The Consequences Of Forgiven Sin

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If we're honest, we would all be content with the story of David's sin ending with Psalm 51, right?

After all, we have seen David commit his sin.

We've examined that closely.

We have seen David be confronted with his sin.

We've examined that thoroughly.

We've even seen David confess his sin and be assured of God's mercy.

And yet, there's still more to the story, as Paul Harvey would have said, right?

This passage is a sober reminder that there are indeed consequences to forgiven sin.

God, in his wonderful grace, forgives us, forgives the penitent sinner.

But God, in his holy government, must still judge sin.

It's imperative, as we study this passage and as we study the Bible,

that we have a proper understanding of the difference between the eternal penalty of sin

and the immediate consequences of sin.

The Bible clearly teaches that all of us are guilty before God, and we all deserve an eternal death.

We understand that clearly.

Romans 3, verse 23, we all know the verse,

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

We are all guilty before God.

We acknowledged that last week in Psalm 51.

We also read in the Bible where the clear, deserving nature of our sin is eternal death.

And Romans chapter 6 helps us there.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

For the wages of sin is death.

And when the Bible speaks of death as the payment for sin,

it's not only referring to physical death.

Physical death is a curse of sin that comes on believers and unbelievers alike.

In fact, the Bible clearly teaches us that every person will die,

even those who know the Lord, those who have been forgiven by the Lord.

We will all one day face our death and go into eternity.

But when the Bible references this eternal penalty of death for unbelievers,

it's speaking of a spiritual death.

Sometimes it refers to it as the second death.

But what does this actually mean?

What is this spiritual death?

What is this eternal death that the Bible says is the punishment for our sin?

Well, we understand God has created us all to be eternal beings.

We will live forever, every one of us.

We have a definite beginning.

We do not, in a spiritual sense, have a definite ending.

We will live forever.

Those who believe and follow Jesus Christ receive eternal life.

But those who do not are sentenced to eternal death.

And while an unbeliever's eternity is lived out in a literal place of torment

that we refer to as hell or even the lake of fire,

it's a real place.

It's a place of torment.

It's a place of fire, according to the Bible.

It's a place of separation, according to the Bible.

The significance of this eternity and this spiritual death

is that it is completely absent of God and his goodness.

That's why we say the penalty for sin, the eternal penalty for sin,

is separation from God, because that's exactly what hell is.

Heaven is where God is.

Hell is where God is not.

Now, we need to think about this for just a minute.

Think about everything that we enjoy here in this life,

both believers and unbelievers alike.

There's a doctrine.

We refer to it as common grace.

And it basically says that God, in his goodness,

shows that grace to all people, not necessarily a saving grace,

that is reserved for those who are believers,

but he shows his grace and his goodness and his kindness to all people.

Think of it this way.

In this life, whether you're a believer or an unbeliever,

we all get to enjoy beauty.

We could all take a trip today up to the mountains

as the leaves are beginning to change,

and we could observe the beautiful creation that God has given us.

And whether you're a believer or an unbeliever, it doesn't matter.

You can enjoy that, and you can relish that,

and you can be blessed and encouraged by the beauty that God has created.

We are blessed by companionship.

Believers and unbelievers alike have great, strong friendships,

strong marriages.

We experience love.

We experience all kinds of blessings in this life.

And the only reason we experience those blessings is because of who God is,

because he has allowed in his grace to give us a bit of his presence

and to give us a bit of his goodness and a bit of his grace,

even for those who do not follow him in faith.

Now, hell, eternal death, is completely absent of God and his goodness.

Imagine what life on this earth would be like if it were absent of all of those things.

There was no beauty to behold.

There'd be no companionship for us to enjoy and to be encouraged by.

There'd be no morality.

There would be nothing good.

Everything that is good, everything that is loving,

everything that is beautiful, everything that is positive in this life

comes out of the character and the blessing of God.

Now, imagine an eternity absent of all of those things.

That's the reality for people that die and go to hell.

Nothing good that is enjoyed now would exist if God were to remove his presence and grace.

But this is exactly what the experience of hell will be for those who do not believe and follow Christ.

And then it will also be a place of physical torment and pain.

It will be an eternity completely absent of the goodness of God.

That's why Jesus came.

In fact, Jesus said that's why he came.

John chapter 10 and verse 10, he said,

John 10 · chapter mention

I am come that they may have life and that they may have that life more abundantly.

Jesus was not just talking about life on this earth.

He was talking about eternal life.

The reason he came is so that we would not have to suffer that eternal death.

His death on the cross was substitutionary,

meaning that in our place and on our behalf,

he absorbed the wrath of the Father so that we could then inherit eternal life through him.

And then his resurrection, three days after that,

proved that his death was indeed sufficient to pay for the penalty of man's sin.

And it showed that he alone has power over this eternal death.

And 1 Corinthians 15 tells us all about that.

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

He was buried and he rose on the third day according to the scriptures.

And then later on in chapter 15, it says,

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

He's the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

When we talk about receiving God's mercy and being eternally forgiven,

we are referring to this ultimate penalty of sin.

And as we come to 2 Samuel chapter 12,

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

it's imperative that we understand the difference between being made free from that ultimate penalty of sin

and given eternal life through Jesus Christ.

There's a difference between that and the immediate consequences and temporal consequences

that come for our sin in this life.

We must not mistake being made free from the eternal penalty of sin

as escaping the consequences of sin now.

David's life tells us and warns us that though our standing before God in eternity is one of just righteousness,

God will still judge our sin in this life.

The Lord graciously forgives the believer's sin,

but we will still have to pay a cost.

This passage shows us and helps us to understand the reality of the consequences of our sin.

It teaches us how we are to respond to the chastening of the Lord.

Many people, when they face the correcting love of the Lord,

will turn to bitterness, perhaps even apostasy.

But what we are seeing in David's reaction is that we are to respond in worship.

And then thirdly, this passage encourages us with the assurance of God's returning blessings.

And all three of those things is what I'd like to cover with you today.

Let's first look at the reality of sin's consequences.

Look with me again at verse number 10, 2 Samuel 12, verse 10.

2 Samuel 12:10

Nathan comes to David and he says,

Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house,

because thou hast despised me, God says,

and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Though the consequences of David's sin were pronounced through the prophet Nathan,

they were all experienced after he had confessed his sin in Psalm 51.

Though he had been assured of God's forgiveness and mercy,

his sin still came at a tremendous cost to his temporal life here.

It is true as we study this passage,

that sin will take you further than you want to go.

It will keep you longer than you want to stay.

And it will cost you more than you want to pay.

But if we are secure in our eternal salvation,

and we are, the Bible tells us that clearly,

how is it then that believers will experience this judgment

and the consequences of our sin?

And there's two perspectives here in David's example

that is worth us noting.

It's the same perspectives that we must have now.

There is the law of sowing and reaping.

And then there is the chastening hand or the chastening love,

as I would prefer to call it, the chastening love of the Lord.

Let's first talk about the law of sowing and reaping.

There is an agricultural principle that is universally true.

And Andy can help me with this if I'm wrong,

from based on what he does there at the greenhouse every week.

And if I take a pumpkin seed,

I don't even know if you grow pumpkins with seeds,

is that what you do?

If I take a, sorry, I'm a preacher, not a farmer.

If I take a pumpkin seed and I go bury it in my backyard,

I can't expect to grow tomatoes, right?

Whatever you sow is what you reap.

If you reap anything, you're gonna reap what it is that you sow.

The Bible applies this metaphor to our everyday lives.

Everything that we sow in life,

we can expect to reap in life.

And it's a continual law of principle that we read

all throughout the scriptures, really.

And this is the natural consequence of sin.

It's experienced even by those who standing

is one of eternal forgiveness.

Whenever we sow wickedness in this life,

we can expect to reap corruption in this life.

Whenever we sow good and righteousness in this life,

we can expect to reap blessing in this life.

Galatians chapter six tells us this explicitly.

Do not be deceived, Paul writes.

God is not mocked.

For whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

For the one who sows to his own flesh

will from the flesh reap corruption.

But the one who sows to the spirit

will from the spirit reap eternal life.

The things that we do, we can expect to reap in consequence.

It's the natural consequences of our sin.

Now let's look at how David dealt

with the natural consequences of his sin.

Three ways that he had the law of sowing

and reaping in this passage.

Number one, since Uriah was killed by violence,

violence would then plague the house of David.

Since Uriah was killed by violence,

violence would now plague the house of David.

Look with me again at verse number 10,

or verse nine actually, let's start there.

God says, you have struck down Uriah the Hittite

with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife

and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

Now therefore, because this is what you've done,

God tells David, the sword shall never depart

from your house.

That's the first immediate consequence.

We see this played out.

If you were to read through the rest of 2 Samuel chapter 12

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

and really just the first couple of chapters of 1 Kings,

you'll see this played out in David's life.

Three of David's sons, in addition to this baby,

three of David's sons are killed,

and they're all killed by the sword.

His son Amnon is killed by his other son Absalom.

Absalom is then killed by David's cousin Joab

and the commander of his army.

And then a third son, Adonijah,

tried to set himself up as king

when it was Solomon who was intended to be king.

And Solomon made a deal with him that he wouldn't kill him

as long as he wouldn't rebel.

Ultimately, he rebels and Solomon kills Adonijah as well.

Three different sons of David are killed by the sword

and God tells him in 2 Samuel chapter 12,

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

this is a consequence for you taking the life

of Uriah the Hittite and those other men with the sword.

Secondly, since David stole a man's wife,

someone else would steal his wives.

Look again at verse 10.

Because you have despised me

and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite

to be your wife, thus says the Lord,

behold, I will raise up evil against you

out of your own house.

And I will take your wives before your eyes

and give them to your neighbor,

and he shall lie with your wives

in the sight of this son.

For you did it secretly,

but I will do this thing before all Israel

and before the son.

This is carried out in chapter 16 of 2 Samuel.

One of David's sons, Absalom,

chases David out of the kingdom.

He's bitter at him about some things

that David had done poorly as a father.

And he comes in, he chases David out of the kingdom.

And in the process of that,

David leaves some of his harem behind in Jerusalem,

something that he should have never had to begin with.

It was a part of the sin of his life.

But he left some of those concubines and wives behind.

One of the pagan rituals for a conquering king

in this particular day

is that they would defile the wives of the defeated king.

It was a show of power,

basically showing that I have defeated this king

and I have taken everything that belonged to him,

even the most intimate things that belonged to him.

David's own son sets up a tent

on the top of David's own house

in view of the entire city of Jerusalem

and takes David's wives one by one into this tent

and defiles them in front of the whole city,

in front of all Israel.

Why?

God says, this is a payment for your sin.

This is one of the natural consequences of your sin.

This is what you have sown,

therefore this is what you will reap.

And then the third one,

since David's actions had given reason

for people to blaspheme the Lord,

the child produced by his actions would not survive.

Verse 14,

because by this deed you have given occasion

to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,

the child also that is born to you shall surely die.

Perhaps the most devastating of all of those consequences

is that one.

It wasn't because God hated the child

and it wasn't because the child

had necessarily done anything wrong.

It was because God had to judge the sin.

And specifically,

because David had given reason

for the enemies of God

to blaspheme the name of the Lord,

this would be what he would reap for that sin.

The consequences of David's sin was severe,

but he didn't receive anything

that he had not himself done to others.

He killed Uriah along with a bunch of other sons.

He stole a man's wife.

He committed the sin.

He reaped the consequences.

But he reaped every one of those consequences

after in Psalm 51 he cries out,

have mercy on me, O God.

After he was assured in Psalm 51

that he had indeed received that mercy from God.

Remember Nathan's report in 2 Samuel 12.

The Lord has put away your sin.

You shall not die.

He was freed from the eternal penalty of his sin,

but he was not free from the consequences of his sin

in this life.

Your sin may be forgiven in eternity,

but it will not always be relieved of its burden now.

This is a warning to us,

and it's one that we really need to take very seriously.

It is not only that our sin is an offense against God,

but it is also because God will judge our sin,

and we should care about that.

So there's the law of sowing and reaping.

Quickly, there's the chastening of the Lord.

That's the other part to this passage.

Now God's role in the consequences of David's sin

cannot and should not be overlooked.

It was from the hand of God

that David faced all of these consequences.

I want you to look at it with me.

Look in verse 11, right at the very beginning.

Thus says the Lord,

Behold, I will, he says,

I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.

Second part of verse 11,

And I will take your wives before your eyes.

Verse 12,

I will do this thing before all Israel and before the Son.

Verse 15,

And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bear unto David.

We come to a passage like this,

and we see how severe and how the penalty for this

is not that it was only severe,

but it was carried out in ways

that we know God wasn't pleased with.

And yet it is God who takes the credit for it.

And we spend a lot of our time sometimes as Christians

trying to get God off the hook

when this is God's word to us,

and God gives it to us,

and he says,

I will do this thing.

I have done this thing.

I will judge this sin.

He was in complete control

of everything taking place in this text.

And he's in complete control

of everything taking place in our lives as well.

This is the dynamic of sin's consequences

that the Bible categorizes as the chastening of the Lord.

Now God's chastening is difficult,

and sometimes severe,

but it is always, always done

for the purpose of the good of his people.

It's not punitive in action

like God's judgment on unbelievers.

When unbelievers face the judgment of God

at the end of this life,

it is punitive action.

It is depart from me, you workers of iniquity.

I never knew you.

But the chastening of the Lord

that comes down on the life of believers in this life

is not punitive in nature.

It is nurturing in nature.

Severe, difficult, yes,

but in order to produce good,

in order that he may fashion us

into the image of Christ.

Think of Proverbs chapter three.

My son,

despise not the chastening of the Lord.

Neither be weary of his correction.

For whom the Lord loves,

he corrects.

Even as a father,

the son in whom he delights.

Think of Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

All discipline,

for the moment,

seems not to be joyful,

and we can all agree to that.

But it is sorrowful.

It is grievous.

Yet to those who have been trained

by God's discipline afterwards,

it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

There is a purpose in God's role

in these consequences.

It is not that he may express anger to believers.

It is that he may correct and build up believers.

We cannot view sin as an abstraction.

It can only be rightly understood

in relation to the character of God.

The chastening of the Lord reminds us of this,

and it reminds us that sin

is primarily an offense against God.

It rehearses the holiness of God.

It rehearses the justice of God.

It proclaims that sin and its consequences

are not outside of the power and control of God.

To overlook God's role in this text

is to fundamentally miss the point of the passage.

The point of the passage is David sinned,

and what made it sinned

was it was an offense against God.

Therefore, God, in his holy judgment,

must judge David's sin,

but God, in his tremendous grace and mercy,

poured out that mercy on David.

In fact, the very nature of this correction

was an act of God's mercy.

But then if you were to ask enough questions

about this passage,

eventually, you'll find yourself looking for answers

to how a loving God can allow

and permit so much evil to take place.

God says, this is the judgment that I'm carrying out,

but how could God do that?

How could God allow David to sin in this way to begin with?

Why didn't he stop it?

There's no easy answers

to completely satisfy our minds,

but there are plenty of truths in the Bible

that help us process this as believers,

and it will help us to process this in our evangelism

as those same questions come against us.

I had a conversation this week

about the importance of this.

As we witness of God's goodness,

and someone just takes a moment

as an unbeliever to examine the world around us,

this question will come to their mind.

If you're saying God is so good,

how is it that all of this wickedness and evil is possible?

Let me give you a few things to help with this.

Number one, God is always right.

God is always right.

He's absolutely perfect and just

in everything that he does.

If you wanna take notes on this,

Psalm 1830 is a good place to go.

Here's what it says.

It's one of my favorite verses in all the Bible.

It says, this God,

his way is perfect.

The word of the Lord proves true.

Abraham in Genesis chapter 18 says,

Genesis 18 · chapter mention

shall not the judge of all the earth

do that which is right?

One of the things we see about God's character

all throughout the scripture

that we must trust and believe

is that God is always right.

He is always perfect.

He never does anything wrong.

Whatever is allowed by his sovereign control

is right to do.

So God is always right.

Secondly, God is never pleased by sin.

He does not commit sin

and he does not entice us to sin.

Think of James chapter one.

Let no one say when he is tempted,

I am being tempted by God

for God cannot be tempted with evil

and he himself tempts no one.

First John chapter one in verse five,

God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

So not only is God right,

not only is God perfect,

but he does not,

he is not pleased by sin.

He does not commit sin,

nor does he entice others to sin.

Number three, God is sovereign over all things.

God is absolutely sovereign over all things.

There is nothing at all

that is outside of his divine will and control.

Think of Lamentations chapter three in verse 37.

Who has spoken and came to pass

unless the Lord has commanded it?

Is it not from the mouth of the most high

that good and bad come?

Why should a living man complain

about the punishment of his sins?

Think of Isaiah 45.

God says, I form light and create darkness.

I make well-being and create calamity.

I am the Lord who does all these things.

God is always right.

He is not pleased by sin,

nor does he commit sin,

but he is sovereign over everything.

And then fourthly,

all things take place for the glory of God

and the good of his people.

All things take place for the glory of God

and the good of his people.

Romans chapter eight, verse 28.

We know that for those who love God,

all things work together for good

for those who are called according to his purpose.

And what is God's ultimate purpose?

His own glory.

Everything that takes place in your life

is for his glory and your good.

That doesn't mean that everything in your life is good.

It just means that God is in control of it.

And it is ultimately for your good

and for his glory.

We do not always know why

and how God acts in the way that he does.

We must trust him

and believe that he is good.

The end of Romans chapter 11,

Romans 11 · chapter mention

Paul gets to this great doxology

and considering all of these things

and trying to hold them in tension,

the character of God

and how we can only partly understand him

with our finite being.

And he says this,

Oh, the depth and the riches

and the wisdom and the knowledge of God.

How unsearchable are his judgments

and how inscrutable are his ways

for who has known the mind of the Lord

and who has been his counselor

or who has given a gift to him

that he might be repaid

for from him and through him

and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever.

Amen.

You say, I don't know how to process

all of these things.

How can God be so perfect

and so just and so good

and yet he allows all of these things

and if we follow that through

as a believing thought,

understanding the scriptures

and taking them for what they say,

we too will come to be like Paul

and say, I don't understand

everything there is to know about God

but how great is our God.

Oh, the depth and the riches

and the wisdom

and the knowledge of God

far beyond anything

that I could understand.

That's not going to cause me

to reject him.

That's going to cause me

to worship him.

It's going to cause me

to cling to him.

It's going to cause me

to praise him

because who can know is mine?

Who could be his counselor?

I can't be God's counselor.

I can come up with all the ways

that I would choose to be God

and every one of them

would be wrong.

So I look at God's word

and I say,

this is what's true of God

and I believe it

and I will praise him

for who he is.

So we see the reality

of sin's consequences.

Much more quickly than that,

we'll see the Christian's response

to God's chastening.

The Christian's response

to God's chastening.

This passage not only reminds us

of sin's consequences

but it helpfully teaches

how we are to respond

when we face these consequences.

Anyone facing the chastisement

of the Lord,

there is danger

in responding sinfully

in one of two ways.

The first way is bitterness,

bitterness toward God

and that bitterness

will ultimately lead to apostasy

which is knowing the truth,

acknowledging the truth

but still rejecting that truth

because you don't like

how God has determined

to run his creation

or how he is determined

to act in his perfection.

Hebrews chapter 12,

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

that's the same passage

that we quoted earlier

about the chastisement

of the Lord.

Just a few verses later,

it connects bitterness

to that.

The writer says,

see to it

that no root of bitterness

springs up

and causes trouble

and by it many be defiled.

We need to be careful

when we face

the trials of life

and the consequences

of our sin

that we don't allow

those times of difficulty

to push us away from God

but rather we allow

those difficulties

to cause us to run to him

and David gives us

a great example

of how we are to process

these seasons of life.

Four things here

that David does.

The first one is this,

pray, fast, and grieve.

Pray, fast, and grieve.

Look at verse 16.

David therefore,

this is after the child

has been born

and is now sick.

David therefore besought God

for the child

and he fasted

and he went in

and lay all night

upon the earth

so much so

in his grief

and in his prayer

and in his pleading with God

that everybody else

in the house

was worried about him.

Verse 17,

and the elders of his house

arose and went to him

to raise him up

from the earth

but he would not.

Neither did he eat bread

with them.

And it came to pass

on the seventh day

that the child died

and the servants

of David feared

to tell him

because they were afraid

ultimately that when he heard

the news of the death

of the child

that he would perhaps

even commit suicide.

He grieved.

He prayed.

He fasted.

How should we respond

to these difficulties in life,

the correction of the Lord

or the difficult circumstances

that we go through?

It's okay to grieve.

Pray.

Fast.

Seek the Lord's face.

As Sheba delivered

their baby boy

but he was sick

and David knew

that this was going

to take place

because Nathan told him.

But he still begged

for God to intervene.

Why?

Nathan had said

this is what's going

to happen.

Why would David

then move forward

in prayer?

For the same reason

he appealed

to God's mercy

in Psalm 51.

He appealed

on the basis

of God's character.

In fact,

the servants of David

actually asked him

this question

and this is how he answered.

Look with me

at verse 21.

Then said his servants

unto him,

What thing is this

that thou hast done

that thou didst fast

and weep for the child

while it was alive?

But when the child

was dead,

you did rise

and eat bread.

Like you stopped grieving,

you stopped praying,

you stopped fasting.

And here's what David said.

While the child

was yet alive,

I fasted and wept.

For I said,

Who can tell

whether God

will be gracious to me

that the child

may live?

David appealed

to what he knew

to be true

of God's character

and he knew

that just as much

as God

is a God of judgment,

he is a God of grace.

And so he found

his place

in these seven days

fasting

and praying

and grieving,

appealing to

the grace of God

that would be poured out

on this child

and on David's home.

His prayer recognized

the amazing grace of God

and our attitude

in difficulty

and in trial

and in correction

should always anticipate

God's grace

and mercy.

That should always

be the anticipation

of our hearts.

That though we acknowledge

that God may choose

to pour out judgment

on our lives,

we also acknowledge

that he is a God of grace.

And let me tell you,

God loves it

when we think of him

as a gracious

and merciful God.

So David cast himself

on the Lord.

You say,

but God didn't answer

the prayer.

Well,

he didn't always answer it

the way that we demanded.

But sometimes he does.

And if you want to see

an example of that,

you can look at

2 Kings chapter 20

2 Kings 20 · chapter mention

and you can look at that

later on.

So David fasted,

he prayed,

and he grieved.

That's the first thing

we do in response.

We pray.

Secondly,

we worship the Lord.

We worship the Lord.

Look at verse 19.

But when David saw

that his servants whispered,

David perceived

that the child was dead.

Therefore,

David said unto his servants,

is the child dead?

And they said,

he is dead.

Then he arose

and washed

and anointed himself,

changed his apparel,

and came into

the house of the Lord

and worshiped.

It's an amazing response.

As soon as he hears

that his baby

has died,

he immediately

cleans himself up

and goes into

the presence of God

for worship.

God's heart.

That's quite opposite

of how we typically

respond to the Lord,

isn't it?

Especially when we

understand that

what we're dealing with

is a consequence

of our own sin.

Maybe we don't really

want to acknowledge that,

but deep down

we understand that

maybe is why we're

dealing with whatever

it is we're dealing with.

And instead of running

to God in worship,

we push against him.

Maybe get embittered

towards him.

That's not David's heart.

Now look at everything

that David is going

to deal with.

He's just lost

his baby son.

He's been told

that the sword

is never going

to leave his house,

that his wives

are going to be given

to somebody else.

And yet when this

baby boy dies,

what does he do?

He doesn't run away

from God.

He runs to him.

He cleans himself up

and he goes to worship

and praise this God.

This is the heart

of the true believer

when facing

the chastening

of the Lord.

I believe that

with all my heart.

I remember times

with the girls.

This isn't a great

litmus test all the time,

but I was always

having the back

of my mind

in moments

of discipline

with them

that how they respond

to my discipline

says a lot

about how I discipline them.

Not so much

in the severity

of the discipline,

but in what was

my heart demonstrating

to them

in that moment.

I remember times

of sitting down

with Ashlyn,

especially,

but even Harper too.

I remember sitting down

and having severe

discipline with Ashlyn.

As soon as that discipline,

that moment of discipline

is over,

I can remember moments

where she would

immediately embrace me.

Instead of running

away from me,

instead of throwing

herself on her bed

or instead of running

to Julie,

she would immediately

embrace me.

Our hearts were united

in that moment.

She realized

she had done wrong.

She realized

that she was being punished

for what she had done

and that I was the instrument

of that punishment,

but because of our relationship

with one another,

in that punishment,

she embraced me.

That's the picture

that we see with David here.

He understood his sin.

He understood

that God was going

to judge his sin

and he understood

that the judgment

was severe,

yet he didn't run away

from him.

He embraced him.

He embraced him

in that moment.

Have a walk with God

that is so sweet

and intimate

that in the moments

of trial,

in the moments

when you know

and acknowledge

that this is God's doing

in my life,

that instead of running

from him,

you embrace him

in worship.

Eleven years,

13 years actually total

in pastoral ministry.

I don't know how many times

people have gone through

difficulties in their life

and their first response

is to back away

from worship.

They stop attending

church faithfully.

They stop serving the Lord

in whatever way

they were serving.

They stop doing

all the things

that at one point

in the times of joy

they were doing.

That is not the heart

of a genuine Christian.

The heart of somebody

that's truly walking

with Christ

is even in difficulty.

I'm coming closer

to God.

That should be our heart

as well.

Charles Spurgeon,

I know I've been quoting

him a lot lately,

but he said,

I've learned to kiss

the wave

that throws me

against the rock

of ages.

We'll deal with a lot

in our lives

and a lot of it

will be our own fault.

But learn to kiss

the wave

that throws you

against the rock

of ages.

Thirdly,

David moved forward

in God's grace.

Look at verse 20 again,

the second half of it.

After he worshipped,

then he came

to his own house

and when he required,

they set bread

before him

and he did eat.

I can't even begin

to imagine

the sorrow

that comes

from losing a child.

Maybe some of you

have felt that,

you know that.

I don't know

what that's like.

I can't imagine

what that's like.

That's not something

anyone can move on from

as if to forget it

and never feel

the effects

of its grief again.

David would never

move on

from this moment,

but he would move forward

and I think

there's a difference.

He wasn't forgetting

about what had happened.

He was taking the lesson

he was learning

and he was intent

on teaching it to others.

But he did not allow

his grief

to overwhelm his life.

We should never try

to forget the lessons

that God teaches

in his chastening.

Neither should we allow

the failures of the past

to paralyze our ability

to move forward

for God's glory.

The child dies,

David worships,

and then he ate.

For seven days

he wouldn't eat food.

Nobody could convince

him to do it.

He comes back

from the house of God.

I know it's a simple thing,

but I think it's just a sign.

David was moving forward.

Not moving on,

he was moving forward.

Don't allow the difficulties

of your past

to paralyze you now.

Learn the lesson

and glorify the Lord

in it

in a change of life.

Fourthly,

set your mind

on eternity.

Look at verse 23.

But now he is dead,

David said.

Why should I fast?

Can I bring him back again?

Clearly the answer

to that is no.

So David says,

I shall go to him,

but he shall not return

to me.

This verse has been

a constant comfort

for Christians

through the ages.

When you realize

the implications

of original sin

like we covered it

last week in Psalm 51,

you can't help

but wonder

what does happen

to young children

who pass away

even before having

an ability

to understand the gospel.

David's perspective

of eternity

helps us here.

It helps us have

an answer for that.

He acknowledged

that the child

could not come back

to him

but that he would

one day

go to the child.

This is not just

a general reference

to death.

There would be

no reason for David

to say this

in such a hopeful way.

He's responding

in hope

to these servants.

But you can understand

that hopefulness

as he keeps his eyes

on eternity.

And he says,

the child cannot

come back to me.

I can't bring him

back to life

but I will see him

again.

And sometimes

we wonder that.

What does happen

to kids?

Well, all of us

are saved by grace.

And we believe

according to the Bible

this being a clear verse

that we lean on.

That children

who are unable

to comprehend

the gospel

are safe

in God's grace.

David understood that.

But this is more

than just David

acknowledging that

he wants to go

to the child.

There's more to this.

He's got his eyes

set on eternity

because not only

will he see

the child again

but there will come

a day when he

is finally made free

from the presence

of this sin

in his life.

All of this pain,

all of these consequences,

one day

it's all going

to go away.

What will help us

in those times

of difficulty

in our life?

Keeping our eyes

set on eternity.

This is just

temporary.

One day

this will all

be over.

Revelation 21

He will wipe away

every tear

from their eyes.

Death shall be

no more.

Neither shall there

be mourning

nor crying

nor pain

anymore

for the former

things have passed away.

And he who was

seated on the throne

said,

Behold,

I am making

all things new.

Also he said,

Write this down

for these words

are trustworthy

and true.

Why do we keep

our eyes

set on eternity?

Because in eternity

we will be rid

of the sinful flesh

and the consequences

and the pain

and the death

and the sorrow

that comes along

with it.

So we keep

our eyes

on eternity

and we rejoice

and we await

the coming

of our Savior

for he will

come again

and we will

forever be

with the Lord,

the Bible tells us.

Finally,

we see the return

of God's blessing

just quickly

in verses 24

and 25.

David comforted

Bathsheba his wife

and went in unto her

and lay with her

and she bare a son

and he called

his name Solomon

and the Lord

loved him

and he sent

by the hand

of Nathan the prophet

and he called

his name Jedidiah

because of the Lord.

For the believer,

God's blessing

is as certain

as his chastening.

Because we understand

the nature

of God's holiness,

we can be certain

that he will

chasten our sin.

But because we understand

and know God's grace,

we can be just as certain

that he will again

return his blessing.

That's the whole point

of the chastening.

He corrects us

in order that he might

once again bless us

and this is why

Christians can look

at the correcting nature

of God

and see it as a sign

of his mercy.

Because it is

through that correction

that he once again

blesses us.

Here's one of the amazing

things about God's grace

is that he can redeem

our very failures.

Think about this.

He has a way

of taking our sinful deeds

and using their results

for his own glory.

I want you to think

about what's happening

here in this passage.

David rebels

against the Lord

and he sins against him

and he faces

severe consequences

for that sin.

The child that died

never got a name.

He died on the seventh day.

The eighth day

was the customary day

for Jews

to circumcise young boys

and that would be the day

that they would be named.

That child never even

got a name.

This child that God

blesses David with though

has two names.

David and Bathsheba

give him the name

Solomon

which means peace.

It was David's

acknowledgement

and his own testimony

that I am at peace

with God.

He sensed that peace

with the Lord.

Despite his consequences

he knew he was at peace

with the Lord.

But then God

in his love

sends Nathan

back to David.

This time it's not

with a message

of judgment.

This time God

gives Solomon

his own name

and it's the name

Jedediah.

That name means

beloved of the Lord.

And here's what's

awesome about this.

It would be

Jedediah

Solomon.

It would be

his line

through which

God would one day

bring the Messiah

Jesus Christ.

Now think about that.

Solomon's life

was the result

of an adulterous

relationship

between David

and Bathsheba

that resulted

in murder.

And now

because of

the greatness

of God's love

and grace

and mercy

it is Solomon

whose line

would now

bring forth

the Messiah.

It is Solomon

who would be set up

as a fantastic

king for Israel

at least until

his own sin.

Who would amass

this wisdom

and amass

this wealth

and who would

glorify the Lord

at least

as a nation.

That is what

God ends up doing

with David's sin.

He turns the

consequences around

for his own glory

and God will do

that with you too.

We can trust

that just as the

Lord will chasten us

he will also

return his blessing

to our lives

for all of those

who will faithfully

follow him.

His chastening

is grievous

but he always

works for his own

glory and our good.

And what a blessing

it is

to know that

he will redeem

our wrong

with such grace.

There's a song

called

The Perfect Wisdom

of Our God

and the last stanza

says this

each strand

of sorrow

has a place

within this

tapestry

of grace.

So through

the trials

I choose to say

your perfect

will

in your perfect

way.

You may be

going through

a season

of difficulty

right now

maybe even

a season

of judgment.

Can I tell you

that your life

is not all

about this season.

It's a strand

of sorrow

in this

great tapestry

of grace

that God

is weaving

in your life.

And as a believer

no matter

what your

circumstance

you can truly

say

your perfect

will

in your

perfect way

Lord.

If that means

sorrow

your perfect

will

in your

perfect way.

If that means

correction

your perfect

will

in your

perfect way.

Why?

Because all

of God's

work is for

his glory

and our

good.

There's a lot

that we learn

from this whole

story.

There's a lot

we learn

about sin

about our

own nature.

There's a lot

we learn

about consequences.

But we close

our study

rejoicing

as once again

we acknowledge

God's

redeeming

grace

and we look

ahead

to eternity

in his

presence.

What's the

biggest thing

that we should

take away

from this?

That God

is good.

That God

is good.

We are not

but he

surely is.

Thank you for

listening to this

sermon made

available by

Lakeside Bible

Church.

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