This sermon series is what I call “Comeback Kings.” It describes the lives of people in Scripture who had had potential for greatness, but whose lives were shattered because of something they or others had done. Ultimately, though they achieved victory from lives of defeat and became “comeback kings.” The following is the story of one such man (read II Samuel 11:1-15).
OPEN: When things go wrong in our lives, there are many Christians will say: “Do not live with regret. Everything happens for a reason.” In other words – EVERYTHING that happens has been brought about by God… it’ll be OK. In fact, someone carried that a little further – “Everything happens for a reason… just believe.”
Now I appreciate those thoughts, but my take on Scripture is a little different. I tend to think: “Everything happens for a reason… sometimes the reason is you’re stupid and you make bad decisions.”
(The opening featured 3 meme’s with the words I quote)
Now, that’s kinda what’s happening in the story we read this morning. David has been stupid… and He made some really bad decisions. But before we get to that part of his story, let’s recap what has happened in David’s life up to this point.
We’re first introduced to him he’s just a young shepherd boy taking care of his daddy’s sheep. And David loves God so much - that he spends his time out in the fields thinking about God, writing songs about God, and meditating on God’s law all day long. David loves God so much he can’t imagine a day that he isn’t praising God and spending every moment in His presence.
And that’s what he’s doing – singing, praising and meditating in the fields - when God sends the prophet Samuel to find him and anoint him to replace Saul as the next King of Israel. Saul had once been a fairly decent King, but had ultimately fallen into pride and disobedience to the point where God told him he would lose his throne to another man.
Right after David is anointed, we find David taking food to his brothers on the battlefront as Israel is in a war against the Philistines. And as David reaches the camp just as a huge warrior from the Philistine side makes fun of the Israelites and insults the God of Israel. David is incensed that an man would be foolish as to insult his God… and he says so. Next thing you know – David is facing the giant on the field of battle. What’s that giant’s name? That’s right - Goliath. And David takes the big man down and begins his career as a mighty warrior for Israel and God. He is such a successful warrior that the people of Israel begin to sing his praises, and his popularity causes King Saul to become jealous of him. Several times Saul seeks to kill David, but eventually Saul dies in battle… and David becomes King.
For the next 20 years David is a great King and he leads the armies of Israel in victory over many of their enemies. And that brings us to our story today.
David’s is now in his 60’s. And we’re told “it was in the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle.” Kings are supposed to be at war… but David isn’t out at the battle front? Where’s David at? DAVID STAYED HOME!
If this is the time when King were out on the battlefield, why did David stay home? Well, there was this lady that lives next door. She’s the wife of one of David’s trusted warriors and friends. He’s part of the elite force known as David’s 30 mighty men. His name was Uriah. His wife’s name was Bathsheba… and I think David had seen her on the roof before. I think he’d seen her taking her bath a few times in the past. And she was nude. What’s more, I think Bathsheba knows he’s been watching, and she finds herself attracted to him. After all, Uriah may be a mighty man of war, but David was a wealthy man, a man of power and influence – and David obviously likes how she looks. She’s young, she’s pretty, and her husband is out of town…
Now if this scene were played out on most TV shows of our day, this would be where the lights would dim, and the romantic music would start. You can see the look of desire in his eyes, and the look of desire in hers… and you almost feel yourself rooting for these two to fall into bed. I mean, after all, they were “meant for each other.”
As the old Country song goes: “If loving you is wrong… I don’t wanna be right.” Yeah, it’s wrong, but hubby’s out of town and he’ll never know, and - after all – who’s it gonna hurt?
(PAUSE) Yeah… well… there is a small complication. She gets pregnant!
Women who were married and got pregnant by another man had a problem. What was the punishment for such a woman? They stoned her to death! Now, perhaps David might have been able to intercede on her behalf and save her life (after all – he is the King) but even if he accomplished that, it would ruin her reputation. And of course – it’s not gonna do HIS reputation any good either.
They do the math, and they realize that if they wait for Uriah to get home from the war, everybody will know Uriah is NOT the daddy. So David pulls some strings and gets Uriah home on furlough in the hopes that Uriah will go and sleep with his wife and then he’ll think the child is his.
It’s a great plan, but Uriah – well, he’s a nice guy. He’s a decent man. He refuses to sleep with his wife. When David asks why he won’t do that, Uriah replies: “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” II Samuel 11:11
Uriah is just a really decent guy.
(PAUSE) David realizes he can’t cover his sin and he’s run out of options… so he decides to get rid of Uriah. David signs Uriah’s death warrant and has Uriah deliver it General Joab (also David’s nephew). The order says that Uriah is to be sent into the heat of battle, and as the battle becomes intense, Joab is to withdraw all the other soldiers and allow Uriah to face the enemy alone. That’s just what happens… and Uriah dies on the field of battle.
Now Uriah’s dead. Bathsheba is now a free woman, and David takes her as his wife and all is right with the world. They’re safe now! Nobody but Bathsheba and David and Joab has any idea what David has done.
(PAUSE) Well… actually somebody else DOES know. Who would that “somebody else be?” That’s right, God knows. David acknowledged that truth in one of his Psalms: “… where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! … If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” Psalm 139:7-12
You can’t hide from God. He’s everywhere and He knows everything.
ILLUS: There’s been times in my life when I’ve remembered a sin I’ve committed. I’m ashamed of something I’ve said, or thought, or done. And I think to myself “I don’t want to confess this sin to God.” Because if I confess that sin to God… then He’ll know about it. But IF I don’t tell Him about it… then He won’t know.
How dumb is that?
You can’t hide your sins from God… He’s everywhere and He knows EVERYTHING!
And God knew what David had done. In one of the most scathing rebukes ever found in Scripture, God sends the prophet Nathan with these words: “… This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ’I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.
Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ "This is what the LORD says: ’Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” II Samuel 12:7-12
Do you think maybe God was angry? Yeah! He was furious!
Everything that God predicted, God brought to pass. God brought judgment down upon David because what he’d done was evil, wicked, beyond understanding. And God was going to bring serious punishment into David’s life.
And that’s kind of what we’d expect from God, isn’t it? God is a righteous God. He punishes sin… because that’s what He does!!!
(PAUSE) Now, fast forward to Acts 13:22 “… (God) raised up for (Israel) David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
Whoa! That’s doesn’t make any sense. David commits terrible sins in his life… and now God says he’s a model of righteousness? Where did that come from? Well… it came from the Old Testament.
After David died we read his name repeatedly throughout the next few books in the Old Testament as if God were honoring him. In 1 Kings 15:11 we read that “(King) Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done.” Then God says the same thing about King Hezekiah - 2 Kings 18:3 “(King Hezekiah) did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.”
In fact, that kind of thing is said of several of the good Kings of Judah.
In fact - at one point - God describes Himself as being: “the LORD, the God of David” II Chronicles 21:12
And, of course - in Acts - David is described as a man after God’s own heart.
So, what’s going on here? How could David go from being a man condemned by God to being a model of righteousness.
(PAUSE) Well, what happened was this: Something changed. And what changed? Well, David did. Psalm 51 is described as “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” And in that Psalm David pleads: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.…
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” Psalm 51:1-3 & 7-13
Now, here’s the deal: David repented of his sin… and God forgave him. There’s a famous passage in II Peter 3:9 that tells us that “(God) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to (what’s that word again?) REPENTANCE.”
The Bible tells us that when we repent forgives us of our sins. It says God buries our sins in the depth of the sea, and it’s like He puts up a sign saying “no fishing.”
ILLUS: It also says He removes our sins from us as far as the East is from the West. That’s an interesting phrase “East is from West.” It doesn’t say He removes our sins as far as the North is from the South. Why not? Well, think about it: If I were to start out today and head due north where would I eventually end up? The North Pole. Once I got to the North Pole everything would be “south” from there. And if I were to start out and head due south, where would I eventually end up? The SOUTH Pole. From the South Pole, everything is north. Thus, if my sins were removed from me as far as the North is from the South – that would mean that there would be a limit to how much God would forgive me.
By contrast, if I start out going East… how far do I go before I’m not going East anymore? Where does East stop? It doesn’t does it? I’d just keep going round and round and round the earth forever. The same if I went West. Thus God was telling us that when we repent, there is no end to how many times He’s willing to forgive us.
You know, there’s a story in the New Testament about a man who received that kind of forgiveness. We know him as the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote to Timothy: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost (he was the worst of all sinners). But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” 1Timothy 1:15-16
Now, why would Paul believe he’d been the worst of all sinners? Well… because he had been. You see, years before, Paul (then known as Saul) had hated Jesus and persecuted Christians. He was even being partly responsible for the death of the Stephen, the 1st martyr for the faith. From the day of his part in Stephen’s death, Saul made it his personal mission to destroy the church – punishing, imprisoning, and perhaps even execution of various Christians.
Once Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, however, Saul changed. From the moment of his baptism into Christ, you couldn’t shut that man up. His repeated message was this: you’ve sinned and deserve to go to hell… and only Jesus can forgive you of your sin. That message began with the truth he knew about himself – he’d been the worst of all sinners… and yet Jesus forgave him.
CLOSE: I want to close with what I believe is the true story of a man in England who had been a very successful preacher. Over time though he lost interest in his faith, and drifted off into secret sin. He thought he’d covered his tracks well… but ultimately his secret sin became public knowledge and even made the headlines. He lost his pulpit and had to move away to avoid the shame.
Over time he began to realize how foolish he had been and he came back to God in repentance. In the town where he’d chosen to live, there was a church that needed a preacher and they had heard him speak a couple of times about his faith and asked him to preach for them. He agreed, but told no one in his new church what he’d done in the past. The church grew and the crowds began to pack the auditorium.
But one day, as he was getting ready to go up and preach, a man handed him an anonymous note. In the letter was a complete description of the sin he’d committed. These words were at the bottom of the page: “I know about the sin you committed. And if you have the audacity to go up into that pulpit and preach, I will publicly tell everyone about your past.”
He took that letter and began to weep… and he prayed. A few minutes later, he was in the pulpit. He began his message by reading the letter, from start to finish. Then he said, "I want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I'm ashamed of what I've read, and what I've done. I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven.”
And from that day forward, God used that message to bring more to Christ
You know there are a lot of people struggle with that idea of being forgiven. They don’t think that God could ever forgive them of things they’ve done and they try as hard as they can to do as much as they can, in hopes that God will overlook their sins and love them again. But it doesn’t work that way.
You can’t be good enough to be good enough but you can be repentant enough to be forgiven. Remember, if God could forgive David, and God could forgive Paul, He can (and will) forgive you.
INVITATION
