Sin and Grace
February 9 | Donavon Hintz
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2 Samuel 12:1-15
Nathan Rebukes David
1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 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.” 5 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, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and 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. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 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.’ 11 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 sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.
David's Child Dies
And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick.
In our text today, we pick up a short time after the story we covered of David, Bathsheba and Uriah last week. David thinks he has gotten away with adultery and murder. No one seems to be the wiser. He has taken Bathsheba as his wife and life has gone on, for everyone except for Uriah. His sin has been hidden and seems to be in the past.
That’s the thing about hidden sin. It isn’t really hidden. There are very few of us that have sinned as egregiously as David did, but we all sin. We think we can hide our sin, rationalize it, blame others and make excuses. And that might work for a season. Ultimately, it never goes away unless we repent of our sin.
God’s Word Exposes Sin
God exposes David and his sin through Nathan. Nathan tells a story and gives David an “I gotcha” moment. The normal reaction would have been defensiveness. Self-justification is the most natural response in these moments, but Nathan’s story seems to have caught David’s heart. “To cut away diseased tissue in David’s heart and heal the wound there…Nathan used David’s tongue as a knife.” (Augustine)
God’s word came through a prophet to expose David’s sin and call him to repentance. God’s word does the same for us today. God comes to us through His Word, seeking us out, exposing our sin, inviting us to turn from the path of death and walk toward freedom. Nothing is secret from God. Whatever sin we are hiding, we should hear the same thing David hears, “You are the man/woman!” We should hear the call to repent and to receive grace.
God’s Word Brings Grace
David instantly confesses he has sinned against the Lord. He doesn’t try to save face. He doesn’t say, “I’ll think on it” or “I’ll pray about it.” He instantly is convicted of his sin and repents. I think that is a major difference between Saul and David. Saul’s response when confronted by Samuel was to make excuses and downplay it. David is so quick to confess and repent. “‘I have sinned’ is just three syllables; and yet in these three syllables the flames of the heart’s sacrifice rose up to heaven.” (Augustine) We see it in our text today and we hear it in David’s Psalm 51 after this happened. David trusts in God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy. He knows that only God can wash away his sin.
This is the beauty of who God is and how He works. He is exposing sin and convicting hearts, but not to condemn us. Instead, He wants to forgive us, love us, welcome us into His loving arms and make us clean. He can and will restore to you and I the joy of our salvation. He is not surprised or unfamiliar with the troubles of this world. He sympathizes with our weaknesses, and offers mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).
We can trust Him because He is trustworthy. His love never fails. His grace never runs out. We don’t have to fear our sin being exposed. We have to fear not exposing our sin. God loves us too much to let us stay in our sin. May we confess our sin, turn back to God and trust Him. And may the peace and love of God rule and reign in our lives!
Discussion Questions
How does the idea of “hidden sin is never truly hidden” play out in your own life today?
How does God’s example of mercy and grace to David encourage you to approach Him when you fall short? What does it teach us about the relationship between repentance and grace?
What does “restoring the joy of our salvation” mean to you personally?