Grace Amidst Human Failure: Lessons from David's Fall
Jun 23, 2021
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“In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.’ And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men.” [00:00:35]
“And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, ‘When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, “Why did you go so near the city to fight?”’” [00:01:00]
“Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, ‘The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” [00:01:39]
“David said to the messenger, ‘Thus shall you say to Joab, “Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.” And encourage him.’ When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.” [00:02:20]
“But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. Amen. Well, if you’re visiting today, then you may say to yourself, ‘I wonder what has prompted the pastor to choose this passage of Scripture.’ And somebody, if you were to say that, around you would say, ‘Oh, he didn’t choose it; it chose him.’ And that is because we have now for some considerable time been working our way through the record of God’s dealings with his people in 1 and 2 Samuel.” [00:02:50]
“And the further we have gone in our studies, the more we have realized what we have said from time to time—namely, that the ways of God are undeniably odd; that they are sure and they are certain, that he does accomplish his purposes, but he accomplishes his purposes in ways that, quite frankly, surprise us. He uses people that, if we are honest, we would never have selected.” [00:03:33]
“And the unfolding of his purposes deals in events that we would never choose to experience, events that we would rather forget about entirely. And as we’ve been studying, we’ve realized that the people that we’re meeting are very much like us: foolish, frail, and sinful. And we’re not talking about the subplot characters. We’re not talking about the people in the small print. We’re talking about those who are actually the heroes, and no one more so than David, the anointed one, the chosen of God.” [00:04:07]
“Now, how did they find themselves here? Well, back from the very beginning. The book of Judges has ended, remember, with everybody doing what is right in their own eyes. It was chaos—political, moral, social chaos. And so the people had decided that if they could establish a monarchy, if they could have a king, then a king would then presumably be able to deal with their dilemma. Which was not a bad idea, if only they could find a king who is equal to the task.” [00:06:50]
“Did you read the newspaper yesterday? Have you thought about life today? How well are we doing? We strive for justice, and yet people still treat one another unfairly. We vaccinate for COVID, and yet we can’t master the common cold. We hope for a world that is freed from conflict, but we continue to fight with ourselves and with those whom we love. The longings for peace and security and kindness and generosity are clearly, unmistakably, undeniably beyond our grasp.” [00:08:35]
“Now, I’m helped—I hope you’re helped—by the honesty and clarity of the Bible, not just in this area but in every area. For example, in our Bible reading in the last few days, we’ve been reading Isaiah 51. And in Isaiah 51 it says, ‘The earth will wear out [as] a garment.’ Well, I made a note of that. I said, ‘Well, that’s interesting.’ And not only is it interesting, but it’s of vital importance.” [00:09:48]
“Because all the concerns of ecology and the cataclysmic stories of an apocalyptic end to our universe are before us almost every single day. The G7 gathered, and one of their great preoccupations is ‘What in the world are we gonna do with our planet?’ Now, does the Bible have something to say? Well, it says that we’ve been given this that we might enjoy it, that we might care for it, that we might tend for it, and so on.” [00:10:15]
“Now, you think about being the messenger. First of all, the messenger says, ‘Why am I going back to tell David that this thing was a dog’s breakfast, that this was a debacle, that this was not a strategic piece of military warfare? Why would I, first of all, go back and do that? And also, what’s the thing about—what’s so special about “Uriah the Hittite is dead”?’ You see, he couldn’t have known that that was the only answer to the question ‘Why did you go so near the wall?’” [00:23:52]
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“And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, ‘When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, “Why did you go so near the city to fight?”’” [00:01:00]
“Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, ‘The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” [00:01:39]
“David said to the messenger, ‘Thus shall you say to Joab, “Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.” And encourage him.’ When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.” [00:02:20]
“But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. Amen. Well, if you’re visiting today, then you may say to yourself, ‘I wonder what has prompted the pastor to choose this passage of Scripture.’ And somebody, if you were to say that, around you would say, ‘Oh, he didn’t choose it; it chose him.’ And that is because we have now for some considerable time been working our way through the record of God’s dealings with his people in 1 and 2 Samuel.” [00:02:50]
“And the further we have gone in our studies, the more we have realized what we have said from time to time—namely, that the ways of God are undeniably odd; that they are sure and they are certain, that he does accomplish his purposes, but he accomplishes his purposes in ways that, quite frankly, surprise us. He uses people that, if we are honest, we would never have selected.” [00:03:33]
“And the unfolding of his purposes deals in events that we would never choose to experience, events that we would rather forget about entirely. And as we’ve been studying, we’ve realized that the people that we’re meeting are very much like us: foolish, frail, and sinful. And we’re not talking about the subplot characters. We’re not talking about the people in the small print. We’re talking about those who are actually the heroes, and no one more so than David, the anointed one, the chosen of God.” [00:04:07]
“Now, how did they find themselves here? Well, back from the very beginning. The book of Judges has ended, remember, with everybody doing what is right in their own eyes. It was chaos—political, moral, social chaos. And so the people had decided that if they could establish a monarchy, if they could have a king, then a king would then presumably be able to deal with their dilemma. Which was not a bad idea, if only they could find a king who is equal to the task.” [00:06:50]
“Did you read the newspaper yesterday? Have you thought about life today? How well are we doing? We strive for justice, and yet people still treat one another unfairly. We vaccinate for COVID, and yet we can’t master the common cold. We hope for a world that is freed from conflict, but we continue to fight with ourselves and with those whom we love. The longings for peace and security and kindness and generosity are clearly, unmistakably, undeniably beyond our grasp.” [00:08:35]
“Now, I’m helped—I hope you’re helped—by the honesty and clarity of the Bible, not just in this area but in every area. For example, in our Bible reading in the last few days, we’ve been reading Isaiah 51. And in Isaiah 51 it says, ‘The earth will wear out [as] a garment.’ Well, I made a note of that. I said, ‘Well, that’s interesting.’ And not only is it interesting, but it’s of vital importance.” [00:09:48]
“Because all the concerns of ecology and the cataclysmic stories of an apocalyptic end to our universe are before us almost every single day. The G7 gathered, and one of their great preoccupations is ‘What in the world are we gonna do with our planet?’ Now, does the Bible have something to say? Well, it says that we’ve been given this that we might enjoy it, that we might care for it, that we might tend for it, and so on.” [00:10:15]
“Now, you think about being the messenger. First of all, the messenger says, ‘Why am I going back to tell David that this thing was a dog’s breakfast, that this was a debacle, that this was not a strategic piece of military warfare? Why would I, first of all, go back and do that? And also, what’s the thing about—what’s so special about “Uriah the Hittite is dead”?’ You see, he couldn’t have known that that was the only answer to the question ‘Why did you go so near the wall?’” [00:23:52]
Alistair Begg
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