All right, open with me, if you
will, to 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. One of these days, I'm going
to get to see my Lord face to face, literally. I'm going to get to touch His
scars, literally. I'm going to get to touch His
side, literally. I'm going to get to see His eyes. I want to know what color they
are. I'm going to get to hear the
tone of His voice. I've always wondered. I wonder
what the tone of His voice. I believe it sounds like many
waters. Aren't you excited to hear that?
I cannot wait to meet Him. I can't wait. And with my Lord,
there are many of our brethren that I'm looking forward to meeting. Just sitting down and talking
to them, telling them how much I love them and thank the Lord
for them. Everything the Lord allowed them
to go through for my benefit. When the Lord brings all of us
home to His kingdom, New Jerusalem, the holy city, We will know everyone
there as we have been known. We will not be introduced to
one person. No introduction necessary. We will know them, they will
know us. That's the amazing part. Not only will we be seeking their
company, they'll be seeking ours. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
Ruth running up to you and saying, the Lord's about to start preaching,
let's sit together. I can't imagine that. Can't imagine that. Well, our
Lord Jesus Christ is everything. He's everything. And in Him,
Because of him, one of my brothers that I'm looking forward to meeting
is David. I'm looking forward to that.
I'm looking forward to sitting down and just talking to him
for a little while. What a man David was. He was
a sweet and very tender man. He was a songwriter. A poet. He was a wonderful musician. He played the most soothing music
to the king. Soulful. I'd love for us to get our instruments
of strings out and play Psalm 121 together unto our Lord. David was also a mighty man of
war. He killed a lion and a bear with
his hands. Can you imagine that? He said that lion came and took
a lamb. And he said he went after that
lion and he grabbed him by his beard and slew him. Think about that, a lion. I was
at the zoo not long ago and I saw a lion on the other side of the
glass and he scared me. He was huge. I can't imagine
that. David walked straight up to the
face of a giant named Goliath. It killed him. What a courageous man of war
he was. He was chosen by God out from
among his brethren. When David walked in, the Lord
God said, Arise, anoint him. He's the one. He was made to be king, and he
was a good king. All who were in debt could come
to David, and he became captain over them, and he forgave all
their debt. Isn't that wonderful? The promise of his seed was made
to him. The Lord God told him, in your
line, I'm going to send the one that will establish the throne
of His kingdom forever. That's the actual Lord Jesus
Christ. What a blessed man of God David
was. He was really blessed of God. Spiritually, David was a wonderful
representative of our Lord. But physically, David was just
a man like you and me. Just a man. Now 2 Samuel chapter
11, look at verse 1. And it came to pass, after the
year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle,
that David sent Joab, this man named 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 it came to pass, in an evening
tide, that David arose from off his bed, and 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. Now we all understand what just
happened, right? Verse 5 says, And the woman conceived,
and sent and told David, and said, I'm with child. And David sent to Joab, this
man Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite, And Joab sent Uriah
to David. They were at war. And he sent
for him to send this woman's husband back. Verse 7, And when
Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did,
and how the people did, and how the war prospered. And David
said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet, And
Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him
a mess of meat from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of
the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went
not down to his house. And when they had told David,
saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah,
Camest thou not from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down
unto thine house? And Uriah said unto David, The
ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents. And my Lord Joab and
the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then
go into mine house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife,
as thou livest and as thy soul liveth? I will not do this thing."
David's trying to get him to go down to his house to get himself
out of trouble. And he said, I'm going to be
faithful to my King. Verse 12, And David said to Uriah, Harry,
hear today also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah
abode in Jerusalem that day and tomorrow. And when David had
called him, he did eat and drink before him, and he made him drunk. And at even he went out to lie
on his bed with the servants of his Lord, but went not down
to his house." David thought, well, that will get him to go
back home. He didn't do it. Verse 14, And it came to pass
in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it
by the hand of Uriah. He put a letter in the hand of
Uriah and said, Take this to Joab. Verse 15, And he wrote
in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the
hottest battle, and retire ye from him. Leave him there. that
he may be smitten and die. And it came to pass, when Joab
observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew
that valiant men were. And the men of the city went
out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of the people
of the servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite died also." So now David had him killed. My brother David. Now look at verse 26. And when
the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she
mourned for her husband. And when the morning was passed,
David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his
wife, and bare him a son, But the thing that David had done
displeased the Lord. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. The best men on earth are vile
creatures in the eyes of God. The best men. But even though
it says the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,
it didn't displease David. He wasn't broken by it. Hold
your place right here and turn with me over to Romans 1. Romans 1, look at verse 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity,
whisperers, That's David. That's my brother David. Look
at verse 32, it says, "...who, knowing the judgment of God,
that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only
do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." That's
David. Now turn back to 2 Samuel 11. When Joab obeyed David, And had
Uriah killed? He sent a messenger to tell David. Now look at verse 22. 2 Samuel
11 verse 22, it says, So the messenger went and came and showed
David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said
unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto
us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering
of the gate. And the shooters shot from off
the wall upon thy servants, and some of the king's servants be
dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David
said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, I want
you to go back and tell Joab, Let not this thing displease
thee. For the sword devoureth one as well as another. Make
thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it. I
want you to go tell Joab, Encourage thou him. David was pleased. pleased when
he heard that. This heart is deceitful above
all things, and it is desperately wicked. Isn't that terrible? My brother David, if the Lord
God had not made a promise to him, and if he'd left him there,
David would have died in his sins. But God, had mercy on David. And he sent
the truth to David. He sent the truth to him. Now
look at chapter 12, verse 1. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David. Nathan is going to tell David
a story. 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. He had animals upon animals upon
animals. But the poor man had nothing
save one little ewe lamb, that's all he had, one little 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, he
fed it from the table, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his
bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. He loved that little lamb. Verse
4, And there came a traveler unto the rich man, a visitor,
And the rich man spared to take of his own flock and of his own
herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but
took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was
come to him, this visitor. 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 to David, Thou
art the man." Oh, that hurts me. Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I
delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. And I gave thee thy
master's house and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and 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. Wherefore hast thou despised
the commandment of the Lord to do evil in His sight? Thou hast
killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his
wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the
children of Ammon." God's Word, which is sharper than any two-edged
sword, says to every single sinner, Thou art the man. Thou art the
man. I am the man. I am the man. I look at my brother David's
sin and I see my own. I am no better than David. Not
one bit. David was vile. He was wretched. And so am I. David deserved death. What he
did was horrible. There was no excuse for what
he did. So do I. I deserve death. How
could God be merciful to David after that? How could He be merciful
to David after that? How could God be merciful to
me? How could He? Really? If the
Lord will let me not just say that and it be lip service, if
He'll allow my heart to enter into that, how could God be merciful
to me? I will tell you how. Our Lord Jesus Christ became
David. And He suffered for what we just
read. God punished Christ for that
sin. Right there. Oh, how Christ suffered for that
sin. And my only hope is that Christ
became me. That's my only hope. and that He suffered for me. Well, if Christ took His place,
why would the Lord allow all that to happen to David? Why
would He make him go through all that? If Christ was going
to suffer that anyway, if Christ was going to take that for His
own and claim it as His own and bear it as His own, why would
He make David go through that? He could have kept him from all
that sin, all that heartache. Why would He allow that to happen
to him? Well, let's go back to Psalm 51 and we'll find out.
Psalm chapter 51. Psalm 51, I want us to read the
heading under the Psalm 51. It says, To the chief musician,
a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after
he had gone in to Bathsheba. This is what he wrote after that.
He said in verse 1, Have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy upon me, O God. Oh, have mercy upon me. The Lord allowed him to see his
sin so he would cry out for mercy. That's the whole reason. Verse 1 says, According to thy
loving kindness. The Lord allowed David to see
his own hateful cruelty. So he'd cry out for God's loving
kindness. Verse 1 says, "...according to
the multitude of thy tender mercies." David had to see the multitude
of his hard, pitiless ways. before he could see the multitude
of God's tender mercy. He said in verse 1, blot out
my transgressions. I must see my sin before my Lord
will show me His blood. I must see my sin before my Lord
will show me His blood which blots out all my transgressions." David says, if it's blood, if
it's the blood of Christ that cleanses me from my sin, verse
2, wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from
my sin. Is that possible? Is that really
possible? Is it possible for a sinner as
bad as my brother David, and as bad as me, to be washed throughly
from mine iniquity and cleansed from my sin? Is that really possible?
David said in verse 3, I acknowledge my transgressions. We might as
well. The Lord God sees them anyway.
There is no hiding from God. He said in verse 3, My sin is ever
before me. A person can know, if a person
wants to be confident in something, they can know that everything
is fake and phony and all they've gotten a hold of is religion. when everybody else's sins are
before Him. Y'all need to straighten
up and fly right. But when Jesus Christ gets a
hold of a sinner and proves to that man, He lets him go just
long enough so he'll prove to himself, I am the man. That sinner knows. He knows my
heart has been stabbed. Thou art a man. He says, 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 sinned against God. A true sinner who sees God's
holiness and sees God's righteousness and sees God's purity and sees
God's Son That lamb. That lamb that was slain. For
me. A true sinner will say in verse
4, Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil
in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest. Lord, whatever you do with me
is right. You are justified when you speak
and you're clear when you judge. Lord, I stand before you a guilty
and convicted man. That's all I am. God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. Well, turn with me over to 1
John 1. 1 John 1. And look at verse 8. It says,
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. But look at verse 9. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Isn't that wonderful? The more I preach and study,
the more I want to take God at His Word. I really do. I want
to read it. I want to believe it. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and He's just to forgive us our sins and He's going to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is absolutely the best news
I heard all day. It really is. 1 John 2 verse
1 says, My little children, these things write I unto you, that
you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father. It's Jesus Christ the righteous.
Isn't that wonderful? Has any man sinned? I have. Any woman, has any woman sinned?
You have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the mercy of God. He is. Now let's go back to 2
Samuel 12 one more time. 2 Samuel 12, look at verse 13. David said unto Nathan, I have
sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The
Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. Nathan said, Thou art the man.
And as soon as David confessed to the Lord, Nathan said unto
David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin, and you are not
going to die. He is a God ready to pardon. He is gracious and merciful. He is slow to anger. And He is
of great kindness. Does that give us a reason to
sin? God forbid. God forbid. Look at verse 14. He said, "...howbeit,
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." David was excused from the punishment. Now this is important for us
to know. David was excused from the punishment. But he was not
excused from the pain. He wasn't. I am a sinner just like my brother
David. We have a lot in common. We're
going to talk about this for a long time. God be merciful
to me. I pray that God would be merciful
to us. All right, let's stand together.