I quote here David Wilkerson: “Isaiah, the great prayer warrior, was a man of like passions — meaning, just like the rest of us — weak and wounded. Peter denied the very Lord God of Heaven — cursing the One who loved him most. Abraham, the father of nations, lived a lie — using his wife as a pawn to save his own skin. Jacob was a conniver. Paul was impatient and harsh with converts and associates who could not live up to his ascetic lifestyle. Adam and Eve turned a perfect marriage arrangement into a nightmare. Solomon, the wisest man on earth, did some of the most stupid things ever recorded in history. Samuel murdered King Agag in a rage of anger in an overzealous show of righteousness. Joseph taunted his lost brothers in almost boyish glee — until the games almost backfired on him. Jonah wanted to see an entire city burn to justify his prophecies against it — he despised the mercy of God toward a repentant people. Lot offered his two virgin daughters to a mob of sex–crazed Sodomites.”
Yes God is able to use us in spite of our human frailties. King David, the man after God’s own heart, was a murdering adulterer who had no moral right to any of God’s blessings. This king lived a rollercoaster life even if he was God’s most favorite. Some of the high points in David’s life were:
- When he killed the giant Goliath with a sling.
- When he became King of Judah after Saul’s death.
- After seven years of struggle he then became king of all Israel.
- He captured Jerusalem and made it his capital.
- He brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.
- He received from God the Davidic Covenant.
- He sought out and showed kindness to Jonathan’s lame son – Mephibosheth.
This morning we will speak of one of the low points of this great king’s life. It came about in the following way:
- David commits adultery with Bathsheba who becomes pregnant by him.
- He brings her husband, Uriah, home on leave on a deception pass.
- Uriah senses some shenannigans and is not deceived.
- David then arranges to have Uriah killed in action.
- David then marries Bathsheba as if nothing happened.
- David now thinks he has gotten away clean.
But the cherry bowl always has a few pits in it. Everyone here this morning thinks he or she has at sometime - like David – gotten away clean. But have we really? If nothing more, we know truths about ourselves that would be at least embarrassing if made public. And we know that God knows. This morning in the first half of 2nd Samuel chapter 12. We see King David confronted by the prophet Nathan as he gets blindsided by God himself.
