us know? We're
promised, Mark, in this world you will have tribulation. Now
what do we know about that promise from the Lord? Number one, David
knew and we know. We deserve it. We deserve trials
and tribulation. Why? Because we're guilty. We're guilty. When Nathan exposed
David's sin, what did David say in verse 13? And David said unto
Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. I've sinned against
the Lord. I know this. Trials and tribulations
are not sent for fun. It's to make us realize what
we are as being born in Adam. To remember. To remember. David penned the surety of his
sin about this sin right here. He wrote, penned Psalm 51. I'm
going to read verses 1 to 4. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to Thy loving kindness. According to the multitude of
thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly
from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Now listen, for
I acknowledge my transgressions. Now every believer's gonna say
this. I'm guilty, I know I'm guilty. I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. I've said this before,
and I want to especially say it to myself. Don't promise the
Lord I'll never do that again. Don't promise him that. I'm telling you, sure as the
world, you make that promise, don't do it. I'll never do that
again. How many times have I told myself
that very thing? I will never do that again and
I'll do it again. David said, my sin is ever before
me. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned. One sensible to his guilt before
God is one who will not try to hide his transgression. One that
has been given a new heart This is the evidence of a believer. He is honest with God because
he knows. God knows. He knows. Do we really think we're hiding
anything from Him? Just be honest. Be honest about
it. Nathan told David. He said, you're
the man. David said, I've sinned against
the Lord. 1 John 1, 8 and 9. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. Now
think about what he just said. If we say that we have no sin,
no sin that's going to be brought up, no sin to answer for, no
sin. If we think, if we think we're getting away with something,
I told the first group, I said, listen, just stop just a minute
for just a second. We've witnessed in the last couple
of months, we have had, the Lord has been pleased to remove three
from our midst, many, many before. How many before out of our midst? I tried to count, tried to think.
I think, I've preached, I think it's right at 15 funerals. out
of our midst. Fourteen, fifteen of them. How
many? Do you know what I know? We're
going to die. Everybody in this congregation,
unless the Lord comes back the second time, I'm telling you,
we're all going the way of all men. We're going to die. If we say that we have nothing
to answer for, Or we walk in this world like we do. We have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And we're unbelievers. The truth
is not in us. But if we confess our sins, does
that mean every one of them? I don't even know the depth of
what I've done. I have no idea. I have no idea
of the transgression that I've committed against the Lord. But
if we confess what we are, is what he's saying, if we confess
our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So if you want to know the mark
of a believer, a believer is honest before God. And we're
not free from sin. We're not free from the presence
of it. We're free from the penalty of it. Thanks be unto God for
that. There's no condemnation to them being Christ Jesus. But
I know this. Paul said, there is in my flesh
no good thing. I know. That's what the publican
said. God be merciful to me, a sinner. I want to confess. I want to
be honest with the Lord. Have mercy on me. I'm a sinner. Lord, it grieves me because I
am. But Lord, I know I am. So what does a believer know?
What did David know when Nathan came to him? He knows that he's
a sinner. And what did he want? What did
David want? Well, look at verse 16, 2 Samuel
12, 16. After verse 15, Nathan departed
unto his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's
wife... Well, isn't it amazing how the
Spirit of God just brings it right back to the reality of
this thing? That was Uriah's wife at Bear unto David, and
it was very sick. Verse 16, And David therefore
besought God for the child, David fasted, went in, and lay all
night upon the earth. What did David want concerning
this trial that the Lord had put him in? I'll tell you what
he knew. He knew he was guilty. What did he want? Well, at first
sight, somebody might say, well, he wanted the Lord to heal the
child. That's what he wanted. And without
a doubt, that desire, I know, was there. But that's not the fullness,
that's not the depth of what David wanted. I'll tell you what
he wanted. He wanted God's will to be done.
That's what he wanted. He searched out in prayer and
did strive after the good pleasure of God. that He served and He
loved, and He gave this confession in verse 22. Here's our passage.
He said, while the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept,
for I said, who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that
the child may live? Who could tell? I know I'm praying
for this child. I'm weeping. I'm fasting. I'm
asking the Lord. But who can tell whether God
will be gracious? You know what David knew? He
knew that the Lord was going to do whatsoever he pleased. He knew that. He knew that God
ruled in heaven and earth. That's what he confessed. He
confessed that in Psalm 115, 2 and 3. Wherefore should the
heathen say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens,
and he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. David's heart was broken, and
he knew that the Lord has mercy and compassion on whomsoever
he will. And he was praying. He was praying
for that baby. Praying that God would help.
And he said, who can tell? He was like that leper that came
to the Lord in Matthew 8. And he said, Lord, if thou wilt. Now do you think that leper wanted
to be healed of his leprosy? Well, sure he did. Yeah, that's
what he asked the Lord. Here's how he said it. Lord,
if you will. You can make me clean. So a believer
desires not his own will. A believer desires the will of
the Lord. Listen to it. Hold your place
right here and turn to Matthew 26. This is an amazing passage
of scripture. Matthew 26. Our Lord is in the
garden of Gethsemane. And we have to realize, I'm going
to start in verse 36, Matthew 26, starting in verse 36. Now here's the one that's praying
is the Lord of glory. And he's praying unto his Father,
and he's praying not as a private person. He's praying as our mediator. He's praying as our federal head.
He's praying as the one who's answering for us. He is our representative
before God and He's walking in perfect faith, perfect obedience. Now here is the man, Christ Jesus. Now He is doing what is demanded
of us. What He's about to pray is what
we must pray. And He could do nothing else. tempted in all points like as
we are, yet without sin. And Mike, he had to do what we
must do. And listen to his prayer. Matthew
26, verse 36. Then cometh Jesus with them to
a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, sit
ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very
heavy, Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. Tarry ye here and watch with
me. And he went a little further
and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be
possible, let this cup. What cup? The cup of him dying? No, that's not the cup of him
being made sin. He asked me, he said, can you
drink of the cup that I must drink of? Can you be made sin? Kedron, let this cup pass from
me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt. Now let me ask you something.
Do you think those were just empty words? And he was just
saying that? Just to say it? He meant everything he said.
If there's any other way, You say, well how can the Lord of
Glory that knows that there's no other way? How can the Lord
know that there's no other way except that He be made sin and
that He bearing the sin of all of His elect in His own body,
all of them, all of them. That's over my head. How can
the Lord of Glory Say what He said. If there's any other way
but this way, nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done. Why
did He say that? Because you and I don't know.
You and I don't know the will of the Lord. He knew it! He knew
it, but as the man, Christ Jesus, He prayed in absolute sincerity
as you and I. He was tried, tested, tempted
in all points like we are. Somebody said, well, He couldn't
have really meant that. He meant it. Do we understand it? No. But I'm telling you, He prayed,
not my will, but thine. You think David knew the will
of the Lord for that child? Nathan said, well, he was gonna
die. But I'm telling you, David didn't know when. He didn't know,
he didn't know. The baby's gonna die. What if
God has mercy on me? What if he has mercy? I know,
I deserve what I got. That child is going to die because
of what I've done. I'm guilty, but I know this. Who can tell? Who can tell? I'm
going to ask. What did he want? He said he
wanted that baby to live. That's right. He wanted more
for God's will to be done. That's what he wanted. Submission
to the will of God is the characteristic of faith. Submission. Hear our Lord. And that prayer
in Gethsemane sets forth the perfect example of submission.
He did what you and I never could do, perfectly submit, perfectly
submit. I needed him to earn a righteousness
for me that I cannot. So as sinners, as Sinners born
in Adam, we all want to have our own way. I know that, that's
what we want. I want my way, but we don't know
what's best. What submission is set forth
by him who knew no sin, God in human flesh, who humbled himself,
humbled himself before God. I still, I cannot, I cannot grasp
the depth of this. But I'm telling you, he made
himself of no reputation, and he humbled himself before God,
and he prayed, Father, if there's any other way, nevertheless,
not my will, but Thine be done. We'd all be wise to say, as Eli
said, when young Samuel told him what the Lord had said to
Samuel, Eli said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. This is a believer. What does
a believer know? He's a sinner. I know that. I'm
guilty. What does he want? He wants God's will. Blessed
is that man, that woman taught by God to be content with the
will and purpose of God that possesses a heart to pray with
sincerity, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. wanted God's will. That's what
he wanted. I'm guilty. Lord, I want your
will. Lastly, what did he do when the Lord revealed his will? What did he do? I mean, he was
praying, he was fasting, he was asking. Well, the scripture says that
he bowed to God's will, and he worshipped. Verse 20. Then David arose from the earth,
washed, anointed himself, changed his apparel, came into the house
of the Lord, and he worshipped. He came to his own house. When
he had required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Now like I said a minute ago,
David didn't know the will of the Lord. He knew what the Lord
said. The child was going to die. But like I said, he didn't know
when. He knew that God had been merciful
to him because he knew he was guilty. Nathan told David, he
said, the Lord, verse 13, put away your sin, you're not going
to die. that God is merciful. David,
he spoke respectfully to his servants concerning the will
of the Lord. Verse 19, it says that, well, let's just read verse
18. Came to pass on the seventh day,
the child died. The servants of David feared
to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, behold,
while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would
not hearken unto our voice. How will he then vex himself
if we tell him that the child's dead? But when David saw that
his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was
dead. Then David said unto his servants, is the child dead?
And they said, he is dead. And then that's when he got up
and he washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, got him
something to eat, David did what Job did. He didn't attribute
folly to God. After all the trials of Job,
this was the confession of Job. Naked came I out of my mother's
womb. Naked shall I return thither.
The Lord gave. The Lord hath taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord in all this, Job sinned not, nor charged
God foolishly. David worshipped. That's what it said he did in
verse 20. He worshipped. We just looked at this a couple
of weeks ago. What is the way in which a believer worships? Philippians 3.3 The Apostle Paul
speaking said we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit
according to the leadership and direction of the Spirit of God. And how is that? How do we worship?
What is true worship? There's two main elements of
true worship. What are they? Well, Philippians
3.3 We rejoice in Christ Jesus. That's the first thing. We rejoice
in Him who has everlastingly stood as the surety of the sheep. The One who has betrothed His
people unto Himself. The One who out of covenant mercy
came into this world, made flesh, made sin, lived for, died for
the elect, who now ever liveth to make intercession for his
people, worship. We worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus, the
only one in whom God is well pleased. No one else in Himself
is God well pleased. We rejoice in Him. We rejoice
that we've been put in Him. We rejoice that He put away our
guilt. We rejoice that He rose for our
justification. We rejoice that He's seated at
the right hand of the Majesty on high. And we rejoice He's
coming back for us. We rejoice because He's promised,
I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to forsake you.
That's the first part of worship. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. What's the second part? We have
no confidence in the flesh. None. None whatsoever. We don't trust in ourselves.
We don't have sense enough to get out of the rain. We don't
know what's best. We don't know what God demands.
We don't know the depth of our depravity. We have no confidence. What confidence Does a believer
have in himself none, none, none? You say, well, I'm going to do
the best I can. Well, I agree with you. Do the
best you possibly can. Do whatever you possibly can
do. Be as kind as you possibly can. Be as faithful as you possibly
can. Do everything that you possibly
can do that's honorable and right and trustworthy. Do everything
you can. And don't put any confidence
in it. Because it ain't worth speaking of. We worship God. Rejoice in Christ. No confidence
in flesh. Oh, but how beautifully in these
last moments did the Spirit of God move King David to do what
he did when he realized the will of the Lord. And what he did
in that 20th verse set forth in type that which Almighty God
alone can do and does do for his people. Look at that verse
20 again. Then David arose from the earth. You know what Proverbs 24, 16
says? A just man falleth seven times
and riseth up again. Does God's people stumble? Yes,
they do. Yes, they do. But by the grace
of God, the one who's promised, I'll not forsake you. I'm not
going to forsake you. He raises himself. covenant mercy. I'll hold you. I'll sustain you.
He said he rose up from the earth and washed and anointed himself. Not meaning that man's work is
involved. This is a picture. This is a
type of what Almighty God does to his people. He washes and
cleanses and anoints them with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the One in whom they've been placed, who was anointed with
the oil of gladness, the Holy Spirit, above all His fellows. What does He do? He does everything
for us in His Son. David rose up. washed, anointed himself, and
then look what he did. He changed his apparel. Where
do you think I'm going to go with this one? Oh, the preciousness of being
robed in the righteousness of Christ. Of being robed in His holiness. in being robed in that which
He has accomplished. What He's done, when the Father
said, this is my beloved Son, whom I'm well pleased, everything
that He is, everything that He's done has pleased me. There's
not one thing that He's ever thought, He's ever intended,
He's ever done. There's not one thing that I'm
displeased with. I'm pleased with every bit of
that. And the Scripture says the Lord robes us in that, in
His righteousness. And then the scripture says, He came into the house of the
Lord and worshipped. Worship. Is that not what we do? Like
out of Philippians 3. We worship God in the Spirit.
Have no confidence. Rejoice in Christ Jesus. No confidence. And then it says, To His own
house, when He required, they set bread before Him, and He
did eat. Where do you think I'm going
to go with that one, Mark? What are we doing right now? We're
eating of the bread of heaven. Tell me one more time of Him
that came down from heaven. The Lord says, I am the bread.
I am the sustenance. I am the food. I'm all that is
required of you. Amen. He sat down, they set bread
before him, and he did eat. He that eateth of my flesh drinketh
of my blood. That one that trusts in his life
and in his death, trust him, he gonna live. Can we read these words and not
behold? The mercy and graces. Who can
tell whether God will be gracious to me and the child may live? He said this, He said, He can't
come back where I am. I go where He is. I think of
the mercy of God. Who can tell whether or not the
Lord will be gracious to me, and the child will live. Based
on the confession that David made under the inspiration of
God's Spirit, when he said in that last verse, He can't come
back to where I am, but I can go where He is. I'm absolutely
convinced that that child that died in infancy went to be with
the Lord. David didn't say that off the
cuff. The Spirit of God moved on him to say that. And knowing
that, that in the covenant of God's grace and mercy, God has
made provision to receive those infants unto Himself based on
what David said. I'm convinced of that. Was the Lord gracious to David? Did the child live? Does the
child live right now? Has David gone to where he is?
That was a man after God's own heart. Yeah. The sweet psalmist
of Israel. Oh, the mercy. Who can tell whether
God will be gracious to us and receive us to Himself? I pray
that God blesses to our heart for His glory and our good. Amen.