2 Samuel 12:1-15
A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first
slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit
his target.
As he came back to Grandma’s backyard, he spied her pet
duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit,
and the duck fell dead.
The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the
woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally
had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the
dishes.”
But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the
kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to
him, “Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing.
Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make
supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of.
Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the
duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and
Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma
that he’d killed the duck.
“I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing
at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I
forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a
slave of you.”
Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 179.
Last week we saw David’s lustful desire for Bathsheba
and his deceit to cover up his wrong and ultimately his
deadly plan which left Uriah dead. This was definitely not
David’s finest hour. As I mentioned last week no one is
immune to sin, even a man after God’s own heart. Today
we will look at 2 Samuel 12.
This chapter teaches us several lessons about sin and
how God deals with it and how we should deal with it.
I want you to look at the last verse of chapter 11. “But
the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”
2 Samuel 12:1-6
The Lord Sends Nathan
Verse 1 tells us that God sent Nathan to David.
Nathan has already come to speak to David once before
back in chapter 7. Here he told David about God’s
promise to make David great.
This time the news is not so great.
God sent Nathan to confront David’s sin of adultery,
covetousness and murder.
The first truth that the Scripture teaches us this morning
is that;
God sends people to speak truth into our lives and confront
sin.
Nathan spoke truth to David by telling him a parable.
What David did not realize was that the parable was the
story of the events described in chapter 11.
David was the rich man and Uriah was the poor man.
David did not connect the dots though.
David’s Outrage
He burned with anger and told Nathan that the man
deserves to die for what he did.
Stealing another man’s lamb is not a capital offense.
Adultery, however, is a capital offense. Both David and
Bathsheba should have been stoned for their adulterous
affair.
David also said that the rich man should have to pay
back the poor man fourfold for what he did.
This was what the Torah said in Exodus 22:1.
The second truth we see this morning is
It’s much easier to see the sins of others than it is our
own.
This reminds me of Jesus’ words when He delivered His
sermon on the mount.
Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you see the speck that is in
your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is
in your own eye? Or how can you say to your
brother,
‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there
is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take
the log out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
The reason we can see the sins of others better than our
own is because we don’t want to admit our own. And it’s
easier to point out the sin of others than to admit our
own.
We should be easy on others and hard on ourselves.
2 Samuel 12:7-12
Nathan Holds David Accountable
Nathan was not afraid to confront David’s sin.
This brings us to our next truth from the Scripture this
morning
Christians are called to hold our brothers/sisters in sin
accountable.
Galatians 6:1-2 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in
any transgression, you who are spiritual should
restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on
yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one
another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Proverbs 25:11-12 “A word fitly spoken is like
apples of gold in a setting of silver. Like a gold ring
or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a
listening ear.”
Nathan fulfills his Christian duty to hold his brother
accountable by sharing this parable with David.
After Nathan tells David “you are the man!” he doesn’t
give David time to respond. He quickly gets to the
message that God had sent him to deliver.
He reminds David of 3 thingsGod’s Favor
God made David king
God delivered David from Saul
God gave David houses and wives
God gave David Judah and Israel
David’s Offenses
Despised the word of the Lord and done evil
Committed Adultery
Committed Murder
Consequences
The sword will never depart from his house
The Lord will raise up evil from David’s own house
2 Samuel 12:13-15
David Repents of his Sin
The Bible gives us very little here in 2 Samuel regarding
his repentance for his sin of adultery and murder,
however we see the depth and breadth of David’s
repentance in Psalm 51.
Notice a few meaningful phrases –
● Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
● Cleanse me from my sin
● Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight
● Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me
● Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me
David truly repented of his sin.
Here we see another truth
God’s forgiveness of sin is available if we truly repent.
Nathan assures David that as soon as David asked God
forgave his sin.
However, even though God forgave David’s sin there were
earthly consequences that would be suffered.
Because of David’s affair with Bathsheba God chose for
the child to die.
We may not understand why God chose that as the
punishment, but God is sovereign and we don’t always
understand His ways.
This brings us to our last truth this morning
There is a difference between the heavenly and
earthly consequences of our sin.
Outside of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit there is no sin
that God will not forgive. For those who confess Jesus as
Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead,
there is eternal life and forgiveness for all sins, past,
present and future.
But there are earthly consequences for our sin as we see
in the story of David. David suffered consequences for his
adultery and murder. His son conceived in adultery died,
his daughter was raped by her half brother, three of his
sons were killed.
Even though there are earthly consequences for our sin,
we should remember that God loves us and His discipline
should draw us closer to Him.
APPLICATION
Confess our Sin with Sincerity
We should pray David’s words in Psalm 51 and ask God to
create a new heart within us.
We should ask God to reveal any sin that needs
confession. We should do it sincerely because God knows
our heart.
Confront Sin with Gentleness
Remember this is to be done with gentleness and by
those who are spiritual. Galations 6:1-2
The purpose of confronting sin is to bring a brother/sister
back into fellowship.
Also, if you have not identified your sin and confessed it
then refer to the first point of application. Remember how
much easier it is to see the sin in others. We must first
identify our own and confess it before confronting others.