THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. 2nd Samuel 12 The longer a wrong practice or an inappropriate matter is allowed to continue, the more likely a person is inclined to think there will be no consequences to face. That idea is entirely erroneous. Payday comes someday. A Righteous God does not compromise His justice to suit the opinions of men. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" is a lasting principle. We deceive ourselves if we think payday for evil will not come. "Because a sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."
For a year or more, David and Bathsheba would have gradually become used to the guilt that probably plagued them for quite some time. However, God was not done with them, and the waiting time allowed them to learn a lesson they would not have learned had judgment quickly come upon them. In the Lord's time, He sent the prophet Nathan to deal with these two people hiding sin. After a year had passed, David had seen and known the child he had fathered, and he may have felt comfortable despite his sin. Then, the time came when he had to learn the full impact of what he had done. God waited until the appropriate time to bring the best possible result from a very bad situation.
Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” None of David’s “friends” tried to stop him in the ongoing trail of sins he left behind him, which began when he sent for Bathsheba. He didn’t pay any attention to Uriah’s words of commitment and loyalty. The Hittite Uriah was strong in battle, brave in spirit, and loyal to his king. He spent the night lying by the king’s gate instead of going to his home because he was under battle conditions and had been called back, obeying the king’s command and remaining faithful to God and his responsibility. He returned to the battlefield carrying his death sentence and was called to do battle again and sent to the front of the front line and soon was lying dead because of the deception of the king. The wages of another man’s sin fell on him!
Dutiful soldiers who trust their leaders following orders to advance followed Uriah and then fell back when ordered, but he is still in range of the enemy and is left to lie, dying in the field of battle, wondering why. Against better judgment, families and perhaps children mourn because of the wages of sin!
Nathan (“God has given”) was the man God chose to go to David because he was a trusted advisor to David and a fearless friend committed to speaking the truth. Even though the illustration in his story made David angry, he didn’t stop before he got his message across. He was careful in his confrontation, knowing what would result, so his approach was to have David judge his own sins and condemn himself. All Nathan had to say to make his point was four words, “You are the man.”
Condemnation is easy when we can focus our criticisms on other people. Faults are always easy to find if that is what we seek. Character flaws stand out in others, which we can easily condemn. However, the flaws we first see in others are the ones most obvious in ourselves. Confrontation is difficult because it is usually resented, and people become very defensive as they try to cover up sin or belittle its effect. Sometimes, it is necessary to confront others, so preparation is essential. To say what is needed and not say too much requires tact, courage, skill, thoughtful preparation, and planning. Our objective needs to be clear and precise. Wisdom with words and an attitude appropriate to the problem and the presentation of the message needs to be guided by the Holy Spirit. "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."
David’s true repentance allowed Nathan to speak of God’s mercy and forgiveness and the painful consequences that would come because of the righteous demands of justice. The law demanded fourfold restitution for stealing a sheep. David had to accept that God knew he had taken Uriah’s “one ewe lamb.” God had blessed him from his youth, preserved him through dangers, and made him king of Israel and Judah. God would have given him more, but he took what was not his to have. The law demanded death for both of them, but God’s mercy was shown when his repentance was genuine. Adultery gave reason for blasphemy, and the death of the child would prevent continued blasphemy.
Psalm 51 is a penitential psalm with the most open and frank way of facing and dealing with sin in the Psalms. The results of the prophet's visit and the king's willingness to deal with the loss of joy, the deepness of guilt, the hurt caused by others, and the loss of fellowship with God are why this psalm is so effective in making us face ourselves. David had thought his sin was unknown or not severe until the Lord sent Nathan, the prophet, to him with the parable of the man with one ewe lamb. David’s anger against injustice condemns himself when Nathan says, “Thou art the man.”
Because of our sinful nature, we tend to avoid confronting sin and the problems it brings when we allow it to go unconfessed and forsaken. God allows us to repent and forsake sin when we are honest with ourselves, but if that doesn’t happen, He has His way of getting our attention. Illustrations often open the doors of understanding and illuminating a matter before the application. Illustrations make a message more straightforward, especially when it is brief and to the point. Consequences follow every action; in this case, there is no way to escape them. Sins done in public have public consequences. Sin desensitizes people when it is allowed to continue to the place where those who have sinned think they have mastered the problem. Guilt can be avoided for a while, but payday comes. "Be sure your sin will find you out" is a principle. Sin, left unconfessed and undealt with, will be exposed by God against whom we have sinned.
David had some options open to him when Nathan came with His message from God. He could have denied Nathan’s charge. He could have had Nathan taken out and executed. But he did the right thing when he admitted to the charge and assumed full responsibility for his sin, beginning with his thoughts and going through the whole series of events that led to breaking the law of God in so many ways. In his cry of conscience and conviction of sin, he faced his transgressions, which are acts of rebellion.
When one transgresses, they cross the boundary of God's righteous laws, which are impressed on the human heart. Iniquity refers to being crooked, twisted in thinking, and totally wrong. Sin and evil are wrong actions in which we fail to meet divine standards by going beyond what is right, coming short, or turning to one side or the other of the target of righteousness. David knew he needed mercy that came from God’s loving kindness and tender mercies and wanted his transgressions blotted out and to be washed thoroughly and cleansed from his sins.
To examine ourselves without making excuses will keep us from half-hearted repentance. Sorrow for sin can be genuine or put on depending on our honesty of heart and confession. It is the function of our conscience to bring us to a place where we are open before God without subterfuge of any kind. When that happens in the life of a child of God, there is the cry of confession to the Lord, as in the case of David. “I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” We are to identify and deal with sin by confession and repentance. When sin is forsaken, then we find the mercy we need.
Not only was David’s conscience smitten to where he was willing to face his sin, but he was also open to expressing that sin before God. The next part of the psalm is a cry of confession and clemency from God. The sin nature all of us have inherited makes the statement, “There is none good, no not one,” an indisputable fact we must face. We are not good. David said, in essence, “I am no good. I have been born in iniquity.”
Sin springs from what we are by nature. Sinful thoughts come because of that nature, and sinful acts come from those thoughts. Every person needs moral integrity, wisdom, honesty, and pardon to get back to God. When we lose our joy and our song because we allow our thoughts to lead us into sin, it is only fitting to come to God in sincere repentance, admission of guilt with a broken and contrite heart. A plea for cleansing is then authentic. Sin begins with an attitude and then the refusal to do what is right.
We need God’s help to even think right. Purging by God is real cleansing. Washing by the Lord is not some cosmetic change. God does forgive sin whether it is terrible and affects others, or whether it is personally known only to us and to Him. He forgives but does not always erase the consequences of our sins. David’s family was never the same. His renewal did not just cover sin but “created” a new heart so he could start over. God does not want us to give us our sinful, dirty hearts. He creates a new one with a whole new spirit that desires a holy heart. A spirit of faithfulness and a willing spirit of service anticipates a readiness to be used by God. All sin is against God and may be against other people as well. There are victims when we sin. People do get hurt.
Dealing with a critical spirit in myself will only come when I am honest before the Lord. He knows both me and those who are the objects of my criticism. What I see in others and condemn likely is the same thing that condemns me. The consequences of sin cannot be avoided. David stole Bathsheba and killed Uriah. Murder was a continual threat to his own family from then on. His own children plotted and rebelled against him. Others used his wives in public view. His children died terrible deaths. His pleasure brought pain to others as well as himself.
Restoration is possible, valuable, and available when repentance is genuine. Restoration is the first step to hope being given even after grievous sin. Psalm 51 was written by David in which he expresses his guilt and his need for forgiveness. Recovery may not remove all the consequences of sin, but it does make a return to fellowship with the Lord possible. An apology does not necessarily remove the consequences of wrongdoing even though fellowship has been restored. There is always judgment for sin that has to be accomplished. Grace provides how this can be done, and we can move on. Psalm 32 expresses the joy of grace experienced after the drought of being in a spiritual wilderness.
By nature, we are inclined to please ourselves rather than God. Proper conduct comes from a clean heart and pure spirit. When we sense we are only going through the motions of spiritual life, we need to stop, consider what we have allowed, and confess our sins to God, the only One who can restore our joy. When we know and experience forgiveness, God restores our relationship with Him to what it should be. Then, we can reach out to others who need forgiveness and reconciliation with God. What we experience, we can pass on. The inward heart attitude is what really counts. Outward worship only pleases God if it expresses the inward spiritual conditions of my soul and heart. Full, frank confession justifies and vindicates God’s judgment and reveals His holiness.
The sound of a newborn child crying or perhaps a smile on a child’s face melts hearts. Infant sounds at first, then sounds of a child’s response to watching adult eyes, move them to love that cannot be denied. Perhaps behind the adult smiles are pangs of guilt because of lustful actions, but as time passes, the conscience starts to get used to the wages of sin, and they seem to ease the “inner sense of guilt.” Then the word of the Lord comes, followed by a week of grief as the sounds of life fade and pain is so intense that the child dies – the wages of sin!
The death of David's child was a judgment on David. The child is with the Lord, who gave him life in the first place. This child escaped the terrible life of that dysfunctional family. His siblings had so many issues that plagued them because of the lack of attention given to their upbringing. God spared David and Bathsheba's lives, although the law said they should be executed for the sin they had committed. God was not done with them yet, so in mercy, they were permitted to live on to fulfill God's purposes through them. The punishment for the child's death was probably much more brutal for them than their own death would have been.
Death follows with silent footsteps as the family of David fails and falls. Tragedies of great dimension track them wherever they go. Why do such things happen? Why does God allow it? Justice demands restitution and full payment for sins committed. An innocent child dies and goes to heaven rather than live and suffer publicly because of the sins of his parents. God arranged it to preserve future generations from the wages of sin!
Parental indulgence allows what should be prohibited by saying it is love without boundaries. Acquaintances introduce others to new experiences and substances, claiming to be friends by letting them “see how the other half lives.” Christian influence is ignored under the pressure to conform to those who form the majority. Acceptance of what is known to be sinful leads to premature aging on the face, discolored hands, and skin, and the eternal suffering that comes as a result of the wages of sin!
New flavors burn the tongue, throat, and stomach. They will change their mind, resulting in speech without control, gradual dependence, needing unnecessary things, hands that shake, mind pictures that seem real, increasing poverty, and being left alone. Others who truly loved you are forsaken for “the pleasures of sin for a season” – the wages of sin! Arguments over trivial things divide friendships that had been true for years, and discussions that never seem to end cause contention. Divisions are caused by insisting that everyone accepts personal opinions, and demands for superficial conformity are insisted on. Divisions not measured in feet or miles and insistence on surrender where there is no battle separates once-strong ties; what was strong becomes weak – then non-existent – the wages of sin!
When a terrible, tragic sin has been committed, and when the matter has been dealt with by the sinner in a biblical way, to dwell on that matter is not of any profit. When one repents of their sin, turns to God again, and knows they are forgiven, one should press ahead in fellowship with the Lord in life and not go back again to experience the guilt of sin that has already been taken care of by God's grace. We accept God's forgiveness, make sure we have changed our lives and attitudes, and then move on to accomplish what God has in His mind for us.
Solomon (peaceful) was born to David and Bathsheba a few years later. The Lord told Nathan to give him another name, Jedidiah, which means "beloved of Jehovah." The grace of God supersedes even the gravest of sins and allows the guilty to live on to fulfill His will.
In an act of grace, the Lord allowed David to regain credibility in his nation by giving a victory over the Ammonites and capturing their capital city of Rabbah. The one-hundred-pound crown of gold studded with precious stones was placed on David's head, assuring the Israelites and Ammonites that he was still in control of the nation's affairs despite the personal disgrace he brought upon himself and his family. From then on, the Ammonites became physical laborers, keeping them occupied so they could not create political opposition. Israel would be enriched because of the manufacturing and other work done by the Ammonites, so Israel was not only a political power but an economic power in the Middle East.