Men, so continuing on with the story if you remember this is kind of a chapter 11 and chapter 12 are kind of the same story
And last week we got into the sin that david committed with bashiba when we preach all that
But if you remember the kind of ominous ending last week where it said in the last verse that the thing which david did displeased
the lord
You know, david was kind of walking away going, you know missed, you know dodged that bullet got away with it
Right because he had uraya killed
But uh, we we saw last week that the lord had noticed everything that he had saw everything that had taken place and here
Uh, we see where the date where the lord begins to deal with david in some very severe ways, right?
These are some severe punishments that are about to be doled out
upon david
And of course he sends his prophet to go give him this news and to call him out nathan there it says in verse one
And the lord sent nathan unto david and came unto him and said unto him there were two men in one city
So he gives him this parable right of these two men that are in the city one rich once poor
One had many flocks one was had nothing save this little you lamb, right? And of course we understand
The uh, you know what each person represents here in the story, you know, the rich man obviously is david, you know
He's the king. He has a lot of honor. He has a lot of riches. He has much goods, you know
He's already got all these wives. He's got all these concubines
You know, there's he's not you know, he didn't he didn't go commit that sin with bashiba
because
He didn't have any other options, right? He had a lot of you know
As the parable goes he had a lot of sheep and everything else that he could have wanted
And the poor man had nothing of course that is uraya the hitite is that poor man who had nothing
And then that would of course make the you lamb, you know, it would make her it would make the lamb bashiba, right?
So we kind of we understand that but notice the other uh person in the story
It says in verse four and there came a traveler under the rich man
And he spared to take of his flock and of his own herd and 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 unto him
So he ends this parable by saying hey
He this guy his buddy shows up this traveler and he wants to take care of him
But rather than taking from the many sheep that he had he goes and takes this one you lamb that was beloved
Under the poor man and kills that and serves it to the man
Right, and that's obviously a picture
Of what david did he went and took that you lamb from uraya and notice there it says that that you're that you lamb
Uh, you know, it was it lay in his bosom. It was as unto him
As a daughter, you know, it says that he had nothing and that you know, it was it was with him and his children
It grew up together. So this was something that he loved we have to keep in mind
You know the severity of david's sin. I mean it's wicked outright
But what makes it even worse is that david wrecked a good home, you know, he wrecked a good home
You know, I say well, you know uraya he didn't when he had the chance he didn't go home, right?
But that was because we saw that he was a man of integrity and principle
And wasn't going to go home until the battle was over, right?
But if you notice in the story as as the scripture was being read
That you know, it's best shiba mourns at the end. You know, this wasn't like it was a distraught relationship, you know
Um things you know, there were it was headed to divorce court
Anyway, this was a good relationship that they had and david, you know
And regardless of that it's always wicked to commit adultery. There's never an excuse for that. That's not i'm saying
But it's just it compounds it makes even worse that david went in
And and did this because that's kind of what the parable's showing us here, you know, this this was the one
New lamb that he had it was beloved unto him and david out of all these other
Lambs this rich man could that he could have selected from and he could have used it, but he went
And took that one from him. Okay
And what is the traveler there? What does that represent? What is the traveler and this rich man's actions and going?
You know from his desire to please his guests, you know and taking from the other what does that represent in our story?
What that represents is david's
You know his lack of control his lack of self-control
When this traveler shows up and he go and he wants to please him he just wants to have things his way
That represents his lack of self-control. I mean, that's what happened in that story
And I don't want to repreach, you know the entire chapter from last week
But remember this wasn't that you know, this that david just stumbled into sin like oh, whoops. I just committed adultery
Right. He was up on the roof. He was bored. He wasn't where he's supposed to be
He wasn't fighting lord's battles and he has this he's undisciplined
He's being lazy and that leads to this lack of self-control and he commits this wicked sin
Okay now go over to first corinthians chapter 10. It's important to understand this
for two reasons
First of all, we have to understand before we really start to come on down on david and look david's got everything that's coming
To him in the story. Okay. He deserves everything. God is just his ways are perfect
And and david even takes it on the chin. He takes it. Well, he just he doesn't put up an argument
He just takes it right because he knows he's guilty he knows he's got it coming
And but before we just start, you know coming down on david and and and really, you know
Just looking down our nose at him and and again i'm not condoning what he did
We need to remember that, you know, we all have the potential to be just as guilty as david
We all have the potential to commit the same sin or other sins or to offend god in some way like we can all do that
Okay
And we talked about uh, you know, I already read this verse, you know, uh, i'll just read it again
But it says for this is the will of god your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication right now fornication adultery are two different things
But they're both wicked sins. Okay
But it says that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel and sanctify sanctification and honor
Not unless to concupiscence as even as the gentiles which know not god. Look we know god david knew god
And because we know god it is our duty to what to possess our vessels in sanctification and honor
Not in the lust of concupiscence
and this is something that we have to understand because
We all are we are all men of like passions, right? We're we're there's nothing, you know, uh,
We we can all be tempted with with the same sins, you know
And if we're not careful if we get this attitude of well that would never happen to me
You know, that's probably when you're most prone to having happened to you
Is when you let your guard down and you think that you're it's it's just not even possible
Look, it's possible for every one of us
To commit fornication to commit adultery and any other number of sins, okay
so
We need to keep that in mind as we're talking about what we're about david and what he did and the punishments that he uh, you know
Encurred and remember the punishment should be a warning to us
It shouldn't just be yeah. David got what's coming
Yeah, he did but it's you think god just put this in the bible because he just wants to make
David look bad. So let me just give david a black eye for eternity
You know, he put it in there so we could all understand that even a great man
Like king david can fall can get into sin if he's not careful if he's not fighting the lord's battles
If he's not where he's supposed to be if he's lazy and undisciplined and he loses his lack of self-control
He becomes what he becomes cruel even I mean, this is a cruel thing that he did breaking up this home
Having a man killed having the husband killed just to cover up his tracks rather than just come clean and take the punishment
You know, he had a man killed. So, you know, these are this is all there what for our admonition?
That's what these things are written for you're there in first corinthians 10 look at verse 12
It says wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
Take heed lest he fall
You think well i'm standing, you know, i'm not committing any of these sins i'm good to go it'll never happen
You know, that is a slippery slope to get on
You could just as easily fall if you did what if you did the things that david did
Get out of church quit living for the lord quit reading your bible quit caring about the things of god get worldly get in the flesh
The next thing you know, you know, it could lead into some wicked sin that could even potentially ruin your home. Okay?
Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall there hath no temp taken temptation taking you
But such as is common to man look these are temptations that are common to all of us
So that's why we need to take heed not just think david's some isolated case that this is just some
You know just something that only happens, you know to certain people this could happen to anyone, okay?
But notice he says it says but god is faithful who will not suffer to be tempted above that you're able
But will with the temptation also may a way to escape the g may able to bear it
That's why you can't just buy this excuse. Well, I just didn't have any other options you don't understand the pressure I was under
my job and my marriage and our finances and you know this and that just
Whatever the excuse is and just say you don't understand so obviously, you know, try to excuse myself here
That's why I got into that sin. Look god has made a way to escape for every time
There's no temptation that has taken us but such as is common to man
That doesn't mean the temptation is always easy. Look when we're tempted with some sin, you know
There will be a real struggle at times there could be a real battle
But the bible is saying here that he will will make a way to escape right?
Now it's not that god's going to make a little escape hatch appear and you're going to jump in it and he's going to rocket
You out of there, right? This is a spiritual escape
You know the the escape is prayer. The escape is god's word
The escape is god's word thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee
Wherewithal shall young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word
Right, we hide god's word in our heart when we pray we ask god and look when we're going through some temptation
That's the time that you need to find the way to escape
You know, we talked about last week where he you know, david was up on the roof
Shouldn't have been there to begin with and he saw bathsheba
But then it was the second look the inquiry the first time he saw that and had that impulse
He should have been back down in his prayer closet asking god to forgive him
And getting up in the morning and putting the armor on and getting down to the battlefield is what should have taken place
That was the way to escape
The problem is he that's not what he wanted
And when we fall into some temptation when we fall into some sin, we have nobody to blame but ourselves
Because we did not want this to claim this promise in first corinthians chapter 10
Look we all need to underline this highlight this memorize this know where this scripture is
This should be something that comes to mind when we find ourselves in times of temptation
Reminding ourselves what god has promised that there is a way to escape
Because it's important to understand this because consider the severity of david's sin
Consider the severity of the punishment that came as a result
I mean this isn't anything I want for my life
I don't want my kids being killed. I don't want my kids rebelling against me
You know having all these terrible things have my reputation just ruined among the world and among brethren even
But that's what these kind of things lead to that's why it's important. Oh, he's preaching about, you know, not falling to sin again
Yeah, because it's important
Because it happens to god's people all the time
Because they don't take heed they think they stand and then they fall
It happens over and over again stick around you what it'll happen
You know and if and you know, we've all probably done it in our own lives to some degree or another
You know, but we really want to avoid, you know, we want to minimize that as much as possible. Obviously, it's not
Possibly complete without sin, but man, let's not fall into some sin like adultery
fornication drunkenness
Extortion covetousness all these, you know idolatry that's probably not what we're going to struggle with although covetousness is idolatry, right?
Let's avoid these sins as much as we can and look if we're tempted with these things that we're struggling
There is a way to escape
But you're gonna have to be the one that gets in that, you know, spiritual escape chat that skate escape hatch
And you know hit launch, you know through prayer through all these things that we just talked about
Go over to a galatians chapter 6 galatians chapter 6
Bible says in james 1 let no man say when he is tempted
I am tempted of god for god cannot be tempted with evil neither tempting any tempteth he any man
But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed
It's our own lust it's our own heart. It's the spirit which dwelleth in us that lust at the envy that draws us away from god
You know that was that's what happened to david, you know, it was his own lust in his own heart that led him into this sin
It wasn't that god was, you know, putting him in some circumstance to see if he could take it or not
God doesn't have to do that
God doesn't have to put us in these situations to see if we'll come out clean on the other side because
It's our own hearts that lead us into these sins
And you need to guard your heart for out of it are the issues of life
You know when our hearts are desperately wicked who can know it the bible says
And it says then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth what death
You know and sometimes even literal death, you know, there's always this there's always some kind of a
You know severe punishment, you know some kind of a spiritual death in some way, you know, we lost our victory, you know our
Our our streak against some sin is broken or something
But look even in some severe cases at times it could even be a literal death
I mean, that's what we see in the story and god is the one who's bringing the death
Sometimes god gets involved and says well, you know what i'm going to punish you
with death
Look at verse six you say well, you know, you're this is just hype, you know
That you're just rattling your cage up there preacher
Well, let's read galatians chapter six together then verse seven be not deceived. God is not mocked for whatsoever man
Soeth that shall he also reap for he that reap it soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh what reap corruption
It's just a it's a law of the universe
It's just set in stone that whatever you sow you're going to reap now look that can work for you or against you
You know, if you're going to go and sow to the flesh you're going to what of the flesh reap corruption
But he that silleth to the spirit it goes on and says
shall reap in of the spirit life
Shall reap of the spirit life everlasting and look at verse nine
And let us not be what weary and well-doing for in due season. We shall reap if we fate not fate not
But notice he says let us not be what weary and well-doing
Look, there's a way to escape god's there
There's no temptation that has taken us such as his common demand but that doesn't mean that resisting sin is going to be easy
That's why he says let's not be weary and well-doing, you know trying to do right and do well
Ken, where are you down?
He's saying like don't be weary in it. Keep doing right. Keep doing right. Keep doing right. Keep doing right even when it's not easy
Look if it's easy everybody to do it
If it was easy, you know everyone, you know, no one would commit adultery
It was easy. Nobody would commit fornication and get devolved in this sin and that sin
If it was easy, no one would be tempted these things right, but it's not easy. We are in the flesh
We have the old man. We're you know, we're gonna have to bring our bodies under you know, every day daily
Being ourselves into subjection
And look, especially if we're people that have you know
Gotten saved later in life and have developed bad habits have gotten into sins
We have a proclivity towards those things, you know, we have to be on our guard
And again, you say well, you know, i've never done that. I don't have this past. I've never
Committed those sins. Well, let him that thinketh he stand to thank he lest he fall
Because once that door is open to some sin, it's real easy to open it the next time and the next time and the next time
But especially if we already have opened those doors in the past, you know
We should be doubly on our guard even more so
Not going to places that tempt us to do certain things not looking at something that might tempt us to commit some sin
Or hang even hanging around people, you know, that's another big one we get around old friends
You know we get around people that that we used to run with
And the next thing you know, you just fall right back into these patterns of sin. It's real easy to do
But don't be weary in doing what well doing
You know if we keep doing right, you know, it's it's gonna it will get easier, but it's never gonna be without a struggle at times
Okay
But notice here so we start out the story we have
Nathan's parable, right
Or where he talks about the rich man the poor man the lamb so the traveler
And he gives this to him and but notice david's response to this parable because what's going on here is nathan's baiting him, right?
He's kind of he's putting this to him so he can call him out, right?
And it says in verse five and he says and david's anger was greatly kindled against that 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 he's just trying to sound so morally superior and just so upright about everything
But what he's really doing here is being hyper spiritual, okay?
Because notice david's going beyond the the biblical punishment for theft
You know, this is a parable this didn't even happen
But if it had happened, you know what the the biblical punishment would have been
Is that he yeah, he should have paid back fourfold but put to death for stealing a lamb
You know, that's that's that's him adding to the word of god
The bible says in exodus 22 if a man shall steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it
He shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep
And that's what david got right in verse six. He shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing
So he's right about that but notice when he starts out. He's this guy's dead. We're gonna kill him, right?
You know david's just gotten a little too comfortable just putting people to death having people taken out
And it's it's hard to believe but that's where he's at in his life
So what's you know and this is of course very hypocritical right that he's doing this because david
Although he knows the law and but it's going so hyper spiritual and has such the moral high ground here
And really, you know, he's just trying to make
I don't know if he's trying to snow nathan or what?
But he knows the law but yet he doesn't apply it to himself
You know, he's he's he's teaching it he's preaching it but he's not practicing what he preaches, okay
And what's interesting and I always this is just kind of a little side note is is nathan's tactics here
I like these because you see this actually in modern interrogations, right?
Because uh, he you know criminal investigations sometimes that they have a suspect that they really they think this is the guy
And i've even seen seen where judges will do this so they like he's he's getting ready to dole out the sentence
And he'll ask some defendant
What do you think should be done to the guy that did this, you know, what kind of a punishment do they deserve?
You'll see this in police interrogations. They'll say well, what do you think should happen to the guy that did this horrific crime?
And they have people who are guilty have a very similar response to what david here that guy deserves to be dead
Just go above and beyond right because he stole a you lamb
Right one that's not biblical. It's restoring fourfold is
But it's not it's be it's him adding to the word of god it's him teaching for doctrines the commandments of men
Right, but what it's coming from is a guilty heart a guilty conscience
Right, and sometimes these police interrogations they'll they'll do that. Well, what do you think should happen to the guy who?
You know did x y and z
Oh, man, that guy deserves to have the book thrown at him. He should never see the light of day
They'll do a lot and a lot of times those people turn out to be guilty
Obviously, that's not a foolproof tactic that you use to convict people but it's
It is a tactic they use it's just interesting that that's what kind of that's kind of what nathan's doing here
He's telling the story kind of putting it to david to see how he responds
And david comes back with that similar
Hyper-spiritual over the top just throw the book at him. Let him have it, you know, lock him up kill him, whatever
And
Then nathan, you know being the the man of god that he is just goes right into the direct confrontation of david's sin
So he david gives his you know hyper-spiritual response and says, you know, we're just going to kill this guy
He's getting back fourfold then we're going to off him and nathan. It says in verse seven said to david thou art the man
And you already know that it's not like david had your eye the hit type killed and then his conscience is just completely cleared
Like he's just oh, yeah, that's right. I forgot I committed adultery and killed the guy
Look, this has been played no doubt. This has had to have been plaguing him every single day. He's
I mean, he's he's he's not a company, you know some
Reprobate with the seared conscience here. He's he's a man of god. He's he's the king, you know
This is just where sin takes people to very dark places, right?
And no doubt he's saying I just can imagine his response when he's getting confronted you ever been called on the carpet
You've been caught, you know, you're a little kid dad walks in the room. It's just like
You know just that's kind of what's going on with david his heart sinking the butterflies the sweat in the palms
Thou art the man. I mean you can almost see david earth. Nathan just pointing his finger right in his face
And and I want to talk a minute about nathan because you have to remember
Nathan is going to write to david and saying this right to his face
To the king of israel, right?
And this is boldness
All right, he's going right up to the most powerful man at that time and just saying you're the man
You're the one who deserves to die
You're the one who took that little you lamb and he goes on and lays it on him
And what we can learn from what you know, nathan here is that true boldness doesn't respect persons
It does not respect persons. That's what true boldness is
Doesn't say well, you know, it's the king and you know
He's in a unique position, you know kings do that, you know
We'll give him a pass, you know, he said god
It says god that the lord sent nathan and nathan just went right up and did his job. He just said thou art the man
The bible says in leviticus 19 i'll read to you you shall do or no unrighteousness and judgment thou shall not respect the person of the poor
Nor honor the person of the mighty but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor
So the bible does command us to judge and judge it commands us to judge righteous judgment
but also in that judgment we are not to
Show favor to people say well, I like this person
This person's my friend or this person's done nice things from the past or this is a person of influence
I wouldn't want to offend them
Look, you know if it's our job to put our foot down
And and draw a line in the sand no matter who it is, you know, that is what we have to do
Otherwise, it's respect of persons and it's not right the bible forbids it
You know, we can't just overlook people's guilt because of preferences or something like that and I you know, I thought of an example
And i'm probably going to step on some toes, but you know
At least i'm not pointing my finger in your face and saying that other man anyway
Here's my example. Okay. Think about this voting for the serial adulterer trump
Now look if you voted for trump i'm not against you. Okay
But that man is a serial adulterer
Just go read it. Just go trump adultery and google
I mean, I don't want to get into it because it's pretty lewd
And the guy owns strip clubs and casinos the guy's a sleazebag folks
By any any you know reasonable standard by any reasonable measure
That guy is a scumbag
He's proud arrogant blowhard. So are you a democrat? Nope
You know, let me you know, let me blow your mind here. There's a third option i'm neither
You know
It's like you have to fall into one or the other no you don't okay, and i'm not you must you're defending biden
No, i'm not
Biden's an embarrassment to this country, you know, he's a blunt just a senile bumbling idiot. That's just
Wrecking this country. Okay. So there are you happy now?
I said it. All right
It's not that i'm favoring anyone, okay
But i'm just using this as an example because it just boggled my mind how many christians were just so pro trump
And you know not even so much christians as much but men of god like pastors
Big shot pastors who are going and getting their pictures taken with trump and putting it on their facebook. Like it's something to be proud of
That's no nathan my friend
Look, you know if you're you're not wicked if you voted for trump you support trump doesn't make you a wicked person
It just means you're not nathan
It just means you are respected persons. You don't have that boldness
you know, i'd like to see a picture of a preacher with trump where he's just like, you know, you're fired, you know,
Calling him out for all his adultery and all his sin and everything and put it in his face
You know trying to get him to get right with god
So I you know, you got to talk about that with nathan
You got to think about the position that nathan was in and it doesn't say anything about nathan being hesitant or anything like that
I don't think he had a scared bone in his body. He knew that god was with him
That's where that boldness came from
You know the the joy of the lord was his strength and he was able to
Not fear his face and go and just call him right out
But look, you know
Do we see a lot of people just kind of today just kind of glossing over sin to say well, yeah, I know he's
he's this and he's that but
He's got the party line, you know, he's gonna he's gonna stimulate he's gonna make the economy better
You know, that's all politics is about isn't it money? That's all it's really about
And look, we don't want to become people who are fixated on money
Being fixated money is not good for you
It's it's going to corrupt you it's going to get your priorities out of whack
It's just it's not it's just it's nothing good comes from it now
Obviously, we all have to think about money and pay our bills and everything else
But we don't want to just turn to people where it's just money money people like oh, I don't know trump
Right
So I wanted to mention that but let's let's move on our story we got to move it forward
So it's important to understand these things about you know about david what's going on here and understand that you know
When none of us is above this this could happen to us, right something similar, you know
We could fall in adultery. We could fall into fornication some other sin if we are
You know undisciplined and so on and so forth. I've already said all that but look at the and you're saying why is this important?
Well consider the consequences
Consider the consequences of david's sin here
It's not just like nathan showed up and said thou art the man. All right. See I did my job
And he says thou art the man and then just proceeds to just give him the worst news of his life and just lays into him
And really we see
The consequences of david's sin are what there there's a present consequence
There's a consequence that comes in the immediate future and then there's a long-term consequence for david's sin
Let's talk about the immediate one first
And that would be you know, you know, i'm not saying like right now
There's that the present cons, but the consequences that are right around the corner, okay
There's the ones that he's going to suffer right away
There's the ones that are shortly to come and then there's just this long-term consequence that david has to deal with because of his sin
The immediate one, you know the one that's around the corner is absalom's rebellion, you know
We're going to read that about that in a few weeks here
He says in verse 10 now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house
Because thou hast despised me and thou hast taken the wife of uriah the hittite to be thy wife
Thus saith the lord behold. I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house
And I will take away thy wives before thine eyes and give them to thy neighbor
And he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun for thou did it secretly
But I will do this thing before all is real and before the sun
So this is a prediction of what's going to happen shortly in david's life
Absalom's going to rebel and the sword is never going to depart from his house, okay
But what I want to focus on because we're going to get into that in a few weeks
Next is the long term. Okay, the long-term consequences of david's sins because there's consequences for sins folk
There's we can't just think that we're just going to sin and get away with it
We're going to suffer to some degree now, obviously a lot of times if you know
If we repent if we can if we you know, if we confess and forsake our sins, we shall have mercy
right
And a lot of times we can negate maybe more severe circumstances or uh, punishments of sin by confessing and repenting
But there's still going to be consequences
Unforeseen consequences sometimes god doesn't even have to do anything sin has its own built-in punishment
Just you commit this sin and this happens. It's just
Action reaction, okay
And really that's kind of the case here with this long term where david permanently mars his reputation
You know, I read last week about uh proverbs six i'll just remind you what it said in verse 32
Whoso committed adultery with the woman lacketh understanding but he that doth doeth it
Excuse me
He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul a wound and dishonor shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away
You know, he's saying the bible's saying here look when you commit this sin
It's a reproach and again, we talked about it last week how in our society. It's really not much for approach anymore
People brag about it. It's expected and all that but amongst those that have any sense of morality and decency
You know, it is a reproach to have committed adultery. It's a very wicked sin that's punishable by death
Right as we'll see here in a minute
And david has marred his prep reputation by committing this sin in for the long term amongst two
Well one amongst among the heathen look at verse 14
Howbeit because by this deed thou has given great occasion to the enemies of the lord to blaspheme
So that's why god's punishing him so severely because he's brought reproach upon the name of the lord by committing this sin
You know when we're known as christians when we're known as god's people
And then we go out and commit some sin that gives god a black eye
Look out
You know god's not pleased with that. That's one way to get on god's bad side in a hurry
I mean, that's why it says there the child also that is born unto these shall surely die
Why did god kill that child it was it necessarily because of what david did?
No
What it was is because of the fact that what he did gave great occasion to the enemies of the lord to blaspheme
Me
Right because he was in that position. He was known he was the king of israel
He was a sweet psalmist of israel, right? He was the man after god's own heart. He had this reputation
Of being you know this godly man
And now he's bringing a reproach upon the name of the lord
And that's why god says i'm going to bring this very severe punishment down upon you and take that child's life
Now if it had been anybody else that maybe it was just you know
Joe six pack, you know, it was just joe the plumber who did this down in the village somewhere, you know
There would still be consequences, you know death you would you know, the adulterer and the adulteress would have been put to death, right?
But I don't know that it would have gone any further than that, you know, who's to say
Look god brings a very serious punishment upon him because of the fact that he brought
A reproach upon the name of the lord and what did he do in the process? He marred his reputation among the heathen
For in the long term that's the long-term consequence of sin
Look some things will stick with you
Some because we like to say we're gonna we're gonna forgive and we're gonna forget right and that's what we practice to do
But you know, that's not the way the vast majority of people work
You know, the world's not that way you think the world likes to forgive and forget
No, they like to dox people and dig up dirt and run background checks and hold things over people's head for the rest of their life
That's what they do
And you can you know, you commit some sin
That gets out there. It's public. Everyone knows about it. Maybe it's in a circle. Maybe it's not national news or something
Kind of like like who else? Oh donald trump anyway, but um, there I go again
But look we could bring get a black eye and that black eye, you know
You can't just put a stake on it and expect to go away
It's going to be there for the rest of your life and everyone that looks at you go. Oh, yeah
I remember there's that guy there's that gal. They did this they did that
And your reputation is marred permanently
Among the heathen and you know what's worse go over to first kings chapter one go to first kings chapter one
Not only was his reputation marred among the heathen, but it was marred among his own people now. This is my opinion
When I read this story in first kings chapter one, it's such an odd
Circumstance that I don't have any other way of explaining this because to me, you know
Maybe it's just because I didn't understand the I don't understand the culture of david's time and the customs that were you know
in israel at that time
But look at verse one. It says now king david was old and stricken stricken in years
This is coming to the end of his life. He's an old man at this point
And they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat
Right, you ever meet old people like that or they're just always cold, you know, I I remember I lived and I can't tell stories anyway
But I lived in this basement
We it was a finished basement of this older couple my church and he had me out there cutting firewood all the time and bringing
It and they just had that place blazing hot in the middle of a michigan winter
It was just like they had this wood stove
And it's just like herald man. It's got to be 90 degrees. He's like i'm cold, right?
So that's kind of where david's at in his life. That's you know, isn't getting old great, you know
We're we're all getting a little older and we're starting to complain about the bumps and bruises and the sores
Well, it gets better apparently when you get old enough, you're just cold all the time, right?
Great probably even here even here in arizona you think finally i'll get a break from the heat when I get old. Nope
You're still gonna you're gonna be like king david you can get no heat
But notice what their solution is
Wherefore his servants said unto him so whose idea was this?
It's his servants
and they said let there be sought from the lord my king a young virgin and let her stand before the king and let her
Cherish him and let her lie in thy bosom that the lord my the king may get heat
Does anyone else think that that is that that's normal?
Does anyone think that that's a normal thing to do?
You know, i'm living in that that you know that finished basement for herald and and he's corbett i'm cold
Well, let me go find some young damsel
And bring her in here. I'm sure your wife won't mind. She'll just crawl into bed with you and keep you warm
You can just you can snuggle and cuddle and stay warm
That's a really weird solution, right? Do you think this was their only option back then?
You ever heard of a water bladder?
I mean, I know you didn't have electric blankets
but I mean you could heat rocks and put them under the pillows you could
You could take a animal skin and fill it with boiling water
Right, so you got to ask yourself why is this the solution this is my opinion. Okay. This is just my opinion here
My opinion is because this is the esteem that david was held in
Yeah, just throw some girl in there. You know how david is
Why?
Because of what he did with bashiba because he was known as a man
This was his this was his reputation at this point in his life as an old man
They're just just throw just throw some girl in there
That's how he is. There's no and notice no objection from david. He's just like sounds good
Go ahead. Yeah, great
Doesn't even look for another option and you know, it just to me it just it just screams. This is david's reputation in his life
Go back to uh second statement chapter 12
So david, you know the long-term consequences of a sin
Are the fact that he has permanently marred his reputation
Among the heathen among his own servants at the end of his life. He's already got I mean
And this is at the end of his life. They're like, well, that's the way david used to be
It's like no, that's just the way he is
Right
Not only that but he's marked his reputation among all who read the scripture
Right now we we understand that we get to see the full picture of david's life
We get to see everything his inner thoughts and his prayers and everything
We understand on the whole that david was a great man of god, okay
But we also read, you know some of the more shameful things in his life that he probably would rather not have on the public record
And and notice i'll just read to you from matthew chapter one
You know, it's not and if you noticed in in uh, second samuel 12
Nathan refers to bathsheba as the wife of uraya
The wife of uraya that doesn't change in matthew chapter one when you go through the genealogy it says in verse six
And jesse begot david the king and david the king back solomon of bathsheba
No of her that had been the wife of uraias
So still even in matthew chapter one thousands of years later this reputation still sticks
It's still there haunting david. Yeah, solomon was the son of david who was born of him of the wife
Who had been the wife of uraias?
Right, and it's like what do you what what happened there?
Well go back to second samuel chapter 12 and read about it
So this is what i'm trying to get across. This is why it's important to understand that the the sin has far reaching consequences in our lives
We go out where i'm just gonna go have a good time
I'm just gonna jump in the sack this once i'm just gonna drink this beer. I'm just gonna look at that
I'm just gonna smoke this this one time. You have no idea how far that is the consequences are gonna reach in your life
That's the way sin works
And you know the world's not gonna tell you that the devil's not gonna tell you that
But the bible will tell you that just one bad mistake
Just one night up on that roof feeling a little bored a little a little lonely
And we're reading about it in matthew chapter one thousands of years later
A reference to his adultery
It never goes away folks some things look did god forgive him. Of course, we read that in the story
God forgive him didn't put him to death
But he said there's still going to be consequences and one of them was the long-term effects of having his reputation permanently marred
Now what were the present, you know, uh
Consequences for sin
Well, it would be that the child died right that's you know
That's the one we probably all think about is the fact that his child died
But we don't really think about the fact that his reputation was ruined
You know because the child dying is pretty severe, you know
It's every parent's worst fear, you know, I mean, I don't can't think of anything worse than that than having one of your own children die
Okay
At least I don't want to try look at verse 13 and david said unto nathan
I have sinned against the lord and nathan said unto david the lord also hath put away thy sin
And thou shalt not die
Verse 14 how be it because uh by this deed that was given a great occasion enemies of the lord to blaspheme remember
That's the reason why because he's given occasion the enemies of the lord to blaspheme
The child also that is born of thee shall surely die
Now notice verse 15 and nathan departed unto his house
And the lord struck the child that uriah's wife bare unto david and it was very sick
So who killed the child here the lord did
The lord reached down and did this
And you say well that sounds cruel. Well, you know what?
What david did was pretty cruel
What david did was pretty wicked
Killed an innocent man killed a good man ruined a good home
Ruined his reputation ruined. Bathsheba's reputation
And he you know
This is this this had and he brought a reproach upon the name of the lord
Say well that doesn't seem fair. Well
You know god is
cares about his reputation
You know god is holy guy
He cares about what people think about he doesn't need his name drug through the mud out there by by our actions
and what we really need to learn from this is that
Our sin affects others, doesn't it our sin affects others who may even be innocent
So a lot of times you might think well i'm going to do this sin and i'll suffer the consequences and i'm okay with that
But what you don't realize is that that sin could have affect the people around you who had nothing to do with it
We should never just think that oh i'm going to commit this sin and i'll bear the punishment and that's fine
You don't know how god's going to work. You don't know what's going to happen. You don't know how it's going to play out
It could it will affect the people around uh
around you, right
But notice too that you know god what is god doing here? He's making a public example
Of david because what david was the most wicked thing that david did was bringing reproach upon the name of lord among the heathen
He approached the name of the lord god almighty
and
God makes an example out of him. His sin was very public
Right, so he's making a public example out of him
Why so that people would see that? Oh, that's the guy that reproached the lord and his child died
They say god is a you know a vengeful god and he is
What gets me though is that god is the one who strikes this child for his sin, right?
God david gets into the sin and the lord is the one that calls out david publicly
Right, it punishes him in a very public manner for everyone to see
But we today don't have preachers that can get up and call out sin
But yet in many pulpits today
There are preachers that get up that are afraid to deal with fornication
adultery divorce
So on and so forth. They don't want to touch these sins with a 10-foot pole
Yet god is willing to write it down in his holy word for everyone to see that he struck that child and killed it
He's the one that did that. He's I mean, that's what it says the lord struck the child
And he's saying and god is just and god is righteous and his ways are above our ways
Before we you know get angry with god about that. We better think long and hard about what david did
But yet we don't have people today preachers who can't get up and deal with sin and call out sin
Instead, you know, they'll have adultery taking place in their church
Or even even worse, you know, the preacher himself is caught in adultery. He's committing adultery
And you know his cronies his buddies rather than them calling him out
Tell him to step down and get them out of there and get replaced. They just send him another church
They just wipe it under the rug. They just sweep it under the rug
You know, they'll have you know
Molestation of children taking place. They'll just try and sweep it under the rug not well
We don't want to cause a big stir. We don't want anyone to think that we're mean people
Or we'll hand it very privately, you know, we'll do this very privately
We had some you know wicked sin take place in our church and we're just going to hand it within
You know some child gets molested and we're just going to we're not going to call the police
Are you talking about the catholic church? Well, I could but you know this happens even in baptist churches
You know and it's infuriating
And here we have god who is willing to and his and in this eternal record
For anyone who wants to just open up and read it and say where I killed the child because of what david did
and just call it out publicly and just deal with it very severely and just
Could care less what anybody else thinks about it
That's how the god handled it. But you have these preachers
who
You know bad things happen in their church children where the cops should be called or authorities should get involved
That person should never darken the door of another church
That man should never behind another pulpit
And yet they just want to sweep it on the rug because they don't want to be perceived as mean-spirited
Or something like that. It's it's nonsense
It's because they just don't want to rock the boat, you know, they got their comfortable little spot and they don't want to rock the boat
I got to move on the story i'm running out of time, but
Notice also that you know the consequences of david's sin right talking about the long term the short term the immediate consequences
But the other thing that the other consequence is that david's life is spared. Okay, his life is spared
You know, we caught that there
and uh
Where he said, you know thou shalt not die the lord hath put thy in verse 13
Nathan said unto david the lord the lord also hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die
However, you're still going to have to suffer these consequences
But your life is being spared you say well that doesn't seem fair
You know, and maybe it's not i'll give you that maybe it's not fair
Maybe david should have died. I mean by the according to the law he should have died
Him and bathsheba should have been drug out and stoned to death
Oh, I mean that's what the bible teaches we read that last week
But his life is spared. Okay, and why is that?
Well, the bible says in exodus chapter 33 and he said I will make this is when the lord is appearing before moses, right?
I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the lord before thee
And will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy
You know sometime god will just show mercy on people who he just wants to show mercy on
You know, we should be the same way
You know, there's nothing wrong with showing mercy to people
I'm, not saying that we should sweep sin under the rug and not call it out not deal with it
But you know what some what's things have been dealt with once the consequences have been doled out
We can be merciful to people
And just let things let them go on and live their lives. Okay
And I think david understood this concept
And and you know
Maybe that's why he was so quick to to humble himself. But also if you notice here in the story
You know david doesn't just quit he doesn't get these get this news and just say well, that's it. My life's over
The child's dead. No look at verse 16. It says david therefore besought god for the child
And david fasted and went in all night upon the earth, but why because david no knew
That god will show mercy upon whom he'll show mercy, right?
And we know the story there the elders rose he didn't eat bread with them
And he did this for seven days and and the child dies the servants don't want to tell him the child was dead
Because they're afraid what he's going to react they're saying look how he's acting how he vexes himself while the child's still alive
What's going to happen if he's you tell him he's dead
And then it says in verse 19, but when david saw that a servant whispered david perceived that child was dead dead
Therefore david said unto his servants is the child dead
And they said he is dead
Then they said he is dead then david rose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came into the house
of the lord and worshiped
So he didn't get bitter at god. He david
You know people might read that and say well that wasn't very nice of god. Well, you know, it wasn't your kid first of all
I mean look what the parent did
He's fasting he's praying and when it david's like no god's right and that's what I deserve
right
And he doesn't get bitter against god and angry with god
He goes into the house of the lord and he worships then he came into his own house and when he acquired they set
Bread before him and he did eat
Verse 21 then said his servants on him. What is this thing that thou has done?
Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive
But when the child was dead thou didst rise and eat bread
and he said while the child was yet alive I fast and wet for I said
Who can tell whether the lord will be gracious to me?
So david understood that god will show mercy unto whom he will show mercy that god was a long-suffering and merciful god
And he thought to himself. Well, I know this is the punishment, but maybe if I afflict myself and I pray
God will still spare the child even though it's sick
right
You know, and unfortunately, that's that's not the way it went
He says in verse 23, but now he's dead. Wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again?
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me
And of course, that's a great verse when it comes to you know
When a child dies or or if people experience a miscarriage, you know, a lot of times you get that question
What happens if a very young child dies? Well the bible is teaching us here, you know through david that they go to heaven immediately
Right because they are without sin. They they don't
Of course, they do sinful things I guess but they don't have a consciousness of it
I mean, they're not they don't understand these concepts until they're older. Okay, so they die innocent
Right, they're not it's the age of accountability is what's called
And people ask well, when is that age? Well, you know, there's a lot it depends because all children are different
Some catch on quicker some are you know, just have different personalities
You know and uh, i've heard it said I think this is a good measurement is when they start to be ashamed to be naked
Right, and I agree with that because when you go back to genesis
That's the first thing that happened when adam and eve when they fell
And they realized what that they were naked and they hid themselves from the lord, right?
Because you know how kids are when they're little, you know, they just it's
They'll wear that birthday suiting chance. They get they love it, you know
I think if you know
we're potty training one right now and she's always in the pamper and that's it and she just walks around belly sticking out just
you know
but if something tragic happened to her i'd have no
I'd have no reservations and saying well she's in heaven because she's an innocent right?
That's what david's saying here. Look the child died. I can't go to him. I can't bring him back. But you know what?
I'm gonna go to him and where was david going when he died
Straight to heaven, right?
Because he saved
So this is david's, uh, you know response here his life is spared and then what his you know
I want us to point out david's humility in verse 13 and david said in nathan. I have sinned against the lord
He doesn't put up this fight
And he just says i've sinned
But you know, uh, it offers all the excuses. It's just you're right busted
You know, that's the best way to handle it when you get caught
Just admit it
Trying to lie weasel your way out of it
Because look by the time you're getting caught the time you're getting busted doing something you're not supposed to be doing
The people busting you already know you did it
They already know that you're guilty, right?
sometimes the best is just
Take your lumps
And not do what hard in your neck because he that being off and reproving hard at this neck shall suddenly be destroyed
the bible says
But I want to just close on this thought look god's mercy is sure right
That's what david's kind of resting on here at the end
He's trying to get this child spared because he knows that god is merciful
God's mercy is sure
We could we can rest in that like look if we if maybe we're struggling in some sin
Maybe we've gotten to something we're not supposed to be doing
You know, and and maybe you know, we're not being found out publicly, but we all know the lord knows about it
And and you know, maybe we're there, you know, it's not that we just have to well now
I just got to sit and wait for god to just come down on me like a ton of bricks
You know, god is merciful. God is gracious. God is long suffering
If we confess our sins, he is, you know faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
If we confess them and forsake them, he we shall have mercy. That's the promise of scripture
Okay, so that's you, you know
God's mercy is a sure thing. It's there for you
Okay, that's the that's the comforting news but you know say well, you know, maybe i'll get around to taking advantage of that
Well, let me just assure you of one other thing then
the consequences of sin are sure too
If we harden our necks and harden our necks and harden our necks like the bible says in proverbs we shall be destroyed suddenly without remedy
Like there comes a point where god just says enough
I've been very merciful. I've been very patient. I've been very long suffering
And you know it and and you don't want to get right so now i'm going to step in and
And get the paddle out or whatever, you know
And i'm going to work in your life and bring you to a place where you're going to want to get right
Where you're going to want to quit sinning and and and be right with god
And I want to close on this and this last thought this thought of how our sin affects, you know
The big story here is how it affected david right, but it really it's affecting. How is it affecting david? It's affecting david
It's affecting david through other people right? Yeah his reputation was marred
Right, but his child dying the the rebellion that's coming very soon in his life in his own house through his own son
That that's because that's the result of his sin affecting other people and there's another example of that here
at the end of the chapter where it says in verse 27 and joe upset messenger said david and said
I have fought against
Rabah and have taken the city of waters now therefore gather the rest of the people together in a camp against the city and take
It lest I take the city and it be called after my name
And david gathered all the people together and went to rabah and fought against it and took it
And he took the king's crown from off their head the weight where I was the talent of gold with precious stones
And it was set on david's head and he brought forth to spoil the city in great abundance
And he brought forth the peoples that were within therein and put them under saws and under harrows of iron
And under axes of iron and made them pass through the brickland now look i've read verse 31
And every time I read i'm thinking is this really saying what it's saying here?
Because when I when you read that I don't know about you
But my first impression is it's saying that he killed these people with these things
And i'm thinking well
Harrows of iron saws
axes
You know, these are implements for work, right?
So maybe what it's saying is that he brought them out and put them made them, you know subservient to them made them work
But that last one always just blows that theory
The smithereens it says and made them pass through the brickland because like a brickland's like a furnace for like making bricks
And that's not something you carry around right? They're passing through it meaning they're going he's burning these people to death
so
This is a very severe thing I did and I honestly I really don't know what to make of that
As far as from david's perspective what's going on there?
But got to notice who it's having just and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of who of ammon?
And that goes back to what chapter 10 remember when he sent the messengers to comfort the new king of aman
and he humiliates them right and then
And then they hired the the uh, the syrians and they try to go to war against david and he and he wipes them out
And what was that this is another example of you know your sin, you know back that king in ammon in chapter 10, you know
He his sin, you know, the decisions that he made are what still affecting people with david now. David's just like kill them all
Just take them out here and just put them to this cruel death, right?
And it's just another example of the fact that your sin affects other people and a lot of times in very severe ways
So we don't want to mess around with people who have the power to punish us, right?
You know, that's that's the big takeaway
Don't mess around when there's people in your life that can punish you, right?
This would probably go, you know, we could apply to every one of us to some degree, you know, if we have jobs
We probably don't want to go to work tomorrow and just lip off to the boss
You know walk in his office and put our feet up on his desk and just say you know what?
I think i'm you're going to give me five more bucks an hour. He's like, I think you're going to go find another job
That's how that's going to go
You know, we're kids, you know, if your parents are doing their duty
You know, you have some people in your life that have the power to punish you, right?
And we don't want to just take, you know, lip off to them and you know
you know, I can't imagine a little corbin john just coming into the middle of the living room and just you know,
pulling out a pack of smokes and just
Lighting one up and just saying this is the way it's going to be old man
Because it's going to be whack
You know
You're going to eat those cigarettes. No, i'm just kidding, right?
But that's kind of a silly example, but isn't that kind of the way people are in god?
It's like this little kid just coming in with this big bad attitude
Just doing something just blatantly sinful right in front of them
And just like yeah, you know what god and then god actually says oh, okay and deals with it, right?
We don't want to mess around with people who have the power to punish us, especially when that person is god
Okay, let's go ahead and pray