Confronted By God - 5/24/26

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Transcript

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Good morning. Happy Memorial Day weekend. I hope that you have some fun playing this weekend, hanging out with some friends and family. And as you do so, I know those are all great things, but I also hope that you also take time just to reflect and remember the fact that Memorial Day weekend is to remember those who've laid down their lives for us so that we can be able to do things like this. Be able to come in a public place unpersecuted, open God's word, and be able to worship together. It's a profound gift that many people around the world don't get. And it's God's grace that allows us, but it's also the sacrifice of many men and women. And in this room, I know that there are some who've lost loved ones in armed combat. I want to thank you so much for your sacrifice. We see you, remember you, and recognize you as well. And this Memorial Day weekend in particular, we want to thank you for your sacrifice as well. So with all that said, let's open our Bibles together and second to 2 Samuel chapter 12, if you would. And as you get uh your Bibles and get turned there, uh my name is Jack Doney. I'm one of the pastors here, by the way. So glad that you are here joining us. I want you to think for just a moment, go back in time. I like going back in time, going back to my childhood. My therapist can unpack some of that maybe one day. But I want you to think about how your parents disciplined you, okay? With every home, and some of you are kids now, and you're like, I still experience discipline from mom and dad. And uh, I want you to think about it, it's something that's unique to every home, okay? So some families uh they did time out, some families it was privileges taken away. Uh some families, it's nowadays it's kind of the gentle parenting. Don't make me count to three, but we don't know what's after three, even the parent. Like, no one knows what's after three. And uh, some people you're racking your brains right now, and you're like, I don't know, I don't think my parents really did discipline me. And we could tell. And uh I'm just kidding. But but for me, the way the Dhoni's disciplined, it's kind of the S-word in 2026. So I'll say it quietly, brace yourself, okay? I was spanked, okay? And I lived to tell the tale, all right? And it's okay, I still love my parents and they love me and all of that. And it's some of you, many of you might have uh grew up in the 80s and earlier 90s, you experienced spanking in some way, shape, or form. And some it was with the spoon, some was the belt. Uh for my family, we had a paddle that was hung prominently in our kitchen, as almost like this is how we discipline our children as people come into our home. And it had a mother duck with three baby ducklings right behind us, and we affectionately called this paddle the ducks, okay? And this was a cruel form of psychological warfare because if we're if we're out and about, okay, it's the donies, you know, there's five of us with my parents, and so we're all out and about, and and on the rare occasions, I'm just acting up and not behaving myself, which is very rare, okay? But in that moment, all my mom and dad have to do was say, Jack, jack, jack.

unknown 2:52

Quack.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

And literally, the fear of God just gripped me. Honestly, today to this day, I hear a duck quack and I straighten up just a little bit more and I get quiet, and I'm just, you know, what am I doing wrong? And here's the thing, and I know this is not everyone's experience, by the way. Uh I know uh for a lot of people when you hear discipline from mom and dad, it can bring up some negative emotions as well. For me, what I never questioned, and I'm sharing my experience right now, is when I was disciplined, while I didn't enjoy it, while it maybe was not something I looked forward to, obviously. What I never questioned was in confronting wrong behavior, I knew that my parents loved me. I never doubted that. Even in the moment of being spanked or having something taken away or put on timeout or losing a privilege or whatever it was, and it changed over the years, but no matter what, I knew that my mom and dad unquestionably loved me. And what we're gonna see today with King David is this great king, for so long in Israel's history, now all of a sudden last week, Pastor Steve, he preached a wonderful message showing how he has fallen, how he has done something so terrible. And today we're gonna see God love David enough to confront and discipline his sin. And that's what I want each of us to see today that God confronts us because he loves us, that God disciplines us because he loves us. It is not God's anger, it is not God just being ruthless, it is God loving his people. And that is the case for King David. He's gonna experience that today. And for those who missed last week and maybe aren't as familiar with the story, just to kind of give you a quick rundown of what happened last week. King David is Israel's greatest king. This guy, everything he touches, it seems like turns to gold. They're winning battles everywhere, everything is awesome, things are great. And then chapter 11, they're supposed to go to war, and they're going to war against a city called Reba. But David, instead of going, like kings usually do, David stayed back. And in staying back, he's on top of his castle one day and he sees a woman bathing. And this woman was going through the ritualistic uh purification process. Okay, so for her, she had just entered a period and she's going through the process of purification. And David sees her and he says, I want to sleep with her, and her name is Bathsheba. And so, as the king, all the soldiers are gone, his servants go and get her, and the first thing David did is he committed adultery with Bathsheba. And Bathsheba, she is the wife of a man named Uriah, who is a good friend of King David. And in this, David finds out Bathsheba has gotten pregnant from this uh affair, from this adultery he's committed. She has gotten pregnant, and so now he's in the process of, I need to cover this thing up. So he brings Uriah, a soldier, back in from war, tries to get him to see if he'll sleep with his wife, so that it looks like maybe the baby is not David's, but Uriah's. But Uriah is an honorable man, and he said he says he's not going to do that. And because of this, David then murders Uriah. He commits murder against this man, a friend of his, someone that lived close by to the king. And David commits murder. And in all of this, ultimately, David commits deceit against the Lord because he marries Bathsheba and tries this grand cover-up. That this way that no one can know that this child was had outside of marriage when she was married to another man. David has committed deceit against the Lord. And God has seen all of this. And the thing is that it could be easy for David to think, oh, I've done a lot of really good things for God. I've done a lot, like me and God, I'm called a man after God's own heart. God and I, we are tight. There's no problems. But what I want you to see is that that's not the case. And the first thing we need to recognize is that David was opposed by God. David was opposed by God. The very last verse of chapter 11, it says that the Lord considered what David had done to be evil. Like, no question. He defines it very clearly. This is an evil thing that David had done. There's no buddy privileges, there's no, I'm going to turn the other way. No, it's no excuses. God sees what David had done and he defines it. And this is part of who God is, because God is many things. But one of the things that we need to see is that God is holy. And to be holy, it literally means to divide. And what it literally in that means is that division is that he's completely separate from us. And he's completely pure. That this is who God is. He is no sin, no flaws, no wrongs, and he can't tolerate it either. And because of this, God is too holy to be indifferent to any sin. If God just turns a blind eye to David and just pretends like it's not there, pretends like it's not a problem, pretends like, oh, he's my buddy, I'll just move on. It's no big deal. If God does that, he ceases being holy. And when God ceases being holy, he also ceases being God. Because then he is no different than you and me. And so God, he cannot and will not compromise on his character. God is holy, and he is too holy to be indifferent to David's sin. But there's good news also for Bathsheba and Uriah, the victims in this whole thing, is that God's also too just to be indifferent to sin. Like there are people in this room who have had terrible wrongs done to you. And the hope I hope that you have is that God is just, and that God will bring consequences on people's sin to them, whether in this life or in the life to come. That there is consequences that follow people's sin. And God brings this because he is just, and David is no exception. But there's also good news for David, and there's good news for people who've done terrible things. It's that God is too holy and just to be indifferent to this. But God is also too loving to be indifferent to sin. He's too loving to us. He can't just ignore it and he won't because he loves us. And so we see David, he is opposed by God. God sees him and he is going to address his sin. And the next thing we see then is that David's exposed by God. Verse 1 of chapter 12 says, The Lord sent Nathan to David. Nathan is a prophet, and he goes to King David, and he has the unenviable task to go and confront a king who just murdered a good friend of his and can call him out on his sin. Like there's no guarantee that Nathan's walking out of this alive. And Nathan gives what's called a judicial parable. He tells a parable, a story to King David, in the hopes that King David will then render a verdict for a crime that's going to be laid out before him. But what David does not recognize is that this judicial parable, it's a trap. It's actually meant for him in the process of indicting the man, he will also be indicting himself. Instead of reading it, I actually have a visual representation of the parable that Nathan tells David. And it features a lamb, and it features a poor man that has a sheep, but we're gonna call this sheep Lambert, okay? And here's Lambert, and here's Sally, apparently from Charlie Brown, and she's a part of this. And Lambert's not just a sheep to this family. They love this, they love Lambert. We love you so much. Think of your dog, think of your cat, you know, think of your pet. You love you love your pet. And they love Lambert in this way. But then the Monopoly guy shows up, I guess. And he has hundreds of sheep, and he has all the sheep, and he's having, he's throwing a party. And he's having a big, you know, Super Bowl party. Think of it that way. And instead of taking one of his sheep to make that the meal for the night, he sees Lambert and he says, I want Lambert, and that's gonna be our dinner for tonight. So his henchmen go, and even Lambert's saying, Bah, help me. And you know, and they're and he just takes Lambert from this poor family. Like they had nothing. They had this one lamb, and he takes this lamb and he turns Lambert into a Euro company. So there you go. And uh, and this is this is the story that Nathan tells. Obviously, it's it's a more funny version of it. But this this man who has so many sheep goes and takes this family's lone sheep and kills the sheep for a festival, for a party that he is hosting. And immediately Nathan asks David, what is the punishment this man deserves? And here's the thing, it's a trick question because it's actually not a secret. In the Torah, in the book of Exodus, it says that if a man steals another man's sheep, he is owed four sheep. So, and David knows this, and Nathan knows this. But instead of saying that, David says something interesting. David was infuriated in verse 5 with the man and said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die. That's a pretty steep punishment. Like he's supposed to pay back four sheep. No, I don't care. I want that guy to die. And can I just say this is what happens with weighty consciences that when we know we are guilty for something, we render the punishment that we deserve onto others. We're very quick, we become very judgmental. It's not an uncommon thing for judgmentalism to also be a root of hidden sin. And here, David has this sin that he is hiding. And Deuteronomy says that you know what, David, for what you have done, both committing murder and committing adultery, the punishment for your sin is the death penalty. And here, David is saying, I don't want it. Here's this guy who instead of giving four sheep, he should die. He tells Nathan that this man deserves death. But Nathan gives the iconic response in this moment. Nathan replied to David, You are the man. And you just feel David's heart just drop. You just feel the knot in his stomach in that moment. He's been found. The light is shining on David. David, you are this man. You are the one deserving of death. You had so much. God has blessed you. You have many wives, you have many things, you have all of these things, and yet there's a woman that you didn't have, and you said, I want her, and you took her, and then you murdered her husband in the process. You are this man, you're worse than this man. And for me, as I was reading this, I was thinking to myself, like, man, in my life, I've been called out on sin. I'm sure you have as well. And for me, I've just thinking back, like, how did I respond in those moments? How do I respond when people call me out as a fallen sinful man? Because how we respond to conviction is the true test of our spiritual maturity. Like it's easy to say, I love God and I follow God and God's great. But the moment that your that sin has a light shone on it from someone else, be it from God or from someone else, how do you respond to that moment? It can be so easy to be like King Saul, David's predecessor, who say, Oh, I'm sorry, but it's someone else's fault. I'm sorry, but oh, but you know, the people made me do it. Oh, I'm sorry, but but still bless me. I'm still the king. How does David respond to this, though? When David is exposed, we see three ways. First, through confession. He says in verse 13, very just very plainly, I have sinned against the Lord. Full stop. No blaming, no excuses, no ifs, no ands, no buts. I own it. That is what confession is. To agree. God, I agree, I have sinned against you. That is what sin is ultimately. Psalm 51 tells us that David says, I have sinned against the Lord, against you, and only you, Lord, have I sinned. And in this moment, David practices very clear confession. I have sinned against the Lord, no excuses, period. I'm reading this book right now called After Amen by a pastor named Tyler Staten, who's down at Bridgetown Church in Portland. And I love this quote. He says that spiritual maturity does not mean uh mean needing confession less and less, but choosing confession more and more quicker and quicker. Martin Luther, uh, when he put the 95 theses up, the first one is that the Christian life is one that consists of constant, continual repentance, confession, acknowledging my sin. That if I'm growing in Christ, it also means I'm growing in my ability to say, I am wrong, I'm sorry, and seeking forgiveness. But David also responds through repentance. And Psalm 51, this is a psalm that David wrote in light of this encounter with Nathan, looking back on his sin against Uriah and Bathsheba. And he responds to repentance because he doesn't just want behavior modification. He doesn't want to just change a few things about his life. He says, Create in me a clean heart. I need a new heart, I need new affections, Lord. Clearly, there's something within me that is so damaged and wrong. I need you to change me. The prophet Ezekiel says, Lord, I need you to take the heart of stone out of me and replace it with a heart of flesh. And this is how repentance is genuine. When you're asking not just to change your behaviors, but change who you are. There's a doctrine called regeneration, how we are made alive, we're brought to life. This is what it's about this idea of a clean heart, a new person, a new identity. And David sought this. But along with this, and I'm a discipleship pastor, so I had to point this one out as well. David responds with discipleship. In Psalm 51, he says, I will teach sinners your ways. I'll teach others. I'm not gonna keep this a secret. Like it's common for people when they sin just be like, I'm not gonna tell anyone. I've given it to God, I confessed it, moved on. And David's saying, No, I'm gonna tell other people. I'm gonna tell other people so that they don't make the same mistakes I did. I was thinking about John 4 when Jesus is speaking with the woman at the well, and he brings to light her sin. And she runs into Samaria, into the town, and what is it that she says? She says, Come and see the man who told me everything I've ever done wrong. Like that is the heart of the gospel that I'm willing to lay my life out in front of people as a discipleship tool to show how God has been graceful and merciful to me. And David responds with confession, repentance, and discipleship. And in this, David was exposed by God. But David was also punished by God. You see, this is a heavy thing, but this is what comes with leadership. Whether it's a role like this, standing on a stage like this, whether it's leading a church, whether it's leading an organization, King David is leading God's people. And it can't just be a slap on the wrist. David, with that much authority, there is responsibility that must follow it. And this is part of God's nature, that God is loving and merciful and kind, and we're gonna see that in a moment. But he's also, like I said, just. Exodus 34 says the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the father's iniquity to the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. And this is the case for David. That as we see next week in 2 Samuel 13, it's a very hard graphic passage of sin, and it flows from what David has done in this chapter and the previous chapter. That David's sin has led to this. And to see and understand the consequences that David had to go through, we need to understand five chapters earlier in 2 Samuel 7. In 2 Samuel 7, David goes to Nathan and says, I want to build a temple for the Lord. And Nathan says, That sounds great, go for it. But that night, God confronts Nathan and says, Hey, you should have asked me. Okay, you're a prophet, you speak for the Lord, you should have stopped and said, Let me ask God. I don't want David to build it, but I do want to bless David. So go tell David, hold off, we're not building the temple yet, but also give him this promise. And here's the promises that David receives, but in light of this sin now, Nathan now is showing how these promises, while they still will be fulfilled, there's going to be a distortion and there's going to be a lot of suffering that happens along the way. For example, what was promised is that he would have a royal family dynasty. But now he will have eternal family dysfunction because of his sin. He would have a publicly honored name, but now his scandal will be exposed, and people are going to see David as the man who murdered Uriah and committed adultery against Bathsheba. He would have rest from his enemies, but he would have violence in his own household. His family will be publicly honored. People would see David's family and say, You guys are awesome. And now, because of this, you're going to have wives and children taken from you and dishonored in the public square in broad daylight. You're going to experience profound dishonoring. Your family will. Your life recognize that your actions led to that. To me, that is a far greater punishment when that it would be near impossible for me to live with as a dad. And David was punished by God. But here's the thing is that David he experiences this opposition and being exposed and being punished. But David was still forgiven by God. Like this is still an amazing thing. David confesses his sin. I have sinned against the Lord. Period. And Nathan responds, he says, and the Lord has taken away your sin, you will not die. The Lord has taken away your sin. Hear that for yourself this morning. That when I confess my sin, God is faithful and just to forgive me of my sin, to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. That John, when John the Baptist in John 1 sees Jesus, he says, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus takes away our sin. Here's the thing, too, is that David, this little line at the end, and you will not die, is also an act of grace to David. Because David, according to the Torah, deserved to die. In fact, any sin that's brought into the world, the punishment for it is death. Romans 6 23, the price of all sin is death. Because whether it's the smallest lie to the greatest act of murder, anything in between, and anything outside of those things, it all deserves death. Just like David, we are deserving of this from God. But this verse doesn't end there. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. David does not have to experience death. David's sin, because David came to God in faith, acknowledging his sin, not withholding his iniquity, he brought it to the Lord, and in doing so, God is going to place the sin of David many years later on the cross of Jesus Christ. And there Jesus serves as a substitute for David. Jesus absorbs and takes the sin of David on the cross. And so David does not have to die for what he has done. And we see that God, we saw Exodus 34 just a few moments ago, that God is just, he will punish sin. But just before that, it says that he is also compassionate and a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. This is who God is. David was forgiven by our forgiving God. So whatever you have, you can bring to him. And yes, there might be consequences. Yes, there probably will be. Yes, there are things that God does to help us grow in our character and help us to grow in our devotion to him. But we can also know that we are forgiven by God because of what Jesus has done for us. When we appeal to God on behalf of Christ, we can experience that forgiveness. So guilt and shame, fear, those things don't have to have a hold on you. You can give those to God and experience God's love, grace, and forgiveness. We also see something very interesting as well. He's forgiven by God and he also experiences God's blessing. David was blessed by God. At the very, very end of the chapter in verses 29 and 30, it says, David then finally goes to where he should have been all along. He goes to Raba. And he fought against it and captured it. And he took the crown from the head of their king and it was placed on David's head. David is experiencing the victory that if he he could have experienced this, if he just would have gone to battle. But we have all of these things now, over several months. All of these things are happening. David loses a son, he commits adultery, he murders a man, all of these things. And if he would have just done it, he would have experienced this, and yet God is still faithful to David and his people, to the people of Israel, giving him the victory. God blessed David. And all this was because God was loved by David. Or David rather was loved by God. David loved God, and David was experiencing God's love. You go to verses 24 and 25. It says, David comforted his wife Bathsheba. My heart, I just think about Bathsheba and people in this room, even who can relate to her. Losing your husband, losing a child. All of this because of someone else, because of someone defiling you, and you are just trying to do the right thing. And here, Bathsheba marrying this man, probably feeling ostracized in many ways, as the other woman in her own home. And David comforts her. And he went to Bathsheba, he slept with her, and she gave birth to a son and named him Solomon, Israel's next great king. And the Lord loved him, Solomon, and he sent a message through the prophet Nathan, who the Lord named him Jedediah, because of the Lord. That word Jedediah means beloved of the Lord. What's interesting is David's name also means beloved. And I think in doing this, God is saying, I love this child, and David, despite all of the things you have done, I still love you. And that is something we can hold on to. Some of you have made real crazy messes of your life. And you're looking at your life right now, and you're thinking, there's just no way that he has any affection for me. But I want you to know that David here is an example of the fact that God still has profound love, grace, and forgiveness available to you today. Because despite all of the things that David did, he was still loved by God. In fact, God confronted David because he loved him. God confronts him because he loves him. The most unloving thing, you know, it's it's a phrase I've heard, I'm sure you have too. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. And God is not going to just stand indifferently to David, he confronts him. And the same is true for us. God confronts you and me, not because he despises us, but because he loves us. Are you willing to receive and recognize that correction? Hebrews 12 puts it this way: My son, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him. Look at this. For the Lord disciplines the one he, what's that word? Loves and punishes every son he receives. This is the sign of a loving father that God loves you and me. He loves us enough to oppose our sin, to not be indifferent to it. He loves us enough to expose it, to bring it into the light, be it through his word, be it through uh the Spirit of God, be it through someone in our life exposing sin. He loves us enough to punish sin, and he loves us enough to forgive sin. Like this is who our God is. You know, as a pastor, I get, I view, I really do as a privilege to walk alongside a lot of people who have sinned, maybe that they are holding on to, and maybe willingly or unwillingly have to bring it into the light. And one of the things that I often will tell them is, you know what? This is actually one of the most loving things that God could ever do for you. Yes, it stinks, it hurts, it's painful. But man, if God didn't love you, he would just let you stay in it. The most loving thing God did is shine a light on it and give you an opportunity to repent and turn to Christ. God loves you enough to do this. He's a good father. I was talking about my girls earlier. Here they are. And uh Ella Audrey Penny, 6'5, and 3, just the joy of me and my wife Allison's life. We love these girls so much. And I want you just to envision this. You know, we're back over here behind the building. Here's Alderwood Mall Boulevard over here. It's a busy Sunday morning, or it's a busy Sunday afternoon, or any day of the week. There's always a lot of traffic here. And one of these beautiful girls I love so much has a ball, and that ball is rolling into the street, and traffic is coming. What is more loving? For me, as I see this happening, saying, No, please, stop, please, no. I don't want to yell. This kind of makes me uncomfortable. I don't want to do that. It's not something I want to do. Or is this more loving? Stop grabbing them, pulling them back, doing whatever I have to, even to the point if I have to throw myself in traffic to save them. Obviously, that is far more loving. Is it uncomfortable for them? Yes, of course it is. Is it awkward when you see a dad have to yell to their child to stop and you see that? Of course it is. But you know the foundation of it is love. I love my girls enough in that moment that I will confront them to save them and protect them. And God was doing that with David, and God is doing that with us as well. And so this morning I want to ask you, where's God confronting you today? Where is God confronting you? Where do you feel the Spirit of God saying, you know, there's this thing you're holding on to? What would it look like to bring that into the light? There's this secret, there's this part of your life. It's just, what would it look like to bring that to God? And yes, there might be some reproving and refining, and it's painful, but what could it look like five years from now when you look back? In my life, when I've said yes to those moments, I look back with profound gratitude every time. And there have been heavy consequences at times. But in saying yes, I truly believe God blesses that. Being willing to say, I trust you, Father, with this. Where is God confronting you in your life today? I told you about Psalm 51. David wrote this psalm in response to all of this, but David wrote another psalm, a psalm that deals more with God's forgiveness in light of what happened with his murder of Uriah, his adultery with Bathsheba, the cover-up and all of these things. It's in Psalm 32. As we close this morning, I actually want to pray this over us. If you want, you could stand right now, and our worship team is going to come out. And in this time, I actually want to invite you to do this. To open your hands in this posture, because we're all carrying something. To open your hands like this, and as I read God's word, recognize that this is King David speaking for himself, but this truth is also for us that God's love, grace, and forgiveness is available for me and for you today through Christ. This is Psalm 32. How joyful is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. How joyful is the person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity, and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me, my strength was drained as in the summer's heat. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is faithful pray to you immediately. When great flood waters come, they will not reach Him. You, Lord, are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of joy, shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you and show you the way to go. With my eye on you, I will give counsel. Do not be like the horse or the mule without understanding that must be controlled with bit and bridle, or else it will not come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones. Shout for joy, all you upright in heart. In Jesus' name. Good none.