(2 Samuel) Repentance and Restoration — David Guzik

David’s Conviction and the Need to Confront Hidden Sin

2 Samuel chapter 12 follows upon a year of intense conviction of sin of David. We left off the last time we were in 2 Samuel at the end of chapter 11 where it says, but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Well, indeed it did. David was a man who had lived after his passions for many, many years without restraining them in any way in self-control before God. David was a man who ignored warnings that God gave him.

He did not take the way of escape that God put right in front of him on several occasions. David entertained temptation until it turned into lust, and lust until it turned into opportunity, and opportunity until it turned into adultery.

And when the bitter fruit of that threatened to become evident, he embarked on a large cover-up campaign. We're all like that. Each and every one of us have the instinct to want to cover our sin. We're more afraid of being found out by man than in being guilty before God.

Isn't that crazy? It really points to a streak of spiritual insanity within us. And David was in this place that you might call spiritually just insane beside himself. He wasn't thinking. Now, in 2 Samuel chapter 12, we find God's loving hand on David, confronting him with his sin.

Chapter 12, verse 1. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to him, there were two poor men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he had brought and nourished.

And it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his own bosom. And it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him.

But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. Well, the story is simple. The prophet Nathan explains it to David as if it were just a fact, as if he's bringing a court case before David.

David, this is for your consideration that we have two people in Israel, one, a wealthy man, one, a poor man and the rich man who had many sheep to choose from. When it came time for him to serve a great feast for a visitor, he took the one little pet lamb that the poor man had and he butchered it and served it to his visiting friend.

In that day and age, it was not unusual for people to keep lambs as pets. I just got back not too long ago from a trip to Australia and New Zealand. And on one afternoon that we had free, we had the opportunity to go horseback riding up in some hills.

And it was pretty spectacular. A little bit frightening for me. I'm not all that comfortable around horses. They seem kind of big and scary to me. So I got on and, you know, the horse I rode on was good enough.

And there was somebody in the lead of our group, you know, that we would follow. And there was someone in the back of the group making sure nobody got lost or hurt or anything. And the girl that was in the back of the group, her name was Claire.

And she asked one of the people in our group, would you like to see our pit lamb? And the girl in our groups thought, that's strange. Pit lamb? What's a pit lamb? Well, it was just her curious New Zealand pronunciation for pet lamb.

And so afterwards, we went over and we saw the pit lamb over. And it was a little lamb, just a week or two old, whose mother had died giving birth. What an adorable little lamb. And of course, one of the women in our party went over and picked up the little lamb and they're having pictures, very picturesque, you know, holding a little lamb just like that.

Looked very pastorly. All up into the point where the little lamb went to the bathroom on the person holding it right there. And that pretty much ended everybody's desire to hold the pit lamb. Well, in Nathan's story, there's a pet lamb.

And there's a rich man who takes the pet lamb. You know, David's sin displeased the Lord. But David wasn't listening to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit because he tells us that he was in Psalm 32.

David was doing the best that he could to push away that convicting voice, to push away his own conscience that was telling him that he was guilty of sin before God and he had to repent and get it clean before the Lord.

David wouldn't listen to the Holy Spirit speaking directly to his heart. David wouldn't listen to the voice of his own conscience. Therefore, God sent someone else to speak to David. And why did God do this?

Because he hated David? No, because he loved him. Because David's unconfessed sin. This sin that he was trying to cover and hide, it was an obstacle, it was a hindrance to David's fellowship with God.

And that's why God spoke to David in this way through the prophet Nathan with this remarkably simple but powerful story. God was merciful to keep speaking to David, even when David wouldn't listen. Aren't you happy for that mercy of the Lord?

You've done that to the Lord, haven't you? I know I have. There's been times in my life where it's as if I was closing my ears to God with everything I could. And yet God was faithful enough to find some way to speak to me that I would listen.

And that's just the mercy of God. Have you ever tried to show somebody that they're wrong? They're usually not very open to it, right? And you might try once or twice and then after that you say, well, forget it.

Now, doesn't God have every right to say the same thing to us? Well, forget it. Let them perish in their sins. Let them just never settle it and always have this impediment. Even if it doesn't drag them down to hell, it'll drag them down to despair.

God has every right to do that. But how often does he persistently keep with us? Now, we should never presume that God would speak forever to the unrepentant sinner. God said in Genesis six, three, my spirit will not strive with man forever.

In other words, that conviction of the Holy Spirit that you feel today that you're resisting, don't assume that you're going to feel it tomorrow. It's a gift from God that you feel it today. You said, well, you know, I'll just turn back to the Lord tomorrow.

Well, maybe not. The Holy Spirit may not be leaving you tomorrow. You need to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit today. Now, while you feel it, because it might not always be there. So that's what God did through this great story of Nathan, the prophet.

Nathan’s Credibility and the Parable of the Stolen Lamb

I think it's interesting that the previous time that we saw Nathan in the book of Samuel, that was in chapter seven. He delivered a remarkable message of blessing to David. It was that whole occasion when David wanted to build God a temple.

You know, he said, man, I live in a great fancy house, but God lives in a tent. Lord, let me build you a temple. And he runs it by his friend, the prophet Nathan. And Nathan says, oh, go for it, David.

The Lord will be pleased with that. But then later, the Lord taps Nathan on the shoulder and say, hey, whoa, prophet, you spoke a little too harshly here or rashly, I should say. You didn't consider me in this.

And the Lord told Nathan to go tell David, you're not to build me a house. I'm going to build you a house. And what a great blessing that was delivered from the mouth of Nathan. And might I say that this is something that made David more attentive to Nathan.

If David knew Nathan as a man who was always criticizing him, who was always pointing out his flaws, who was always picking at him. Do you think David would listen to this story? He would have said, Nathan, well, I don't have time for Nathan today.

Tell him I'll see him next week. And he would have just kept putting him off and putting him off. But you see, David knew that Nathan was a fair man, that Nathan was a man who sometimes spoke blessing.

But when it was necessary, he would speak that honest word of conviction to David. Now, what was the crime of the man, the rich man in Nathan's little story or parable? I would say that the sin that Nathan describes is theft.

That the rich man stole the lamb from the poor man as blessed as he was. I mean, that makes the rich man's crime all the more horrific, doesn't it? Here he is, he's rich, he's wealthy. Look at all that he has.

Look at all he's been blessed with. Yet he still steals from another man. Now, you might say, well, this is funny. Why doesn't Nathan use a parable more appropriate? Because David didn't really steal.

He committed adultery. I want you to understand something, friends. Adultery and sexual immorality, it is theft. There is a sense, a very strong sense in which David stole something from Uriah. You know, the Bible says in first Corinthians, chapter seven, that in the marriage relationship that the husband has authority over the wife's body.

And it says the same thing for the wife regarding the husband, that in the marital relationship, the spouses each have authority over the body of their spouse. Now, obviously, David did not have this authority over the body of Bathsheba, and he stole that from Uriah.

There was one man on the face of the earth that God gave the authority over Bathsheba. And it was Uriah. David stole that from him. Adultery, sexual immorality, they are theft. It's taking something that does not belong to you.

And you go to the department store and walk down the aisles and just start filling your pockets with whatever you want. Of course you don't. Why don't you? Because you say that's stealing. It doesn't belong to me.

It belongs to somebody else. It's stealing if I take it. Friends, adultery and sexual immorality are just the same. It's theft. What do you really think that you have the right to go around stealing anyone's body that you choose?

It's theft. And this principle is also true regarding pornography and lust. I find one of the more interesting chapters of the Old Testament to be Leviticus chapter 18. Honestly, it's kind of a tedious chapter.

But in Leviticus chapter 18, it describes the sin of uncovering the nakedness of someone other than our spouse. Now, in the context, it means to have some kind of sexual relationship with. But it's interesting that it uses that phrase to uncover the nakedness of somebody other than your spouse.

And the idea is, is that the nakedness of that other person, it doesn't belong to you. The nakedness of your spouse that belongs to you, the nakedness of someone else. It's not your property. It doesn't belong to you.

And it's theft if you take it. Do you see then how pornography is theft? That woman in the pornographic image who takes off her clothes for you. You're stealing something that either belongs to her husband or to the man who will become her husband.

It most certainly does not belong to you. And you say, well, now, you know, wait a minute. She's giving it away. You know, it doesn't seem like stealing if she wants to give this away. Well, that's a lot of nonsense.

If somebody is giving away, you know, Walmart's property, do you just take it because you say, well, look, they're giving it away? No, you know that it's wrong. And so actually, it's with great subtlety, indeed, we might even say brilliance, that God inspired Nathan to use this principle of theft in addressing David regarding his sin of adultery.

David Condemns Himself Through Nathan’s Story

Now, look at David's reaction in verse five. So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die and he shall restore fourfold for the lamb because he did this thing and because he had no pity.

You know, Nathan never asked David for a judicial decision, did he? Matter of fact, he never really said that this really happened. It's like he's just telling a story, but David can't help himself. He's so overcome with passion and indignation that he immediately passes sentence on the guilty man of Nathan's story.

You almost expect Nathan to say, hey, this is making it up. David doesn't care. See how this works, friends. We often try to rid our guilty consciences by passing judgment upon somebody else. Oh, look at that highly critical, highly judgmental person.

It would not be unusual to see them hiding or covering over sin themselves. It's just our instinct. You could call it a defense mechanism. But it was very true in David's case. Look at what he says there.

He says, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die. David's sense of righteous indignation was so affected by his own sense of guilt that he commanded a death sentence for the man in this hypothetical case brought by Nathan, even though this was not a capital crime.

Where are you going to find in the pages of the Old Testament a death sentence for lamb stealers? You're not going to find it. Friends, don't you see? And we're going to see this very pointedly in just a moment.

But David was condemning his own sin there, wasn't he? It was David's own conscience. Now, we know in a few moments in verse seven that Nathan is going to say to David, and you can't beat how the old King James Version puts it.

The New King James Version says, you are the man. The old King James is, thou art the man. But it's almost as if Nathan didn't even need to tell David. By pronouncing the death sentence, it's as if David knew that that's what he deserved, because that's what the law commanded in regard to his adultery with Bathsheba.

You see, David had to condemn his own sin before he could find forgiveness. We're all too rarely willing to do that. Oh, how we want to excuse our sin. Oh, how we want to minimize it or deflect the blame of our sin.

And we won't condemn sin in ourself. We won't say, I'm guilty. I deserve to die for what I've done. I'm guilty, guilty, guilty before God. No excuses. Oh, aren't we good at the excuses? You know, I mean, look at how beautiful she was.

Now I'm just a man. Come on now. Or look at the way she was parading herself for all the excuses that David could have imagined. Well, you know, hey, I'm the king of a big country. I just can't let things pass.

I mean, what if it got exposed? It would have been a scandal. I had to cover it up. Come on. It's just necessity here. All the excuses, all the rationalizations, all the ways to minimize it. Come on. What's the big?

It's just one thing or to deflect the blame in this. When David condemned the man in the story, he was condemning himself. Have you ever done? Have you ever condemned sin in yourself? You might be really good at pointing the finger at others and condemning sin in them.

But how about condemning it in yourself? I find another thing very interesting in verse six, where it says he shall restore fourfold for the lamb because he did this thing and because he had no pity. If you were to turn and I'm not asking you to turn there, but you can just make it a reference.

Exodus chapter 22, verse one, the Mosaic law gives the prescription for what restoration is required when livestock is stolen. And it says, if a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, that's exactly the situation here, right?

He shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. It's as if David quoted Exodus 22, verse one, right back at Nathan. Well, it's just 22. One says that a fourfold restitution is required.

I know my Bible, Nathan. I'll quote it right back to you. A fourfold restoration. I want you to see that David's sin, that David's hardness of heart didn't diminish his knowledge of the Bible. Oh, he still knew it.

Oh, he could still quote you Exodus 22 one. Well, he knew all about the Bible. He knew the words of the Bible, but he was distant from the author. You know, it's easy for you all to make that mistake.

You look at someone like me and I seem to know perhaps what I'm talking about when it comes to the Bible. Well, he knows the Bible. He knows the words of the Bible. He knows what it says. But you can't assume that I know the author just because I know the words that just because I know the meaning, you can't assume that.

So David demands that the man make restitution. David knew very well that true repentance means restitution. Then we come to verse seven. Then Nathan said to David, you are the man. Thus says the Lord God of Israel.

I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping. And I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more.

Why do you despise the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? You've killed Uriah, the Hittite with the sword. You've taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

What powerful simplicity, you are the man. And did David think for a moment that he was the poor man in the story? No, he knew exactly what it meant. But well, which man do you mean there, Nathan? No, you're the rich man.

You're the man who stole the lamb and you're the one who was a murderer with this alarming simplicity. David shocked. Excuse me. Nathan shocked David into seeing his sin for what it was. Friends, we have to see our sin for what it is.

You understand it, folks, that we have to deal with a personal conviction of sin, a personal salvation requires a personal conviction of sin. Don't give it to me that, well, you know, I'm a sinner. Nobody's perfect, you know, so I guess I'm a sinner.

That's not much of a salvation that you have. It wasn't enough for David to confess that he was a sinner in a general sense. David had to confess his sin at this very point. Many times, this is a great problem with our own conviction of sin.

We start feeling a sense of conviction of sin and we slough it off very quickly with a general confession of, well, you know, nobody's perfect. I'm a sinner, too. Instead of saying what David could have said right here, I'm an adulterer.

I'm a liar. I'm a murderer. See, in this sense, the confession of our sin needs to be specific. The great late Dr. J. Edwin Orr tells of a time of revival in Brazil when a lady stood in a crowded church, when people were making open confession of sin.

By the way, did you know that that's one of the common phenomenons of revival? The people of God make open confession of sin, not open confession of secret sin. Sins committed secretly should be confessed in private.

But open confession of sins that have hindered the church. And so this lady stood up in the midst of this church in Brazil and she said, please pray for me. I need to love people more. And Dr. Orr said to the lady gently, that is not confession, sister.

Anyone could have said it. Well, isn't it true? Which which one of us could not stand up and say, oh, please pray for me. I need to love more. Every one of us need to love more. That's not confessing anything.

It sounds kind of spiritual, doesn't. But it's not confessing a single thing. So later in the service, the woman stood again and said, please pray for me. What I should have said is that my tongue has caused a lot of trouble in this church.

The pastor leaned over to Dr. Orr and whispered, now she's talking. Now, that's confession of sin, not just this general sense. Friends, it costs us nothing to say, well, I'm not everything I should be.

I ought to be a better Christian. Hello, of course. It does cost something to say I've been a troublemaker in this church. It does cost something to say I've had bitterness towards certain people or towards certain leaders, and I'm apologizing to them right now.

That's confession. Did you notice how it was all phrased here in verses seven through nine? Let me read it again and I'll emphasize certain words to kind of give you a feel for this. Then Nathan said to David, you are the man.

Thus says the Lord God of Israel. I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you from the hand of Saul and I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping. And I gave you the house of Israel and Judah.

And if that were too little, I would have given you much more. Just like the rich man in the story, David's sin was made all the more horrific because it was a base expression of ingratitude when God gave all this to David and had so much more to give him.

David sought out sin instead. It's like, come on, David, wasn't it enough? Didn't I give you enough? And so he tries to bore the point home when he says, and if you notice it there, it's very dramatic there in verse nine where he says, why have you despised the commandment of the Lord?

You recall some of those sweet Psalms that David sang before about how he loved God's commandment. About Psalm 19, eight, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Yes, David loves the commandment of God, not at this point in his life.

He despised it. By his sin, he despised the commandment of the Lord. He acted as if God's command was wrong. He acted as if God made a mistake when he said, you shall not commit adultery. He acted as if it was to be despised.

And he did that when he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Do you notice what he said there at the end of verse nine? You have killed Uriah, the Hittite, with the sword. You have taken his wife to be your wife.

You, David, you. God won't allow David to blame anyone or anything else. I say this often because it's a very common observation I have about human nature. And my wife and I see it most pointedly in marriage counseling.

Personal Responsibility in Repentance and Marriage

When we're counseling a couple that's having trouble in their marriage, right away, Ingalil and I can tell whether or not we can be of any help to them. When they are blaming each other for the problems in their marriage, either with their attitude or with their words, they express this.

But when you see it in the wife, that she really believes that the real problem in her marriage is that man she's married to. And the husband's convinced of it, too. The real problem in his marriage is that woman that he's married to.

As long as they're blaming somebody else, you know what? You can't do a thing for them in their marriage, honestly. When we discern that that's where people are at and they won't catch on to the principle that they have to take responsibility for their own actions in their marriage, we won't see them anymore.

Because then all they want you to do is referee at their fights. And I tell you, at this point, after 20 years of pastoral ministry, I've had enough of that. I've had enough of trying to get angry spouses, get me to side with them against their spouse.

I don't want to be a referee in your fight. Your marriage will not change until you say, I have to be a better husband. Until the wife says, I have to be a better wife. That's when you see things changing.

It's the same principle with David. As long as he put the blame on someone else, on Bathsheba, on, you know, lust somewhere out there, on anything, but admitting I killed Uriah, I committed adultery. It was only when he would take the blame upon himself that his sin could be cleared away.

The Consequences of David’s Sin

So look at the punishment that's described here in verse 10. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you've despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

God promised that from this day forward, David would know violence and bloodshed among his own family members. Isn't it interesting that David commanded a fourfold restitution for that little lamb in Nathan's story?

Did you know that God exacted a fourfold restitution from among David's sons? Four sons of David met a violent end, and it was because of what David did here. And it was a heavy promise. The sword will never depart from your house because you've despised me.

I find it interesting that the Lord said to David first in verse nine, you've despised the commandment of the Lord. Right now, in verse 10, God says to David, you've despised me. You can't despise God's commandments without despising him.

Somehow in our minds, we kind of want to separate the two. Oh, God, man, I love God. Way to go, God. It's just your commandments I despise. No, no, no. God says you despise my commandments. You despise me.

And many who live in either open or hidden sin, they seem to believe that it has no effect or little effect on their relationship with God. Folks, isn't it shocking how many people live in either open sin or in hidden sin?

And in their heads, they think that they're walking fine with God. They really do. They don't realize that God would say to them exactly what he said to David. Why do you despise me? It sounds the person would answer back despise.

Oh, no, I love you, Lord. No, you don't. You're despising my commandment. You despise me. That commandment is a reflection of my character. It's a reflection of my nature. You cannot despise my commandment without despising me.

We can't have fellowship with God and despise him at the same time. That sounds like a rather elementary principle, doesn't it? It's almost embarrassing for me to have to say that to a room full of adults.

But I have to say it seems to me that there's been times in my life where I've almost forgotten that. You can't despise God and have fellowship with him at the same time. First, John one six says that if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

If in this period of a year when David was hiding his unconfessed sin, if you were to ask David, well, David, are you in fellowship with God? He might have said yes, but the truth of the matter was no.

At best, his fellowship was cold. At best, his fellowship was distant. Did he have the Bible knowledge? Well, sure he did. Did he have the vital link of fellowship with God? No, he did not. The sin that was the obstacle had to be cleared away.

And might I say that one of the things that just amazes me, it frightens me when I see it in myself, it amazes me in a bad way when I see it in other people, is that there seems to be so little concern over a loss of fellowship with God.

It's almost like, who cares? What's the big deal? Friends, that's why we were created. Honestly, that's the reason why you draw breath on this earth, so that you can have a loving, living relationship with your creator.

It wasn't so you could punch an attendance ticket at church. It was so that you could have a real fellowship with God. Hopefully, what happens here assists you in that. But that's the reason for it. When we're out of fellowship with God, it should grieve us.

We should feel just morose and depressed. I have to get back right with God. I have to feel his smile upon me once again. I have to enjoy the friendship and the sharing of life that I have with him when there is no obstacle of hidden or open sin in the way.

Lord, I confess my sins. Clear it away. I want that fellowship with you. That's how it should be. One more thing about verse 10 before we go to verse 11. Did you notice the name for the woman that David committed adultery with?

The wife of Uriah the Hittite. God won't even use her given name. As far as God is concerned, that woman has one identity. The wife of Uriah the Hittite. God has not used the name Bathsheba yet. It has only appeared once, and that was in chapter 11, when David's messengers reported to him the name of the woman that he saw from the balcony.

That's the only time it's been used. Every time God refers to this woman, it's the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Isn't that interesting? That's the one identity David forgot. He thought of her as Bathsheba, the exceedingly beautiful woman.

Bathsheba, the woman with whom there's a spark of attraction with. Bathsheba, the woman who is willing to commit adultery with me. But he did not think of her according to that name, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

Absalom’s Rebellion Fulfills Nathan’s Warning

Verse 12. Thus says the Lord. Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from 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 son.

For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel before the sun. Wow. David, do you know the way that you secretly disgraced? This woman, her husband and her family. I'm going to publicly disgrace you that way.

I'm going to raise up adversity. The Living Bible translates that word adversity as rebellion. God warns David that because he troubled another man's house, God will allow trouble to come upon his own house from within the house.

And this, of course, was fulfilled in Absalom's rebellion, which we will come to in succeeding chapters of Second Samuel, where Absalom, in a horrible way, took the concubines of David, set up a tent on David's roof, and made it very public to all Israel that he violated every one of his father's wives, or concubines at least.

This was exactly fulfilled in the rebellion of Absalom. Now, as dark as it has been, we come to a great, great beacon of light in verse 13. Look at it there. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

Specific Confession and Genuine Repentance

If you like to mark in your Bible, underline that. It's a marvelous expression of confession and repentance. David's confession is an example for every one of us. He placed the blame squarely on his own shoulders.

He didn't minimize his offense, and he realized that he had especially sinned against God. Do you realize that in the original Hebrew, that phrase, I have sinned against the Lord, it's only two words.

That's it. Two words. But those two words and the heart that they reflect show the fundamental difference between David and Saul. You see, Saul knew how to spin out a long confession. Some of Saul's confessions of sin are very eloquent.

You almost want to stand back and say, what an eloquent confession, Saul, but it wasn't of the heart. David's great confession sin was two words, but it was from the heart. You know, sometimes few words is a good sign of a thoroughly broken spirit.

No excuse. No hiding. No concealment of the sin. Not, well, you know, God, or yeah, but or God, man, this was really a hard one. Or Lord, man, you understand, Lord, I have sinned against the Lord. Lord, you know how weak I am, you know?

No. It was candid, it was open. He didn't deny the truth in any way. And might I say this was an exceptionally good response from David, considering his station in life. In that part of the world, what happened when a prophet would come before the king?

There's the king on his throne. The royal court is all around and the prophet tells this story and he says, you're the man you committed secret sin, but it was open before God and God's going to correct you for it openly, David.

What's the response of a king in that part of the world at that time? Off with your head. Take him out. I never want to hear from this man again and kill his whole family, too. I mean, that's just the standard reply.

They probably had a form for it, you know, in a filing cabinet right next to David. No, no. David says, I have sinned against the Lord. I love to tear it apart word by word. What's the first word there?

I, I, I, I. David speaks of himself. It isn't we, though it was true he was not the only sinner. Couldn't David have said in truth, thinking of himself and Bathsheba, we sinned and it would have been true, but it wouldn't have been wholly true.

David's of the right attitude. Lord, let Bathsheba deal before you on her own. I have sinned against the Lord. Then he says, I have sinned. He doesn't use an elaborate or soft vocabulary. He sinned. It wasn't a mistake.

It wasn't an error. It wasn't a mess up. It wasn't an indiscretion. It wasn't a problem. It wasn't a boo boo. It wasn't a weakness. It was sin. Friends, one of the greatest errors we make is just we were so hesitant to identify ourselves as sinners when we sin.

It's the most foolish thing we can do. You know why? Because the Bible says that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Well, I want to be one of the ones of whom Jesus saves. It doesn't mean I have to go out and make myself a sinner.

I do plenty well on my own. I have to be deliberate about it. I just have to see myself for what I am. I have sinned against the Lord that expressed the enormity of David's sin. Did he sin against Bathsheba?

Yes. Did he sin against Uriah? Yes. Did he sin against Ahithophel, Bathsheba's grandfather? Yes. Did he sin against his own wives? Yes. Did he sin against his own children? Yes. Did he sin against the whole nation?