David: A Man After God’s Own Heart – Sermon #18

 

2 Samuel 12:9-14

WHEN YOUR CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST

Intro: When I was growing up in Alabama, it was not uncommon for there to be chickens running around in the yard.  We would collect their eggs and take one from time to time for fried chicken or chicken and dumplings.  Now, during the day, those chickens would scratch around in the yard, the pasture or sometimes they would venture into the edge of the woods. But, sometime in the afternoon, those chickens would begin to head back to their roost.  They might wander far and wide, but they always went to the roost when evening came.

      There is a verse in the Old Testament that says, “…and be sure your sin will find you out,” Num. 32:23.  That is not a threat.  It is not even a promise.  It is just a statement of the facts.  Just like those chickens that could be depended on to head back to the roost at night, you can be sure of the fact that your sins will come home to you too.

      We have looked at David’s sin with Bathsheba.  We have watched that sin evolve from the moment it was conceived until it was committed, and then we have watched as that sin was confronted and confessed.  We spend a little time last week talking about the consequences of David’s sin. I want to dig into that area a little deeper today.

      I want to preach about When Your Chickens Come Home To Roost.  I want to show you what we can expect when we allow sin to flourish in our lives.  There are consequences and they are very unpleasant.  Let’s look into 2 Samuel 12-18 and learn what to expect When Your Chickens Come Home To Roost.

 

  I.                   THE PRINCIPLE DAVID ENCOUNTERED

A.  In this dark episode David discovered a spiritual principle that holds true in every person’s life.  Here is the principle: “God always instantly and completely forgives sin when there is confession and genuine repentance; but He does not remove the consequences of our sins.”

·        God forgave David’s sin – 2 Sam. 12:13 – That is grace!

·        David still had to face the consequences of his actions – 2 Sam. 12:10-11, 14 – That is reality!

·        (Ill. Contrast “the Lord hath put away thy sin”, v. 13, and “the sword shall never depart from thine house”, v. 10.

B.  The principle I mentioned a few minutes ago is clearly demonstrated in the lives of the characters of the Bible. (Ill. Adam, Gen. 3:9-21; Moses, Num. 20:10-12; Abraham – He brought Hagar out of Egypt and paid a price, Gen. 12:10-20; Gen. 16; Jacob – He tricked his brother and his father and then he met Laban, who tricked him, Gen. chapters 27-31; Achan – He stole money and a garment, and paid a high price, Josh. 7; David – We know what he did and something of the price he paid.)

C.  This principle is also clearly declared in the pages of the Bible, Gal. 6:7-8. These verses teach us the following two truths: 1.) You always reap exactly what you sow.  2.) You always reap more than you sow.  3.) You will reap what you sow in this life.

            Thess are grace verses!  It was not written to Old Testament peoples; it was written to New Testament believers.  Here is the idea they express: Confession and repentance do not stop the harvest!  If you sow it, you will reap it!

            Somehow or another we have come to believe that if we confess our sins, it will be as if they never happened.  This is just not so!  Yes, God gives grace, but His grace means that we do not die for our sins, 2 Sam. 12:13.  Grace means that we will have God’s help to face the consequences.  Grace means that we are free to come into line with God’s plan for our lives.  But, grace never means that we are off the hook!  Where sin is sown, a bitter harvest is always reaped.

       (Ill. Dr. Pierce Harris of First Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, once spoke at a prison work camp. The prisoner introducing him recalled earlier days of association with the minister. "Several years ago," he said, "two boys lived in the same community in north Georgia and attended the same school, played with the same bunch of fellows, and went to the same Sunday School. One of them dropped out of Sunday School because he felt he had outgrown it, and that it was 'sissy stuff.' The other boy kept on going because he felt that it really meant something in his life. The boy who dropped out is the one who is making this introduction today. The boy who kept going to Sunday School is the famous preacher who will preach to us this morning.)

 D.  One of our problems in dealing with sin is the fact that we learn 1 John 1:9 long before we encounter Romans 6:11-13.  We learn that God will forgive us for our sins before we ever learn that we do not have to commit the sin in the first place, 1 Cor. 10:13. As a result, we are trained and programmed to sin!  We think we can do it, confess it and walk away from it.  Well, we are dead wrong!  Remember this principle: “God always instantly and completely forgives sin when there is confession and genuine repentance; but He does not remove the consequences of our sins.”  My advice is that we all learn it, memorize it, remember it and live by it from this moment forward!

 

 II.                               THE PAIN DAVID ENDURED

A.  When David sinned with Bathsheba and attempted to cover that sin by having Uriah murdered, he unleashed a firestorm of tragedy in his own life and in his family.  Things would never be the same in David’s life or home as a result of the things he did.

B.  Let me give you a brief overview of the pain David endured for the moment of pleasure he enjoyed.

1.     David suffered the death of an infant son – 2 Sam. 12:15, 18

2.     David’s eldest son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar – 2 Sam. 13:1-2

3.     David’s son Absalom grew to hate Amnon – 2 Sam. 13:22

4.     Absalom conspires to have Amnon killed – 2 Sam. 13:23-29

5.     Absalom flees from his father and the two are estranged for some 5 years. 2 Sam. 13:37-39; 2 Sam. 14:24

6.     Absalom leads a public rebellion against David – 2 Sam. 15-17

7.     Absalom publicly disgraces David by committing adultery with David’s concubines on top of the King’s palace – 2 Sam. 16:21-22

8.     Absalom is murdered by David’s nephew Joab – 2 Sam. 18:32-33

This is a tragic description of the horrible effects sin can have in our lives! David’s sin affected his family more than it did anyone else.  After all the smoke had cleared, he had four dead sons, a kingdom in shambles, disgraced wives, a tarnished reputation, a disgraced daughter, and a trusted counselor dead by suicide, among other things.  Even though it was David who sinned, his sin still impacted people who were totally innocent.  That infant child and Tamar were both innocent victims of David’s wickedness! But, it also affected David!  It tarnished his name, Psa. 41:8.  It caused him constant grief and heartache, Psa. 55:4.

C.  Have you thought about what could happen in your life?  Have you thought what the fallout would be if you fell into sin?  Have you considered what might happen and what lives might be ruined if you took that fatal step and went away from the Lord into sin?  Are you willing to pay that high a price?  You never know who might be destroyed because of an indiscretion in your life!  Don’t think for a moment that your sins won’t affect the innocent people around you.  Don’t think for a minute that you can do as you please an affect no one else.  You are deceiving yourself when you believe that! May the Lord help us all to count the cost and stay close to Him! 

      (Ill. Many people are praying a high price for their sins today!  Parents who lived in sin during the formative years of their children’s live, but who are now saved, watch their children continue to stay away from the Lord.  Some man or woman who gave into a moment of temptation now bear in their body the horror of a venereal disease.  Others have squandered their lives for a time of pleasure and lost their ability to minister.  Sin has the power to cripple you and destroy you, if you allow it to get a foothold in your life.  Whatever you have to do to be free of your sin is exactly what you need to do!  Here is how Jesus put it, Mark 9:43-48.)

 

      (Ill. Evangelist Sam Jones used to tell the following story: “While I was preaching in a certain town, there was a boy who would come into the back part of the church and lie down and go to sleep. He was drunk. His father, who was a good Christian man, would take him home.

            One morning after one of these experiences, the boy came downstairs. The father met him and said, "Hold on, Son. I want you to go to church with me and be a Christian." The son said, "No, Father, I do not want to be a Christian. I am not going to church. Please get out of my way, for I am going to town.")

            The father pleaded tenderly and said, "Son, your mother has slept little for nights. She is almost dying. You are killing us all. Please go and become a Christian like your father has." But the son glared at him and said, "Do you know who the man is who gave me my first drink?" The father answered, "No." Then as he rushed past him and out of the door, he angrily said, "You are the man, sir." The father said that if the boy had shot him through the heart, it could not have hurt more. Yes, we reap what we sow.”

 

III.                         THE POWER DAVID EXPERIENCED

A.  Even as this time unfolds in David’s life, we can see in his life the evidence of God’s hand at work.  Even though David had to face the consequences for his sins, he was still God’s man.  And, God was at work in his heart.  This is seen in two specific incidents as David fled from Jerusalem during the rebellion of Absalom.

            The first incident occurs in 2 Sam. 15:24-26.  Here, Abiathar the priest was leaving with David.  He and the Levites were taking the Ark from Jerusalem.  David sends them back declaring his dependence upon the will of the Lord.

            The second occurs in 2 Sam. 16:5-14 when a man named Shimei follows David, cursing him as he does. Abishai, David’s nephew, wants to decapitate Shimei, but again, David places his fate in the hands of the Lord.

B.  From these and other incident, it would seem that David is rediscovering some of the humility that had marked him as a younger man. Yes, David paid a high price, but he also came out of these dark days with a changed heart; restoration and humility.  He faced his sin like a man and God gave him grace to make it through the consequences!

C.  If there is one glimmer of light in this dark, tragic tale, it is in the fact that God brought David through it all and restored him to the throne.  If God did it for David, He will do it for you!  God will never desert you, Heb. 13:5.  He will go with you even as you face the consequences of your rebellion against Him.  He will give you grace to get you through the pain and that heartache of your sin, 2 Cor. 12:9.  And, He will be standing there to receive you when you come to yourself and head for home, Luke 15:11-24.

            I wish I could tell you that when you got saved you would never fail God again.  We all know that it would be a lie if Is did tell you something like that.  However, I can promise you this: when you do fail, God will help you through the processes of confession, repentance restoration.  He will even keep you through the dreadful consequences sin brings into your life.  That is the promise of grace.  That is the promise of the heavenly Potter, Jer. 18:1-6.

 

Conc: Dr. R.G. Lee, that golden tongued Baptist preacher once said, “In 1520 one man brought small pox to Mexico, where it cost three and one half million deaths. Another man, who landed in England in 1348, was responsible for spreading the Black Death, "Bubonic Plague," the greatest killer Great Britain has ever known. It does not take many bullets from a rifle to kill a man. One bullet can kill. It does not take many deadly diseases to bring death to the human body. One deadly disease can bring death. It does not take the breakage of many bones to cripple the hand. One broken bone can cripple.”[1]

      I would add that it does not take much sin to leave an eternal mark on a life, a family, a community or a nation.  David learned this harsh lesson.  Some of you have learned it as well.  Some are in the process of seeing their chickens come home to roost.

      While sin always carries a great price tag, it does not have to be as bad as it could be.  If there is unconfessed sin in your life, I challenge you to bring it to Jesus, confess it, repent of it, and pray for grace to face the consequences.  If you are reaping a bitter harvest today, why not come before the Lord and submit to what He is doing in your life.  If things are right between you and the Lord I would encourage you to come before Him to ask for His help in avoiding the horrors of sin.  If you see someone skating close to the edge, I invite you to bring them to the Lord and pray that they will be delivered from their sins before they incur a price higher than they want to pay.  If you are lost, I invite you to come to Jesus Christ for salvation.