Cheap Grace | Psalm 131

Anchor Verses

• 2 Samuel 12:1-23
• Psalm 131
• Psalm 51: 7-15

Introduction – Who do you think God is?

• Pictures of people
  • Wrathful/abusive
  • Distant/unengaged
  • Pushover/Absent
  • Which one of them is God to you?
    • Our view of God is developed by our experience of God 
      • If you aren’t experiencing God it’s based on what you’ve heard or experienced from outside sources
      • Problem: you will walk out your faith with a false understanding of the true character of God
        • Wrathful – unrepentant
        • Distant – unintentional
        • Pushover/Absent – self-absorbed (your own God)
    • David knew the true character of God because he experienced the character of God; he trusted because he knew he could — he experienced God’s character
• David’s Resume – Positives
  • Selected as a child to be a king
  • Slingshot sharpshooter
  • Talented musician and songwriter
  • Devoted follower of God
  • Hero; brace and effective commander
  • Successful peacemaker
  • Beloved and respected King
• David’s Resume – Negatives (not making it to LinkedIn)
  • Adulterer
  • Coward
  • Murderer
• David’s red flags
  • He was at home when he should have been out fighting – disobedient 
  • He saw Bathsheba bathing and demanded she was brought to him to sleep with her – lust
  • Sent her away – neglect, abuse, objectification
  • Finds out she’s pregnant – has her husband killed – murderer
  • Admits to none of it – shameful, cowardice, liar
• 2 Samuel 12:1-23
  • Called out by the Prophet Nathan
• Psalm 131
  • A direct contrast to his words in Psalm 131
  • How could David be so bold to pray this prayer?
    • How could we dare pray this prayer?
• Relationship is key
  • No relationship = goal is to protect myself
  • Relationship = protect the relationship

Analysis – David knew the character of God

• David knew his relationship with God was more precious than anything he had gained through his striving
  • David understood the cost of a relationship with God and repented for it! 
    • Psalm 51: 7-15

Purify me from my sins,[c] and I will be clean;

    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Oh, give me back my joy again;

    you have broken me—

    now let me rejoice.

9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.

    Remove the stain of my guilt.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.

    Renew a loyal spirit within me.

11 Do not banish me from your presence,

    and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

    and make me willing to obey you.

13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,

    and they will return to you.

14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;

    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.

15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,

    that my mouth may praise you.

• David was able to make the claims he did in Psalm 131 because he was a man familiar with God’s character – not because of rumors he’d heard but because he knew the Lord

Application – We cannot accept cheap grace

• God is not wrathful, distant, or a pushover
  • He mourns when we mourn
  • He hates evil
  • He disciplines us
• God is willing to pay the cost to love us – grace has a cost!
• David understood the cost of grace
• What we as the modern church must fight against is cheap grace
  • “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
    – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• “…I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.  Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

Sermon Questions

1. Do you, or did you ever, perceive God’s character as wrathful, distant, or a pushover? How has your experience or lack of experience with God shaped this view, and how does it align with the true character of God as revealed in Scripture?
2. David’s life was marked by both great victories and deep failures. How did David’s understanding of God’s character, particularly His grace and justice, help him repent and seek restoration? What does this teach you about your relationship with God?
3. “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

   In what ways might you be accepting “cheap grace” in your faith, as described by Dietrich Bonhoeffer? How can you move beyond a superficial faith to a deeper, more intimate relationship with God?