2 Samuel 12:1-14 | I Have Sinned Against The Lord

2 Samuel 12 shows us a truth that should sober every believer.

The same David chosen by God to be king.

The same David favored by God and delivered from Saul.

The same David who would stand triumphant over Goliath as a boy.

That same David would find himself so wrapped up in temptation that he would give in to lust and covetousness.  He saw Bathsheba, desired what wasn’t his, and took it anyway. Then he conceived an elaborate plan to cover up his sin!

We have seen a pattern of that, by the way, over the last few weeks:

A desire to possess what God's Word forbids

Giving in to the temptation by convincing ourselves that we deserve it more than the Word of God forbids it

Then shamefully hiding it from everyone we can.

David was not immune, because past faithfulness to God does not equal current obedience to His Word!

We then see that David hears a story of a rich man doing just what he did, except the rich man just took a lamb from a poor man where David took the wife and the life of a soldier!! David is so enraged that he demands death, which is even more stringent than the penalty prescribed by the law.   The problem is David has now condemned the sin in someone else that he has excused in himself. 

The word of God though has a way of reminding us that our sin is a very personal affront against a Holy God as Nathan would say to him, "The man is you!"  In spite of God's blessing on you, you took what you didn’t deserve!! The confession of David is pure and the place where we must all find ourselves to walk in restoration of our relationship with God...I have sinned against the Lord!

Unfortunately the reality is that even though David’s confession is pure and his repentance was real, the earthly consequences of his actions remain.  His family would endure shame publicly and his child would die.  The grace of Jesus is found in that he is forgiven and the penalty of death removed from David.  In addition, he is given the comfort that though the child would not return to him in this life, he would see the child again in glory.  

We must remember that even when we repent, the eternal forgiveness is the victory for us even when the earthly consequences remain.  Our hope is not found in this earth but in eternity with our Savior! Let us recognize in ourselves that what God has revealed to us hinders us from walking in obedience, then come to the place where we also say, I have sinned against the Lord!