Over the past few weeks we have been reading through the stories of the early history of Israel when they were ruled by their first kings. Saul was first and then David.

Last week we read the story which begins the downfall of David as king. We read the story of David’s rape of Bathsheba and then having her husband Uriah killed. David thought that he got away with it.

Today’s reading will show that David did not get away with the rape followed by a murder. In today’s reading David will be confronted by Nathan who becomes David’s moral consciousness.

We pick up the story where Bathsheba receives word that her husband Uriah has been killed. David appears to be in the clear as she becomes his newest wife and she gives birth to their child.

But David will be confronted by Nathan about the sin that he has committed.

Read 2 Samuel 11:26-12:7a

Jim Somerville writes about the day that he and his wife Christy were on their way to Pawley’s Island. They had just graduated college and were heading to the beach to celebrate. They had just started across the bridge that connects the mainland to the island when they had to slow down because of all of the foot traffic on the bridge.

Jim says he slowed almost to a stop when he heard the screech of tires behind him and then felt the sickening crunch of someone’s car smashing into his. And that sound was followed by another sound of a car behind that car crashing into the car behind him. A three car pileup on the Pawley’s Island Bridge.

When Jim and Christy stepped out of the car they saw a skinny, red-haired woman walking toward him with her fist drawn back. She shouted out, “It is your fault. This whole thing is your fault.” The man got out of his car from behind her car and came to the same conclusion that Jim was the one at fault.

The police officer soon arrived and Jim listened as the man explained to the officer his version of events. In his low country South Carolina accent, the man said, “Officer, if that boy hadn’a stopped his car right in the middle of the bridge I wouldn’t run into this other lady and she wouldn’t run into him.”

It was then Jim’s turn to talk to the officer. Jim said to the officer that it did actually kind of make sense. The officer then turned to Jim and asked, “Are you saying that it was your fault?”

To which Jim replied, “No, Of course not.” Jim left that day with a $25 fine for improper parking on the Pawley’s Island Bridge.”

As I read about this encounter I thought about an encounter that Mike Wright had. Mike pulled up to an intersection behind a car while the light was red. As he was sitting in his truck, the woman started to back up.

She backed up until she hit him. The woman then got out of her car and in a similar fashion approached Mike and blamed him for the accident.

The problem for this woman, though, is that Mike had a dash-cam. Make had a camera that recorded the whole event. In fact, Mike posted it to YouTube and it has, what, about 1 million hits? He actually makes money now whenever someone views this video.

I’m pretty sure that David did not plan to rape Bathsheba that day and then have her husband murdered. But both of these tragic events happened because David never faced down his temptations. David had plenty of moments when he could have stopped the next step from happening.

Upon seeing Bathsheba bathing on her roof, he could have prevented the next step of having her brought to him. He did not have to force himself onto her and he did not have to have her husband killed. But David’s sins got worse and worse and worse.

After his initial sin, David was driven by a desire to cover up what he had done. This led to more and more sinful behavior. But there is a different way that David could have responded. At numerous times along the way David could have stopped this unfolding tragedy by saying, “I have sinned and it is my fault.”

Each one of us knows something about this as well. My hunch is that we don’t set out to sin. However, events happen and we find ourselves falling into a hole. Rather than admitting that we have sinned and accept that it is our fault, we, instead, try to place the blame onto others.

A married person has an affair and blames their spouse for not being affectionate enough. An employee steals money and complains that they are not paid enough. A person posts a falsehood about someone else on social media and complains that they had it coming.

These are all examples of how we try to justify our sin. We try to shift the blame for whatever we have done onto someone else or on to some type of circumstances that we claim are unfair.

But scripture teaches us a better way. A way of honesty and confession. Psalm 51 are words which are attributed to David after he is confronted by Nathan about his sin against Bathsheba and ultimately against God.

Hear the first 4 verses from Psalm 51 as words which we are invited to confess after we have sinned.

Read Psalm 51:1-4

A few years after that first encounter of being hit from behind, Jim and Christy were rear-ended again. This time a 16 year old boy jumped out of the car from behind them. Jim says his circumstances were different this time. This time they had their 10 month old child in their car seat in the back seat.

Jim says they were sitting at a stop light, waiting for a green light, when he heard the screech of tires. He looked in the mirror and saw the car coming too fast. Jim’s first thought was his daughter.

He turned around to face her and watched as his rear window shattered onto her little head. She screamed and Jim jumped out of the car and pulled her from the car seat as the 16 year old boy came running toward them.

This time, the boy looked at the scene of the broken glass and the man holding his baby and exclaimed with maturity, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” Jim looked back at the frightened teenager and said, “It’s OK.”

When we sin, that is our invitation. To say to God, “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. It is my fault.”

We admit to our sin because we believe in restoration and transformation. Our faith in Jesus Christ is built on the belief that we admit our mistakes and we trust God to forgive us so that we can move forward and become more as God calls us to be.

Confession of our sin means that we no longer deceive ourselves. But confessing our sin does not make us a bad person. As author Bryan Stevenson says, “Each of us is more than the worst thing that we have ever done.

We are invited to confront our sin and confess to our mistakes. To say to God. I am sorry. I am so so sorry. It is my fault.

And we then become open to God’s forgiveness and a chance for something new. AMEN.

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-Somerville, Jim, https://asermonforeverysunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Jim-Somerville-10th-Sunday-after-Pentecost-Year-B-8-1-2021.pdf
-Stevenson, Bryan, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/4310504-each-of-us-is-more-than-the-worst-thing-we-ve
-Given: August 1, 2021 in Allison Creek Presbyterian (York, SC)