This is the chapter that tells us of the sin of David which displeased the Lord. It is the sin where David covets another man's wife, Uriah's wife Bathsheba, and he's enticed with her beauty and brings her to himself and commits adultery with her, and she conceives a child. And this chapter covers that and then the great lengths that David goes through, heaping sin upon sin upon sin to cover his iniquity in laying with Bathsheba, another man's wife.

We see how David calls Uriah back from the front lines. and talks to him like he's really interested in what he has to say about how the battle's going, all the while hoping that he would just go to his house and lay with his wife to give cover to why she's pregnant. And being a man of integrity and thinking it wrong to comfort himself at his home while his comrades, while his Lord Joab is there sleeping in tents, he doesn't go down to her house. He doesn't do it. And David then takes the man, gets him drunk then, hoping that this will then cause his integrity to flee and that he'd go down to his house, and that still doesn't work. And so David the next day writes a letter to Joab, puts it in the hand of Uriah to give to Joab, and it's Uriah's death sentence. It's saying to Joab, put him in the heat of the battle, put him in a place where he'll die, and then withdraw from him and let him die in battle. And he does. And then when David hears about it, his heart's just so cold. He just says something like, men are going to die in battle. That's what happens in battle. Men die. But the Lord saw it, and the thing that David had done, we're told at the end of the chapter, displeased the Lord. It displeased the Lord.

And so this chapter, right next chapter gets into the Lord sending Nathan the prophet to speak to David. But this chapter focuses on the sin of David that displeased the Lord. And so what we're going to do here tonight is look at and seek to draw from this chapter, the lessons that the Holy Spirit is teaching us. He recorded it. He put it here in the Bible. He spent the time. He had these verses written for our learning and instruction. So let's see what the Holy Spirit says in regard to sin.

So let's begin. I'm not going to read the whole chapter, but I'm going to read a few key verses. So let's begin in verse one and read the first five verses.

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

" And then these next verses go into describing the adultery with Bathsheba. And it came to pass in an evening tide that David arose from off his bed, he's taken a nap, and he walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself. And the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman, and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her. For she was purified from her uncleanness, and she returned unto her house.

And the margin also does tell us another possible translation of that last phrase, that when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am with child.

Now, when we read a verse like Galatians 3.22, that the scripture hath concluded all under sin, this is probably one of the more prominent passages that easily comes to our mind. We think of the great sin of David with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. This sin is the one thing that the book of the kings actually records, it highlights this as David's most wicked thing that he did.

It says it this way in 1 Kings 15, 5, David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. And so this was a very grievous thing. I mean, there are things that we can look at with regards to David when he was being hunted and persecuted by Saul that we question. and think, what was David thinking during some of those things? We know that later he'll number the men of Israel, which was not a good thing to do. And the Lord brought a plague upon the people, and many people died as a result. But this thing is highlighted as a most grievous thing to the Lord, a very, very grievous thing which David did.

And it shows us just how exceedingly sinful sin is. It gets to the heart of just how corrupt sin is. We often make light of sin, but we can see here how it just builds and it just builds and it just waxes worse and worse, doing greater and greater damage. David, as we know, as I said earlier, he brought Uriah back. just to entice him to lay with his own wife, just to cover David's sin. And because he couldn't get him to do it, he murdered him, basically. He set the whole thing up for Uriah's life to be taken in battle.

Look at verses 14 and 15 of this chapter. It came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. Not just another messenger, he had Uriah himself carry his own death sentence. And he wrote in the letter saying, set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire ye from him that he may be smitten and die. And that's exactly what happened. That's exactly how It happened, and then news came back to David, Joab sending it to him, telling him of this tactical error that led to the deaths of the servants of David, and he included saying that, but tell him, Uriah is dead. Uriah the Hittite has died. And David hears this, and this is exactly what he said in verse 25, let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another.

And so we can see here how cold, how callous, how hard David's heart was. His heart was very hard and indifferent, very cold. Not what you would expect to see in this man whose heart loved the Lord. And he's very hard, very cold in this.

James tells us something about sin that describes this very well. Turn over to James 1. James 1, and we'll read from verse 13 down to verse 16.

James 1.13, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

And so we know from the teaching of scripture that God didn't tempt David to this sin. God didn't turn David's heart to this sin. He didn't bend David's heart to this sin. This shows us that man's heart is bent towards sin. He doesn't need to have his arm twisted to sin. And also, if you look at verse 1, it says there, back in our text, in 2 Samuel 11, verse 1, Hold your hand there in James, but he says there in verse one, it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

And so even though this is the time, the best time, probably spring I would imagine, the best time to go to battle, David stayed behind while his men went off and fought for the kingdom. David wasn't where David was supposed to be. He wasn't where he was supposed to be. He was at home. Had he been at the war with Joab, with the men, this wouldn't have even come up. This wasn't God setting him up for this thing. This was David.

And James tells us, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And so, don't think God is bending your heart to do something against your will. No, this is the will of man. He is very much inclined to sin. I forget which prophet, maybe Jeremiah, that tells us that we drink iniquity like water. And it's just there. It's just what we are by nature. It's in our members.

And so when he saw Bathsheba bathing, he lusted for her. He coveted her. And then he brought it to pass that he might have her. Well, he began inquiring about her and then he, having the power that he had and the influence he had, he sent messengers there and they brought her to him and he committed adultery with her. And it did lead to death. And it did lead to death. It actually led to the physical death of Uriah and other servants of David. And everything was enacted by David just to cover his own sin, just to cover his own shame. And so just trying to make himself appear good and put it away, he did some very horrible things, very horrible, wicked things. And in doing so, he became very hard-hearted, very indifferent, very cold to sin.

So what can we draw from all this? For one thing, and I'll give you three little things here before we go on, but for one thing, we see that the best of men, in this case, David, the apple of God's eye, David is but a man. Even the very best of men, David is but a man. a man so that he committed the most heinous of sins at this time, sins which we normally think are reserved for the unregenerate to do. This is what wicked men do. This is what horrible, cruel, wicked, hard-hearted, unregenerate sinners do. That's what we think of when we hear of sins like this. We might even say, a Christian would never do that. There are sins that we hear of people doing, and we think, how can that person be a Christian? They would never do that if they were a Christian. If they believed God, they could never, ever do that. But the scriptures tell us they do. They do. They do.

The scriptures, I mean, if the holy scriptures do one thing, they don't pull any punches, that's for sure. They record the ugly sin nature of God's people. of all men, all men, those that know God and those that don't. It's right there. The Lord is making us to know just how corrupt, how vile that sin is. Just as we saw Cain slay his own brother, we saw that murderous heart immediately, and it spread from Adam to his children, and here's David, a man of God, doing a horrible, horrible crime. like this, a horrible sin like this. And it shows us the truth that Paul tells us in Romans 5, 12, that as by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, all have sinned.

The second part here is that it is the spirit called the inner man which is regenerated. It is the spirit of God's people, that inner man that is regenerated. The flesh is not regenerated. The flesh is still dead flesh. It's still dead flesh. We've been raised from the dead spiritually, and so this flesh is still as corrupt, earthly, sensual, defiled, ruined as it ever was. The flesh is not improved. The flesh is not improved. in the spirit. And this flesh is still an earthly body. It's not a heavenly body, it's an earthly body. And that's why we see sin in our members. That's why believers, sadly, they're capable of doing the same sin, the same wicked works, the same corrupt works as we see recorded here.

And this is why the apostles tell us As Peter wrote, abstain, brethren, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. This is why Paul said, by the spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, right? Because the body isn't regenerated. The body isn't changed. The body is still a sinful body. This is why Paul cried out, who shall save me from this body of death? I thank God. with the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God for what he has done. It's why we walk by faith, because the body is still weak, corrupt, defiled. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The flesh is weak. The flesh isn't regenerated.

The spirit, that new man, that inner man, cannot sin. That's why the apostle John said that. He cannot sin. the inner man can, the flesh can. The flesh is still very weak. It's still a creature roaming under the weight of sin. And the third part that we see here is that whatsoever understanding that we have attained unto, whatsoever measure of faith we have, whereby we walk by faith in the grace and light of God, To whatsoever degree we do walk in faith, it is owing entirely to the grace and power of God. It is not because we have improved ourselves. That's where we err greatly. That's where brethren err greatly is thinking, I have improved myself and I am therefore better than you because you don't do what I do. That's where brethren begin to hurt their brethren. That's where brethren begin to attack, bite, and devour one another. because we think that we've done something. And what the Lord is showing us is that we're all sinners, saved by grace. And everything we do have, every measure of faith we do see and walk by faithfully, is owing to God's grace and mercy. Not because we're better than our brother. Not because we've improved ourselves. It's by God's grace.

If you're disciplined and control your body and control yourself, have self-control, wonderful. Praise God. And walk in that light. Walk in that faith. Walk in that grace. Walk in that spirit. Praise God. Give him all the glory for it. And think not highly of yourselves because it's of the Lord. Paul tells us that to think any part, well, for us to think any part of salvation as of ourselves is to be entirely ignorant of the scriptures. It's actually ignorant of the scriptures. Paul tells us, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. It's God that works in you. If you walk by faith, it's God that works in you. It's of God's power. It's of his glory and praise. Again, to think any part of salvation is of ourselves, it denies the power of God upon which living souls depend. And it misses what the Spirit is teaching us here and showing us, David. In giving us this example here in the scriptures, it misses this very truth that our salvation is owing entirely to God. Entirely to Him. We do not save ourselves.

Paul said it this way in Philippians. but what things were gained to me," all right, talking about his abilities, his strengths, his talents, all that he had going for him, what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. I don't want to talk about what I have. I don't want to talk about what I can do. I don't want to talk about my strengths. I want to talk about Christ. Christ. That's what I need. And everything else that I have is actually working against me. Because it corrupts the mind. It's an imagination that exalts itself above Christ that needs to be torn down. raised to the ground, brought down, because it's fighting against the very truth of God in Christ, that he is our salvation, that we're nothing apart from him.

Yea, doubtless, Paul said, and I count all things but loss. for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things." Men hated Paul because he gloried in Christ, because he didn't glory in the flesh, because he didn't talk about the law, because he turned men to Christ rather than boasting in Moses. And so they persecuted him for it. And he said, yep, they hate me. They persecute me. And that's fine, because I do count all those things but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law. I don't want any of it. I don't want to talk about it or know about it, because it's negating the hope I have in Christ. But that which is through the faith of Christ, his faithfulness, the righteousness of God, which is by faith.

And so Paul is saying, he's putting a great example for us. I don't want to talk about what I'm bringing to the work. I don't want to talk about what I'm bringing to salvation. It's dung. It's dung. And it's exalting itself above the knowledge of Christ. And it needs to go down to the dirt. So that's what we see there.

Now, another thing here that we see A second understanding that we gain from this is we see just how far any one of us would fall if God withdraws his hand of grace and power. We see just how low we all are capable of sinking if God but remove his hand from us and allow us to test out the depths, just how low we can go here. Now, I'm not saying God is the author of David's sin, not at all here. Rather, it just shows that if he removes his hand, we sink. Right? If he removes it, we sink. That's why Peter cried out when he started sinking, Lord, save me. Save me. Because Christ was making him to know. Without Christ, we can do nothing. Nothing without him.

And so David sinks in his lust till he's taken away by that sin. And then we see his heart harden to it. He wasn't repenting. He wasn't feeling sorry or feeling bad, maybe in a certain sense, but nothing that was shown. He had no real repentance toward God. All he did was attempt to hide his iniquity to the point where he was doing more sin upon more sin upon more sin, just getting deeper, deeper, and deeper. deeper right just to cover it up and so everything he did with Uriah failed to cover his sin and because it failed David went on not only with committing adultery but murdering her husband and David's heart He remained steadfast in his wicked sin. He wasn't going to budge. He probably justified himself. He probably did religious things after that. I'm sure he did go and sacrifice bulls and goats and did what he thought he should do to put away his guilt and maybe even thought he'd put it away. He went on for quite some time after this.

And it shows us if God doesn't keep our hearts, this heart becomes hard and sick and defiled and it dies. It's what we are by nature. We just descend into darkness.

So this is why David would say, over in Psalm 51, if you look there, this is the Psalm which he wrote after Nathan went to him, after the Lord sent Nathan to rebuke David, to show David his sin, and the Lord gave David repentance. David didn't have to hear this. God gave David repentance. He gave him that soft heart.

And David said in Psalm 51, verse 10 through 12, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. His spirit wasn't right within. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. If God removes his spear from us, if he takes his hand away, we fall. We fall. We're sinners. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.

And so David, seeing how hard he was, when God gave him repentance, then he saw clearly, then he saw, wow, I can't believe I'm so far gone. I didn't know until the Lord brought me life, brought me repentance, brought me this repentance again, saved me again, delivered me again, right? We're always saved, but you know what I mean, through the experience, when he shows us what we are by nature, when he shows us our sin, we need his grace to deliver us again, and to bring that in a right spirit, and to bring that, to be upheld and comforted and taught by his free spirit, his holy spirit.

And so, Seeing that, what God had done, he begs God to restore him in grace. And so that's what we need, brother. And that's what the Lord's showing us. We need that grace.

And then the third thing, and this is the final point here, the third understanding that we gain from this is the glory of Christ who redeemed such vile, wretched sinners as we see David here and as we see in ourselves. When we look in the mirror of scripture and we see how filthy we are, how filthy our hearts are, how filthy our minds are, our thoughts, our words, our deeds, to see that Christ should save a sinner like me, like me.

And so seeing David like this, it might be very difficult for some who imagine that, oh, well, good religious people are just good all the time. They're just good people. And if that's all your hope is, outward appearances, This could be a very difficult passage to look at and read. He started out so good. He started out like such a good, humble man. God, by the prophet Nathan, told Saul that he's a better man than you. He's a better man than you, Saul. God chose David, taking him from the humble beginnings of the sheep coat, the pastor, as a shepherd, following the sheep, to being ruler over his people over Israel. He went from being a a humble lad, a faithful, humble lad who defeated Goliath in the name of God. He went from that to us seeing him here as a hard-hearted, cold, and callous king putting an innocent man to death and taking from him all that he had. Everything he did now was bring further reproach on the gospel. It was actually bringing reproach on the gospel.

In our text there in verse 27, in the beginning it says, when Bathsheba's mourning for her husband was passed, David sent and fetched Bathsheba to his house, and she became his wife and bare him a son. You can imagine the people of the house of David, People in the court, they knew something was up. Not to mention the people that David spoke to, to bring her to him. And we're in communion about this whole thing. But you know how word gets around. And there was word spreading and rumors spreading. Something doesn't look right. Why would he bring this pregnant woman in to marry her? This just doesn't make any sense here.

And we're told in the next chapter, in 2 Samuel 12, 14, how be it because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. And so David, he really fell greatly. He did fall. There's no sugarcoating it or painting it nicely or making it look good. David fell greatly.

And yet the extreme depth of David's sin shows us a picture of how much greater the blood of Christ is, the redeeming blood of Christ, that He is able and does save great, wretched, vile sinners. All to the praise, honor, and glory of His name, that He could save a wretch like this gives me hope and confidence that he might save a wretch like me, an undeserving sinner, who is cold, indifferent, hard, ignorant of my own sin, that he should save me.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 1, 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. And so great is our Lord's salvation that the sin of David was purged. And we see it in the repentance that the Lord gave David, right? And when he wrote that psalm, we see there that the Lord works repentance. Those whom Christ's blood has washed away their sins, the Lord gives great repentance. and a true heart of faith. It wasn't just David going through the motions and going to the temple and doing religious things. No, David was broken. David was broken. And David did show that the Lord had given him a new heart.

David went on to confess back in Psalm 51, Verses 5 through 9, he said, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. He could see my whole nature, going all the way back to before I can even remember, I know I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Going all the way back to the beginning. And so the Lord made him to know what a vile, wretched sinner he is now, and there's no denying it. God laid it bare, right here, recorded in the Scriptures. Behold, he says, verse 6, Psalm 51, verse 6, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. we are the Lord's child, he's gonna have life, he's gonna bring forth life and salvation. Even if he's got to bring you lower than you think you can go, he'll do it to glorify his name and to have you, to make you to know, Lord, you desire not just a good man, you desire perfection, the perfection of your darling son Jesus Christ. If that's the only thing that's going to bring us to Christ, then he'll do that for us. He'll bring us. He'll let us go low. He'll allow it to come to pass to praise the name of Christ, to praise his darling son who saves sinners.

Purge me, he said, with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. And so the Lord makes us to know that the blood of Christ was said to purge my sin. He's going to make each one of his children know, Lord, you did this for me. You purged me of my sin, not just sin in general, not just the sin of the people. You purged my sin. I'm the sinner, Lord. I need your salvation.

Wash me in your blood, Lord, because I'm vile. I'm wretched. I need your salvation. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice, so that our Savior, as our Shepherd knows exactly, how to stop us, right? He knows exactly how to break the bone, how to stop us in our mad dash to hell, how to lift us and carry us and bring us into the love of his bosom, into his salvation, being delivered once and for all from the death of this world. He's able to do it. And he does do it.

Hide thy face. from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities." Our Lord does it. He's able. He doesn't see our sin for Christ's sake. Not because we've improved, not because we've made it better, not because we tweak things and improve things under the law and religion. No, it's for Christ's sake. It's for Christ's sake. That's why the Lord is gracious to us, for Christ's sake.

And so this is the thing that David had done which displeased the Lord. And so this was what he did that the appearance of things made him no different from any of the other kings which did evil in the sight of the Lord, except for one thing, distinguishing grace. Distinguishing grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ spared David's life and delivered David from this death and from just sinking further and further and further into hell.

And so all who believe Christ, who confess Him and believe in their heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, that He did this for my sin, you that believe Him have everlasting life. And though your sins be as scarlet, though they be as black and filthy as what we see here in David, if not more, God is able to forgive to the uttermost all that come unto Him by the blood of Jesus Christ. I pray He form that faith and hope in your heart. Amen.