180 SERMON XIII. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD VINDICATED IN THE HEALING OF BACKSLIDINGS IN HIS PEOPLE. 2 SAMUEL Xii. 13. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. It is a fearful thing to sin against God, but still more fearful to be hardened under it. And yet no one who sins wilfully has any guarantee to warrant him that he shall be kept from hardness of heart. That sin hardens while it deceives, we have a melancholy instance in the last stage of David's experience. Though guilty of the foulest crimes, though blood-guiltiness was upon his head, there does not appear to have been for many months the least remorse, no compunctions of conscience. David's only concern seemed to be to evade detection, to escape the eye of man and not of God; he multiplied inventions and contrivances to cloak his iniquity, but he had no heart to confess it; he heeded not the sin, but the shame; he cared not for the evil, but the exposure; he dreaded the reproach of man, more than the anger of God; he was hardened under sin. And what was it brake the deadly slumber? The word of God! God instructs his prophet to go and pourtray David to himself in a parable, and in that parable he meets him. "And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up; and it grew up together with him, and with his children: it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man; and he spared to take of his own flock, and of his own herd, to dress for the way-faring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him." (verses 1-4.) Here was a picture to the life; here you see David and Uriah, Uriah's wife, and David's concubines - Uriah's injury, and David's murder ; but David saw not the likeness, his eyes were blinded, he apprehended it not, and therefore at once indignant at the offence, he denounced without hesitation the offender. "And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man ; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” (verses 5, 6.) David thus unwittingly condemned himself, and when the veil was drawn aside, was left without excuse or way of escape. Such is the design of this parable, which having done its work, the prophet of the Lord gave him the interpretation thereof. "And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man." (verse 7.) This sharp rebuke in connexion with what follows, was the occasion of David's repentance, and the pardon of God as expressed in the text. "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die." The two points then to be considered, are, 1st, David's repentance; 2dly, the remission of his sin. That the one was genuine and sincere, and that in the other, the righteousness of God was fully vindicated, are the facts to be established. For this we have abundant materials before us. You may see, First. How grace acts, and what it works in the recovery of a returning penitent backslider. Secondly. How the grace of God is vindicated in such recovery. I. How grace acts, and what it works in the recovery of a returning penitent backslider. "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord." The words are few, but we shall be able to prove that the contrition was deep. The heart of David perhaps was at that moment too full to speak much. Little sorrows are often loud and talkative, while deep grief is comparatively silent. The repentance, however, was unfeigned and sincere. If conviction, if confession, if self-loathing and humiliation, if brokenness of heart and anguish of spirit are characteristic marks of a contrite sinner, then was David a true penitent. Let us now examine the actings and workings of the Spirit of God on his spirit, and we shall see what renewing grace operates, and effects, in raising again to life those that are fallen. I say the actings and workings of the Spirit of God, for the Spirit of God is the first and the efficient cause of all repentance. There is no true repentance without godly sorrow, no godly sorrow without the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God works godly sorrow, and godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2 Cor. vii. 10.) mover in this transaction go to Nathan, or did the "The Lord sent Who was the first Whatever the result of this meeting, therefore, it was of God. And how did the Lord's prophet conduct the business? Having charged sin home upon his conscience, he first spreads before him the many acts of God's past lovingkindness to him, and causes all his goodness to pass before him. "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would, moreover, have given unto thee such and such things." (verses 7, 8.) Nathan then brings in review before him his own abominable wickedness, his baseness, his ingratitude. "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon." (verse 9.) He next apprises him of the judgments of the |