The Gospel of Grace According to David II
2 Samuel 12:1-7 (NIV)
The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. [2] The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, [3] but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
[4] "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."
[5] David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! [6] He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
[7] Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
Psalm 51:1-15 (NIV)
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
[2] Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
[3] For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
[4] Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
[5] Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
[6] Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
[7] Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
[8] Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
[9] Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
[10] Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
[11] Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
[12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
[13] Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
[14] Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
[15] O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
God sent Nathan not to bring condemnation but conversion!
1. Genuine repentance is killing the habits of your heart that are killing you without killing yourself
Because he did not repent earlier, did enormous difficulties happen to David, and only because he later learned to repent did he get out of it
Proverbs 27:6 (NASB)
Faithful are the wounds of a friend…
All of us need spiritual friendships in our lives who can speak directly to our good as well as our deeper sins beneath the surface sins
Do we make it safe for people when they come and talk about what is wrong with you?
Cultivate Nathans in our lives as well as be faithful enough to be sensitive Nathans in the lives of others that we have permission to speak directly to
2. Genuine repentance requires that we first determine if our guilt is true, false or proportionate by what is right or evil according to God’s standards
3. Genuine repentance requires that we take full responsibility for our sins without the need to justify or refer to the sins and mistakes of others
51:15 (NIV)
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Psalm 51:13 (NIV)
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
David learnt to hate his sin but not himself
If we focus on consequences of our sins, that is self-pity because the focus is on what will grieve us/me
Psalm 51:1 (NIV)
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
4. Genuine recovery, joy and confidence returns when we return and focus on the unfailing love of God that we have trampled on and not on consequences
John 8:10-11 (NIV)
Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
I am grateful to Tim Keller, from whom much of this sermon came from…