Like an Owl among the Ruins

And done something wrong and then tried to cover it up.

The book of Psalms. King David writes about his attempt to keep his sins hidden how that made him feel isolated and vulnerable.

But today I'm Truth for Life.

Alastair Bragg explains how God intervened in David's life to set his guilty conscience free.

When looking at the second of six penitential Psalms and for those of you who are concerned about that they are Psalms 6 Psalm 32 sans 38 sign 51 Psalm 102 and Psalm 150 just in case you want to go looking for them. Well, having me this general statement concerning happiness, which he tells us, is the product of forgiveness. David now goes in verse three and four to acknowledge the heaviness which he has experienced when instead of confessing his sin to God.

He has hidden in the shadows and he has absolutely refused to face the issue.

He tells us at the end of verse two that the happiness that attaches to a man or a woman is a happiness which attaches to the individual in whose spirit is no deceit, deceitfulness or dishonesty and happiness do not sleep in the same bed. Indeed, we ought not to deceive ourselves about the consequences of deceiving ourselves.

And he gives us a very clear indication that there is an obvious link between remorse and tortured conscience and the physical impact that comes by way of that remorse and that tortured conscience. Those of you who work in social agencies are tall. Those of you who work within the realm of psychology and psychiatry.

Those of you who work with people who are on the margins and the fringes of society as a result of their decision will be confronted again and again with some correlation between what is going on in a person's heart and mind and what is being displayed in that person's body and here in the Bible, we have a very clear indication of that fight. And these two verses when I kept silent.

He says when I didn't confess my sin when I hid the true state of affairs then people could identify it in my body. They would walk around and go over there somebody was hiding his sin.

They would say.

Isn't it strange how much weight David has lost his fascinating to see the way he groans and twitches, and those who were in his immediate company seeing him in the watches of the night would not be aware of the predicament that was going on inside of him spiritually, but they could not avoid the indications of what was happening to him physically and the cause and the effect are stated plainly, David's condition was a punishment. The Bible makes it clear that there is a natural outcome to lost and to access we don't like to mention this, we don't like to talk about it is politically incorrect against people as far up on the back of the neck, the fireflies and they become resentful, but in actual fact it is a liberating and wonderful truth you have it in Romans chapter 1 again.

Here's a statement that no one really likes to trot out duly that God gave man over to the sinful desires of their hearts. What is he say in verse 24 he gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity that why is it why is the rampant sexual impurity in America because of the judgment of God, God gave them over to said you'd you don't believe in me you love me you don't worship the God and father of the Lord Jesus Christ you want to live without me show you how it works. Verse 25 they exchanged the truth of God for a lie deceit. Remember, you can be happy when you're a liar and he worshiped and served created things rather than the creator who is always praise 26, here comes the because because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received notice and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Are you don't have to be beyond sixth grade to understand what's being said there that there is a direct cause and effect in terms of lust and excess, and a disregard for the commands of God. Paul does not elucidate what this penalty was but all he tells is is that the penalty was received in themselves in themselves, so there was some physical implication to their deceitful turning from the clear instruction of God by devastating, I would like to be a piercing when I Silent my bones wasted through my groaning all day long for day and night your hand was heavy upon me and my strength was sacked as in the heat of summer fever frailty, weight loss, sleeplessness, rejection, melancholy, anxiety, despair, all may be accompanying symptoms of the individual who hides their sin from God.

Now don't misunderstand me, or the Bible.

Every time we find those symptoms, we cannot trace them to hidden sin and indeed it is not our responsibility to trace anything in anybody else's life to hidden sin. We have enough of a journey dealing with our own lives and our own preoccupations in our own predicaments on let's go there but Don lets in seeking to stand back from that sale less than what the Bible is saying. But remember, this is David's biography.

This is autobiography. He says there is a phenomenal happiness that attaches to forgiveness. When transgressions are covered when sins are removed when dad is canceled.

He says I know that to be true. What I also know to be true is this that when I did not walk the path of repentance. When I did not confess my sin to God when I worked off a double standard. This is exactly what happened to me what you think he has in mind. Of course you know what he has in mind. What is he dealing with. Presumably his sin with Bathsheba second Samuel chapter 11. Remember the cliff notes David when he should have been doing other things. So a lady bathing on the roof. He saw her bathing.

He lusted after Harry sent 42 from terms to himself. He then arranged for her husband to be suitably killed and one of the battles in verse 26 of second Samuel 11 reads when Uriah's wife Harold that her husband was dead. She mourned for him. People came back from the battle presumably and give her a flag all folded up and were sorry to hear Mrs. Uriah that your husband died in the battle dreadful skirmish. It wasn't down he went. But we want to thank you for on behalf of of our nation that your husband served his country so well. And after she'd spent the to the customary time in the morning.

David sent for her and brought her to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son. Now if you think about it.

There's about a year between his sin with Bathsheba and the beginning of chapter 12, there's at least nine months. We know that, for she had time to conceive and bear a child. So for 12 months approximately.

David has been doing what he thinks is a masterful cover for all this time he's been saying to himself, I've got this case, no one knows no one sees I'm in control, the deceitfulness of sin always does that to us, but when he is honest with himself.

He knows that public perception and private reality are two separate realms entirely and his groaning on his bed at night and the sapping of his strength in the day and the disintegration of a psyche in the process of the living of life is eating away at him like a cancer.

And when you read chapter 11 it's it's amazing that there's no indication of what God is doing or what God is not doing. There's no comment anywhere in Chapter 11 about where God is. Why didn't God prevent this. What is God feel about this. What is happening in relationship to these things. The only thing we have is the final sentence of the chapter, but the thing David and Don displeased floor displeased the law and what action did he take turn the page. The Lord sent Nathan to David if you are back for your homework and read chapter 11 and underlining your text. How many times a verb to send columns you'll find that it's all over the place.

Chapter 11 everybody sending everybody everywhere. David is sending for Bathsheba to come to the house. David is sending your eye out into the battlefield.

David is sending a message to Joab job is sending a message back to someone else. There's all this kind of sending going on as if somehow or another.

Mere mortals are in charge of it all and then you turn the page into chapter 12 and you read the simple sentence the Lord sent Nathan to David whole year of deceit and silence and in actual fact those six words are words of amazing grace, the Lord sent Nathan to David how to do that. How good of God to do that is grace.

Is it not, he doesn't cast his servant off. He sends the prophet to him and the prophet doesn't show up at his door and beat on them and accuse him. He simply tells him a story about an individual in the story of this little lamb tender, drawing out the sympathy of the king. The range of the King over the act of the individual in doing what he did and then the punchline coming so quickly when Nathan says to David. Verse seven of chapter 12 you are the man you are the man. The grace of God is found in this that Yahweh will not allow his servant David to settle down comfortably in his sin and he won't let you do it and he won't let me do it either. As surely as he sent the prophet Nathan physically to the front door of David's house.

He sends his word to the front door of each of our houses and the reason that he does so. As uncomfortable as it may be, as are resting and is difficult of faces. It may be, is because of his amazing grace, granting us something. Even though we deserve nothing and do something he gives us he gives us for nothing besiege to all intents and purposes, David got away from any observer would have said he's managed.

He succeeded in his unfaithfulness.

He fancied the woman he took the woman he married the woman he said a child by the woman he managed to get the husband killed. What more could he possibly do. I guess that's what happens to people in authority.

The folks of the marketplace would have said is amazing what you can do if you're a king. These days, but they didn't see his heart they didn't know was going on. They didn't know that he felt like he was on owl in the ruins of a castle he didn't know that his strength was sapping away. They didn't know that he couldn't sleep at night.

They didn't know that he lost his appetite. They knew nothing of that only God and David knew and let me say to you if you or I are fiddling around with sin in our lives. It matters not how well we can conceal that the watching world for the watching world is irrelevant to his ultimately.

But God knows our hearts and so do we. And if we continue to conceal sin, to stand back from confession to remain impenitent in our attitudes then we pray God that he will come and arrest us and sought us out, and so we have to finish on an encouraging note.

Notice in verse five he says when I refused to confess my sin. Verse three.

This was my predicament. I was weak. I was miserable.

I groaned a lot.

Day and night your hand of discipline was on May my strength evaporated by the story doesn't end there because he says then I acknowledge my sin to you, and I didn't cover up my iniquity. The story doesn't end with despair but with deliverance doesn't end with guilt but with grace, says kid know the relief of climbing down and the grace which meets it altogether outweighs the cost, but a great phrase. You know that's what it was a why do you get off your high horse while you face facts, why do you tell the truth while you climb down so hard to climb down if I climb down, then people will find out if I climbed down. I'm not sure what's down there.

I like it up here where I'm hiding climbed down. The cost is far outweighed by the benefits of forgiveness. We know this, even in human estrangement strongly again are swinging your wife or your husband.

If you're disaffected with a loved one in your whole.

The longer you go concealing the necessity of sorry the longer I go without saying, please forgive me. The greater the burden becomes and the deeper the stain remains see, I say to you again this is between you and God. This is between God and made holy as it affects each other. If God is speaking to you tonight and you think you're a cover of expert you might want to consider the description of an owl among the ruins and you might want to be really really careful about hearing God's word from Psalm 32 because as surely as in his mercy he sent Nathan to Dave.

So, in his mercy he sends his word to you and to me can back this week to a ton of mail.

A lot of it came via the radio began to read one letter amongst many in the reason I began to read it because it was handwritten. I always read the handwritten ones first, even though the harder I just like the I can read all of this letter because I may give away the identity of the individual.

Even though it's far from here. I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know much your radio ministry has meant to me tells of being a founding member of the well-known church in a southern state raised a Christian family. I have three wonderful Christian children supported numerous Christian ministries are served by I've served my country in Korea. I kept the laws of this country except for a couple of traffic tickets. I wonder where he was going with this. I thought goodness gracious, you know what you want to just to tell me what a fine fellow. Your says I will not enumerate the other good things I've done since that is not the point. I'm in jail for child molestation is on to tell howitzers the truth came out his congregation abandoned him entirely, including the entire parcel team. I can honestly say because of Truth for Life.

I have the primary reason that I turned to God instead of away from him and my troubles radio program is help me more than anyone else in getting me to the point where I have perfect peace about the possibility of spending the rest of my life in prison it is taken a long time for my head knowledge to infiltrate my heart.

Thanks for providing the part you played and now the closest to God that I have ever been. And apparently the DA is asking for a sentence that would go as far as 441 years is a 68-year-old man receipt to all intents and purposes on the outside is Mr. clean Mr. I served in Korea. Mr. founding elder of the church.

Don't judge I was going on in the outside either yourself or anybody else. David was a king David had Charlie David had people under his thumb David would like an owl in a until he acknowledged his our lives can move from despair to deliverance compressors to God easier said than done but it's a lesson. All Christians will be helped to learn listing to Truth for Life with Alastair Berrigan. Please keep listening. Alastair will be back in just a minute to close with prayer. As we heard in today's message God didn't cast David aside for his failure. Even after he tried to cover it up. Instead, God extended a loving hand of mercy toward David he forgave him for his wrongdoing and he relieved him of his guilt comforting picture, particularly when we think about our own sins that this story might raise the question just how far will God's grace and mercy extend does God ever run out of patience with the answer to that question is found in the book we've selected that complements the study we been hearing from Alastair. The book is called gentle and lowly, the heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers. Contrary to what we may believe we can't out sin Jesus forgiveness. He is always ready for us to turn back to him. This is the message of the gospel that Jesus came to save sinners and this good news is what we love to share with people through Truth for Life. It's our partnership with listeners like you that brings this daily program to a worldwide audience. So when you give today we want to say thank you by inviting you to request your own copy of the book gentle and lowly, you can make a donation and request your copy of the book through our mobile app or go to Truth for Life.org/donate also get by calling us at 888-588-7884 if you'd prefer to mail your donation along with your request for the book, write to us the Truth for Life PO Box 39, 8000, Cleveland, OH 44139 and thank you for partnering with us. Now here's Alastair to close in prayer God our father. It is in our very nature to hide from you and to cover up we saw Adam and Eve do it in the garden. They ran away and hid because they were naked. They were ashamed of what they done and we too are ashamed of the things we've done, help us not to call Carson help us to confess it to you. Thank you for the promise of your word that when we confess our sin that your faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thank you that the story of David in this Psalm does not end with him wasting away, but it ends with him hiding in you, not hiding from you. But hiding in you and calling out to the passersby.

Rejoice in the Lord, all you who are upright in heart. Thank you that it is on account of your faithfulness that you pursue us you won't let us remain comfortable in our disobedience and in our rebellion because you take delight in pouring out your raw and chiding your services because you have committed yourself to us and you promise to bring to completion the good work you've already begun. What an amazingly faithful love is yours and it is in this that we seek to take a rest in Jesus name we pray.

Amen about the pain joining us today. We learned what happened when King David tried to hide his sins from God from others tomorrow Alastair study of Psalm 32, show us the importance of Making God Our Hiding Pl., Bible teaching of Alastair Vegas furnished by Truth for Life Learning is for Living