INTRODUCTION
In the lifeless emptiness of space, three astronauts passed the point of no return. Their moon-bound spacecraft was speeding rapidly away from their Houston homes, two hundred thousand miles behind. Suddenly a tremor rocked Apollo 13 as the number two oxygen tanks exploded, sweeping away most of the life-giving oxygen and water supplies and two of three power cells. This gleaming marvel of technology began to take on the countenance of a coffin. The President of the United States summoned the nation to pray for a safe return, but many hours would pass before circumstances would permit any attempt to turn toward home. The three men had already passed the point of no return.
Is it possible for a person to commit so egregious a sin as to disqualify him or her from receiving forgiveness or ever returning to the Lord? To personalize the questions: Do you harbor in your heart a secret fear that some great sin in the past or some chronic sin in the present is sending you into outer darkness, away from the Lord? You may believe intellectually that Christ has died for all your sins—and yet a skeleton glides out of the closets of your mind and says, “Are you really sure that God can forgive this?” David, the man God personally selected to be king of Israel, would understand those feelings all too well.
God had elevated David from the obscurity of tending sheep to the majesty of ruling Israel. God granted David a genius for conquest that brought Israel to the pinnacle of international power. Nathan the prophet informed him that his kingdom would endure evermore (2 Sam 7:16). Only when we understand the greatness of David can we comprehend how well he could identify with our secret fears and how far he fell from God.
ACT 1
I. DAVID’S ADULTERY
And fall he did. In 2 Samuel 11 we get the sordid story of a military genius whose strategy and tactics are skillfully employed for the cause of sin. David conquers not the Ammonite capitol of Rabbah, but rather Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, a close friend. Uriah is one of the thirty-seven elite military commanders known as David’s mighty men, who often risked their lives for David.
According to the culture of the day, Bathsheba has no opportunity to resist the adulterous actions of David. Afterward she bathes herself in keeping with the Law’s requirement of ceremonial purification after sexual relations. She cannot cleanse herself of adultery, but the guilt belongs to David—and more. Bathsheba is pregnant with David’s child. His sin of adultery leads to more sin to hide it.
II. DAVID’S BETRAYAL
David calls his loyal friend, Uriah, home from the war to lure him into sexual relations with his wife. David’s strategy fails. “I will not do such a thing” are Uriah’s closing words (2 Sam 11:11, NIV). So David adds betrayal of a loyal friend to adultery. Is the sin that you fear as bad as that? But there’s more.
III. DAVID’S MURDER
David’s chief of staff, Joab, is ordered to have Uriah killed in battle under circumstances which will look natural. Within hours Uriah lies dead near the walls of Rabbah. His life was expendable. David’s response to the news of his death chills us with its callousness: “Don’t let this upset you [Joab]; the sword devours one as well as another” (2 Sam 11:25, NIV). David the adulterer, the betrayer of a friend, is now a premeditated murderer as well. Has David now passed the point of no return with God?
In all the sin and intrigue of 2 Samuel 11 two things strike us as quite remarkable. First, the hero of the chapter is not God’s appointed king, but rather the foreigner, Uriah. Second, the name of God is not mentioned by anyone until the author comes to the final line. The author is implicitly informing us that David has made the fatal mistake of leaving God out of his grand scheme.
And as the curtain falls on Act 1 we are told, “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Sam 11:27, NIV).
ACT 2
IV. DAVID’S EXPOSURE
As Act 2 opens in 2 Samuel 12, another general commands our attention, one far more brilliant than David—the Lord of hosts. The Lord again sends the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan seeks David’s judgment in a criminal case. Nathan describes the case to the king. Read 2 Samuel 12:1–4.
As David hears the case, his action against the merciless action of the rich man becomes almost uncontrollable. David declares that the rich man deserves to die, and then he delivers an official verdict of fourfold restitution for the lamb (2 Sam 12:5–6). David has passed judgment, then Nathan, with piercing eyes looks into the face of David and says, “You are the man!” We can feel the chill of fear descend into the heart of David. The poor man is Uriah, and the ewe lamb is Bathsheba. David’s sin is exposed.
The Lord declares that the sword so ruthlessly loosed by David on the house of Uriah will now “devour one as well as another” within David’s house. It will not stop until the fourfold punishment declared by David has run its course. In the coming months four of David’s sons meet death—the consequences of David’s sins.
V. DAVID’S CONFESSION
How does David respond to his sin now that his back was against the wall? He remorsefully admits it is true. He says, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam 11:13, NIV).
David’s response to his sin before its exposure was to cover it up. This shows the human way that is an inappropriate response to sin. There are at least two other inappropriate ways that are used to deal with sin: (1) compensating God for sin by our good works, and (2) apologizing to God for our sins. But saying “I’m sorry” comes to our lips more easily than change comes to our lives. We treat God like a slot machine that pays off in forgiveness when an apology is inserted.
But God’s way has two aspects, one human and one divine. The human aspect is expressed in verses such as Hebrews 12:1– 2 and Romans 6:11–14. Put in simplest terms, these verses urge us to stop sinning and start obeying God! The divine aspect is seen after David’s admission of sin when Nathan says, “The Lord has taken away your sin” (2 Sam 12:13, NIV). What an unbelievably incredible outcome!
CONCLUSION
The sweeping totality of God’s grace just takes our breath away! We are staggered by the enormity of such forgiveness. David, the adulterer, the betrayer, the murderer, the blasphemer, has complete forgiveness.
But wait! If God has forgiven David of such terrible sins with such momentous personal, national, and international consequences, can we ever doubt He can forgive the secret sins that haunt us and those chronic sins that eat at our hearts? The divine aspect of dealing with our sins consists of total forgiveness through the finished work of Jesus Christ. So Paul can joyously proclaim, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1, NIV). Wow!
John then gives us the time perspective on our forgiveness when he says, “I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name” (1 John 2:12, NIV). The italicized words translate a Greek verb expressing an action which happened in the past with results that continue into the present. We received total forgiveness at that moment in the past when we trusted in Jesus Christ, and that forgiveness continues unbroken to the present moment.
The depth of such forgiveness defies our comprehension. Such forgiveness holds us even when we seem to have passed the point of no return like the Apollo 13 astronauts. Those three men returned alive to earth from the depths of space. But not even the depths of space can match the depth of God’s forgiveness toward us in Jesus Christ. We cannot pass the point of no return with God. We have been, and are, and will be forgiven, when like David we say, “I have sinned.” Hallelujah!
Rex D. Edwards, DMin, is a former vice president for religious studies at Griggs University.
