King David sent Joab and the Israeli army to destroy the Ammonites, but he stayed at home in Jerusalem. As he gazed from his palace roof, he saw a beautiful woman bathing, and lust filled his heart. He should have left the roof and fled from the temptation, but instead he entertained the temptation by inquiring about Bathsheba. David sent for her and when she came he slept with her. Then she returned home and when she found that she had became pregnant she sent a message to inform David.
David sent for her husband, Uriah with the intention that he would sleep with her so he could avoid any responsibilities and when that didn’t work David had Joab to put Uriah at the front of the hottest part of the battle and then pull back and leave him there to die. And that is just what happen. When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned and when the mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace and she became one of his wives, and gave birth to his son.
But the Lord was very displeased with what David had done. So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to tell David a story about two men. One was rich and the other one was poor. The rich man had much and the poor man had only an "ewe lamb." This lamb was precious in his sight. He nourished this lamb from a baby. It was to him as a daughter. The rich man had a visitor to come by. Instead of killing one of his own livestock, he took the lamb of the poor man and prepared it for his visitor. When David heard the story he became furious and said, "Any man who would do a thing like that should be put to death, he shall repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole, and for having no pity" (2 Samuel 12:5-6). Then Nathan told David that he was the rich man who took the poor man's lamb. David's head felled. Also Nathan told David, "The Lord God of Israel says, 'I made you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you his palace and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much more. Why, then have you despised the laws of God and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah and stolen his wife. Therefore, murder shall be a constant threat in your family from this time on, because you have insulted me by taking Uriah's wife. I vow that because of what you have done I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will do this to you openly, in the sight of all Israel.'" David's son Absalom killed his half brother Amnon. Absalom plotted against David to take his throne and was successful in the sieze. And to insult King David even further, a tent was erected on the roof of the palace where everybody could see it and Absalom went into the tent and slept with his father’s wives. (See 2 Samuel 15-16).
In David's plea for mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing, David wrote Psalm 51 and verse 12 says, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation." David had committed a great sin in the eyes of the Lord. In his desires to fulfill the "lust of the flesh," he had broken at least four of God's Ten Commandments: Thy shall not commit murder; Thy shall not commit adultery; Thy shall not steal; and Thy shall not covet. He "covet" another man's wife. He had a very loyal solider killed to cover-up his own adulterous wrong doing after he impregnated the man's wife.
"Restore unto me the joy of they salvation." How can God restore that which He took not away. Salvation is a gift from God. Once you are save nothing can take it away. David did not lose his salvation, he had lost the joy of his salvation. Sin interferes with the joy we are to experience in Jesus. Things are not the same when we let sin dominate our lives. David was having a terrible time. He felt empty. His watchdog, which was his conscious, wouldn't allow him to sleep, eat or enjoy the things as he once did. Yes, we as Christians have a watchdog and that is our conscious and this is what makes us different from the world. A child of God cannot continue in sin. Do you not see David crying like a baby to his Father? David is approaching God as a little child. He is not ashamed to cry out for forgiveness. When we approach God, we are to come to Him as little children.
Second Samuel 11 records David's sin and God's forgiveness. King David, "a man after God's own heart," was out of fellowship. He had not lost his salvation. He had lost the joy that comes from fellowshipping with God. Unconfessed sin interferes with our joy and fellowship with our Savior.
Sin is a hindrance to our relationship with God. Unconfessed sin and those hidden sins must be dealt with. David's sin weighed him down. He missed that personal relationship with God. It was affecting him physically, mentally, and spiritually. He probably couldn't sleep at night. He couldn’t think during the day. He probably couldn't hold food on his stomach. David was suffering. His prayers didn't have the favor that he once enjoyed. Things were all mixed up.
There is always an origin to our sin. David's problem was brought on by his affair with a married woman. When you allow sin in your life, it is like the Ever-ready battery, it goes on and on. Why do we allow the sins of this world to steal our joy? David is not alone in this, because the Bible clearly tells us, "All have sin and come short of the glory of God." Unlike David, some of us are still walloping in our sins. But I have some great news to share with you, Jesus knows all about our hidden sins. He wants us to come boldly to His throne of grace and confess them. He has already established an Advocate relationship. He want to liberate us from this bondage that is robbing us of our joy. Jesus said, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:32).
These sins are too big for us to handle. Only by giving ourselves to God completely, can rid us of our past sins, transgressions, and iniquities. Hebrew 10:7 says, "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." When we come to God in confession, our sins are immediately thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. When we come to God in confession, the old record is purged and we start a new beginning.
We must understand and never forget, that once you have been saved God has already paid the price for us on Calvary. If we are to get our joy back in Christ, we must be guided by David's example. Remember the joy of our salvation does not come from the world so please do not allow the world to take it from you.
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