You know, we sing the Christmas carols and things. It is fun. It brings back memories as well. My mom liked to push us as kids, kind of get us out of our comfort zone and do things that, you know, moms kind of get their kids to do it. And our family, and I'm talking about moms, family, sisters and things, we would go carol and actually go knock on doors. And it's for funs that we do at Christmas time. Load up, kids, and off we go. And it was cold and snowy, and it brings back a lot of great memories. But then also the carol singing service. We always love it here at the church. It's going to be a very special night. I sleep down, Purchase Rihanna, and carol's up on the telly here, I think. We'll have to test that, see how the sides of the font and things like that. I think it'll work great. And look forward to the guy bringing some visitors out. So be praying about him. He hasn't got to where he worked that night. And I look forward to it. Alright, 2 Samuel chapter 12. 2 Samuel chapter 12. And we're continuing our study of the life of David. And the story that we've been in, it's a sad story. And praise God, we're finally getting to kind of at least the happy part of the story as we get to the end tonight. But it's a story of King David's moral failure, his adultery, and the murder of Uriah at the head time. Sadly, David didn't repent of his sin and so he seeks to hide it. We were looking at that last week. He tried to hide it by deception and having Uriah go home to his house and spend time with his wife and the baby that's coming would be assumed to be Uriah's, but Uriah was more honorable than David thought and said, no, how can I go home and be with my family when the ark of God and the soldiers are out there fighting the battle and he stayed there at the palace? David trying to get Uriah drunk. He did get Uriah drunk and tries again. He didn't break his will by that but it fails and after that David just sends a letter by Uriah to Joab saying put Uriah to fire. And then after he finds out that he's dead, he comforts Joy, the captain, the host, saying, you know, the sword devours one as well as another. It's a pretty sordid story, you know, that you have here in the Word of God, and it's very sad because he's a great man of God that failed morally, and so it's very sad to look at a story like this. But at the end of chapter 11, verse 26, it said, when the wife of Gariah heard that Gariah, her husband, was dead, she When the warning was passed, David sent Vextra to his house, and she became his wife and barren son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. And so a significant amount of time has elapsed since the adultery was committed to the point of this story that we're at here as we come into chapter 12. We know that the adultery took place, that Jeba finds out that she's pregnant. Then pretty quickly after that, that would take seven weeks, then Uriah's call. and the death of Uriah takes place, and then David marries Bathsheba, and the baby comes. So, they were at least nine months, you know, probably a few months, maybe longer than that, that since the sin, the original sin had taken place, and David's not gotten right with God, and David is still hiding the sin, harboring the sin, and God's been very merciful to this point. with that statement, but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. And so David was okay with it, apparently Joab was okay with it, but that didn't really matter because God was upset by it. And so we'll get back in the story here, and God's gonna deal with it, and David's light, and for David's good, and for the glory of God. God is pure and that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for recruitment, for correction, for instruction, and righteousness. And Father, we're thankful tonight that we have a place that we get to gather together and that we get to open the book of all books, the Bible, and consider eternal and timeless truth that our world says, and I've seen old-fashioned, but Father, it doesn't matter what somebody says about the Word of God, praise you for writing a book that is as real, as relevant, and as good today as it was in the day that the Spirit of God inspired the human author to pen those words of Scripture open up the light of the truth of the Word of God upon our own hearts, our own lives, and Father, there's a prophet in the truth that we consider to benefit the last two weeks as we've been on dysphoria and trust tonight as well that the Spirit of God would speak to hearts and that you'd both protect us, protect our purity, our marriages, and our families, and God, give us grace in a very immoral, wicked world to live righteously. and if I can't speak without your enablement, I do ask that the Spirit of God give you liberty to declare the truth of the Word of God and that you'd help us in our walk with you tonight. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Okay, so, but the thing that David had done verse 1, the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And so God, as we talked about, God's given David about a year to repent, to deal with it, David's not done that, and so it's kind of surprising to think David's a godly man, he walks with the Lord, and yet he's harbored and hid this for so very long. The Bible says in Proverbs 28 verse 13, he that cometh to sin shall not confesseth and forsaketh them, shalt have mercy." So, without exception, hidden sin is not good. Anytime the devil could try to talk us into taking a sin and covering it, that's not good for the person that does sin. So, it's been a difficult year for David. Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 are penitential psalms written by David after he got right with God. He speaks about how he felt as he was harboring that sin. Psalm 32 verse 3 says, When I kept silent my bones waxed old from my roaring. All the day long, for day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me. My boisters turned weeks ago now and actually it may not have been that long ago, two weeks ago or something like that but as we had that we went with the boys who were sledging and that we took some convincement on our part that it's going to be okay to be able to get out and go sledging. So we get over there and my family knows that I'm the health and safety guy and so I almost I say that because I'm a health and safety guy, but I also have personal experience with sledging. When I was a little boy, about, I want to say maybe five, six years of age, I had gone sledging at a large hill by our house. In the United States, it's common to get on a truck lorry, in or two, that they used to have there on trucks. And so, you blow it up real big, you get on that, it's slick as can be, and you pile people on it, and then you go down the hill. Well, there was about four cars And I come up, and I'm like, I'm hurt. And mom's like, oh, you're going to be all right. Come on, be tough. And then she realizes, oh, maybe something's wrong. And we go to the hospital, and lo and behold, I've broken my collarbone. Now, I regret. I've never broken a cool bone in my body. I never get a cast that everybody gets fine or anything like that. I've got to wear these straps that make me walk around like this. it as the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice." That constant nagging, that sense of the guilt and the burden of that was there. And so David's rightly suffering, he's sinning against God, he's chosen to disobey God, dishonor God, and he is bearing the burden of the guilt of his sin because he's not coming to God, not sought God's forgiveness, and he's still there. And so transgression warrants God's judgment. David had an humblest heart. And so God has to send Nathan to confront David after a year of that. for the king. I can imagine the responsibility that he's been entrusted with is he's got to go before the king with this, and whether God directly gave him the story that he's to tell, or as he thinks about it, he thinks, well David, about David, he's got a clever way of presenting this to David by way of a fable that one little ewe lamb which he had brought and nourished up. Okay so he starts a story that has great contracts. There is a wealthy man that has everything and no doubt anything that his heart desired he had. He didn't have to work hard to have himself provided for. He had everything and an abundance of things. In fact he had flies money and somehow he earned that lamb, a little female lamb that he had, and he nourished it and cared for it. So there's quite a contrast in the story. The heart of the story hinges on the affection of the poor man for the lamb, that he really cares about that lamb. And so verse 3, with poor man had nothing, saved one little new lamb which he had brought and nourished up, and he grew up together with him. And with his children, he had to eat of his own meat, and drink of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter." Nathan is a master storyteller, as he's telling the story to the king, and really presenting the picture to David that David would get. David was a shepherd in his youth. the mother of the lamb had died, you had died somehow, or maybe you had cast off the child and so the shepherd would take it in and begin to nourish it, begin to feed it, begin to care for it. Well, you know, if you start to care for something, you kind of get an affection for it. I mean, my sister, they to be fat and things and she sent me videos and they're still caring for the cat and as far as I know they're going to keep the cat and the dog but this cat she's got videos of it outside in the courts because they're teaching it to be an outdoor cat okay and it's hard because they got pictures of it a little video of it on the we have screens on our windows in the United States and you know the whole thing is just clawed its way there it's like trying to get back in well I mean that tugs at your heart why because you start to for it. And so as he's sharing the story, David's getting it. David's like, had experience that knows what it's like to have a pet that you really care about. So his emotion is really getting involved in the story that Nathan is sharing with them. Now the story, again the heart is there, of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wig-bearing man that was coming to him, but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was coming to him." Dressed it means he butchered it. And so a sudden visitor to the rich man is demanding to be entertained. And a feast is required because, of course, you know, somebody's traveling those days comes in, they're going to meet the needs that the stranger has and provide a meal for him. But rather than butchering the livestock that he has, he's got all these flocks, all these herds, he doesn't do that. No, he doesn't go to his own stores. Instead, the poor man's pet is butchered on the rich man to satisfy the stranger's desire. Now, we know the story represents David in 1 Kings 9, and that's going to at that were reminded that there are traveling passions that came upon David that desired to be entertained. Rather than meet those in a God-given way that was right on the side of God, he violated that and committed the sin of adultery. David was looking outside of his pastures instead of being content with what God had given to him. And so, there's the stories presented. Now, Nathan was very effective in what he did. As he presented the story to David, it's very effective in telling said about it and his response would be the same as any righteous man who heard of this great injustice. And so David is angry at the fictitious man who had done this deed. And so verse 5 it says, and David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. Okay. My boys sometimes tell me kindle fires. We've got, if you've been to But we're trying to get a fire going. We try to do it the old-fashioned way. You know, the boys like, not rubbing sticks together, but putting the kindling there, and you get the paper, you build that teepee, and then you light it and hope it goes. But if it doesn't, we don't mind using a little accelerant, you know, getting some lighter fluid that's put on there and helping that out. Now, if that doesn't work, I've got another solution that we try, and that's we get our relief blower. And so then we've got the little fire that's going and struggling, but I mean, put that leaf blower on it and it's just like, you know, and it goes. And I would say about that, that's a fire that is what? Greatly kindled. The Bible says here about David, David is not kind of a little bit angry. It's not kind of starting to spark. The Bible says, You know what I'm saying? Have you ever stopped and thanked God? God, thank you that you don't get upset as quickly as I do, that you don't get angry as quickly as I do. Many times I meet people, they say, if there is a God, why does he send people to hell? They wanna stand judgment against God, but the truth be told, if they were God, and let me not say it like that, if they have the authority of God, how would somebody that offended them be treated? You know what I'm saying? I mean, we would just be like, okay, forget you. You know, I'm thankful tonight that God is not like this. You look at David right here. David is enraged. I mean, he's ready to pass judgment, not realizing that this point is coming, that is our next point that we'll consider, that Nathan's gonna go, David, need to look in a mirror here, because this man Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that done this thing shall surely die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he hath no pity." Now, David as king, he's very right in his judgment. He's, the judgment that he's coming up with is a very excellent judgment against the man that had supposedly done this deed. Okay, he did not value precious life, he should die. And David's looking at it like, you know, that and that took. He's guilty on two counts, transgression, he committed this, and a complete disregard for others. David didn't just notice that he did the deed, but he noticed that, hey, his heart was so hard about it as well. And again, before we stand like David and judge him upon others, we need to remember tonight that the Lamb And the Bible says about that in the way that our heart was towards God before he got saved. Isaiah 53, 3, he's despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him not. look at it. Our heart was so hard against god. You know, and he was looking at this man's heart and saying, this man is so wrong. Look what he's done. Look at his heart and it's exactly right. It's righteous judgment and it's exactly right about us as well and our heart against god before we got saved. That's where we're at. Uh when we've despised god and sin against god, it's our heart again. It's grown hard against god. Amazingly, god didn't destroy us but It's incredible when you take this story apart, when you look at the mercy of God, grace of God, versus the wrath of man, because David here is really upset. He says, all right, here it is. This guy's guilty. Here's why, and I pronounce judgment upon him. Now, Nathan now turns the anger of David upon its rightful source. Now, Nathan's a prophet of God. He's a close personal friend of the king. that and so Nathan backs it up a little bit and says, here's what God said about it and sets it out before David. It's a great thing that you've done and God's going to bless you and and he brought that wonderful message to David. Now, we see him confronting the king. Nathan's going to be seen later counseling David and Bathsheba with regard to their son, King Solomon. That's going to be the future king of Israel which is amazing. in the king's sin. Nathan's loved by them because he did what a faithful prophet and a good advisor would do, and that's to not just say, hey, you're okay, but to actually deal with the sin and confront, in obedience to God, confront David about it. And so he obediently confronted the king in his sin. And so he reveals that King David is the man who had done this, verse seven. And Nathan said to David, thou art Okay, so the king, remember the king had gotten enraged. He was greatly kindled. Now, I would picture David being greatly kindled sitting down, do you? I think he rose up, you know, off that throne, and he said, that man deserves thus and so, and he's still standing, and Nathan looks at him and says, King, thou art the man. Now, what I picture Like Peter, when they caught Kareem, he was about to leave bitterly, you know, recognizing, you know, he knows the guilt of his sin, he's been carrying it for a year, and now he's confronted. You know, sadly, all of us know what it's like to face the bitterness of failure. At some point in your life, I mean, it might go back a ways, maybe in high school, you can let somebody down or hit something, you know I should have done that and then that sense of our demand comes it's like you know that we know what it's like to taste of that we call it facing the music we call it taking your medicine you know there's terms for it because we all know it's like that that sense the bitterness of failure God's power, all this authority, all this blessing that is there, and it's real blessing from God that is still there in the mercy of God, but now Nathan comes and says, David, this is what you did against the holy God. And Nathan shows that David is a rich man. So David begins to take apart the story. David, again, had been a shepherd boy, but God had promoted him incredibly. God had blessed David, but David Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul, I gave thee thy master's house and a master's wife unto thy foes, and gave thee the house of Israel of Judah. And if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Now notice that Nathan had told this story, but now notice what it says in verse seven. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Nathan the story that, yeah, but the Bible doesn't tell specifically that God said to Nathan, tell him this story, but Nathan does. But here, the Bible's very clear that the message that the prophet's bringing to David is a message directed from God. Okay, here it is, this is what the message directly is, and it starts out with the fact that David had despised God's blessing. David, a shepherd boy, as a teenager, was anointed as a teenager to be king in the future. David had been delivered by God from waking King Saul. Remember that story. He's fleeing from King Saul for all those years and God delivered him. David lived where? In a palace. David cared for the former king's household. I write the commentaries on this. There's nothing in the scripture here that indicates that having King Saul's wives was in a sense as a wife that he had physical relations with, though he did multiply wives. God gave him a harem or something like that, but that he cared for them. God had promoted David over all his people. And so it goes on to say, over all Israel, all Judah. And then God said, if that wasn't enough, I would have what? And so David, to get to this point, had to look at all the good things that God had given him and go, God's done good to me and I've got to satisfy the lust that's in my heart, contrary to God's way. And so sadly, very sadly, we can despise the goodness of God entirely. Why would I do this against God? God has blessed me so richly. The Bible says in Psalm 103 verse 2, bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits. Moses said to Israel, look, when you come into the land, you got everything. He said, then beware lest ye forget God. Okay, recognize that everything that we've got is the blessing of God. We've got a saying in our house, And it's what George Buehler said to a young girl in the orphanage. As she looked at the orphanage, he goes, wow, this is incredible. He said, everything you see here is a testimony of God's love for you. David was surrounded by them, and yet he despised God's goodness. David despised, secondly, God's commandment. Verse nine, wherefore hast thou despised the to do evil in his sight. Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with a sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now, God did not congratulate David and say, David, you found a way to kill somebody, that's okay, right? You somehow got around that whole thing in the scripture, thou shalt not kill. God didn't say that, God said, you kill. Ammonite sword. You use the sword of the enemy, but you use the sword to kill Uriah. God didn't accept until death do us part in the case of Uriah. Okay, so normally it'd be until death do us part and then that person get remarried, but God said you didn't marry a widow, you committed adultery, you killed God says, David, here, let me spell it out for you. You know, repentance takes place when we confess our sin as God sees our sin. When we begin to be honest in our heart before God and say, God, it's just like you said about sin. You know, men say it was a little theft. God calls it a big lie. Men can say a little lust. Jesus calls it adultery in the heart. Men can say, you know, it's just a little theft. as God sees it and confess it for what it is. It's a great thing when we go to God and say, God, I'm sorry, it's just like the word says, I violated that. God, please forgive me, I wanna be right with you. But David hadn't done that and to this point, so now God says, David, let me spell it out for you. You broke my commandment. Here's what it is. David despised God's commandment. And then David despised God himself. Verse 10, it says, now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house because thou has taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife." Now, as we've read the story and as we've seen the story, the Bible does not speak about David taking into consideration how the sin affects God. And thinking about how is my heart towards God if I violate God's Word and commit adultery? If I violate God's David's not stepping back and saying, how does that affect God and myself? God says very clearly, David, you despise me. You know, Joseph had the opportunity to commit adultery with the wife of Potiphar. He's there in the house, and if you read that story in the scripture, he's there. Potiphar has taken him into his house as his servant. The wife of Potiphar seeks to seduce him and tries to get him to violate her marriage vows. And he responds this way. Genesis 39.9, he says, there's none greater in this house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything from me, but me, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness? And do you remember what it says next? Do this great wickedness and sin against God. He looks at it and says, I will not despise God to commit this sin. David should have responded the same way, saying, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? So it's good in a time of temptation to step back and say, how does this reflect, if I go forward, how does this reflect my heart towards God? And David didn't do that. He despised God. And then he pronounces God's judgment on David's sin. It says, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before Israel and before the sun. Now, if you don't know the story, there's going to come a time, there's going to be an insurrection, And it's a sign that he's going to commit adultery with the king's wife, making himself king by usurping David's position with his wives. So sadly, it's going to be fulfilled out of David's own household. So God would allow this misfortune because David had despised him and David had despised his favor. David sinned in secret, David would reap a public scandal. You know, in scripture, a righteous reward. And so the Bible does say in Galatians 6, 8, for he that soweth to his flesh, chow of the flesh bring corruption, and he that soweth to the spirit, chow of the spirit bring life everlasting. Okay, so David's going to reap what he sowed. He sowed adultery, he's going to reap Interestingly, other Bible narratives also show men reaping the ungodliness of its own. Specifically, I think about in the Old Testament, Jacob, the deceiver. Remember that? And he steals his brother's birthright by pretending to be his older brother. He puts the cloth on his arms to make it scary. And his father's blind. He can't see anything. He rubs, I think, some dirt. Kind of makes that smell of the soil upon him. and yet there is some consequence that you see in David's life. I've made him change his wages several times, and Jacob is deceived by his sons. Remember, when Joseph is sold into slavery, they come to him, lie to him, and say that he was killed. Okay? And so, there is a principle in the Word of God about sowing infrequency and David's life seed and Jacob's life. It's good to step back and think about that and say, what am I sowing? We've gotten to the point where David's sin is exposed. It's no longer hidden. It's not something that he can any longer deny. God's brought it out through the prophet that's come, confronted David in his sin. And so now at this point, David repents of his transgression. David, at this point, is ready to get right with God and to confess his sin to God. You know, in other stories in the Word of God, when a king is confronted in his sin, it's not always this way. You don't read this very often. Oftentimes, prophets are imprisoned, they're put to death, they're treated with contempt. I think specifically in the stories of Jeremiah and being put in prison, Elijah being chased, you've got John the Baptist that his status cut off in the New Testament. So, David doesn't hate the messenger, but he acknowledges that the message is from God and he's ready to confess his sin and forsake his sin and get right with God. Again, Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 are written after Nathan confronts David about his sin, and it says in Psalm 51, he cries out to God, away from thy presence, take not thy Holy Spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy Holy Spirit." It's a relief to get to this point. David's gone downhill, he's gone downhill, finally he's confronted, praise God, we're going to watch David by the grace of God be restored, be filled with that God because he's when they were caught. It was a burden to break the news to their family and to go through the heartache of the break of trust that took place and begin the process of building that back up and restoring that relationship, but they said, I'm so thankful that I'm no longer hiding my sin. You know, as tough as it is to deal with sin, it's hiding sin is worse. You know, that's what David illustrates to us. That's great to just have that transparency And Nathan said unto David, The Lord hath also put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. And so God forgave David. Now, I got a question for you tonight. Because the truth is tonight, there's not a single one of us that deserves any mercy from God, any forgiveness from God, any grace from God. And so the story does show the depth of God's mercy, the depth of God's forgiveness. Same as in the New Testament, you got the Apostle Paul pre-conversion, but the murder of Christians that was saved by the grace of God. And so God in his mercy begins to restore David. But God maintains the chastening verse 14. It says, how be it because by this deed he has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. So God sets forth a strong reason, says David, apparently this story is known and even though you haven't repented of it, it's brought a light upon the name of God because of that David this child will die. to David and it was very sick. Now, again we read the story in the scripture and this is the Old Testament that we're dealing with here as we read this. Is God right to severely judge David by allowing David and Bathsheba's son to die? Well as soon as I say it's got right in your heart you got to say yes, right? Because No. It can't be. And so here's a question that goes along with that. Do any of us deserve the air that we breathe or the health that we have? No. So anything that we have, it's just because God is good. It's just because God is merciful. If we got what we deserve, we would have been put in hell the moment that we sinned against God. So David sinned greatly against God, but he would not do so in this way again. 1 Kings 15 verse 5 says, because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded in all the days of his life, and then says this, saying only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. David was a man that failed miserably, but he got back up and he honored God. You know, the Bible does say that steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, keeping the life in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be able to cast down, for the Lord holdeth him with his hand. You know, I think all of us tonight say praise God for the mercy of God and the restorative grace of God, that God's ready to go, okay, this is where you're at, let me help you. Not that God doesn't deal with things, God will deal with things. You know, in praise God, understand this, night, we can look at anybody, and I've had unbelievers get upset about this. You mean a murderer can be forgiven? You mean, you know, they want to say that, listen, they don't want to think about the fact that they are a great sinner in the eyes of God. They want to look at somebody else and say, you're saying that that person can get saved, you know, that person can get right, and they want to stand in condemnation. That's where, again, I say, praise God, we're not going to be judged by man, but we're going to be judged by a holy God that's offered us a pardon through Christ. We ought not despise God because God is good. We ought to look at God and say, God, I can't understand your goodness. You allowed your son to face all of that. Think of what our sin has done against you. And yet, God, you're merciful. And so as we conclude tonight, God will speak to us about our sin. I praise God for that. God did not let David go just, okay, I'm just gonna hide this, I'm gonna get away with it. God says, Nathan, he hasn't dealt with it. Time to deal with it. You know, God is gracious to us. God has a way to speak to us. I'll tell you right now, one of the quickest ways God speaks to us is right here. And then he does it right here, through the preaching of the Word of God. But you know, God can do it through something, even an unbeliever says that convicts us, it goes, you know? I mean, God can be in so many ways, bring things to our mind, bring things to our heart to deal with. with anything that's in our heart, in our life, that's not praise God. Not praise God for that, because I could preach a message to the pastor on tithing, and God could speak to somebody about something completely different. Because God has a way of taking His word and applying it to our heart. I praise God for that. So God is able to make that known to us and say, look, this is what's wrong in your life. And then, We need to keep a short account of our sin. David, a lesson we can take away is why did a godly man wait a year to get right with God? Why did he hold on to it until he couldn't possibly hold on to it because God was not going to allow it? We ought to own our sin quickly and say, God, forgive me. Maybe I've come to you about this before. God, forgive me. This is not right, and I don't want to get right with you. in our life, in our family, in our church. We cannot so sin, hide sin, and think, oh, you know, that's going to work out okay. It's not going to work out. By the grace of God, we've been born again and received Jesus Christ as our Savior. Truth be told, as much as we don't want to ever fail God again in our lives, there's going to come times where we say a thing or do things that are contrary to God's will and we've got to go down and say, God, I'm sorry. I'll be right with you. I'm going to hide this. again, it's another sober topic tonight because we can't just exit the story and say, you know, we'd rather just look at, you know, David Goliath and David victorious for King Saul and David wanting to build a temple. We've gotta step back and look at the tough things in David's life as well and and battle with the question, how could such a good godly man fail so miserably in his walk with god? And yet, father, In David, there's a reality that, except by the grace of God, there's no lying. Father, we've got to be on guard. We've got to guard our hearts, guard our minds, guard our marriages, guard our family, because sin is there. And Father, I pray that you help us not to despise your goodness. Help us not to despise your commandments. Help us not to despise crazy tonight for a church. I'm grateful Lord for each one that stand by the grace of God. I just want to be more for God. I want to please God with my life. So, use the truth that we've considered tonight to help us in our walk with you as we Christily pray. Amen.