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 this
not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the
Hittite? 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 woman conceived, and sent, and told David, saying,
I am with child. David sent to Joab, saying, Send
to me Uriah the Hittite. Joab sent Uriah the Hittite. And so David, down in verse 8,
David said to Uriah, go down to thy house, 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 own house. And then, you know the story
where David put him in the heat of the battle. and had him killed. And we'll go over to chapter
12 in just a little bit. But first we'll bed. Number 292, can you handle? 292. God's effort found me And now I'm on my way home. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me All the days, all the days of my life He restoreth
my soul when I'm weary He giveth me strength day by day He leads me beside the still
waters He guards me each step of the way Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. We'll try that
second coda at the end of this last stanza. When walking through
the dark, lonesome valley My Savior will walk with me there
And safely His right hands will lead me To the mansions He's
grown to prepare Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All
the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house
of the Lord forever, and I shall feel at the table spread for
me. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely the days, all the days
of my life. We got that one good. On the way home I listened to
and then got up Monday morning and listened to the other and
watched them. Shirley listened to it Sunday and I watched it
and I was greatly blessed by both of them. You could tell
he studies, tell he's prepared, and I really appreciate that.
You know, we're dealing again with Old Testament picture of
Christ. And as I said, two chapters of God's words tells us about
David's sin and how God dealt with him over his sin. And you
know preachers have referred to David's fall time and time
again. But we want to understand the
reason, I'd like for us to look at the reason he fell. The reason he did what he did. You know the scriptures does
not, one thing it never does, it never ever excuses sin. Never justifies sin. no matter
where it's found God never does that and you know and we know
that God hedges his people about hedges his people about and he
keeps them from that evil one and from the great sin from any
great sin and the first thing when you look at David his sin
with Bathsheba And then having her husband murdered, and that's
what it amounts to. He sent him right in the thick
of the battle. He said, put him right up there. When they sent
word that Uriah was dead, he said, well, the sword falls to
everyone alike. Went on about it. David got in
pretty bad shape. But when we're talking about
somebody falling, somebody like David, he's the king over Israel.
David rose high. He come from a shepherd boy,
tending sheep to king over Israel. Then he fell so, so far down. And he had lots and lots of victories.
They danced over David. Saul killed his thousands. David
killed his ten thousands. And then he had his defeats.
He had his spiritual success and his spiritual failures. But here's the thing, whatever
happened in David's life, even this, you got to acknowledge
God's sovereign hand in everything that happens. Everything that happens, you
got to acknowledge God's sovereign hand. Just like what's going
on in our nation now. Do you think God couldn't put
an end to it that quick? But what God's always done, if
He takes His hands down, use these things for examples for
us, He takes His hand off us just for just a moment. Just
a moment. Long enough to let that sin conceive. And let that sin bring forth
And it will bring forth some awful, awful consequences to
it. And God's hand is never, never,
our Father is never removed from His child. Never. And God is
the first cause of all things. We know that without a shadow
of a doubt. You know they talk about directing it or permitting
it. Those are just words that men
would use. But God's the first cause of
everything. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are called
according to His purpose. You know, and He does it for
His glory and for His people's good. Satan could not attack
Job unless God said, He said, I can't get to him because you
got heads around him. Well, I'm going to take it down.
I'm going to take it down. And God
proved, God proved that when He puts His hand on a man to
keep him, He's going to keep him all the way through. Going
to keep him all the way through. Joseph's brethren, when they
took him, and sold him into slavery. You know what Joseph said later
when his brethren came down there? He said, you meant it for evil.
But God meant it for good. To save you, save you in this
awful situation. God sent me before you to save
you. Like Christ came before. to save us. And I tell you what,
and then Paul's thrown in the flesh. You know what he said? They were sent to me a messenger
of Satan to buffet me. Well, who sent him? Devil didn't
send him. Satan cannot even get off a chain
unless God gives him just a little leeway on it. So who sent it? Who sent it? He said he was ordained of God
to keep him from being exalted above measure. So I tell you
what, whatever David's successes or failures, victories or defeats,
spiritual successes or spiritual failures, whatever happened in
David's life, you have to acknowledge God's sovereign hand. We have
to acknowledge it and I will acknowledge it. I'll acknowledge
it when I fall or anybody else falls. And I'll tell you, you
know, when you look in the Scriptures, all the experiences of God's
people in His Bible, in His Word, both good or bad, when you look
about God's people, they're for our instruction and our example. You can read 1 Corinthians 10,
1 through 13. And God said, all these things
are written. What things are written? That
how Israel acted in the wilderness. How the saints of God acted,
sat down to eat and drink, rose up to play. And all the things
that happened, He said, these things were written for our examples. They're ensembles to us. They're
warnings to us. They're warnings to us. And that's
why He said, if any man thinks he stands, take heed lest he
fall. And then He went on to say that
God will not let you suffer above that you're able to bear and
will with the temptation make a way of escape. Make a way of
escape. You know, when you read biographies
of men, God's Word is not like the men's biographies. I've got
several biographies. I've got two by Spurgeon, one
by George Whitefield. I've got several of them back
in there. Wong, John Bunyan, all these biographies. And when
you read a man's biography, and you even read their diaries,
a lot of fellows kept diaries, you read their diaries, and you
thought, honey, all they done was live this wonderful, God-honoring
life. I mean, you couldn't find a fault
in them. But God's Word is not like that. It's not like men's biography.
No, no. When you see them viewed in the
scriptures, they're viewed exactly as they are. Huh? Oh listen, sinners saved and
kept only by the power and the grace of God. And I read you,
look at the lives of men in the scriptures. Start with Noah.
Noah, oh my, he found grace in the eyes of the Lord, he went
through that great flood, got off the boat, got off the ark,
went over and planted him some grapes, and the next thing you
hear about him, he's drunk. Next thing you hear about him,
he's lying naked in the tent. Now I tell you what, I don't
think I'd have told that on him, but God did. God did. And God made three people out
of that man. One of them became servants. One of them became Canaan, who
was cursed. And the other one was Shem, from
whom all the Jewish people came from. And I tell you then, what about
Abraham? Abraham, he said, listen, my
wife is so pretty that if I tell her that they're my wife, they're
going to kill me and take her. So he lied twice. He was more afraid of a heathen
king than he was God. And then Lot, If you did not
read in 1 Peter where Lot was a just man, And this filthy conversation
of those days vexed him. If you didn't read that in the
New Testament, you would not think that Lot was the same man
at all. They had to go in and drag him out of Sodom. And then when he got out of Sodom,
he had two daughters with him and he went up and got in the
cave and he got drunk and his two daughters laid with him and
produced two incestuous children. Moab and I can't think of the
other one. Amen. Moab and Amen. If you wouldn't find that mentioned
in the biography of any man. No, no. You can read the newspaper and
read about that kind of stuff. But not in biographies. What
about Aaron? Here's God's first high priest. Well, doing a wonderful job.
God used him to speak to Pharaoh because Moses stuttered. And you know what happened when
Moses went up on the mountain? He made him a golden calf. And
you know what he said? These be the gods that brought
you up out of Egypt. And then there's Simon Peter.
Oh, he told the Lord, he said, Lord, I don't care if I go to
prison with you or if I even die with you. Our Lord said,
Simon, you shouldn't have said that. You shouldn't have said
that. That's what he meant. If any
man thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. He said, listen,
I'm going to go with you, even under death. Lord said, oh, don't
say that. Because you know what's going
to happen before the rooster crows in the morning? You're
going to deny me three times. That wouldn't have been in anybody's
biography, would it? But I tell you what, if you write a biography
of me, it would be like every one of these men in the Bible. If I haven't done it, I thought
it. I felt it. And you have too, you know it
just as well as I do. Some of God's most blessed people
are seen in a very, very poor character. And you know, like
Saul of Tarsus, he was a very, very mean man, wicked man before
he met Christ. After he met Christ, God made
a new creature out of him. And all summer, Permitted to
sin even after knowing God and knowing Christ like David and
Simon Peter But I'll tell you one thing not one of them not
one of them was permitted to continue in that sin God let
a man go so far and then you know what's gonna happen. He's
gonna get that rod That he told David David said about he's gonna
get that rod. He's gonna reach and get you
and And when he gets that thing around your neck, you're going
to know that God is putting that rod to you. You'll know it. David knew it before it was over.
Let me tell you another thing. David, when he sinned, shows
us two things. How deceitful the human heart
is. How deceitful the human heart
is. It's deceitful above all things and desperately, desperately
wicked. The second thing it teaches us
is this. Put no confidence in the flesh. Don't do it. You know when David
fell, he was a father in Israel. Here's an older man, older man,
much older man, king. He had walked with God for years
and years and years. He had many, many trials. He
had won many battles. How many Psalms he had written
up to this point, I don't know. But he had written lots and lots
of Psalms. God said he was a man after his
own heart. Yet, yet he fell into great sin. And that's what our master said,
that that's born of the flesh is flesh. You'll never make any
more out of it than the flesh. And I tell you it'll remain flesh
until God kills it and puts it in the dust and puts it in the
dirt and takes us home to be with Him. We'll have problems
with it. Paul mourned over his fleshly
nature and his inability to walk perfectly before God. He said,
oh that that I would do, that's not what I do. And that that
I wouldn't do, that's what I do. He said, the will, oh I've got
the will, the will is with me. But how in the world to perform,
I find not. And he said, oh wretched man
that I am. When I wouldn't do good, he said,
evil's right there too. Oh, wretched man that I am. I
was talking to a fellow today. He called me about a message
he heard me preach and he wanted to ask me some questions. He believed in the sovereign
grace of God, the free grace of God. And he had told these
people that was bothered about something I said in a message.
He said, well, he qualified what he said about it. So he called
me to find out, you know. But anyway, we got to talking
about being robots. Robots. You know, God didn't
make us robots, but I said, I sure wish he'd had. And I'll tell
you why. I said, because then he could
control every part of my being. And he says, yes, yes, yes, I
agree with that 100%. How we would love for him to
have control of our minds, our wills, our souls, our thoughts. Bless God, one of these days
He is. One of these days He is. We know when that will happen?
When we are made in His image. That makes you want to go home,
don't it? Be done with this old flesh.
And a man's an absolute fool to put any confidence in the
flesh. Our confidence is in Christ, in Christ only. Oh listen, we
rejoice in Christ Jesus, worship God in the Spirit, and have no
confidence in the flesh. David said this over in Psalm
118, he said, put no confidence in princes. Put your confidence
in the Lord. Put no confidence in a man. Trust
the Lord. Don't put no confidence in my
flesh or your flesh. And I'll tell you something.
Let me say this right here. We're all quick to see a flaw
in another person's character. Something they said or something
they've done. And too quick to justify ourselves. But I know this, I know this,
I have failed so many times over the years. I have failed in front
of the Lord's people. I've said and done things in
front of the Lord's people I'd not say. I've said and done things
to individuals that I shouldn't do. And if you hold all those things
against me, I couldn't say a word. Couldn't say a word. Couldn't
say a word. But I'm certainly thankful that
God in Christ put away all my sin once and for all. And when I fall, when I fall,
and I probably will, well ain't no probably to it, I will again.
I won't mean to, I won't mean to, but I got this old thing
to deal with like everybody else does. And all of us ought to acknowledge
and realize realize that we all partake of
God's grace, we all stand by God's grace, and we continue
by God's grace, and by His power, not our own. Paul said, by the
grace of God, I am what I am, and we're kept by the grace of
God through faith. And here's the thing, here's
where I want to go. David's sin, when David failed,
David's great fault, he reveals the grace of God in Christ even
to the chief of sinners. Do you think God cast David off
because of what he did? No. You know what God done for
him? God forgave him. God forgave
him. You know that reveals the grace
of God in Christ of the chief of sinners. David judged himself. Look here in chapter 12. Let
me show you this right here. David judged himself when Nathan
told him the story of the poor man's lamb. Look here in verse
1 of chapter 12. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David. The last line of verse chapter
12 says, But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,
was evil in the Lord's eyes. And 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, baby lamb, which he had bought
and nourished up, and it grew up together with him and with
his children. He did eat of his own meat, and
drank of his own cup, and lay in his 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 of his own herd to dress for that 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. 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, is worthy of death, or is a son of death. And he shall
restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because
he had no pity. Now listen to this. And Nathan
said to David, Thou art the man. You're the man that took that
lamb from that poor man. Thou art the man, thus saith
the Lord God of Israel. I anointed thee king over Israel,
and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. Gave him of your
master's house, your master's wives. Look what he says down in verse
10. now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine hands
because thou hast despised me and has taken the wife of Uriah
the Hittite to be thy wife but look what he said in verse
12 God speaking to David through Nathan for thou didst it secretly
what you did you did secretly David said in another place Lord
keep me back from my secret sins that's what he said For thou
didst seek me, but I will do this thing before all Israel
and before the Son." Now listen to what he says right here now.
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. That's
the first thing he said. I sinned against God. He judged himself. I sinned against
God. And listen to what he says now,
Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou
shalt not die. Can you imagine how David felt
when Nathan told him, the Lord hath put away thy sin. That's what I mean. You're talking
about grace for the chief of sinners. Oh my. David disclaimed,
and that's what he said in Psalm 51, it's against thee, the only
that I've sinned. So when you condemn me, and justly
so, you'll be justified. That's what he said. And oh,
the Lord put away your sin. Oh my goodness, you can't imagine
how David felt. How David felt, oh my. He's the
same man who wrote, blessed is the man whose sins is forgiven. Blessed is the man whose the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, whose sin is forgiven. And oh my, the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. And what he's saying, your sin
is put away. And I tell you, no sin, no sin
by anybody is never put away or forgiven because we confess
it, because we acknowledge it, or we even grieve over it. Sin
is put away only one way. That's by the blood and sacrifice
and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how God can say, I put
your sin away. Where did he put it away at?
He put it away in his son, before David, before Christ ever come
to the cross. And I tell you what, and I'm
telling you, you gotta have a sacrifice, one only that God will accept.
And the scriptures tells us plainly that God, Christ, put away our
sin by the sacrifice of himself, once, for all, in the end of
the world. If that wasn't true, if we didn't
know that, if we didn't have the gospel and knew those things,
do you know how miserable we'd be? It'd be awful. Every time we sinned, every time
we had an awful thought or an ill feeling or an ill will or
something like that, we'd say, oh God, what's God going to do
to me now? But He put away all our sins. All of them. All of them. You say, well that gives you
an excuse to go out here and sin more. Oh no, I don't need
an excuse to sin. I keep looking to Christ and
saying, Lord have mercy on me, keep me back from myself. I'm
the problem. Please keep me back from myself.
Oh my. David judged himself. David confessed
his sin and justified God. But God cannot overlook sin,
pass over sin, or forgive sin apart from the blood shedding
of His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why He's
called a just God and a Savior. He is a just God when He put
the sins on the head of His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But
He is also a Savior when He put His sins on his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Huh? How did he do that? He punished him. Put him in the grave. He died
because of sin. Raised him from the dead. And
now everyone who trusts and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, when
he comes to Christ, Christ doesn't put his sin away. That's why
we call it the gospel. That's the best news you'll ever
hear. Ain't it? That's the best news
you'll ever hear. God's a just God, but He's also
a Savior. And He done them both in His
blessed Son. Righteousness and mercy have
kissed together. Truth and righteousness bet together. We're at? On God's blessed Son
on the cross. Oh, what a Savior. What a Savior. Our Father, oh bless your name. Oh praise you. Thank you. I'm
so thankful that we read these things about your people. And Lord, it's easy for us to
justify ourselves and say we'd never do those things. But Lord,
there's nothing we wouldn't do unless you kept your hand on
us. So keep your hand on us. Keep us hedged about. Protect
us and preserve us. Keep us by your power. Keep us
in your grace. Keep your grace over us, in us,
protecting us. Leave us not to ourselves. God bless these dear saints and
bless those ones who couldn't be here tonight. Strengthen them,
encourage them. And we thank you for them in
Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord,
for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me Thy great salvation so rich and free. See you Sunday, God
willing.