THE COST OF SIN...THE POWER OF GRACE

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In Christ, Mark

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In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"

Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."

So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David.

When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house.

When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?"

Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"

Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him and David made him drunk. But in the evening, Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home.

In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die."

So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

Joab sent David a full account of the battle. He instructed the messenger: "When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, the king's anger may flare up and he may ask you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? Who killed Abimelech, son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?' If he asks you this, then say to him, 'Also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'"

The messenger set out and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open but we drove them back to the entrance to the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall and some of the king's men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead."

David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab."

When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son.

But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.”

"Now a traveler came to the rich man but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over because he did such a thing and had no pity."

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'”

"This is what the Lord says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes, I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'"

Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."

Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."

After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day, the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead for they thought, "While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate."

David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked.

"Yes," they replied, "he is dead."

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions, and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!"

He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him but he will not return to me."

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.

Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, "I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me."

So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah and attacked and captured it. He took the crown from the head of their king — its weight was a talent of gold and it was set with precious stones — and it was placed on David's head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes and he made them work at brickmaking. He did this to all the Ammonite towns.

Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 11 and 12

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Up to this point in the scriptures, we have watched David ascend to the highest heights of leadership, first anointed and then led by the Lord to become king over Israel, Judah, and their surrounding territories. No one had more power and authority because no one had the Lord on their side as David did. Once a mere young shepherd boy, now David was on top of the world.

But there was one problem.

David was a sinner like any other person…and in chapter 11 of 2nd Samuel, we’re reminded that anyone, no matter their status, can easily be taken down by sin if they allow it to take root in our lives.

In David’s case, we read where he eyes a beautiful woman bathing from the roof of his palace and immediately lusts for her, sending “someone to find out about her”. And after finding out she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, he sent messengers to bring her to him.

Now, of interest, David had sent “Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army” and “they destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah”. The scriptures tell us that this time of year was when kings went with their armies but David decided to remain in Jerusalem. Had he been where he typically would have been, maybe he would have avoided the sinful infidelity he engaged in. Nonetheless, we get a sense from these chapters that David had a weakness grounded in beautiful women and this sinful lusting is what got him into trouble.

And so while Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, was off in battle with Joab, David took advantage of his wife being left alone and slept with her before sending her back home. I’m pretty sure that in his mind David saw this as a one off…a one time affair or “hook up” as we might call it today…but it didn’t take long for things to become complicated when Bathsheba “sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant.’" Further, we read where Bathsheba had just gotten over her menstrual period so that there would be no doubt that the child developing within her belonged to David. David and Bathsheba’s sinful adultery had now resulted in an impregnated Bathsheba and Israel’s king was in a real predicament.

Now, you would think that at this point that a man who had been known as being after God’s own heart might turn to Him, repent, and seek forgiveness and guidance.

But that’s not what David did. Instead, he allowed sin to continue to rule over him which led him into even deeper trouble. For we read where David concocted a plan to try and cover up the fact that he had gotten Bathsheba pregnant. He would summon Uriah back from the battlefield and get him to sleep with his wife so that her pregnancy could be tied to him. And so David did just that, sending word to Joab to send him Uriah.

When Uriah came back, we read where David asked “how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was going” before telling Uriah to go home and wash his feet. And so Uriah left the palace and David was sure that he would return home and have sex with Bathsheba but that’s not what happened at all. For “Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house”.

Well, David was told about this and asked Uriah:

“Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?"

To which Uriah replied:

“The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"

We get a sense of Uriah’s loyalty in his words…a loyalty that David was sorely lacking.

Well, David’s first plan had not gone as expected but we see where he wasn’t ready to give up yet for he had Uriah stay one more day, inviting him to eat and drink with him. David thought that if he could get Uriah drunk then surely he would go back to his home and lay with Bathsheba so the child could be pinned on him.

And so Uriah “ate and drank” with David and became drunk but again after he left David’s company, “Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants” and “did not go home”.

Once more, David’s sinful plan had failed so what would he do now?

Unfortunately, he decided to take his sin to the highest extreme, choosing to get rid of Uriah. Since he couldn’t place Bathsheba’s pregnancy on Uriah while he was alive, David comes to the conclusion that killing him would give him the same result. For if Uriah died, there would be no way he could dispute being the father of his wife’s child and if Bathsheba confessed, it would end up being her word against the king’s...and we know how that would have turned out given how the testimony of women was disregarded in biblical times.

And so David wrote a letter to Joab saying:

“Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die”.

Ironically, Uriah then carried the letter to Joab, essentially delivering his very own death warrant.

Well, after Joab received the letter, he followed its orders putting “Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were” and it was there that he died as “the men of the city came out and fought against Joab”.

This time, David’s plan had succeeded.

We read where Joab sent word back to David about what had happened, thinking he would be angry because of all the other men who had died along with Uriah in the battle. But David obviously took the news well and sent encouraging orders back to Joab saying:

“Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.”

And Joab did just that fighting “against Rabbah of the Ammonites” and capturing the royal citadel.

Meanwhile, Bathsheba “heard that her husband was dead” and “she mourned for him”. The scriptures tell us that “after the time of mourning was over”, David “brought her to his house” where “she became his wife and bore him a son”. At this time, all seemed well again for David who had finally pulled off his plan and, in his mind, had gotten away with his sinful actions.

But he hadn’t really because he forgot one very important thing. For the Lord sees everything and so He clearly knew everything that had transpired with David, behavior that we read displeased Him.

You know, we need to keep this in mind as well in our lives. One sin is unacceptable enough to God…but sin added to sin added to sin added to sin infuriates Him. In David’s case, adultery led to an attempted deceitful cover up which led to murder. And in this story, we’re reminded that no one ever gets away with sin. There is always a cost that is paid.

In David’s case, we see where God sent the prophet Nathan to David who shares the following parable:

"There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.”

"Now a traveler came to the rich man but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

Note the meaning of the parable.

The rich man who had everything took the one and only treasure that the poor man had…just as David had taken the one thing that his poor servant Uriah had in his wife Bathsheba, represented by the “little ewe lamb”.

Back to the scriptures where we find David burning “with anger against the man” in the parable saying to Nathan:

“As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over because he did such a thing and had no pity."

And with that, Nathan delivers the news that David is the rich man in the parable before giving him the following message:

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'”

"This is what the Lord says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes, I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'"

David had thought he had gotten away with murder but the Lord saw it all and showed Israel’s king that there are penalties…severe costs…for sinful behavior, a truth we need to take note of as well.

In David’s case, the Lord vowed that members of his family would also be murdered and his wives would be taken from him and given to others for sexual relations…all this done in broad daylight and clear sight…not in secrecy and darkness as David had done. Essentially, David’s sinful actions against others would be brought against him but not without his knowledge of it.

Yes, sin has a definite cost in consequences from an almighty, infinitely powerful God but we also learn something else in these two chapters play out in our lives as well, For we see that there is a just as much a power in the grace that we experience from the Lord as there is in punishment.

For after hearing the word of the Lord from Nathan, we find David simply confessing:

“I have sinned against the Lord."

And it was immediately after this confession that we find Nathan telling David:

“The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”

Here we see that through the power of God’s grace David would be spared but note that the power of God’s consequence would not be taken away. Because David’s actions had “made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt”, the Lord tells him that “the son born to you will die."

And so after Nathan departed, the “Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife (Bathsheba) had borne to David” and the child became ill. We read where “David pleaded with God for the child”, fasting and spending his “nights lying on the ground” refusing to get up but his actions were of no use for “on the seventh day the child died”. We see where the king’s servants were afraid to tell him because they didn’t want him to do something desperate but David heard them whispering and, fearing the worst, asks them if his child was dead…which they confirm.

Well, with this news, we read where David gets up, washes himself, puts on lotions, and changes his clothes before going to the “house of the Lord” to worship. It’s so interesting that David’s first act after experiencing the power of God’s judgment and grace was to go before Him and worship.

This is something we can learn from for when we have committed wrongs and then repented, we need to return to the Lord and draw ever nearer to Him. For even though He disciplines us as any father would out of love for his children, so too does God bring us back to Himself out of love and a desire to continue making us to be the people He wants us to be…to teach us how to live right each and every day.

Going back to our passage, we see that David goes home after worship where he finally breaks his fast and eats. Confused by his behavior, the servants asked:

“Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!"

To which David replied:

“While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

David’s words revealed a renewed sense of trust and hope in what the Lord might do. He stayed steadfast in his repentant prayers and fasting before the Lord hoping the Lord might graciously change His mind and spare the child born out of adultery. But after the child died, David realized that the cost had been paid for his sinfulness and it was time to move forward because nothing he could do would bring the child back.

It’s at this point we see the steep cost of sin that fell on David as he lost the son produced from infidelity with Bathsheba. And it was after this debt was paid that we see the equally powerful nature of God’s grace for we read that as “David comforted his wife Bathsheba”, he lay with her and “she gave birth to a son” who they named Solomon…the son we know will succeed David as king. And the scriptures tell us that “the Lord loved him”.

In David, we see a lot of ourselves. Yes, I know that we aren’t kings and rulers over vast territories and peoples but that’s not my point. For it’s not our position or stature that' matters as much as it is how we live our lives in whatever place or position the Lord has us.

David just so happened to be king of Israel and Judah. When I was in the Navy, I had the privilege to serve in the highest position of senior enlisted leadership as a Command Master Chief. You are working as a (fill in the blank). The point is that we all have different jobs that the Lord puts us in but we all share one thing in common. We’re all sinners who run the risk of seeing sin take over if we allow ourselves to get away from the Lord and His Spirit within us.

David did that and allowed lust to lead to adultery…adultery to lead to deceitful scheming…and deceitful scheming to lead to murder. The same can happen to us, one sin cascading into others if we aren’t careful. We should never underestimate Satan’s ability to play on our desires so to lead us down the road of transgression.

In the end, David learned that there is a cost to be paid for sinful behavior. In his case, it cost him a son and we too should realize that there are harsh consequences for sinful behavior, hopefully using this truth as a deterrent in our own decision making. For as we get set to do wrong, we need to remember that the Lord is watching and always convicting us, something we refer to as a conscious. At that point of conviction, we need to condition ourselves to stop and consider whether we’re prepared to face God’s punishment for our sinfulness because rest assures it will come.

Sin never happens without an associated cost to pay.

We also need to learn from these chapters that there is equal, if not more power found in God’s grace for us.

In David’s case, he did lose a son but also gained one as well…one that God accepted and loved…one that would ascend to the throne of Israel and build the Lord’s temple. In granting this blessing, we see God’s beautiful and mighty grace revealed as he moved David and Bathsheba forward, moving them beyond their sin towards becoming better than they were…to become the people He wanted them to be.

Today, God’s grace extends just as powerfully to you and me…for just by me writing this today and you reading it, we should rejoice in the blessing of life…that despite our sinfulness, the Lord has found it fit to bring us into another day…another day where He can mold and shape us into becoming the kind of people He wants us to be…a people who live each and every day in the spirit of righteousness and holiness.

Before I close, I want to touch on one last point to put an exclamation point on this very important message. For if you don’t believe there’s a heavy cost associated with sin, then you haven’t looked at the cross lately. There, God’s one and only Son…our Savior, Jesus Christ…was crucified, the unblemished Lamb who purchased our pardon while serving as the final sin sacrifice that would ever be needed.

And so next time we have as decision to make that involves right or wrong, let us look to the cross and remember the penalty of sin covered by our dying Savior…and while doing so, also remember the incredible, amazing power of grace and love that God showed when He gave His only Son to die in the place of sinners so to bring salvation to anyone who would simply believe in Him (John 3:16).

Indeed my brothers and sisters, the cost of sin and the power of grace are fully displayed in one place…the cross of Calvary, a truth that should always lead us to ponder:

Where would we be without Jesus?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.