Breaking Promises

Good morning. Lots of technical things to move here in our different service. We have just confessed together, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. We believe in the forgiveness of sins. We're quoting there the Apostles' Creed. The purpose of that creed is to summarize and clarify the most basic truths that need to be promoted to encourage Christians and to affirm what God has clearly taught. Much of that creed is actually captured in that one statement. Why did Christ come to be born of a Virgin Mary? die at the hands of Pontius Pilate on a cross. Why did he rise again? Why is he now at the right hand? To forgive us of our sins. This morning, that's what our text is about. It's about sin. But we're gonna be challenged with the principle. Do we really believe in the forgiveness of sin? As we take a hard, Look at the clarity that we just heard read about sin. Do we believe that God would forgive that kind of sin among others, among ourselves? If you're new with us, we're walking through the book of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. We've been doing this together. 1 Samuel is about the rise of Saul and the decline of Saul. There was a clear point in which Saul rejects God and therefore God rejects him. That's chapters 13 to 15 of 1 Samuel. And then we saw the promise of David. He is supposed to be the man of God's own heart. We see the rise of David, he's patient, he's persevering in suffering, he's waiting upon God. He finally becomes a king, he solidified his kingdom. And then we see in chapter seven, God makes great promises to David with his loving kindness. He secures the boundaries. Chapter 10, we're skipping over that. And then we see David around the age of 50. We see him have a fall like the king before him. that has significant consequences. Today we're considering sin, all different kinds of sin, and most of all, how God views our sin. So here we are with David, a man after God's own heart, a man who now is going to commit a series of sins. The sermon is going to be organized actually around how many commandments of God David breaks. So first, if you're taking notes, The first sin we see David committing in verse two, David covets. David covets. It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing. And the woman was very beautiful. Why does he see her? There doesn't actually seem to be anything wrong with what Bathsheba's doing. This doesn't seem to be obviously immodest. Bathing on the roof would not be something unusual. Some have said she's doing something wrong here. I don't think that's as obvious as some seem to say. We need to consider this story because we often say this is the Bathsheba story. There's a lot going on. There's four characters. Bathsheba, Uriah, and God. Uriah is Bathsheba's husband. Actually, if you look, Bathsheba's only mentioned named once. She's always referred to as the wife of Uriah. As we think about David and his relationship to Bathsheba, it's disgusting what's gonna happen. If you think about David and Uriah, it's destructive and deadly and deceptive what's going to happen. As we think about David and God, it's displeasing what's going to happen. That dynamic is important as we think about this whole story. Here, David sees this woman, she is beautiful, and now what happens is all in David's heart. There's some circumstances that are important for this story, but the beginning of the sin right here is what's in David's heart. And that's what's so confusing. David was chosen because God doesn't look upon appearances. He looks at the heart, and that's why David was chosen. He's called a man after God's own heart. That's what sets him over against Saul. But here, He sees a woman and it's clear he covets her. He inquires about her. This is a difficult truth to grasp, but we all know it. There is a power inside of us, the desires that lead us, that control us, that overwhelm us. Love for money? Love for power, love for sex, love for fame, love for other things. You might hear that list and say, well, those things don't appeal to me, but the reality is our heart is longing for something. Our heart is desiring something and our heart is controlling the kind of actions we commit. We can't tame it. James tells us, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it's conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it's fully grown, brings forth death. You see the three parts there. Our own desire is what draws us away. That desire leads to action of sin, transgressing God's law, missing the mark, and that brings forth death. David's an amazing man of war. He defeats giants. There's one thing David cannot defeat. It's his own heart. It's his own sinful desires. He does not have the strength in himself apart from God to have control over his heart. He's lured away by attraction. He sees a beautiful woman and he covets. Now there is one more point here we need to see and why does he see her? The sin begins in his heart. But there's also a problem. Look at verse one. In the spring of the year, the time when kings got to battle, David sent Joab and his servants and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites. But David remained at Jerusalem. David's the king. It's the time of year when kings go to war. David did not do his duty. David is not in the right place at the right time. Why is my sheep on the roof? That isn't the big deal. David's not supposed to be in Jerusalem to see her. He isn't doing his duty. He isn't being busy with the things that God has assigned him to do. See, we oftentimes put ourselves in the wrong place, or we oftentimes do not put ourselves in the right place. If we're not in the right place doing the right things, we're making ourselves more susceptible to that sin that resides and controls us. The coveting has a context. David isn't where he's supposed to be doing what he's supposed to be doing. That puts him in danger. So the first thing we see is David covets. What's the second thing David does? He takes, he steals. Verses three and four. David sent and inquired about the woman. The one said, is this not Bathsheba? the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. So David sent messengers and took her. And she came to him, and he lay with her. Now she'd been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I am pregnant. He takes her. He's just broken another commandment. He's stolen. He's taken another man's wife. He's taken her for himself and therefore by taking another man's wife and lying with her, he's committed another commandment. Adultery, that's three. Coveting, theft, adultery. And notice what it says here. He takes. Does that sound familiar? He saw and he took. David is the head of a new covenant. He just received a new covenant in 2 Samuel 7, and he's falling just like our first head of the covenant did, Adam. What happened to the garden? They saw that the fruit was good, and they took it, and they died. In the same way, David here is seeing what's good, what is attractive, but is not for him, and he took it. What's obvious is he coveted, and then when he said, who is she? And it was told to him, this is Uriah's wife. End of story. Off limits. Prohibited. I'm going to pursue something else with my mind and my work. I'm gonna go back out to battle, because that's where I should be anyway. There was an opportunity for repentance there. There was an opportunity to not entertain that lust in his heart, and he failed, and so he took her. There's actually a whole theology of seeing and taking out throughout the Old Testament. The Egyptian king, when Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt because of fear of famine, he saw Sarah and he took her. Even more, Achan, whenever Israel went into Jericho and Joshua and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. Then I coveted them and took them. I saw, I coveted, I took. David is following the pattern of the Egyptians. The Egyptians have always hated Israel. David is following the pattern of Achan, the man who is pursuing the things that are committed to destruction. David is following the pattern of Saul. Remember when Samuel warned Israel, this is the kind of king you're gonna have. He's gonna take and take and take and take and take. God in his covenant, he gives and he gives and he gives. Problem is with my microphone. Is that better? Fantastic. We see here David takes because he saw, he coveted, he did not repent, he did not resist the limitation. This is Uriah's wife. He's stolen, he's committed adultery. We see here what is, Her role, she comes to him. Again, her role is not the main point. David is serving his desires. The third thing we see, in his action he coveted, then he took and committed adultery. The third thing, he deceives. Notice verse five, the woman conceived and she sent to David and told him, I'm pregnant. Okay, so a month has elapsed. Right, she was washing herself from her menstrual cycle, the uncleanness, this was according to Mosaic law, and then he took her, he lied with her, and at least a month has passed because now she knows she's pregnant. And we want to be clear, a child is not just a consequence of sex, but a child is a blessing of God, but now this child is a public symbol, a public declaration. Something's wrong. because everybody knows Uriah the Hittite has been out of town. He is at war. How does she become pregnant? Here we see David has another option to confess his sin and repent. He could have repented when he found out she was married to Uriah, but now he could repent because now she's pregnant with his child. What does David do? Does he confess his sin? No, he seeks to cover it up. This should also remind us of Adam and Eve. After they saw and took, what do they do? They cover themselves. They hid from God. That is the instinctive sinful response of shame, but it's the most counterproductive thing we can do. Adam shouldn't have ran from God and hidden. He should have run to God and bowed down and confessed his sin. Here, David should run to God, confess his sin, but instead he's just like Adam. He's progressed a bit. He's gotten more clever than just some leaves and a tree. No, he's gonna be very deceptive. There's four truths when you learn about God here. Four truths, these are worth writing down. First, God has never refused someone who seeks him. God has never refused someone who seeks him, hiding from him. is the instinctive thing to do, but the productive thing to do is to seek him. He's never refused anyone who sought him. Second, God has never refused forgiveness for anyone who has confessed sin. If we confess our sin, he is faithful to forgive us. He's a merciful God. He is quick with forgiveness. The third thing, God welcomes us to confess our sin. It isn't that he'll allow it, he desires it. He openly welcomes us to confess sin. Here, David could have gone before the Lord who has said, I will show you loving kindness, and he would say, I have committed this sin, and David would receive forgiveness. Destruction would end at this point. The fourth thing is he not only welcomes us, God sent his son to seek us as sinners so we could be forgiven. God doesn't reject those who seek forgiveness. God seeks those who are looking for forgiveness, who need forgiveness. He hides his sin. The pregnancy happens, and so what does David do? He calls for Uriah. Notice what happens next, verse 6. And here we see the next sin. David is deceptive. He's coveted, he's taken. Now he's just going to be deceptive. David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite. Joab sends him. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was going, how the people were doing and how the war was going. Now that's kind of, I wonder what the scene would be like. I wonder how often David and Uriah just hung out shooting the breeze together. It seems suspicious. Uriah doesn't seem to be of any caliber of general or high in command, but now all of a sudden, David has brought him into his own home, and can you just picture this? David, knowing he just slept with this man's wife, is just, hey, how's it going? How's the battle going? What a callous, hard heart. Verse eight, then David said to Uriah, go down to your house and wash your feet. I wonder if that's code. Because you know what David wants him to do. David wants him to go sleep with his wife so that he can then pretend that that baby is Uriah's. That's what David's saying. Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him a present from the king. David, his plans are foiled. His deception is ruined because Uriah, look at verse nine, slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to the house. Here, David's plan to cover up his sin, to have a deception, to make it look like Uriah came home and slept with his wife so that people will not realize that it's David's child. His plan is foiled. So verse 10, David says, Uriah, you didn't go down to your house. David, have you not come up from a long journey? Why don't you go down to your house? Uriah answers, the ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths. And my Lord Joab and his servants of my Lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. Uriah's honor has disrupted David's deception. Now, David is a child of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, of the household of Jesse. He's the king of Israel. He's a man after God's own heart. He has all the privileges and all the power that God has given to one individual up to this point. And notice, Uriah is a Hittite. He doesn't belong to Abraham. That's not a tribe of Israel. He's a Gentile. He's of another nation. He must be a God-fearer because he's living next to the king. But here we see this Gentile. has more honor than the king of Israel. The king of Israel, he's not at battle. He's lying with Uriah's wife. Uriah, he will not go home because he has respect for the ark and for Israel and for Joab and for the king himself. His plan is foiled. So what should he do? another opportunity to confess his sin and repent and be reconciled and to recognize his sin. No, he decides to lie once more. What happens next? Verse 12, David said to Uriah, remain here one more day. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and David invited him and he ate in the presence and drank so that he made him drunk. In the evening, he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his Lord that he did not go down to the house. Uriah, when drunk, has more self-control and honor than the king of Israel. There's no Christ figure in this story. There's just a contrast. Uriah is a foil. Uriah, in his honor and dignity, even after being made drunk by David to fall into his trap, he has too much honor. He's a foil to show us how foolish David is. Again, what should David do? Realize the gig is up. Confess your sin, repent, find forgiveness. Our fourth point, David is coveted, David is taken, David is deceived, and now David murders. David tells Uriah, I'm going to send you back. Here's a letter to take to Joab. And in that letter, he explains to Joab, I want you to put Uriah to the front line, and then I want you to pull back. I want Uriah to be in the most dangerous place. I want him to die. David sends the death warrant for Uriah by Uriah's own hand. That's vicious. That's so despicable. This is the king who has been given a rule and a power to care for his people, to provide for his people, to protect his people, and now because Uriah is too honorable to cover David's sin, Let's kill him. Let's murder him. Well, this time David's plan works. We see there at the end of verse 17. And the men of the city came out in fault with Joab. And some of the servants of David came among them and fell upon them. And Uriah the Hittite also died. This is a significant emphasis in our story. Look at verse 17. Uriah the Hittite also died. Look at the end of verse 21, and Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Verse 24, Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Verse 26, and the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead. That's four times. He's been murdered. This is wicked because even what happens, Joab knows what David's up to. Doesn't know exactly what's happened, but he knows something's funny, because when he sends message back to David, Uriah tells the messenger, hey, tell David what's happened. And then when David says, why would you send a front line so close? Don't you know about all these different situations where sending people too close, they've died? Well, hold that chip. If he gets upset that some men of Israel died, let him know Uriah's dead. Joab knows that's what David's intention is. David doesn't know, Joab may not understand why, but here we see he's not as clever as he thinks he is. David is willing to murder now to cover his sin. Not only murder, but he tells Joab, you know, verse 25, Joab, don't let this matter displease you. The sword devours one another. Be encouraged. Judd knows this man died wrong. And David's saying, don't worry about it. People die in battle. Be encouraged. This is David murdering. This is David not caring for any of his people. If other people died, so be it, as long as my sin doesn't get found out. What I want us to see here, you never sin in just a simple isolated way. Sin leads to more sin. Once we get on that track, it just adds and adds and snowballs and snowballs. Children, listen to this. There's no such thing as one lie. You ain't got to keep lying to cover the lie. There's no such thing as one simple private sin. Sin is deadly. It's destructive. It ruins your heart. It's going to ruin other relationships. It may ruin other people. Sin grows and multiplies and manifests. We see it here. A simple look, coveting, taking, deceiving, and now murdering. Sin is a poison that corrupts and defiles and destroys. David has now broken his fifth commandment. He's murdered. Where's God in all of this? He's actually eerily silent throughout this whole passage. Except for the very last verse. Our fifth point. David despised God. David despised God. The bottom line, verse 27, but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. What thing? Was it the coveting? The taking? The deceiving? The adultery? Or the murder? It's all one thing. It's all David's doing to cover up this one sin. This displeased the Lord. Today, the first thing we look at here is that we rejoice that God is not pleased with sin. We somehow hope he might be looking away when we sin, that somehow our sin might be private and hidden away, but be sure of this, God sees every sin. And because God is good, and holy, we rejoice at that statement that our sin does not please the Lord. We rejoice because we know that God will have vengeance on sin. God will correct sin. God will judge sin. Those four truths are very important. God has never refused someone who sought him. God has never rejected someone who asked for forgiveness. God welcomes us to find forgiveness. God seeks us while we're sinners. And all that is based upon the one clear truth. God will judge every sin. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. He's displeased with our sin. That's what has to sink in. He is displeased with any and all and every sin. The point I make is David despised the Lord because that's what actually God says in chapter 12 verse 9 when David's confronted. God says, you've despised my word and that's why it's so displeasing. David is supposed to be the man who is exercising God's righteous rule for God's people. He has that power to exercise God's righteous rule for God's people, but instead, he's using his power for his own sinful desires. God is supposed to be upheld in Israel by David and the teaching of the law. As we're just talking about the commandments, I want us to see here, God's law is important. God's law is good. God's law teaches us about God and teaches us about ourselves. A way we could read The Ten Commandments is like a bill of rights. They're commandments, but the basis of them are actually an inherent right. God has the right to be worshipped the true way. That's why he says, don't make images. Don't talk my name in vain. God has the right to be worshipped, and therefore you don't worship other gods. You don't name him after other gods. You don't make an image that looks like other gods. No, he has the right to be worshipped according to his way. Parents have the right to be honored. That's why it's commanded, children, honor your parents. Humans have the right to life. That's why you don't murder. Neighbors have the right to truth. That's why you don't lie. People have the right to their possessions. That's why you don't steal. A spouse has a right to their spouse, husband or wife. That's why you don't commit adultery. God's laws are good. And David has disregarded every single one of them. Sin has led to more sin. Sin has led to more sin. David has tried to deceive Uriah and has tried to deceive the nation with this little cover-up scheme, and now the murder. The most dangerous thing that underlies all this is David's own self-deception. He keeps getting the opportunity to see this isn't working the way he thinks it should work. He keeps getting the opportunity to repent and to confess, and it's his own self-deception. That's the scariest part about leaving God's truth is that you're abandoning the light that would show you the darkness. You're abandoning the light that would actually show you the way. When we start buying into the lies of sin, when we start buying into the deceptive desires, is what Paul calls them, we stop thinking sanely about ourselves, about God, and about others. There's a warning here of sin, and let's just look at this, it's a warning of self-deception. David wrote Psalm 19. Psalm 19 first begins with that general revelation, the heavens declare the glory of God. And then he talks about how the law is perfect, and God's statutes are right, and his restrictions are good. And then his reflection. Psalm 19 verse 12. Who can discern his errors? There's a reflection here, a man who recognizes that on his own he doesn't see his sin. He's gonna need Nathan to come actually confront him, to help him see the sins so he can be forgiven. Well, what's important here is that reflection. Who can discern his errors? There are hidden faults. Yes, there's presumptuous sins. Those are sins that we're just doing blatantly against God. Don't let them have dominion over me, God. Hear David saying what? Those hidden sins. Those errors I don't see. It's easy to see all the sin out there, isn't it? We could look around and we could probably say, oh, this is so-and-so's sinful tendency. It's really easy to see other people's sin. Everybody has that gift. But who can discern his own errors? It's a blessing that comes down from above. We look out. And we see the chaos that has happened because of this virus. That's impersonal. It's a virus and there's just chaos because of it. Then we look out and we see the chaos that's happened because of some tragedies, humans against humans. That gets more personal. A police officer leaning over another man with his leg on his neck. Another man getting shot in broad daylight in the middle of the street. There's something wrong and we can see it so easily. Rioters destroying businesses, we look at it, we know it's wrong. It's easy to see it's wrong. But do we see our own sin? Do we take the moment and look to see how disgusting that sin is and ask, how am I like them? How could I see my sin? Just like we're supposed to see with David. We're a sinner just like David. We should hate the things that displeases God. The things that are happening in our society right now, in the riots, the abuse of power. We should hate them because they displease God. And just to go one more step, when we hear fellow image bearers, those made in the image of God, some of them brothers and sisters in Christ, crying out for help in our streets because of fear or anger. We need to be careful not to hate that. We should probably hear that. We need to be careful not to hate those who we might not disagree with in terms of the data points or the narrative or whatever's happening. We should be listening. They're fellow image bearers that are crying out out of fear and or anger. Even more specific, if someone is crying out out of fear or anger, and they're a brother in Christ, it is our duty to do one thing, and it is to bear their burden. Yeah, we speak the truth in love, but we have to listen. We have to approach them with a care. We cannot fulfill that most basic truth. To fulfill the law of Christ is to bear their burden. If they're burdened with a fear and an anger, listening to care for them, to maybe be corrected by them, to hope that maybe there's a correction we can make. If we're just dismissing it, we're not helping it. Well, let's get to the news today in our text. We're just like David. We have lust. We have anger. We have hatred. We have deception. We have a disregard for human life. We use people over there rather than take responsibility for them. And the scariest thing is the self-deception. How do we see God in the midst of our self-deception? How do we step out of our own sin? You know, David is a very complicated figure through this. Sometimes he's been the Christ figure. He's shown love like Christ did. Sometimes David is a model of prayer. He teaches us how to respond to God in song and in songs. And sometimes he's a mirror to show us we're just like him. Today he's a mirror. We're like him. We have the same coveting in our hearts. We don't hear the warnings. We don't heed the warnings. We have the same desire to cover up sin, we have the same desire to lust and to anger. We have to see this so that we can see the power of the gospel. Three just basic application points, just simple. Praise God, first, he is not pleased with our sin. He's a holy and good God. Second, praise God he does not leave us alone in our sin. This is what we get to next week. God doesn't leave David alone. He confronts him to restore him. God loves his people. He disciplines his people. There's going to be consequences, but he doesn't leave him alone. Third, God confronts sin so that he can forgive sin. This is what Christianity offers that no other worldview offers. Usually we want to confront sin to help people realize how sinful they are so they can stay in that sin and the shame and be bound to it. Christianity, Christians, Jesus Christ, he comes to show us our sin so he can forgive us, to draw us out of sin, to restore us from sin. If you're not a Christian, everyone here in this room, everyone watching, everyone in the other room, we're all guilty. It's not the exact kind of acts that David did here, but of lust and anger and hatred. We have a debt to God because of that. We must be punished for our sin. And that's why Jesus Christ came. He came to be like us in every way, yet without sin. David is just like us with sin. He needs forgiveness too. Christ came to take the penalty of our sin. He came to take the wrath of God so that when we believe in him, we can be forgiven. That is the only hope we have for forgiveness. And the invitation, the welcome, if you're not a Christian, recognize your sin and believe Jesus Christ died to forgive you of your sin. We all need to see a few things about sin. First, sin is always demanding and never satisfying. Sin is always demanding and never satisfying. It's like drinking from the ocean. You can drink all you want, but you're only gonna get thirstier. It's salt water, it doesn't quench the thirst. Sin is always saying, all you need is more and more and more, and it never satisfies, it cannot. You were designed to be satisfied by someone so much greater than sin. Sin is always demanding, never satisfying. The second thing we need to see about sin, sin promises freedom, but results in slavery. It promises freedom, but results in slavery. Jesus said, he who chooses sin is enslaved to it. You see, when sin and when temptation lingers, what do you see? The bait or the hook? Temptation is just putting the bait out there. But what happens when you bite in? You're on the hook, and you can't get yourself off. Sin promises freedom. It promises some kind of enticement. It promises some kind of satisfaction. But it always and only results in the slavery, you must now serve it, it's master. Promises, freedom, results in slavery. The third thing about sin, it begins with hope of a better life but only ends in death. What does Satan tell Adam and Eve? God doesn't want you to have this because he doesn't want you to have something better. Adam and Eve could see God in the garden. And Satan said, your eyes will be opened and you'll be able to see like God. He promised something better. He promised something that is beyond what God would give them. And what happened? Their eyes were opened and they did not like what they saw. They were ashamed. They were dead. Finally, sin says you don't need God but then demands your worship. We're designed to worship. We're designed to desire. We're designed to love, and we're either loving and gratifying the desires of the flesh, or we're living and loving God and worshiping him. So David is a mirror. We are sinners who need to realize that it's promising something it cannot deliver. It is going to end in death. We see how destructive it is in David's life. Now we also need to look at David as a model of prayer. You can go back in your bulletin. Psalm 32, five. This is the verse worth memorizing. The other one is, this was pleasing to the Lord. That's the end point. And what happens when we realize what we have done is displeasing to the Lord? Look at Psalm 32, verse five. I acknowledged my sin to you. And I did not cover my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord. And you forgave the iniquity of my sin. David has abused all of his rights and privileges and power. David has committed numerous sins upon numerous sins. And there's a surety here. He goes on to say in verse six, I will teach others that they also can confess sin. There's no sin. We look at these sins and we think that kind of sinner couldn't be forgiven. We think my sin can't be forgiven. No, no, look at this. Confess your transaction to the Lord and he forgives. He's eager. He's able. He's willing. Jesus came to save sinners while we were still sinners. Jesus came to save us from our sin. We have to ask the question, what can wash away my sin? What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Do we really believe in the power of the gospel so that we quickly and eagerly and desiring forgiveness confess our sins? Do we look at others and realize that God also can forgive their sins? God would save and forgive a man like David who's a murderer, a liar, an adulterer, and a thief. David would forgive a man like Peter who betrayed him and denied him at the moment when he needed him most. They would forgive a man like Paul who persecuted his own church. They would forgive a man even like me, even like you. God forgives sin. And the more we see how sick and twisted and destructive our sin is, the more we see the power of God's love and the power of forgiveness. What is it about our lives that displeases the Lord? If we confess it, God will forgive us. One last meditation on this passage. We look at all of scripture, it's quite fascinating. We quickly run over these genealogies and if you just turn to Matthew 1, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, son of David. There's something really interesting and quite frankly odd about this genealogy. It has four women in it. Even more so, four women who I believe are all Gentiles. It's not absolutely clear that Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, is a Gentile, but it is clear that Tamar is, and Rahab is, and Ruth is. The pattern seems to be pretty consistent. Uriah is a Hittite, and he probably married a Hittite. Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah, who Judah slept with, thinking she was a prostitute, that kind of despicable sin shows up in the genealogy of Jesus. Uriah's wife, David, the son of God, the king who's finally come, sleeping with another man's wife and then murdering that man. That shows up in the genealogy of Jesus. Why? To demonstrate clearly, our sin does not hinder God's power to save. God was even able to use these gross sins to bring about his plan of salvation, Solomon is going to be another child of David and Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. God is demonstrating, he is able to save. His plan of salvation is not dependent upon anyone's goodness. It actually is over against all of our sin. Today, do not refuse his voice thinking, I'm too sinful to be forgiven. Now the whole point of the gospel is God forgives sinners. If you look back at Psalm 32, verses one and two, blessed are those whose sin is forgiven. Verse three and four, how agitated and how demised and how frustrated are those whose sins are embraced. The invitation. Come out of your sin by confessing it to Jesus Christ and be forgiven. He has demonstrated he has the power to forgive you. He died so that we can be forgiven. He has risen so that we can be restored. Will you pray with me?