2 Samuel 12:1-15

Jun 23, 2022    Pastor Daryl Zachman

For one year David had kept it a secret…or so he thought. The truth was that his servants knew, Joab knew, and Bathsheba knew. Beyond this the word had spread, as palace intrigue is always popular gossip. But God was not pleased. He gave David time to repent, to come clean. But David covered his transgression. In Psalm 32 he described this time:

“When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.” (Psalm 32:3–4, NKJV)

Unconfessed sin is a terrible burden to bear.

Finally, God sent Nathan the prophet to convict David. Nathan told David a story about a certain poor man who only owned a single ewe lamb whom he loved like a daughter. A rich man, who wanted to feed a visitor, took this poor man’s lamb and slaughtered it rather than taking one of his own lambs. When David heard this, he became angry and said, “This man deserves to die!” Then Nathan said, “You are the man!”

“The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed?” (2 Samuel 12:7–9, NLT)

When we sin we think God is angry with us. That’s why Adam and Eve hid themselves. But what I hear in the LORD’s words to David is the broken heart of a father. God loved David and blessed him in every way. And He was willing to give David so much more! But David had despised the word of the LORD and done what was evil in His sight. While David violated Bathsheba and murdered his loyal soldier Uriah, his sin was ultimately against God.

Do we consider that all our sin is ultimately against God? And that’s why when we sin we must first put things right with God.

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV)