September 2, 2007  •  Pastor Randy Smith

As we remember our study regarding King Saul, I ask you – Is it a worthy goal to obey God one hundred percent of the time?

Should parents provide guidelines for their children? Of course! Why do parents provide guidelines for their children? Because they love them! Should parents desire their children to obey one hundred percent of the time? Are we fine if our children look both ways before crossing the street ninety-nine percent of the time? Are we fine if our children refuse the offer to use drugs ninety-six percent of the time? Absolutely not! We expect one hundred percent obedience because we are deeply concerned about the welfare of our young ones. And if they disobey, do we ignore or excuse the problem or do we again discuss the issue and hand out appropriate discipline, not to punish, but to prevent the problem from reoccurring in the future?

Likewise, God, our heavenly Father, has given us commands. They not only reflect His holy nature, but as the Bible says, they are for our own good as well. Deuteronomy 10:12-13, “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (emphasis added; cf. Dt. 6:24; Jer. 32:39; Jas. 1:25). As it has been said, “The cost of obedience is nothing compared to the cost of disobedience” (author unknown). I believe king Saul, were he here this morning, would agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

The past few weeks we have been learning about the disobedience of King Saul. He was commanded to totally wipe out God’s enemy, the Amalekites (1 San. 15:2-3). He responded with partial obedience. He ignored God and did what was best in his own eyes. 1 Samuel 15:8-9, “He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.”

God sent his prophet Samuel to rebuke king Saul. As we learned last week, rather than a true confession, we witnessed Saul’s attempt to deny, justify, excuse, redefine and minimize his sin. His actions would eventually cost him his honor, his family, his friends, his kingship and his fellowship with God. Due to his willful disobedience and unrepentant heart, he lost it all.

Last week we saw a sin, a rebuke, a hardened heart and a sad ending. This week as we prepare for the Lord’s Table, I would like to do a special sermon that takes a look at a sin and a rebuke just like before, but with a completely different response, a soft heart and a happy ending.

As a consequence to Saul’s sin, God said in 1 Samuel 15:23, “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.” The same is repeated in verse 26. Then in verse 28 we read, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you” (emphasis added).

We know that Saul’s “neighbor” and eventual successor was David. But what made David better than Saul? This morning, as we survey three sections of Scripture I would like to answer that question.

1. THE CRIME (2 Sam. 11:1-27)

As Saul fell into sin, David also fell into sin while a king over Israel. I state that upfront because we must conclude that whatever made David better than Saul, it was not the fact that he was sinless.

We spent much time analyzing Saul’s sin. Let’s begin today by taking a look at David’s sin. I have entitled this first point, “The Crime.” Please turn to 2 Samuel, chapter 11.

Beginning in verse 1. “Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.”

Right from the beginning we see David idle and neglecting his responsibilities. This often provides a fertile ground for temptation.

Verses 2-4, “ Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about 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” (stop right there).

The progression of sin: From an innocent walk to gazing to inquiring to obtaining, despite the fact that David knew the woman was married. Sin is birthed in steps. Our spiritual failures do not happen in a vacuum.

Continuing verse 4, “And when she came to him, he lay with her. And when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.”

While her husband was away, faithfully fighting for David and the nation, the mighty king who is called to uphold justice, commits adultery with his beloved wife.

Verse 5, “The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, ‘I am pregnant.’”

Oh-no, she’s pregnant! Now David is in a bind. Bad enough that his sin was exposed to the eyes of God, now to add to his shame, his sin would be exposed to the eyes of a nation. How would David respond? Listen to his crafty and deceptive scheme to cover his hide.

Beginning in verse 6, “Then David sent to Joab, saying, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ So Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. Then David said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house, and wash your feet.’ And Uriah went out of the king's house, and a present from the king was sent out after him. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.”

Did you follow David’s logic, or should I say his disingenuous actions? Flatter the guy and then encourage him to go home and be with his wife. The result? The pregnancy will be attributed to her husband, and David will be off the hook. Unfortunately the convenient cover-up failed.

Verses 10-11, “Now when they told David, saying, ‘Uriah did not go down to his house,’ David said to Uriah, ‘Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?’ Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.’”

Unlike David, Uriah was a man of integrity. Uriah’s character was not making this any easier for David who was obsessed on relieving his problem at any cost. Therefore another attempt is made.

Verses 12-13, “Then David said to Uriah, ‘Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go.’ So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.”

The righteous and loyal man is not cooperating. Once again David’s scheming failed. Nevertheless, the persistent king upped the ante, only becoming more wicked and godless in his actions. His final plan, he thought, would solve his dilemma once and for all.

Verses 14-15, “Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He had written in the letter, saying, ‘Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die.’”

Uriah, the loyal man prepared to die for the king’s honor, died by the king’s hand (11:24). The offended innocent was killed by the guilty in a tremendous act of injustice. Now, to David’s guilt of adultery, was added murder.

The account closes beginning in verse 26. “Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son.”

The Lord’s assessment of this situation? In the end of verse 27 we read, “But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.”

Where have I heard that before? Saul’s sin from last week. Remember when Samuel said, “Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD? (1 Sam. 15:19, emphasis added).

Saul and David, both committing sin deemed “evil in the sight of the Lord.” Just as God sent His prophet, Samuel, to Saul, God now sends His prophet, Nathan, to David. Last week we observed how Saul failed in response to the prophetic rebuke. Let’s see if David does any better? After all, wasn’t he supposed to be the better man? From “The Crime” let’s turn our attention to “The Confrontation.”

2.THE CONFRONTATION (2 Sam. 12:1-15)

2 Samuel 12:1,“Then the LORD sent Nathan to David.”

You can imagine how difficult this must have been for the prophet to confront the king. Yet more impressive than his courage was method in which Nathan brought his rebuke. He came in love with self-control, yet couched his words in such a way to stir David’s heart. Rather than going directly for the jugular, he appeals to David’s conscience with a story. And what a convicting picture he paints. I trust from the get-go you will see where Nathan is going with this story.

Continuing in verse 1, “And (Nathan) came to him and said, ‘There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.’”

Let me change a few of the smaller details. A rich man with many wives. A man with the wealth to do as he wishes. And in an effort to satisfy his lust, he robs the only woman dear to a loyal countryman. And then after violating this man’s greatest earthly possession, he makes arrangements to have him murdered. Does that sound familiar? Maybe to everyone but David!

How did David respond to Nathan’s story? Verses 5-6, “Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.’”

Verse 7, the jarring response, “Nathan then said to David, ‘You are the man!’” It must have gotten really quiet in the king’s palace.

Then as an ambassador for the living God, Nathan says, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight?’”

What was the specific evil? Second sentence, verse 9, “‘You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.’”

In the context of identifying the consequences of David’s sin in verses 10-15, David responds in verse 13. “I have sinned against the LORD.” “(Then) Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.”

According to the law, David deserved the death penalty. He deserved to lose his kingship. He deserved, like all of us when we sin against the Holy God, to be wiped off the face of this earth. But David did not receive any of these. Despite the fact that we read in 11:27 and 12:9 “the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD,” Nathan said, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” David’s heart was contrite. David confessed His sin. Unlike Saul, David received the full blessings of God’s pardon.

3. THE CONTRITION (Psm. 51:1-19)

His experience is recorded in Psalm 51. Let’s turn to that marvelous Psalm and turn our attention from “The Confrontation” to “The Contrition.”

You can see the subtitle as verse 1 begins: “For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” Time permits me from extended commentary, but I believe now that the context is established the Psalm speaks for itself.

David starts off by saying, “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.”

Once David realized the greatness of his guilt he finds comfort in the greatness of God. He poured out his heart with genuine humility. He knew his sin was always before the omniscient eyes of the Lord. And he knew his guilt was not just his recent moral failures, but also the fact that he was at his very core a sinner from the time he was conceived. David, perceived throughout Scripture as a godly man, did not stand in his own merit but rather appealed to the grace and mercy of a God who is ready to forgive sin because He is a God of lovingkindness, because He is great in compassion. Notice the joy David experienced when he knew his transgressions were blotted out of the Lord’s ledger - when he knew he was washed from iniquity and cleansed from sin, complete forgiveness granted, all guilt removed.

Let’s continue, picking up David’s inspired words in verse 13. “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.”

Saul never confessed his sin. Saul believed in masking his sin behind the acts of religious performance. He was told, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22). Unlike Saul, David knew that God cared most about his (verse 6) “innermost being,” (verse 10) a “clean heart. He knew (verse 17) “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, (for these God) will not despise.” Then, once the heart is right, outward displays of religion become a delight in God’s sight. For the praise of his heart to the Lord was birthed in the experience of God’s marvelous grace.

Due to his disobedience God said that Saul “has turned back from following Me” (1 Sam. 15:11). David was disobedient too but realized his sin was ultimately a crime against the Lord (Psm. 51:4). He knew he committed high treason under the very watching eyes of God. David was broken in spirit. He acknowledged His sin. He turned to God and feasted on His sweet forgiveness. By God’s grace, this is what made David a better man than Saul. For unlike Saul, David followed God. David was a man after God’s heart (1 Sam. 13:14; Ac. 13:22).

But the question arises at this point, “How can God be holy and just and then simply forgive David’s great transgressions?” The answer comes in Christ. The bloody animal sacrifices of David’s time to make atonement for sin would foreshadow the great Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world by the shedding of His own blood.

God can forgive sinners who come to Him because of Christ’s work on the cross – because Christ received the wrath we deserve as our sins were heaped upon Him. God the Father then in His justice condemned God the Son. We have pardon when we come to God on the basis of faith. Our sins are wiped away and we are credited with Christ’s righteousness, His perfect obedience. And thus in the eyes of God we are cleaned in His blood and as David said, washed whiter than snow (Psm. 51:7).

Have you accepted the fact that you are a sinner? Do you understand that you are born in sin and even though you may have never committed the literal acts of adultery and murder, according to the definition of Jesus, you have committed them if you ever lusted for another or held anger in your heart? Do you understand how your sin is seen by a Holy God? Do you feel the weight of your sin? Are you burdened with the guilt of sin? Do you realize the tension that exists between you and your Creator? Take your sin to God through Christ Jesus and receive His pardon. He opposes the proud, but promises to receive those truly broken and contrite. Experience His cleansing which results in joy unspeakable and peace that surpasses understanding.

Yes, we are called to and should desire to obey God one hundred percent of the time. But we all fall short of that standard. That is why we should be grateful that we serve a God who welcomes and forgives sinners.