Sermon Tone Analysis

*XXVIII.*

*Arraigned for Sinning*

2 Samuel 12

 

Approximately a year went by after David committed his great sins involving Bathsheba and Uriah before he was ar-raigned by Nathan for his evil.

We calculate this passage of time by the fact that when David was arraigned by Nathan, the child which had been conceived through adultery had already been born (v.

15).

During that year or so before Nathan, under the orders of God, brought David face to face with his great guilt, David experienced some painful inward arraignment, however.

“God may suffer His people to indulge the lusts of the flesh and fall into grievous sin, but He will not allow them to remain content and happy in such a case; rather are they made to prove that ‘the way of the transgressor is hard’ [Proverbs 13:15]” (Pink).

It was a miserable time for David because of the inward arraignment as he himself testifies in one of his Psalms: “When I kept silence [refused to confess his sin], my bones waxed old through my roaring [cry of inner anguish] all the day long.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture [life juices like the sap in trees] is turned into the drought of summer” (Psalm 32:3,4).

During those months between committing his terrible sins and finally acknowledging his guilt when arraigned by Nathan, David lost much of his joy and zeal for life, and “his communion with God [was] interrupted . . . he penned no psalms, his harp was out of tune, and his soul like a tree in winter that has life in the root only” (Henry).

Truly “the pleasures of sin [are only] for a season” (Hebrews 11:25)—and that season is very short.

In our study of this Divinely ordered arraignment of David for his great sin regarding Bathsheba and Uriah, we will consider the condemnation of David (vv.

1–12), the contrition of David (v.

13), the chastisement of David (vv.

10–12, 14–25), and the conquering by David (vv.

26–31).

*A.

THE CONDEMNATION OF DAVID*

 

When the right time came on God’s calendar, “the Lord sent Nathan unto David” (v. 1) to let David know that God was displeased about David’s iniquitous conduct.

God’s displeasure about this conduct was clearly stated in the last verse of the text for our last chapter: “The thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:27).

Now in our present text is reported how God informed David of this displeasure and what the results of this displeasure would be upon David.

It was a message that would cut David to the quick and smart as no other message ever smarted that David had received from God.

To examine this condemnation of David for his adulterous evil, we note the pursuit in the condemnation, the person delivering the condemnation, the parable for the condemnation, and the particulars about the condemnation.

*1.

The Pursuit in the Condemnation*

The very first thing we note in God sending a prophet to David to arraign David for his sin is the fact that it was God Who took the first step to bring about David’s repentance.

We noted this truth about God seeking the sinner in a previous study which concerned David and Mephibosheth.

Men have a big sin problem and need the Divine physician desparately.

But unlike what they do normally when they have physical problems, men do not seek the Divine physician for their sin problem.

Rather, the Divine physician seeks the sinner.

Christ said He was come “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Early in the beginning of man’s history, God demonstrated this pursuit of the sinner.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they did not seek God but hid in the Garden.

So God pursued them to bring them back to Himself.

Likewise God sent His prophet Nathan to speak to David concerning the great sin problem in David’s life and to bring David back into fellowship with God.

The fact that God pursues us to heal us of our sin problems underscores the tremendous grace of God.

David would not come to God and confess his sin; but God had to go to David first to prompt the confession.

Even though David’s life was in great anguish over his sin (Psalm 32:3,4), he still would not come clean with God.

So God in grace pursued David to bring him to God for cleansing from his sin.

*2.

The Person Delivering the Condemnation*

 “And the Lord sent Nathan unto David” (v. 1).

Nathan was the agent that God chose to send to David to condemn David for his great evil and to bring David to repentance of his sin.

We note the calling of Nathan and the character of Nathan.

/The calling of Nathan/.

Nathan’s calling was that of a prophet (v.

25).

As a prophet, Nathan was God’s preacher.

Here he had a message to proclaim against sin.

A prophet in the Old Testament had various duties which at times included making predictions about the future.

But one of his main tasks in Old Testament times was to preach against sin.

The prophet was God’s great spokesman to lift up the standard of holiness among the people.

Preaching against sin did involve some prophesying, however; for it would involve predicting what the future for the unrepentant sinner would be and what the judgment would be for the sin (as was the case in the message for David).

The calling of a prophet to arraign David for his evil reveals the practice of God in His dealing with the sin problems of this world.

It is the practice of God to send preachers to deal with the sin problems.

God does not send some shrink or psychologist or psychiatrist or psychotherapist or government bureaucrat or some social worker to be His agent to deal with the sin problem.

When Israel had become a degraded nation under Ahab, God sent the prophet Elijah.

When Israel again fell into great sin and moral and spiritual decay, God sent other prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Malachi, and others to deal with the sin problem in the land.

Later in the New Testament, God sent John the Baptist, that great preacher who was the herald of Christ, to arraign the Israelites for their sin and also to arraign wicked King Herod for his adulterous life.

Peter was God’s agent to deal with the sin of Ananias and Sapphira in the church.

The history of man right up to our day illustrates this practice of God to send preachers to deal with the sin problem.

Not once has mankind ever experienced a revival through the work of a shrink or psychologist or psychiatrist or psychotherapist or government bureaucrat, or some social worker.

Always it has been God’s preacher that has been God’s agent to deal with sin and to bring men back to God.

Our day needs to sit up and take note of this fact, for we have demoted the preacher and promoted the psychologists and other like people in dealing with our problems.

Conferences which used to only have preachers for speakers are now having “Christian” psychologists and other professional counsellors as some of the speakers.

No wonder we are not dealing with the sin problem as we ought.

No wonder the standards about adultery, divorce, and other sins are so compromised.

These people being substituted for the preacher try to mix the unholy, worldly philosophies of the ungodly with Christianity in order to solve sin problems.

But God does not work that way.

He sends preachers to proclaim what His Word has to say about the sin problem and how it can be solved.

All those other worldly experts either water down the Word of God or outright scorn the Word of God and make the foolish mistake of trying to correct behavior problems without dealing with the sin problem.

Many of them, in fact, do not even acknowledge the fact of sin let alone the authority of God’s Word.

/The character of Nathan/.

The prophet Nathan was a man of high character.

He had the character needed to be assigned by God to deal with David.

In this we discover another practice of God.

This practice has to do with the character of those He sends to deal with sin problems.

He chooses people of the highest character to be His preachers.

Let us never forget this truth.

Let churches take seriously the character qualifications given for the pastor in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1–7).

It only makes sense to have men of the highest character to do the condemning of sin.

If men lack character, their condemnation of sin becomes a study in hypocrisy.

Holy men of God are the ones God wants lifting up the holy banner of God.

We note here three important aspects of Nathan’s high character which were especially needed for the task of condemning David.

He was faithful to God’s Word, obedient to God’s orders, and courageous in God’s service.

First, he was/ faithful/ to God’s Word.

We saw this aspect of Nathan’s character when God told Nathan to inform David that David could not build the Temple as David had desired and as Nathan had earlier approved.

“The word of the Lord came unto Nathan” (2 Samuel 7:4) giving him a message about the temple building that was not the most palatable to deliver to David, but Nathan delivered it faithfully—“according to all this vision [God’s message to Nathan about what to tell David], so did Nathan speak unto David” (2 Samuel 7:17).

That faithfulness to God’s Word was really needed in the current situation before us in which Nathan must rebuke David; for Nathan’s message to David was one that many would want to water down, change to a more conciliatory message, and leave out much of it.

But if you want to be chosen of God for His service, you must be faithful to His Word.

You must proclaim God’s Word with integrity.

You must not mix it with the poisonous philosophies of this world (which the psychologists and other like folk do—trying, as an example, the fatal folly of mixing Freud with faith).

Rather, you must declare “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) without hesitation or apology.

Second, he was/ obedient/ to God’s orders.

Nathan’s obedience to God’s orders, as well as his faithfulness to God’s Word, was also illustrated in his dealing with David about building the Temple.

Nathan was obedient to God’s orders whether the task was a pleasant task or not.

How much more pleasant would it have been for Nathan to have told David that God approved the Temple building.

Furthermore, how much more pleasant would it have been for Nathan if he had not been ordered to go see David about his sin.

No true man of God has ever found it a pleasant task to go to one of his parishioners and deal with them about some sin in their life.

But if one is going to be God’s preacher, he must be obedient to God’s orders regardless.

Third, he was/ courageous/ in God’s service.

As a prophet, Nathan would always find that courage was necessary in order to proclaim God’s Word faithfully and to be obedient regardless of the orders.

In no place would more courage be required of Nathan and would Nathan’s courage be greater than in his coming to David and denouncing him for his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah.

The reason he needed so much courage was that “his mission was as perilous as it was painful; and might, if it failed, have cost him his life” (Dale).