The God of Second Chances | Sunday Message

Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners.

I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you. If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Let's grab our Bibles and turn to 2 Samuel chapter 11 and Psalm 32. 2 Samuel 11 and Psalm 32.

Hello to Harvest Orange County, Harvest Kumalani, everybody watching online as well. Let's pray. Father, now as we talk about second chances, I know there are people watching and listening who need a second chance really badly. In fact, we all need them, Lord, of course, but there's someone in great need of making a recommitment to you today or perhaps a first-time commitment. We ask your blessing now as we open your word because your word is truth.

And in a world filled with lies, it's so refreshing to have the word of truth. So speak to us, we pray. In Jesus' name we ask this.

Amen. Well, I wonder if there's anybody here who has ever messed up horribly in life. If that's you, raise your hand. I hope you're all raising your hand.

The guy in the front row did. That's kind of a little raise there. Yeah, we've all messed up horribly in life for sure. Well, you have sunk so low you thought you couldn't go any lower, but somehow you did. Well, if you've ever done this, I have good news for you. We serve a God who gives second chances, right?

And third chances, and fourth chances, and pretty much as high as you can count. Now, that does not mean that we can sin with abandon and not have to face consequences. I think sometimes we think because God forgives, that means that I can go out and do whatever I want to do, and if I say I'm sorry, everything's cool. Well, in one sense, if you repent before God and ask for his forgiveness, you are forgiven, of course, but there might be some repercussions. Example, let's say you decide to rob a bank this afternoon. You walk in, you hold up the bank, you got the money, you're walking out, you're arrested, and you say, oh, God forgive me.

You're forgiven, but you're still going to jail, right? Okay, so we don't think about that, but the Bible does say that you will reap what you sow. Well, here before us now in our series, The House of David, is a story of a man who desperately needed forgiveness. At the beginning of this series, I pointed out that when you say the name David, two other names come to mind. David and Goliath and David and, that's it, David and Bathsheba, and that's a story we're going to look at right now. One story, David and Goliath, was his greatest triumph.

The other story, David and Bathsheba, was pretty much his greatest defeat. David, of course, was a young man plucked from obscurity and chosen by God to become the king of Israel, and he walked right into the pages of history. In our first message in this series, I pointed out that there's more written on David than any other biblical character apart from Jesus himself. For instance, there's 14 chapters dedicated to Abraham and Joseph. There are 11 chapters dedicated to Jacob, but there are 66 chapters of the Bible dedicated to the life of David. So clearly, God wants us to do a deep dive into the life of this man that is uniquely called the man after God's own heart.

Of course, he came to be this great leader, but he didn't start out that way. He was a shepherd boy who became the giant killer. When he was anointed by the Lord to be the prophet Samuel, immediately the sitting king, Saul, set his sights on David and wanted to destroy him.

We've already looked at that in depth. Saul and his son Jonathan, who was a close friend of David, died in the battlefield. But Prince Jonathan asked David to make a commitment that he would care for his kin, for his offspring, for his descendants.

So after David ascended to the throne, when many kings would be destroying any potential enemies or threats to the throne, David said, is there anyone left of the house of Saul that's still alive? Someone told him about Mephibosheth, who was disabled, and David brought him into his home and treated him as a member of the royal family. So just amazing, he's forgiving his enemies, he's extending mercy, he's making pretty much one great decision after another. It's pretty much summed up in Psalm 57, which he wrote, these words, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed, oh Lord. So this was a guy that knew what his priorities were, and he was living a godly life. Being a Christian has been defined this way, obedience that we have in our life in the same direction. Long obedience, rather, in the same direction. So that's David, he's on a roll, he's doing great, he's been a king now for 20 years.

He is 50 years old, and something is beginning to go amiss. Of course, it started with a lustful look, and then it became a nationwide scandal, and the repercussions of it lasted for the rest of his life, the sin of David and Bathsheba. And by the way, no sin has gotten as much press as this sin, apart from Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.

Seems like everyone's heard this story in one way, shape, or form. And so it just shows that even when you've been walking with the Lord for a long time, you still are vulnerable to falling. That's a very important thing. The Bible says, let him that thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. So as you're listening to this message, you're thinking, well, I would never do any of these things.

You could be closer to doing those things than you think you are. Rather, our attitude should be, oh God, help me, as it has been said, but for the grace of God, there go I. Lord, help me to stay close to you. So here now is the very familiar story of David and Bathsheba. I'm reading from 2 Samuel 11, verses one to five. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. The following spring, the time of year when kings go to war.

You might underline that phrase. The time of year when kings go to war. David sent Joab, that's his general, and the Israelite army to destroy the Ammonites. In the process, they laid siege to the city of Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, David got out of bed after taking a nap and went for a stroll on the roof of the palace.

I'll stop there. Now, back in these days, they would have a rooftop terrace, I should say. So it's a flat roof, so he's walking around kind of on the patio on top of the palace.

And I've been to the city of David in Israel. And where his palace was, you could see that on that perch, he could pretty much see everything that was going on in his city. So he's taking a walk up there on the patio, and he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told she's Bathsheba. She's Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Then David sent for her, and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. Then she returned home.

When David discovered that she was pregnant, or, excuse me, when Bathsheba discovered she was pregnant, she sent a message to inform David. We'll stop there. Again, he's 50 years old, and he's been ruling for 20 years. Now, this is an age where sometimes it's said men have a midlife crisis. I don't know how much I really believe in this so-called midlife crisis.

I think it could happen at any age or any stage of your life. We don't read that David got a red chariot or whatever. But he's idle, and this is really where it all started. I mean, this guy had been on a roll up to this point, and now the devil attacks him.

So this brings us to point number one if you're taking notes. David's fall came after great spiritual success. David's fall came after great spiritual success. When did Jesus get attacked by the devil? Answer, after his baptism.

Remember, he was baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan River, and the Spirit of God came upon him in the form of a dove, and the father said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And then we read, immediately after that, Jesus went into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. After the dove came the devil. After the blessing came the attack.

The two often go hand in hand. The devil waits for the moment when he thinks we're the most vulnerable, where maybe we lower our guard spiritually. You remember, there was Peter in the upper room, who said in the presence of Christ and the other disciples, they'll all deny you, I will never deny you. Don't ever say anything like that. You have no idea what you are capable of, and when I say you, I mean me as well. So the pride going before the fall again.

Okay, number two. The sins we commit today may come to haunt us tomorrow. David didn't fall suddenly.

As with everyone, it's usually a process. 2 Samuel 5 tells us he was living in direct disobedience to God, because he took concubines into his home. If you don't know what a concubine is, it's basically a mistress, and he had quite a few of them on the payroll. And so he was indulging himself, and he was living immorally before God.

So I think sometimes we think, I can make this compromise, I can handle this, I'm strong. I read a story just yesterday on a news site about an 80-year-old man who was bit by a rattlesnake and died. Well, that isn't that shocking of a story to hear, 80 years old. But as it turns out, this particular man was an authority on rattlesnakes, and in particular on timber rattlers. He would go out into the wild, he would find them, and no one else could find them.

He'd kill them, he'd skin them. He was literally an expert on all things concerning rattlesnakes. And then he ends up getting bit by one. And where did he get bit? He had one in captivity. He was keeping one as a pet or something, and it bit him. So I think in the same way with sin. We might say, well, I can handle this, because this guy had been bitten by rattlesnakes before and survived, so he probably thought, I'll never die from a rattlesnake bite.

I can handle this, I'm in control of this. And he became probably too casual and confident, take away truth, don't keep rattlesnakes as pets. This guy thought he could handle the rattler, and what happens, he ends up dead. That's how it is with sin.

I can handle this, I'll never capitulate to this sin, I'll never fall in this area, and next thing you know, you get struck and you're dead. That's what was happening with David. His heart was slowly turning away from the Lord. He was allowing lust to consume his life.

Maybe he thought, if I have all of these women, that will satisfy me. But actually it didn't satisfy him, because it was gone out of God's order. Listen, God has given to you a sexual drive. There's nothing sinful about it, there's nothing evil about it, and there's a proper place to satisfy your sexual drive. And that place is in a committed marriage relationship.

And that is the only place it's going to be rightly satisfied. But if you have lust in your life, and you feed that lust, and there's many ways you can feed it, looking at pornography, other areas, it's like putting gasoline on a fire, hoping it will put the fire out. Here's a thing you need to think about when you come to the subject of lust.

You don't feed lust, you starve it. And so David was not satisfied. This just fueled his appetites, and now he's basically fattening himself up for the kill, and when does it happen? One warm spring night when his army was at war, David was taking a nap, bringing me to point number three. David was sleeping when he should have been fighting. He was sleeping when he should have been fighting. He's kicking back.

He's just taking a little time off. And by the way, there's nothing wrong with taking some time off, but you can't take a spiritual vacation. The spiritual battle rages all day and all night long. It's even raging when you're asleep, right? So you can't take a nap. I wish you could.

I wish we all could. But it is important to take time off and refresh ourselves physically and even spiritually. We read in the Gospel of Matthew that the crowds were pressing in on Jesus and the disciples, and he said to them in Matthew 631, come apart by yourselves to a deserted place and rest for a while, and then we read, for many were coming and going and they didn't even have time to eat. Jesus is saying, guys, let's take some time off. Let's get away from the crowds. And we all need to take time off.

We need to come apart and rest or we will fall apart spiritually. But that's not what was happening here. David was being idle. He was being slothful. His armor was off in more ways than one. In the time when kings lead their soldiers into battle, David was taking long naps.

So he was already setting himself up for an attack. Point number four, our greatest battles don't necessarily come when we're working hard. They don't necessarily come when we're working hard.

They often come when we have some leisure time or even when we're bored. Robert Boer, Alan Redpath, a great British preacher that I got to know personally, a wonderful, godly man, once made this statement. Times of toil, let me find the statement. I thought I memorized it, clearly I did it.

Here it is. Times of leisure are to be more dreaded than those of the most strenuous toil. Let me say that again.

Times of leisure, taking time off, are to be more dreaded than the times of intense toil. So basically, he's saying, you know, oh, we're not in this campaign right now. We're not doing this other thing right now.

I can just sort of relax. And that's what David did. He lowered his guard. Now this would have been a temptation for any man, right? Because the Bible tells us in 2 Samuel 11 two, Bathsheba was a woman of unusual beauty. That means this girl was hot. I mean, this girl was like you'd look, whoa, whoa, whoa, she's so beautiful. That's how beautiful she was. The Bible does not exaggerate.

So when the Bible tells you something like this, it's making a very important point. She was drop dead stunning. Then add to the fact that she didn't have any clothes on. Now add to the fact David's filling his mind and heart with lust.

And now Nitro just met glycerin. As he saw her, it would have been a temptation for any person who could then turn away, take 20 cold showers, go into a worship service, whatever you need to do. But for David, it was like, oh. And you know, a lot of times it's a second look that gets you into trouble, right? You look at something and you go, hmm, boom, right? So I think David's first look was real long, way too long. And now he just crumbles and swiftly takes action.

All rational thinking went out the door. He's like an animal driven by lust for what he wants. He dispatches a servant to find out who this beautiful woman is. Now you have to admire the boldness of a servant who says in 2 Samuel 11 three, uh, sire, your majesty, King David, she's Bathsheba, the daughter of Elahim and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

Kudos to this guy. He knows what David's thinking. He's not stupid.

Uh, yet, uh, she's married. So don't even think about it. That had no effect whatsoever on David. Point number five, when you're deluded by sin, you don't think clearly because sin makes you stupid. When you're deluded by sin, you don't think clearly because sin makes you stupid.

David was in this stage right now. You know, it's amazing how people rationalize bad behavior. How they rationalize sinful choices.

They'll say things like, well, you know, I'm just not happy in my marriage anymore. Or, well, I work really hard. I deserve this. Or, hey, everybody else does it.

Why shouldn't I? Or, hey, I'm human like everyone else besides we all make mistakes, don't judge me. Say whatever you want to rationalize a sinful decision.

David was effectively doing the same. And sometimes they'll say, well, it was more than I could handle. The devil made me do it. The devil can't make you do anything you don't wanna do. Now, he can bring some heavy duty temptation your way. But if you're setting yourself up already to start with, you can see how you would be more vulnerable to that temptation.

But here's the thing. 1 Corinthians 10, 13 says, there is no temptation taking you, but such is as common to man. But God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

Let me loosely paraphrase that. With every temptation you've ever faced, let me take a quick poll. How many of you have given in to temptation before? Well, you're a sinful bunch.

We all have, I'm kidding. Okay, now, of you that have given in to temptation, was there a way out, yes or no? Of course there was.

No, one guy, no. There is, there always is. And sometimes the way out is as simple as the door, literally.

Like, I'm going to now get up and walk out of this place where I'm getting tempted. This is why I'm told in 2 Timothy 2, 22, flee youthful lusts. Remember the story of Joseph. Potiphar had a wife. We don't know where her name was. Mrs. Potiphar, Mrs. Robinson, I'm not sure.

That's an old cultural reference, by the way. She's an older woman trying to have sexual relations with a younger man. She kept hitting on Joseph day in and day out, nonstop, then one day she just grabbed him and pulled him down on the bench. He said, lie with me.

And what did Joseph do? He did what any clear thinking, red-blooded young man should do under such circumstances. He ran like crazy.

He didn't lay there and go, okay, well, you know, I can handle this, go ahead. What are you talking, no, I gotta get out of here. And literally, sometimes it's running away from whatever it is. And so this is what's happened now.

He brings Bathsheba up to his chambers. Do you think they had a pleasurable night? Well, the Bible doesn't say. But I think we can assume there was some pleasure in what they did. Sin can be pleasurable, can't it? I know we don't wanna say, oh, no, it's horrible. Oh, really? Hey, eating 10 Krispy Kreme donuts is pleasurable.

Is it not? But how do you feel about 20 minutes later? You go into the worst food coma ever. I remember I went with a friend. We went to Krispy Kreme.

This is a long time ago. I don't hardly ever go anymore. And I think people think all I do is eat Krispy Kreme donuts and In-N-Out Burger. I was walking through one of these little open-air markets where they sell organic food the other day. And yesterday, actually, and I'm walking there and someone said, Pastor Greg, yes, how are you? Yeah, they don't have In-N-Out Burger here.

Why are you here? I don't just eat In-N-Out Burger. It's just a point of reference. I do eat it some and not that often. And I hardly ever eat Krispy Kreme.

But it is a perfect analogy. Back to my story. So I was riding a motorcycle that night and we went in and I probably ate eight Krispy Kreme donuts. Oh, don't judge me. They're a little smaller.

If you notice, they're a little smaller. And they give you the first one free. And if that sign is on and those are fresh, it's really hard to say no, wash them down with some cold milk. It was great. Loved it. 20 minutes later, I'm in a food coma and I've got to ride home on a motorcycle. I almost felt like I could fall asleep on a bike, but I made it home, thankfully. But the point is sin's good coming this way, but then the repercussions and the guilt and all the awful things connected with sin kick in. The Bible says sin is pleasurable for a time, but afterwards it brings death. Oh, I'm sure there was some pleasure that night, but oh, man.

Oh, man. The guilt's gonna kick in and the misery's gonna kick in. And thank God it does. That means your conscience is working. Listen, if you can sin, let's move it away from lust for a moment.

It's not only lust. But if you can sin, whatever your sin is, tell a lie, steal from someone, slander someone, do something lustful, do something hateful, whatever it is, if you can sin and you don't feel any guilt or any conviction, something's wrong with you. Your conscience isn't working. If you say something and immediately think, I shouldn't have said that, maybe I should apologize. If you think something and think, I shouldn't have thought about that, Lord, I'm sorry.

That's good. If you feel guilt when you say or do something wrong, that's good. No, guilt is bad. No, guilt means your conscience is working. Now, you don't have to be destroyed by guilt because there's forgiveness.

But having said that, we want the conscience to work. You know, it's like those fire alarms, smoke alarms, I should say. I have them in my house. How many of you have smoke alarms? Okay, thankfully, I've never had one go off because we were having a fire. But I've had them go off for no other reason. And is there an unwritten law somewhere that smoke alarms will always go off at 3 a.m.?

Not 3 p.m., not in the afternoon. And so you jump out of bed, and what is it? It's time to change your battery.

Okay, could you have said it differently? Don't you have a lower key, beep like, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, ah, you think it's a fire. But you don't wanna disable them. I've pulled them out of the ceiling, I'll admit to you.

Because I can't get it to stop. I've literally ripped it out of the ceiling. These wires just hanging there. That's not good, put it back in. Keep them working.

And hopefully they'll do their job for you. So David has disabled his conscience. Now what he should have done is said, oh man, I sinned. I repent, especially when Bathsheba said, I'm pregnant. But now David comes up with a devious plan to have her husband killed.

But before that, he thought something else might work. So he goes to his general, Joab. Joab, there's some soldier named Uriah. He's married to Bathsheba, that's beside the point. Bring him back from the battle, I wanna talk to him. Imagine Uriah, now Uriah's just a soldier. He doesn't know David, David's a legend. The man after God's own heart, the giant killer, this wonderful, godly man, the writer of Psalms. David summons him to the palace.

Yeah, how excited you would be. And so he's brought from the battle lines and he's brought to the palace of David and he's escorted into the room where David himself is. Perhaps the king is sitting on his throne and David says, Uriah, heard some good things about you, buddy, tell me, how's the battle going?

Well, it's rough, but we're out there fighting it and we're inspired by your courage and we just love you so much. Yeah, whatever. Hey, listen, Uriah. I thought maybe you'd like to take a night off, go home, be with your beautiful wife. Wink, wink, nod, nod.

And so go do that. Then the next day, David gets up. Hey, where is Uriah? He's sleeping outside of the palace.

What, he didn't go home? Uriah, what's up? Oh, well, king, I just couldn't do that. I thought of my fellow soldiers out there and all they're going through, I can't go home and have this pleasure with my wife? Oh, great.

I've got a do-gooder. So he gets him drunk and says, now go home to your wife. Still he doesn't go home to his wife. What is David trying to do? He's thinking if Uriah sleeps with his wife that then they can say, oh, it's your baby, right? But Uriah won't do it.

That was a roadblock. The Lord was saying, stop, David, this is evil. David should have repented. What does he do? He says, Uriah, do me a favor, buddy. I've got a letter I want you to deliver to King Joab.

Give it to him when you return back to service. Okay, king, thank you, I will. So he gives this letter to Joab.

This is all loose paraphrase, but it's all in the Bible, people. Gives the letter to Joab. Dear Joab, I want you to have a charge against the enemy and I want everyone to fall back against Uriah.

Tell me what happens next. Sign, David, the man after God's own heart. Probably didn't sign it that way. Wonder what Joab is thinking. Well, what kind of a man is this? This writer of psalms. This sweet psalmist of Israel, as he's called.

I know what's going on. He wants this guy dead. I don't know if Uriah knew why King David wanted him dead, but he knew what the king was asking and so the charge is led.

Everybody falls back and the courageous Uriah is killed on the battlefield. So David thought, done deal. Well, looks like Bathsheba's not married. Hey, would you like to be my wife? Yes, I would. Everything's great.

Everything's awesome. He just didn't bargain on one thing because we read in Second Samuel 11, 27, the thing David had done displeased the Lord. Now remember, David is a believer.

I know it's hard to believe. He is a believer while he's doing all this dumb stuff, but he's a disobedient believer. So in this time where he had not yet repented of his sin, his sin had not gone public yet, he wrote two psalms, Psalm 51 and Psalm 32. Psalm 32 describes a futility and misery of sin that is unconfessed. Understand, David is a man that has walked and talked with God since his childhood and he's been fighting the conviction of the Holy Spirit for 12 months, living in unconfessed sin for 12 months. Go over to Psalm 32. Let's read a few verses. Psalm 32, verse one. David writes, oh what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those who record that the Lord has cleared them of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty.

Now David admits what he's been doing. When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.

My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Selah, depending on your translation, or interlude is the next word there, right? David continues, finally I confessed all my sins to you and I stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, I will confess my rebellion to the Lord and you forgave me. David writes, all my guilt is gone.

Wow, what a perfect description of what it's like to live in unconfessed sin. He describes it as his strength evaporating like water in the summer heat. And then the words selah are interlude. So in the Psalms, which originally were songs, think of them as songs, there would be music, stringed instruments that would be played, perhaps other instruments as well, wind instruments. And there would sometimes be a musical break. In rock and roll you might call it a guitar break, a drum solo, right? Something for emphasis. Well, as they would sing a song, they would pause and just play the melody so you could think about what you had just heard.

Selah, interlude. So David is saying, hey, let me tell you what it was like. I felt like my strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Pause and think about that. Do you not know this feeling yourself where you've sinned against God, you haven't confessed it yet, and it just eats at you? And the good news is the reason it's eating at you is because you're a child of God. And that's a good thing.

Point number seven. God disciplines those he loves. God disciplines those he loves. This discipline and conviction in David's life was a sign he was a child of God. He wrote about it in Psalm 23. He said, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

That's exactly what he's talking about. Now, for a shepherd, they had two primary instruments in the tending of sheep. The rod and the staff. The staff was used for pulling wayward lambs in. The rod was used to fight off predators and occasionally give a wham a good whack. Did I say a wham? You crazy wabbit.

I all of a sudden became Elmer Fudd here. The rod was used to give the lamb a good whack. See, there's a little tongue twister. When it needed it, not all the time, a shepherd generally would not use a rod on his sheep.

He'd use his staff. But every now and then, this little lamb's really wayward. And the problem is he is leading other lambs astray.

So for his own good and for their own good, boom, he gives the lamb a whack. Have you been whacked ever by the Lord, disciplined by the Lord? Hebrews 12, eight says if God doesn't discipline you as he does all of his children, it means you're illegitimate and you're not really his children at all. You know, God only disciplines his own kids.

He doesn't discipline those that are not his children. Have you ever seen someone's children misbehaving? I meet disrespectful children. They have no manners, they have no respect, and I look at them and I think, bad parenting. It's the fault of the parent. The parent has not taught that child the right way to live, the right way to treat others, et cetera. And there's times I wish I could discipline someone else's child, but I can't and I shan't.

Used a little British phrase. Because that's not my right and I could get in trouble for it. But God will discipline his own children.

Why? Hebrews 12 again says no discipline is enjoyable while it's happening, it's painful, but afterwards there'll be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So David tries to cover things up, but the evidence of his crime was everywhere. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 28, 13, he who covers his sin will not prosper.

Whoever confesses and forsakes his sin will have mercy. So now the best possible thing that could have happened, happened. David got busted. Now David was lying up to this point. You know, it was out there. Now people know. And David gathered the Israeli press together and he turned to them and said, I did not have sex with that woman, Bathsheba. How many of you got the reference?

Suddenly you came alive. Political reference. He didn't do that, but it's implied.

Now I love this. Then the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David, 2 Samuel 12, one. When did the Lord send Nathan the prophet to David? Right after his act of adultery with Bathsheba? No. Right after Bathsheba revealed she was pregnant with David's child? No. Right after David sent Uriah's husband, sent rather Bathsheba's husband to die in the battlefield? Again, no.

12 months had passed. David really can't live with himself. And so the prophet Nathan comes in. Hello, your majesty. I'd like to present a case before you of some abuse happening in your kingdom. Speak on, David says, sitting in his throne.

Okay, king. There's these two guys. One's rich, one's poor. The rich guy has lots of sheep. The poor guy has one little lamb. Little baby lamb. It's his pet.

It's like a daughter. He holds it in his arms like a little baby girl. It even sits at the table and eats with him. He feeds the lamb from his plate. You know people that do this with dogs, right? They go into the restaurant with a dog.

They're eating, they feed the dog. Are you one of those people? Could I just say one word? Stop.

Just stop. I mean, do it at home, I guess, if you're that weird. But hey, in a restaurant?

Anyway, it happens, right? So this guy loves a little baby lamb. Anyway, so someone came from out of town to visit the rich guy, saying, I'd love to have leg of lamb for dinner tonight.

The guy says, no problem. Instead of killing one of his own sheep, he goes over to the home of the poor man with the one baby lamb that he treated like a pet, takes his baby lamb, and kills it. And then Nathan says to David, so tell me, what should be done with a person like that? David's blood begins to boil. His face turns red.

His hands grip the throne. And he says, that man should return four times what he took, and then he should be killed. Hello? Okay, it's bad, but the guy did. Restoring fourfold seems legitimate, but kill him? Yeah, that's exactly what David said. What happened next? Let's read it, 2 Samuel chapter 12. The prophet looks at David, and this is what happens.

Then Nathan said to David, you are the man. The Lord God of Israel says, I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master's house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why then have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you've despised me by taking Uriah's wife to be your own.

Wow, busted. Nathan turns to David and says, you the man. You're the man, get it? This guy took the other man's little baby lamb. You took this man's only wife, and if that wasn't bad enough, you had him killed on the battlefield. You are guilty. David was caught.

It seems like the worst thing that could have happened, but in reality, it was the best thing that could have happened because now he's gonna find resolution. Isn't it interesting how harsh David was with the sin of this wealthy man who took another man's lamb? I also find it interesting how harsh and judgmental some people can be toward others, and then one day we find out that that harsh, judgmental person was actually guilty of a far greater sin. They're nitpicking.

They're fault-finding. They always have a critical word to say about everybody else. They seem so holier than thou, right?

And then one day it's like, whoa, you find out something about them. See, it all makes sense though because this is exactly what Jesus was talking about when he said, how can you pull the telephone pole out of your brother's eye or the speck out of your brother's eye when you have a telephone pole in your own eye? In other words, how can you be so judgmental of someone else when you're guilty of far worse? That's exactly what was happening with the life of David. Number eight, there's only one correct response to being caught in sin. You say, I have sinned.

The only correct response is admit it and confess it. To David's credit, 2 Samuel 12, 13. I have sinned against the Lord. He admitted it.

Now, this is where we wanna defend David a little bit. What he did was horrible. What he did was wrong. He would face the repercussions of this for years to come, quite frankly, but he did admit it. When King Saul was confronted with this sin, he just dug in deeper and sinned more. When David was confronted with this sin, he came clean and admitted it and repented before God.

This is the thing we wanna remember, bringing me to point number nine. Despite his sin, David was given a second chance in life. Despite his sin, David was given a second chance in life. As devastating as this story sounds, David did make a comeback. Again, he faced repercussions, but his life ultimately ended well. Believe it or not, there's a tie-in between this sordid tale and the Christmas story.

You say, how so? Well, where did the prophet come to anoint David? Bethlehem. Where was Jesus born? Bethlehem.

Why? Because Jesus was of the root and offspring of David, both of the bloodline of Mary and the lineage of Joseph. That's why Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be taxed. But here's the shocker, my 10th and final point, Bathsheba made it into the messianic line of Jesus Christ.

I love this part. Bathsheba, the woman. Now, I don't wanna put the primary blame on Bathsheba, but she was culpable.

It takes two to tangle, right? But David was the perpetrator. David was the one that initiated this. David was the one that God held responsible, but Bathsheba sinned too, didn't she? And she had to repent as well. But yet, despite that, she makes it into the most exclusive genealogy in all of human history.

When you look at the family line of David, you find not only Bathsheba is in there, but also two other women, Tamar and Rahab, both prostitutes who turn to God. So what does this mean? It means God gives second chances.

That's the takeaway truth. God gives second chances. Maybe you're in need of a second chance. Maybe I'm talking to somebody that has done something very similar to this. I don't think you've probably murdered anybody, though it's possible. Maybe you've committed adultery, maybe you've broken up a home. Maybe you've been unfaithful, maybe you've been living a sexually impure life and you're not married. There's a lot of things that maybe you've done. Or maybe it's some other sin altogether and you've messed up. Here's what you need to do.

You need to admit it to God and repent of it right now. This message is for you. You the man. You the woman.

You're the one. And I don't know who you are and I don't know who this is speaking to. But you know who you are. And so if the Lord has directed this message to you and said this is for you, you need to repent of this sin. And right now, in your mind, it's there.

You know what it is. If he's saying this to you, just deal with it right here right now. Because he loves you, he's doing this.

He loves you. Maybe you haven't faced the full repercussions of your sin yet. Maybe you haven't faced any outward repercussions of your sin yet. You're just dealing with the guilt and the misery of it.

God has been gracious to you. Turn to him and say, Lord, I call that sin what it is. I'm tired of excusing it.

I'm tired of rationalizing it. I confess it as a sin and I turn from you. But maybe I'm talking to somebody who isn't even a Christian yet.

This is all new to you. But you are a sinner, as we all are. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You can turn to Jesus Christ right now and be forgiven of all of your sins because Jesus, of the root and offspring of David, born in Bethlehem in a manger, went to a cross and died for the sin of the world and he died for your sin. And if you'll turn from that sin, he'll forgive you right here, right now.

Let's pray. Now, Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit will convict and convince any person here, any person listening, watching, wherever they are, of their sin. Help them to see they need Jesus. But thankfully, Lord, you don't just make us aware of our sin to make us feel miserable. You make us aware of our sin so we'll repent of it and find great joy and happiness. Because your word says happy is the man or the woman whose sin is forgiven.

Now while our heads are bowed, there's not gonna be any hand-raising in this moment. But maybe God has spoken to somebody here very directly about an area of your life that is not right before God. It might be your thought life. It might be things you're doing or saying.

It might be some moral issue. Whatever it is, if you need to repent right now, you just say, Lord, I repent of this sin. Forgive me. You say that to the Lord right now. The Bible says if you will confess your sin, he's faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

You just admit it to God. And Father, I pray that you will extend your hand of cleansing to each of these folks who've taken this step and you know who they are. And now finally, there might be somebody here that has never asked Jesus Christ to come into their life. You don't know that your sin is forgiven. You don't know that you'll go to heaven when you die.

You can know it now by asking Christ to come into your heart and life. And if you wanna do that, you can just pray this prayer out loud after me. In fact, I'm gonna ask everybody to pray this prayer out loud after me. Pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from that sin and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on Know God.