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Teaching podcast from the Eagle Community Church of Christ in Mont Belvieu, TX.
Glad that you're all here. Man, alive. They are on this side, aren't they? Okay. Well, I have a bad habit of looking at the sides, and so just know, those of you who normally sit at the side yard, you know, that's the ones I pick on.
John Gunter:So, maybe maybe that's what it is. I just I I've come to be preached to this morning, preacher. That's what I want. Let's do that. Let's do that.
John Gunter:Well, I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. We we've had a full weekend ourselves and and just so thankful to be here this morning with you as we worship god together as the the weather changes and we see that blessing even on these hotter days, we we've gotta remember just a few weeks ago, it was a lot hotter than this, right? And so, for that, we are grateful. This morning has already been mentioned. We're in chapter 12 of the story and of course, the story, if you're visiting with us, we're going through the book, The Story.
John Gunter:If you keep hearing us say that, you're not, what are you talking about? So, next week, we will be in in chapter 13. This is a an inexpensive book that you can find on Amazon, on Audible. We can order em and get em for about $5 if you need one but what this does is we go from Genesis to Revelation, hitting high points of the story of scripture, and it really serves to be a good jumping off point into the depths of scripture. And a lot of times, if you're like me, you'll find yourself in the midst of of this going, oh, I wonder about...
John Gunter:And then it ends up with a a deep dive into something else. And so this week, we are talking about David. We're talking about... Last week, talked about David and Goliath and kind of his his start being anointed as king and then going into this battle with Goliath. And today we talk about really the I guess kind of the main points of David's life.
John Gunter:But as we talk about and think about David, I want you to think about this. There's there's always something unsettling when someone you know and love does something wrong. Yes? It's... Oh, I...
John Gunter:It... It's almost... We we know in our minds no one is perfect. Right? But when somebody especially when you expect a lot out of them, you find out they've done something wrong, it's hurtful, right?
John Gunter:We can we can have different reactions about that. We can be hurt. We can be confused, or sometimes we can even be defensive about that. Right? It's one thing if I hear that your kid has done something, and I think, you know, they were just raising a hoodlum anyway.
John Gunter:But if it's my kid, he just made a mistake. Yeah? Yeah. If it's if it's your kid and they're doing terrible in school, they need to focus, they need to be trained up better, they need to do all this. If it's my kid, well, the teacher just doesn't like them.
John Gunter:You ever been there before? If you've been here very long at all, you've heard me tell a story. I had a buddy whose cousin growing up was just into all kinds of things. And I grew up, and you had to take some accountability for things. And one time, my buddy's cousin got in trouble for stealing.
John Gunter:And I thought, oh my goodness. Why is he into this? His dad was sitting right there with him as they were telling the... Recounting the story, and his dad said, he didn't mean nothing by it. You kind of get the picture, don't you?
John Gunter:If it's me, it's one thing. If it's you, it's another. And that's how we can be and that's how we can react. But when somebody does something, somebody who you love does something, it can be unsettling for certain. And when we read biblical characters, one thing I love is that it doesn't edit those people into perfect little caricature cutouts, right?
John Gunter:Because I don't think we would be able to relate to all of these people if they didn't have issues. Yes? I mean, we are already struggle with Jesus living a perfect life but what if everybody in the Bible was perfect? We go, well, that's a good book but not for me, right? And I think that's what we see with with David and his life is that it begins well, right?
John Gunter:As we read last last week, we see David as a picture of courage and faith. David recalls all the ways that God has been there for him, and that lee... That helps him live out his life. You're not gonna step up to Goliath? Well, God has already delivered me from bears and lions and all of these things.
John Gunter:I can take care of this. Not me, but God, because God is with me. And so he begins that way, but it's not always perfect, is it? And that's what we're gonna see today. We're gonna start in second Samuel, chapter 11 and verse one.
John Gunter:In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, setting the stage for you, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained at Jerusalem. If the printers of scripture were going to highlight the big important points, That last sentence, but David remained at Israel would be in bold and underlined. Why? Do you remember when they were talking about getting a king? Do you remember what they desired?
John Gunter:We want a king like all the other nations. We wanna be like everyone else. Why? So he can go and fight our battles for us. Last week, we had Saul hanging out, not wanting to get involved in the battle.
John Gunter:So he allows this young man, way too small to even fit in his armor, go fight his battle for him. This week, that same young man has grown up into a king who is now content with sitting at home. You see that? God has told them what a king will be like, and they said, yeah, I don't believe that. We'll take one anyway.
John Gunter:And now that is exactly what they're getting. It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman, and one and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Next. So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
John Gunter:Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I am pregnant. Now this is where we blame the woman for all of this. Right? I don't know what that popping is.
John Gunter:I'm not moving. This is not where we blame the woman for all of this. What I want you to notice is you notice the infidelity, of course, but what I want you to notice is the power imbalance as well. Could she have even said no to David? Probably not.
John Gunter:And so adultery, yes. Even worse than that, probably so. That's what you're looking at here. Now, let's remind ourselves really quickly. If David had been the king fighting the battles for them that they all desired in the first place, he wouldn't be at home looking at women on top of other people's houses.
John Gunter:Yeah? Problem number one. Yes. You've been doing your job. This wouldn't happen in the first place.
John Gunter:We talked in in class this morning about the domino effect, the snowball effect, all the things that one decision leads to another decision. All of a sudden, it's out of control, right? That is exactly where David is right now. David remained in Jerusalem when he should have been out doing all of this with the rest of the army. David had the power and it says here in the ESV in verse four, so David sent messengers and took her.
John Gunter:Now we're about to meet, Uriah and understand a little bit more about him, and and what we're gonna see is this is a person loyal to the king. This is a person who will do whatever the king wants, and I would imagine his wife was the same. She had no power in this. She couldn't say no. And so this is, what David, comes into here.
John Gunter:Now remember, first Samuel eight, Samuel warned that a king would take their sons, their daughters, their fields, and their possessions. And they still said, Where do I sign? And we still see things like that today, right? Now we skip down to verse six. So David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite.
John Gunter:He's just found out that Bathsheba... No. He's he's had this relationship with Bathsheba. She said, I am pregnant. And in that moment, he goes, well, I've gotta do something to fix it.
John Gunter:So he says he sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going because he wasn't there. He had to ask. Then David said to Uriah, go down to your house and wash your feet.
John Gunter:And Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him a present from the king. 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. When they told David 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? Because everybody would go back to your house.
John Gunter:Right? You wanna sleep in your bed. Right? You wanna be comfortable. You wanna go hang out with your wife.
John Gunter:Uriah said to David, the ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths or tents, something not permanent, not nice. Right? 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? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.
John Gunter:And all of a sudden, Uriah's integrity is against David's. David has chosen to not go with the army at all. Uriah gets a little reprieve to come home. He said, not while the army, not while my friends are out there. I will not go home.
John Gunter:Now, we don't get a lot of insight right here, but you know that had to get David right in the chest. Yeah? He had to be going, Oh my goodness. But he's still in, I call it freak out mode. Yeah?
John Gunter:You ever been in freak out mode? Stuff comes at you so fast, you're just freaking out, you're not making wise decisions? What do I do? Says then David said, Uriah, remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
John Gunter:And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank so that he made him drunk. And in the evening, he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his Lord, but he did not go down to his house. David even tried to get the man drunk to change the way he thought, to make a mistake, to go do this thing, to cover up David's sin. What a mess. People trying to drag other people in to cover up the things that they are ashamed of.
John Gunter:Uriah is showing the loyalty to David that David should have shown to all the men who were out fighting the battle he should have been at, right? Why didn't David think so highly about his men? I'm not going to go take the things that you have, right? But that's exactly what happened here. Now, down to verse 14, in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
John Gunter:That is a big point. When he wrote this letter, Uriah took it And in the letter, wrote, set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him that he may be struck down and die. Why have enemies when you've got a friend like this? Right? We just hung out.
John Gunter:I've given you all of this. He's showing this high integrity, and this is what David does. He carries the letter that's going to lead to his own death. And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell.
John Gunter:Uriah the Hittite also died. And so David has gone from sitting at home instead of with the army, seeing another man's wife, sending for her, having this inappropriate relationship, trying to cover it up, maybe the timeline overlaps. This baby goes on. We go about business, but he meets a man of integrity. Well, he doesn't change his ways.
John Gunter:He decides I need to cover this up. I need to have him killed. That way, it doesn't get out. I love watching true crime. I I I love it in that it's interesting, but most of it's crazy because this stuff still goes on today.
John Gunter:I've decided I've got a girlfriend on the side. I don't want anybody to find out. So, what I need to do is murder my whole family. Right? You see that, don't you?
John Gunter:And you go, that was the decision? That, when you sat down and you made your pros and cons list, if I kill her, if I don't, that's what you came up with. But something overcomes us at times. It just takes away all sense, all reason, all of it. It still happens today.
John Gunter:And David, again, I guess, in in freak out mode, ends up having his friend with his high integrity killed because of the things he did. Now notice how the story progresses. We're in second Samuel 11 verse 26. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the morning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.
John Gunter:But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. One more time. The thing that David had done displeased the Lord. Because no matter how much you cover something up, no matter how much you do all this rearranging and changing and and trying to to make sure it doesn't come to light, guess what? God knows.
John Gunter:Sometimes mama knows too, by the way. I don't know how. But God knows. And that that's the point of this. That David has all the power to cover this up, do whatever he wanted to do, but God still knew.
John Gunter:And guess what? That's an issue, right? Because god knows what you have done. You are not free of it. Anybody ever gotten away with it but you didn't get away with it internally?
John Gunter:I think that's god showing up and showing showing you god knows. There's not, you know, some at times in my life, there there's not a punishment out there that would have gotten me worse than what I felt in here because god knows. Maybe I got away with it but God knows. And I expect more of myself. I...
John Gunter:I'm following God, and I know God expects more of me. If I'm following him, I wanna live like he has asked me to live. In second Samuel, chapter 12, and the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to him, there were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb which he had brought or which he had bought. And he bought...
John Gunter:He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Some of you have had animals like that, and it freaks the rest of us out by the way. I remember my my grandmother passed away when I was young but I remember she had a little dog that she set a place at the table for. You've been in that situation before?
John Gunter:That's what this looks like apparently, right? This lamb is Nathan is telling this story. That is this this lamb might as well be might as well have your last name and all that. It is a child, right? You ever had an animal long enough that it was part of the family you can't remember.
John Gunter:We lost our dog back in May or June. I had her for fifteen years. That's older than... That was the baby before the babies type of thing. That's what he's setting up here.
John Gunter:This was part of the family. It was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. So he had all this livestock, but he decided, no, I can't give up one of mine. We'll take the one you have.
John Gunter:Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. Said, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did not... He did this thing and because he had no pity. Nathan said to David, and I've gotta think looking them square in the eye, you are that man. You imagine the air went straight out of the room.
John Gunter:Thus says the lord, the god of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul and I gave you your master's house, your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite. If he didn't know what he was talking about before this, he knows now.
John Gunter:Right? You've struck down Uriah the Hittite with a sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. God is disappointed. I like how it ends there because I can only imagine that when David had Uriah killed, I didn't kill him. Right?
John Gunter:It was the the people he was fighting against. But when Nathan delivers this message, he says, you have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. You might as well been standing there holding that sword because you did it. You know you did it. This is on you.
John Gunter:Now, don't you love when you you you have this reaction? You ever had somebody that definitely wasn't you, right? But they're upset about another situation and you look at em, you're going, like, you do that all the time. You've been in that situation? I love...
John Gunter:I don't remember if it was during a sermon or during a Bible class. I love little social experiments. I came across some online, and what they would do, it was a it was a political thing. And so what they would do is they would start out and they would say, they would call a wrong president's name. He said, what did you think about when so and so did this?
John Gunter:And boy, they're upset. They are upset. I can't believe that happened. You know, they're wrong and they're bad. And as soon as they got done answering that, the the person reading the question, oh, I'm sorry.
John Gunter:I'm... I said this, but I meant... And he would say their favorite politician. And then the cover up began. Oh, yeah.
John Gunter:You know, this this was okay because... And then all of a sudden, it changes. And we get defensive when when we have to look at ourselves in the mirror. Right? And that's that's what I think could happen here and that's what as we as we read about the life of David, David has to be accountable.
John Gunter:He's not he's not accountable to anyone but he has to be accountable to god. Just like you, you can get away with things. There the worst thing that we can have in our life is secret sin that nobody knows about. Because in that moment, you feel like I've gotten away with it. But guess what?
John Gunter:God knows. David didn't even have to look at your right. You think, you know, David should have to suffer. He should have to been there. He should have seen this play out.
John Gunter:He got to separate himself from all of this stuff. Then when Nathan delivers this message, he knows God was there, God saw, God understands what has happened here. In verse 10, now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Notice it's just Uriah. It is you have despised me.
John Gunter:You have gone against me. You've done this. This is still not right, he said. 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 sun.
John Gunter:Now this is where, when I'm talking about the true crime stuff. When you go, that was your decision, you had to do this crazy thing, and you thought you'd get away with that, but you were worried about someone finding out you were cheating on your wife. So you killed your family. God says, You did all this in secret, but all of this is gonna come to light and we ought to know that as Christians is whether it's right now or in the great by and by, all of those things will come to light. There is nothing that is hidden that won't be uncovered.
John Gunter:Yes? We ought to know that. Let us skip that. David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin.
John Gunter:You shall not die. Now that's a big important point of what David said. I just made that example of how defensive we can be. David in this moment doesn't get defensive to his credit. I think that's why he can call...
John Gunter:Why God can call David a man after his own heart because when confronted with his sin, what he said is, I have sinned against the Lord. He didn't blame Bathsheba. He didn't say, you know, you know, if Uriah would have followed the plan. He said, I have sinned against the lord and Nathan immediately says, okay, the lord also has put away your sin, You shall not die. And, of course, that means, you know, no immediate, you know, punishment in in death.
John Gunter:And he says, nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die. Now this is tough. What part of this did the baby play? Right? I think we struggle with things like this.
John Gunter:How can you punish somebody else for David's decision? But let me ask you this. Are there decisions you can make right now as a parent that are going to hurt your kids? Yeah. This doesn't mean that the baby is going to perish and go to hell or something like that, but this is part of what happens because of David and what he did.
John Gunter:There are things I could do right now that could scar my family for generations. Yes? Think of think of the the the people throughout history that have done things, who have done things, but still if you call their name, it brings up very terrible things. Part of the true crime stuff I I see here once in while where you have serial killers and well, they have kids. Some of them are leading normal lives.
John Gunter:Outside, they've compartmentalized so much that over here on this and over here on that. Can you imagine growing up having some of these people's last name? Or knowing that I am the son of, let's choose somebody from the past, Hitler. You're going look at everybody and look at that person quite often going, what are they up to? Every every joke ought to be pure.
John Gunter:Right? Don't joke about anything. Yeah. And so what we see here is that God has forgiven David of his sins. Now that does not mean that you have no consequences.
John Gunter:Yes. We can come up with a lot of scenarios for that, but I think we all understand. I could do something to you. I could ask for forgiveness. You could give me forgiveness, but there's still something that needs to be fixed.
John Gunter:Whether there's there's damage, whether there's trust, whether there's, you know, any number of things, we still have consequences for our action. And so David, I I I can't even imagine. I have sinned against the Lord. Nathan said, well, that's been forgiven, but this baby who is born to you is going to die. Now, in second Samuel, we get this confession from David, and we skip to Psalm 51 where we get this prayer of David.
John Gunter:And he says, have mercy on me, o God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, 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. It is right in front of me. You ever done something?
John Gunter:It just won't leave you alone. I think we ought to thank God for that, to be honest with you. Because that feeling is horrible, isn't it? And I'm so thankful that I have it because it helps me turn away. He said, against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
John Gunter:Now what David is saying here is not that Bathsheba wasn't wronged or Uriah wasn't wrong or any number of people wasn't wrong. What he's doing is saying that when I've done all of the all of these things, I have done them to you god. There's not a victimless crime here. That when you do those things and you think you've gotten away with them or, I didn't really hurt anybody. Against you, God, have I done these things.
John Gunter:And so repentance begins when we do this, when we stop defending the action, when we stop saying it was somebody else's fault, or I just did it because, uh-uh. When I give myself over to, I did it, it is my fault, it is always before me, God. And we're just crying out to God. God, would you take this away from me? I don't wanna feel this way anymore.
John Gunter:I wanna I wanna turn that page. I wanna call it sin. I wanna keep moving. In verse five, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. That's just kind of calling to, to memory that we all sin.
John Gunter:This is part of who we are. Behold, you delight in the truth and inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. This is David just begging and crying out to God.
John Gunter:Please do this, God. Help me to feel clean and pure again. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my inequities.
John Gunter:Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a right spirit within me. We ought to sing songs about that. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. David, as a part of his repentance...
John Gunter:My parents used to talk about reputation. You ever talk to your kids about reputation? How valuable is your reputation? How easy is it to scar it up and to make it a little muddy? Very easy.
John Gunter:So to have a good reputation, you've got to be living a life that warrants having a good reputation. When David is now dealing with this big issue and this humongous issue in his life, he's calling out to God saying, I repent of this sin. And he's saying, Create in me a clean heart. Cast me not away from your presence. God, bring me back in.
John Gunter:Because those of us who who try to follow Jesus in this life, when you walk away from him, when you when you have those sins, I think you feel this way. I'm down on myself. I can't believe I did it and and if other people know about it, it's even worse, right? And that's what David's dealing with. His whole deal was, I need to hide this so nobody finds out.
John Gunter:Well, guess what, buddy? God said, this is all gonna be done in the sun. You thought you got away with it. This is all gonna be done in the sun. And now, he's dealing with this.
John Gunter:David repents and he is asking god. He's not defending it. He's asking god, create in me a clean heart. I want that clean heart. I want to be pure.
John Gunter:I want to have those desires that bring me close to you. He also asked God to restore the joy of his salvation. I love that. Because I think what we can do is when we have these feelings, and I think these feelings are from God. The Holy Spirit making us feel guilty of things.
John Gunter:I think that is okay because I think that's what we need. But in those moments, sometimes we can go too far to where we think, I've gone so far, God cannot save me. David asked God to restore the joy of his salvation. Because if you believe god has you saved, that's a different feeling than thinking I'm worthless. I've gone too far.
John Gunter:God cannot save me. Do you know church? You cannot go too far that God cannot save you? God shows us example after example after example, and we just read about a very bad one. A person who God still loves and understands what he did but still forgave him of his sins.
John Gunter:David cries out, give me that joy and that salvation. Last scripture for today, Psalm 32 and verse three. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
John Gunter:I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. One thing I want to remind you about Psalms. These were the church's hymn book that we need to remember what God has done. Maybe we need to remember our sin and how God has forgiven us of those things.
John Gunter:Because if we were to remember that, maybe we wouldn't be so down on ourselves. We think, God can never save me. Or this crazy idea that I'll... You know, as soon as I get everything together in my life, then I'll come to God. No.
John Gunter:You come to God now. Allow him to walk side by side with you. That this is who we serve. The mercy of God gives us a reason to come to him. That this is mercy.
John Gunter:This is pure mercy. Right? Because David doesn't he doesn't deserve this. God never says, oh, yeah. I remember that Goliath thing you did.
John Gunter:I'll forgive you because of that. I remember that now. It is because God is merciful. And whatever you're struggling with in your life, understand that God is merciful, that he will forgive you. We don't need to pretend our our sin is small to think that god might forgive it, maybe if it's small.
John Gunter:If it's big, I'm not sure. All we need to know is that god is merciful, that he loves us, that he cares for us, and he wants to be gracious toward you. The rest of this store, chapter in chapter 12, it shows us that suffering followed all of this. Absalom rebelled against his father. David eventually mourns his death, yet God has not finished his work.
John Gunter:David later prepares Solomon to build the temple. The promise God made about David's house continues beyond David himself, something David would never see. The promise ultimately leads us to Jesus, the son of David, who does what David could never do. Jesus reigns forever and ever with perfect righteousness and gives his life for the sins of others. From this terrible thing that David did continues the lineage of Jesus.
John Gunter:God is not shy about using normal people with sin issues to accomplish his purpose. And that includes me, that includes you. God can and will use you. Would you come to him? We wanna offer a time of invitation.
John Gunter:We'd love to pray with you. We'd love to rejoice with you if you'd like to put on Christ in baptism this morning and begin that walk with him. He loves you and he is merciful. Would you come as we stand and as we sing?