Spiritual Awakening - Brokenness

Sermons Blog - Calvary

Psalms 51

---

---

---

PDF Manuscript: Spiritual Awakening - Brokenness

Unchecked sin can only lead to a hard heart. We can begin to unpack the truth of this statement with a familiar story. Once, there were two men: a rich man and a poor man. The rich man was very rich. He had abundant wealth, flocks, and herds. On the other hand, the poor man was very poor. This man didn’t own anything of particular value except one small ewe lamb. He loved that lamb like it was part of his family. The lamb played with his children. Although they had meager provisions, the lamb would eat at the table and drink from her master’s cup. At night, the lamb would sleep securely, snuggled up in the poor man’s arms. It happens that the rich man received an important guest from out of town. As he considered what he would prepare for his guest, he looked over the abundance of his flocks but could not bring himself to slaughter any of his own sheep. Instead, he took the lamb from the house of the poor man and served him to his guest.

As you hear this story, perhaps your initial response is one of anger or outrage. How could this man get away with such a despicable act? The Bible tells us King David was furious. When the Prophet Nathan stood before him and told him the same story, he exclaimed, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!” (2 Samuel 12:5). But it’s then that Nathan tells David the true point of the story: “David, that man is you.” You can almost feel the weight of that moment. It was the time that David’s sin had finally found him out.

You see, David was not really in any position to cast moral judgments on others. 2 Samuel tells us the sordid events leading up to Nathan’s story. It was springtime, the time when kings march out to war. Instead of leading Israel’s army in battle, David entrusts that duty to Joab, his general. David takes something of a vacation in Jerusalem. One evening, during the cool of the day, David took a stroll on the palace rooftop. As he did so, his eyes happened upon a very beautiful woman taking a bath. Instead of averting his eyes, he is captivated by her. Unlike Joseph, who fled from temptation rather than sinning against God, David seems to have forgotten about God entirely. He asks his servants about this woman only to find out she is married to one of David’s faithful soldiers, Uriah. Not to be deterred, he sends for her, and in his passion commits adultery with her. Does he repent of this sin? No, he sends her home in secret. Of course, it is not long afterward that he receives a message from her telling him she is pregnant. David is in a very awkward spot. He has just had an adulterous affair with another man’s wife, and now the chickens have come home to roost. There are always consequences for our sin. Yet, instead of being broken over his sin and turning to the Lord for forgiveness, he attempts to cover up his sin with more sin. Unchecked sin can only lead to a hard heart.