2 Samuel 12:1-4 – The Grace That Exposes Us
2nd Samuel 12 is undoubtedly a solemn chapter. David is confronted with the terrible sins he has committed. Before the chapter ends, his infant child dies because of that sin. Yet this is also a chapter that’s full of God’s grace. It describes a day that David dreaded, a day which David probably hoped would never come. Yet how much worse a position David would have been in if he had got away with it! If he had never been called to account in this life for the sins he had committed. It’s the same with us. We don’t want to be confronted with our sins. We don’t want to have to face up to them. But actually, it would be infinitely worse if God in his grace didn’t expose them, and they remained hidden, rather than being dealt with. That’s the lens through which we need to see this chapter. Because this is not primarily a chapter about judgement, but about God’s grace seen even in his judgement.
At the end of the last chapter, it looks like David has got away with it. He’s committed adultery with Bathsheba. Even though she’s pregnant, he’s managed to cover up his sin by murdering her husband. She bears him a son, and no-one is any the wiser, except Joab, his army commander, and maybe a few servants. But none of them are going to tell. Although others don’t see what’s been going on, God sees. And although a reckoning doesn’t come right away – it does come eventually.
That’s true for all of us. There may be things we get away with on earth. There may be times when we successfully pull the wool over other people’s eyes. But we can’t do it to God. The reckoning may not come immediately. It may not even come in this life. But it will come. As the Holy Spirit puts it in Numbers 32: ‘Be sure your sin will find you out’. That’s a good thing! That’s one of those verses we tend to see as a threat. We don’t want our sin to find us out. But it will happen. Your sin will find you out. The only question is whether your sin will find you out after death – when there’s no more time to do anything about it. Or whether by God’s grace your sin will find you out in this life – and he enables you to respond in the right way. That’s what happens in this chapter.
Question
- Why is it better to be confronted with your sin that to have it hidden?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that God in his grace shows us our sin.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.