What Grace Looks Like

What grace looks like. 2 Samuel chapter 12 verses 15 through 31.

! This is the word of the Lord. It says in verse 15 that Nathan went to his house. That's the first part of it. So we know that he is out of the picture now. The prophet does come back later on. So starting from that point, And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick.

And David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him to raise him from the ground.

But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead.

For they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, We spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him, The child is dead?

He may do himself some harm. But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, Is the child dead?

They said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.

He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Then a servant said to him, What is this thing you have done?

You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive. But when the child died, you arose and ate food. He said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept.

For I said, Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live. But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again?

I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went into her and lay with her. And she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon.

And the Lord loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah because of the Lord. Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.

And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah. Moreover, I have taken the city of waters. Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.

So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. And he took the crown of their king from his head.

The weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.

And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at the brick kilns.

And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. Okay, a very multifaceted passage of Scripture.

Kind of strange, but certainly we want to remember the last few weeks of messages from chapters 10 and following. No, because this all brings up stuff that we need to remember from chapters 10 and 11, of course, the first part of 12.

And so you know that David went to Ammon, not David himself, but he took ambassadors, sent ambassadors to Ammon for the king. The king of Ammon had died, and so he was to comfort and to help out in some graceful way for the young man who was to become king of Ammon.

Of course, he didn't see it that way, the young man of Ammon, and he decided to desecrate the emissaries of David, and that is to desecrate David himself.

So a war started, and that was spelled out in chapter 10. And in chapter 11, the war continued, but David stayed in Jerusalem, and I think we know what happened there.

And then chapter 12 comes in at that point, as everything in chapter 11 had happened, and that was all old news, and it's now life as normal.

As we talked about a couple weeks ago, when we talked about the first part of chapter 12, but Nathan the prophet came to David with a message from the Lord, but a message that was kind of hidden in a way early on as a parable of sorts.

If you remember about that rich man, he owned lots of land and had plenty of sheep and herds to be placed on that land and graze on that land, and he was quite well off.

And then there was this poor man that didn't really have a lot for his family, and their most prized possession was that one little ewe lamb. And he cherished that ewe lamb and treated that ewe lamb like it was a daughter.

And the ewe lamb was treated like a dog, I think, like a fur child. And so this rich landowner had a guest that came over, and he was to feed that guest and prepare something for that guest.

A normal thing would be to sacrifice or to prepare a lamb to eat for that guest. And he didn't want to take any of his herds because, well, for whatever reason, he didn't want to take the herd, so he took that poor man's one little ewe lamb and prepared it as a dinner for his guest.

And David was angry, as you might imagine. And, you know, I think anybody would understand that that was certainly something that was wrong. And David said that he was a son of death in his anger, that that rich man was a son of death, meaning he deserved to die.

But the law says for stealing a lamb, he should return fourfold. And that certainly was in keeping with the law. Exodus 22.1 says that.

And so as it turned around, Nathan comes out and reveals, and remember what it said, you are the man. And saying that David was that rich landowner.

David was the one who took Bathsheba from Uriah the Hittite. David is the son of death. And as we saw that David confessed his wrongdoings, he repented briefly in this passage of Scripture, but in depth, more in depth, he expounded on that in Psalms 51 and 32.

We'll talk about 32 later on. And then David will not die, as what Nathan said. God revealed that David will not die for these crimes, even though the law dictated that he should die.

He will not die for this, but his illegitimate son, the son of he and the wife of Uriah the Hittite, will die. And that just sounds like a horrible thing, but as we talked about last week, or I guess two weeks ago, the fourfold restitution, as David brought up, as the law brings up, the idea of you stealing that land, fourfold restitution, in a way, in a sense, there is a fourfold restitution here, and the son is the first of four of his sons who will die for this crime.

And we will see in later chapters of 2 Samuel, two of the other three sons, or the fourth son in 1 Kings. So this is a terrible situation.

But nonetheless, this is what this passage is about, and it's really the aftermath of what God has declared to David, the fact that what his crime was.

And yet, even though this discipline seems quite harsh, and even so harsh that it's hard for us to even explain it, it's very gracious at the same time.

You know, David will live. The law says that David needs to die for his sins. Even interpretations of the law would even interpret that Bathsheba needs to die for these sins as well.

And yet, they're not going to. And that's a wonderful thing, and it's God's grace that's being established here. And so there is certainly a gracious element to this as well.

And, you know, grace, sometimes, you know, we think of grace as being favor. In seminary and, you know, Bible classes I've had in college and other places, we talk about a very simple definition of grace being unmerited favor.

Unmerited favor. or if you want to look at this as an acronym, God's Riches at Christ's Expense. And that's a wonderful way of looking at this, but there's also an element that we need to understand about grace more so than a doctrinal understanding, but to experience it.

And what does grace look like when we experience it? What is a sense of grace as well? So we'll be looking at those elements. But first, David brought up something about this rich land owner in the first part of chapter 12.

He said he was a son of death. He said he was deserving to die. And that's something we need to realize that the Bible talks about other places in Scripture about deserving to die.

I want to read one of them. It's in Romans chapter 1 verses 28 through 32. That entire chapter really talks about pretty much which all people are deserving of death basically.

But just to expound to read this in chapter 1 verses 28 through 32 it says and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

So the people that, basically this is describing people that God has taken his grace from. God has simply removed himself from them, left them to their own devices, so to speak.

And what happens when you're left to your own devices? Well, you're depraved. That's just what's going to happen. We're all depraved and that's just simply the fact. We're all going to prove ourselves to be deserving of death.

As simple as that. Well, I want to give some scenarios, some quite easy scenarios for us to recognize of people that could be, let's see whether they're deserving of death or not.

This one is first scenario. A nation kills around 11 million people over several years basically for being against the policies or not meeting the physical makeup of the ruling party.

Are they deserving of death, the people that did this? Are they deserving of death? Yeah, the people that killed the people, they're deserving of death. Yes, I would say they would be, yes. I just described a holocaust in the Nazi party of Germany and that was estimated how many people died throughout Europe in concentration camps, not to mention all the people that died in World War II.

The second one here, a nation under a communist dictator slaughters an estimated 20 million people over a 30-year period. You think the leaders of that nation, like that dictator, deserving of death?

Well, of course. I think we'd all say that. That's Stalin. Okay. Now, this one. A nation that happily has legal, taxpayer-funded baby-killing centers in nearly every major city and has killed 59 million of their sons and daughters in the last 45 years.

You think they may be deserving of death, the ones that allow this to happen? Yeah. Well, I think, obviously, y'all know who that is, the USA, since the Roe v. Wade decision. And this is for free.

This is not an abortion message of any kind. But from 2002 to 2015, over 79,000 abortions in Oklahoma. Just throw that out there.

All right. But anyway. So, yeah, tough stuff. Tough things to think about. And you know what? We're all sinners. Something to remember.

And even when we're left to our own devices, left to our own decisions, nine justices are left to their own decisions and their own devices. Yeah, things like that happen.

But anyway, get back to the message. The main idea is the Lord disciplines his sinful servants but also extends forgiveness and grace. The thing I remember from this, just looking at it, Steve and Chris Chapman had a song called My Redeemer is Faithful and True way back when he was younger than I am now.

And I just love the words, the chorus, the verses as well, but the chorus says, My Redeemer is faithful and true and everything he has said he will do. And every morning his mercies are new.

My Redeemer is faithful and true. And this main idea really talks about that. The Lord disciplines. He is true. He is just as well. and the Lord extends forgiveness and mercy.

He is faithful. He is faithful to those of his covenant like in the Old Covenant and the Old Testament. But he is certainly faithful to those who love him and are called according to his purpose in the New Covenant as well.

So the Lord disciplines his sinful servants but also extends forgiveness and mercy. mercy. Okay, so let's look at this through the outline and I'll give them all to you in C words.

First one is the chastisement. The chastisement. And that's verses 15 through 23 so it's the bulk of this passage.

And you see the chastisement or the discipline being spelled out in two different parts. Same discipline but spelled out in two parts.

In verse 15 you notice that the child that Uriah's wife bore to David became sick. And then you notice as it says, as Nathan said that would happen.

In verse 18 on the seventh day the child died. And so if you also notice the child did not have a name. And some people believe because of it saying on the seventh day, and this is just speculation but it could possibly happen.

A child does not, a son especially, does not have, does not officially get a name until the eighth day when he's circumcised. And you see that spelled out in other places in scripture like Jesus, John the Baptist, and Isaac and those places where that's spelled out.

And so that is a possibility of why. Who knows? He, you know, the child may have been older than that and it was just the seventh day after Nathan came to tell him that as well.

So nonetheless the name doesn't really matter. number, but I'll bring it back up later on when we get to Solomon. But it says, so these two little parts of this chastisement, of this discipline that is going on, and it's really hard for us to understand all of this and we may question why in the world would God take the life of someone who is innocent like that.

and of course we start asking questions like that and continue to ask questions. What it really all boils down to is why does the Lord ever do anything bad to us at all whatsoever?

And of course that, you know, why do bad things happen to good people? And those kinds of questions that come up and of course they've been addressed many times over rarely with great answers that just solve it for eternity.

You know, that's just always simply going to be something that continues to be asked in many ways. And so this is the major chastisement, but you see also in this passage of scripture the way David responds to it as well.

And it's an amazing idea. He's really keeping his servants on their toes. The servants have no idea how he's responding, no idea why he's doing what he is doing.

It's an interesting idea. But there's so much we can learn from it. You look in verses 16 and 17, David therefore sought God on behalf of the child.

And so, alright, you look in chapter 10 and chapter 11 and the first part of chapter 12 and you see all those times that David sought the Lord and prayed and no, you don't see any of that at all.

It's the first time in a while apparently. And so, it's an interesting idea, but he's doing it. I mean, it's a pretty amazing thing that even whenever he is being disciplined in a great way, he is seeking after the Lord.

That is, well, that's the main, big reason why he's considered a man of God's own heart. You know, even when after he is disciplined, he comes to a point of repentance, he comes to the realization that the Lord is in control, that the Lord is the one that he needs to be seeking after.

And he has a great request at this point. It's not really spelled out in this passage of scripture, but we can obviously tell what it is. He wants his child to live as we all would want our son to live.

Our son is sick. God's telling David the son's going to die, but the son is not dead. He's sick. So he prays fervently, even humbly prays and fasts.

As it says in verse 16, lays all night on the ground. That's a humble way. I mean, he's the king of Israel and he is laying all night on the ground and he is fasting.

He can have anything he wants to eat, basically. And he can tell everyone what to do, but he is choosing to not do any of that stuff. And then even after he hears what happens after the child dies, verse 20, he arose from the earth, like from laying on the ground, and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes, and he went to the house of the Lord and worshipped.

That's a pretty amazing thought as well. that even after this happened, and you know, you might imagine weeping could happen, you might imagine someone being angry, why did you take this innocent child, that kind of thing.

But no. No, David went to the house of the Lord and worshipped him. So what a relationship that he had with his God, with Yahweh. And then also, not just a relationship, but knowing God, the knowledge that he had of God as well.

When his servants asked him why he's doing all of these things, why in the world are you acting in this way, you seem deranged. I just added that. But verse 22 says, while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me.

I mean, that's an amazing thought. The guy that I read his commentary, Ralph Davis, a good pastor out of Alabama, his name's Dale Ralph Davis, you can imagine he talks like this.

I don't know, but I've never heard him talk. But I can imagine he probably wears bib overalls or something. But Ralph Davis says, showing grace is Yahweh's forte. Who can imagine how gracious a God of all grace wants to be to us in our sins and messes?

For David's grace is not a doctrinal concept, but a peculiar bent of God's nature. And so that's an interesting idea. It's a peculiar bent of God's nature.

It's not just something that is, well, I know about it and it helps me to put, you know, certain laws together. But it really is something I experience every day in my life.

It really is something that that's in my heart and in my mind and in my thoughts and in my actions. And so this is really what David's message is here.

And so, and it's also adding this, let's not use this kind of verse to excuse our sin, but to get beyond despairing over our sin. That's something we ought to do as well in what David is showing very well.

The idea that, yes, yes, sin is great. And, you know, this sin is horrible and, but we don't need to dwell on it. When God has forgiven you, when God has established forgiveness and shown that he has forgiven you, you can move on.

And that's an amazing thing. Consequences are still going to be there. As we see, not just in this chapter, but in following chapters, the consequences are definitely going to be there for David.

And he still has to respond to it. Okay, so, and then also, not only the knowledge and the relationship with the Lord, but even in this one little verse on verse, what is it, verse 23, his hope for a reunion with his son.

I mean, the idea of what's being said here, it says, but now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

And yeah, that's, I mean, it says something very specific about death, a reality of death. I mean, we are at the finality of death as well. I mean, there's only one direction we get to go.

It's not, it's not the other way. It's always that one way. And about the same time, it does say in scripture that the Lord has laid eternity in our hearts. And, and there's a hope that is being said here as well.

At least we can fairly use the scripture passage to share a hope. And, and, and, and, you know, it helps me out too. I know my, my wife and I have had a couple of miscarriages, one pretty recently.

And, and so this is a, you know, it, it helps me to understand that yes, there will be a reunion with, with the ones like that in, in this way.

But, but there's several places we can look and see, you know, what happens to babies when they die? What happens to babies? And you look at Genesis 1825, it says, shall not the judge of all the earth do what is right?

This is Abraham talking to the Lord about Sodom and Gomorrah and bringing down to 50, 45, 40, 30. You know, remember that passage, you find all those righteous people.

But he says this, this, you know, true statement, shall not the judge of all the earth do what is right? And God will always do what is right.

And, and, and even if we don't quite understand, he will always do what is right. He's perfect in that way. And so that's, that's, that's an important thought for us to remember when talking about this subject.

And then going back to Romans chapter one, what we talked about early on in the message, you know, God reveals himself to the unregenerate through his creation and they're condemned.

And it says right here in verses 19 and 20 of Romans one, for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse. And that's an interesting idea. We thought we, we, we think about this another subject on, on missions. Well, what about all those people in the far reaches of Africa or South America that never heard the gospel?

You know, it's revealed to them through creation. The Lord's purposes are revealed to them through creation and they see God's goodness and God's greatness and, and they're stood condemned because of that.

And, and they are without excuse. And so, yeah, Romans one describes that just fine. Well, guess what? Infants and the unborn, do they get to see this creation?

No, no, they don't. And so, so this doesn't really describe them at all in that way. And so, yeah, just using that logic.

It's not finding from scripture this, this idea that, that we will see our children in, in heaven who, who were miscarried or, or whatever may be, or even ones who are aborted.

But nonetheless, it is very much looking at logic, looking at theology, looking at it in this way. Yeah, we can have hope. We can have wonderful hope.

And David is expressing that great hope right here in this passage. So moving on from the chastisement, from the discipline to the comfort.

In the next two verses, 24 and 25, it says David comforted his wife Bathsheba. Well, look at this. I want to contrast a couple of verses.

If you notice something here in verse, verse 15, it says, the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David. And then it says in verse 24, he comforted his wife, David's wife, Bathsheba.

So there's a difference right there. And that's an element of grace at that moment as well. I mean, you would think, you know, why, you know, Bathsheba can always be known as that wife of Uriah that has that scarlet letter on her.

I mean, she can always be known as that. But there's an element of grace right here as well. Not just to Bathsheba, but also to David as well. And so, and you also notice this son.

First son did not have a name listed, but Solomon has two names. Not just Solomon, the name that David gave him, which means peace from Shalom, but also the name Jedidiah.

Nathan comes back into the picture, Nathan the prophet, and brings a message that the Lord has named this baby Jedidiah, meaning beloved of the Lord.

Why is he named beloved of the Lord? You may ask. Well, at the end of verse 24, it says, and the Lord loved him. Can you imagine a baby born out of a relationship that started in great sin, grievous sin, horrible sin that's going to affect David the rest of his life.

And yet, God has loved this baby boy and has chosen this boy, as we'll notice later on, and we know already, to be the next king of Israel.

It's an amazing thought, the greatness of grace. And we need to recognize a sense of grace in our lives as well. We need to understand what it means to experience this kind of grace.

and let that be our comfort as well. You know, comfort in this, in a biblical sense, is more than just feeling good.

It's more than just getting a good feeling about life. It is a spirit-filled feeling, what's being brought out.

In the New Testament, comfort is always bringing up the idea of the Spirit being involved with our lives and in that encouragement that is being brought.

And whatever the comfort may be or whatever the situation may be in life, that we are to be encouraged by the Holy Spirit. And we are to be encouraged by the truth of that gospel.

It says in 2 Corinthians 1, there's a passage of Scripture about five verses in the beginning of 2 Corinthians 1 that has the word comfort like ten times in there.

And basically, it's saying we need to be comforted when we are afflicted in that situation where Paul is talking to a group of believers that did experience persecution as they all did in the first century and many still do today.

But they are to be comforted even in times of affliction, that they are to be encouraged by the Spirit and encouraged by the gospel and encouraged by the truth of the gospel and not allow their circumstances to affect that encouragement.

And so that's another thought here too. So the comforting that David is giving to his wife now, not the wife of Uriah, but David's wife, is that comfort, is that sense of encouragement that is understanding about the truth of God, about the truth of his grace, about the sense of his grace, not just knowledge that we know of God, but the way that we experience God as well.

And so this is the comfort that he is sharing with his wife at this time. And so this is a nice thought as well.

And something I think we need to come out of it as well. So we come to the last part of this passage, the conquering. The conquering.

And another title doesn't start with C, but has a C in it. The anticlimactic ending in many ways too. Because you have to go all the way back to chapter 10 to really even understand what this one's even about.

You know, it says something a little bit, I guess, in the first part of chapter 11. That's still a pretty good distance away from this. You know, all of this happened and then we come back, oh yeah, that's right, we're in a war.

I forgot about all of that. I thought that was back when. But we're actually still in a war. It's been more than a year that's been passed or something like that. And of course, a few chapters have passed as well.

And we see this end that's happened. I think we kind of look at what's gone on in between and we see something that we may feel like, why are they bringing this back?

I mean, you know, why are we remembering this? I think it kind of puts everything into perspective in that way. I mean, why did that battle get started to begin with, that war begin with?

Oh, because those emissaries were sent and they were embarrassed. And they really were embarrassed. I mean, that really was a slap in the face to David. It's understanding that David's integrity was being put on, you know, being put out there as being tarnished.

His, you know, just everything about David as king and all the things that you need to be thinking of. Kings are being put out there as being tarnished, as being, you know, run through the mud or something of that nature.

And, but then again, David kind of did that to himself at the same time. You know, David really ruined his reputation. Anyway, he didn't need some king in Ammon to do that for him.

and he did a whole lot better than the king of Ammon ever could. And so, so this, yeah, it's interesting that it ends this way, but we can cover it because it is in scripture and it did happen.

And this character, Joab, the general, that's another character would be worthwhile to do a character study of because he's a interesting fella. But he fought against Rabah of the Ammonites, took the royal city, and then brought a messenger, sent messenger to David to let him know what's going on and said that he, he conquered Rabah, the city of waters he overtook.

Basically, Rabah now can no longer fend for themselves. They can no longer even provide for themselves while they're under siege. So, yeah, they're about to die.

And Joab said, hey David, you need to come, you need to come and take Rabah and take Ammon. So, Joab's not the one that gets to win the battle.

David, the king, the rightful king, is the one that rightfully gets to win the battle. And so, it's interesting, this is a very interesting idea. So, David gathered his people, went to Rabah, fought against it, took it.

Most of the work was done by Joab and his men, but David was able to finish it out and do these things. A few other descriptions here are interesting.

The weight of this crown in verse 30 is a talent of gold. Now, you might have a note at the bottom of your Bible that says a talent weighs about 75 pounds, if you can imagine putting 75 pounds on your head.

Okay. But apparently, that's what they did. Had a precious stone in it, which probably weighed even more. Like 77, 78 pounds now.

And it's placed on David's head. And so, I'm sure it was taken right off, too. All right. And then he brought out the spoil of the city a very great amount.

And so, we talked about it last week or a few weeks ago about what they ought to be doing with spoil, what they ought to be doing with riches as king in Deuteronomy 17 not to be relying on them so much.

You know, they can be wealthy but don't rely on those riches. Rely on God as well. But nonetheless, they had the riches and they didn't want to keep them in Ammon.

They had to take them someplace. Okay. And then verse 31, brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks, iron axes, made them toil at the brick kilns.

This is a passage scripture. It's hard to really figure out what's actually being said here. The toil at the brick kilns phrase is just really hard to even translate figuring that out.

It's gone as far as basically just manual labor to sacrificing people and killing them and that kind of thing. So, it's hard to say what's actually being said here.

I like to go with the, you know, they put in manual labor and took down their, maybe took down the wall at Rabbah and made them less fortified so they had to rely on Israel itself.

You know, that kind of thing. And that's pretty common what happened in that day and age. It still in some ways happens. So, and then, and then, he did this to all the cities, the Ammonites in the day when the people returned to Jerusalem.

So, nonetheless, weird way to end this passage of Scripture after the whole dealing with Bathsheba, after killing Uriah the Hittite, after this great sin that's revealed and now, he finally gets to finish out the war in Ammon.

It's kind of strange. It's almost like the, it's just a historian just trying to get all his ducks in a row. That kind of thing. Nonetheless, it is also a matter of grace.

What is David's job? What is David's work? If you go back to the first part of 2 Samuel chapter 11, verse 1, it says, in the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.

And then, of course, it says David remained in Jerusalem. But it says, in the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle. That's what David ought to have been doing to begin with.

Can you imagine if whole 2 Samuel was pretty much chapter 11, verse 1 and then chapter 12, verses 26 through 31, all being chapter 11.

or something like that, maybe a few more verses. And we never would have heard of Bathsheba. We would have heard of Uriah the Hittite as one of the mighty men, but would have been one of those mighty men that we didn't know anything about.

And nonetheless, there'd be so much that would not be there if David initially did what he was supposed to be doing to begin with. And so, there is a matter of grace that David is now being restored to actually be the king, to actually allow to be the king, and to do what the king is supposed to do, that he's not being removed.

David removed, or not David, God removed the previous king for disobeying him. That's an amazing thought, and yet, David was not removed because of a covenant that God set with him, that his family will rule, that his family will be this king, and of course, David's heir further on down the line will be the king of kings and lord of lords in Jesus Christ.

I want to end this sermon with words that David wrote in the Psalms about this passage, about this situation, about this grievous sin, in Psalm 32.

Let me turn to that so I can read more of it than what I wrote. But Psalm 32, it's not a very long psalm, so I'll read the whole thing. It says, Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity.

I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.

Surely in the rush of great waters they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me. You preserve me in trouble, or from trouble you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.

Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Just one or two things from this passage. Look how relieved David is in this passage, and any of us should be relieved like this whenever we are faced with the forgiveness of the Lord, when He forgives your sins, and when your sin is atoned for, as it says in verse 1, your transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

What are they? Well, who is the person? What's the person described as being that his transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered? They are blessed. They are happy.

They are joyful. Rejoice in this reality. Verse 5, I acknowledged my sin to you. He confessed his sin, and he did confess his sin.

It was wonderful. I did not cover my iniquity. He chose to be honest about it. He chose to accept the chastisement that he received.

I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and what did the Lord do? Forgave the iniquity of my sin. That is an amazing thought. I think the word Selah is a pause.

I don't, you know, this is not something we all know exactly what Selah means, but I believe it is a pause whenever something is said that is something we need to be thinking about.

And this is something to think about right here. And then the idea of verse 7, you are a hiding place for me. You preserve me from trouble.

You surround me with shouts of deliverance. There are several psalms like this. God is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in trouble, Psalm 46. And so this is an idea that comes up often, and most of them are written by David.

And so this is a wonderful thing. And also something for us to remember, to remember to pray. The fact is that in the book of James it says that many of us don't have because we don't ask.

And the idea of what's going on there, David prayed fervently about his son. His prayer was not answered in the way David wanted it to be answered as we have seen in this passage of Scripture.

Yet he knows something about the Lord. He knows that the Lord does answer prayer. He knows that the Lord could relent from this. He saw the biblical examples of whenever someone goes to the Lord and the justice that's about to happen, mercy's extended.

Nonetheless, the Lord was going to relent. I mean, Abraham went to the Lord to plead on the behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And even he said if there are ten righteous people, Sodom and Gomorrah would not be destroyed. And that's an amazing thought that even for the sake of a few righteous people, God would not have destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

That God did not destroy the Israelites when Moses pleaded with the Lord after the golden calf was built. The Lord relented from destroying the Israelites.

It's an amazing thought that's happening there. So yes, the evidence is there. And yes, but just because God didn't answer in such a way, we know that God is a God who answers prayer.

God is a God who does according to His will. And we need to be praying. And in our prayers, continue to pray the Lord's will be done.

And also, in continual thought, that we want to desire what the Lord desires. And that we want to be thinking the way the Lord thinks. And to let our will be aligned with His will.