David murdered Uriah and took his wife, Bathsheba. She was the wife of a Hittite, a heathen (2 Sam. 11:3). She was remarried as a result of adultery (2 Sam. 11:26-27).
After David committed murder and adultery, he was rebuked by the prophet Nathan, whom God sent purposely to condemn him (2 Sam. 12:1-12). After he was condemned, David repented. Psalm 51 is David's psalm of repentance. David repented and God forgave (2 Sam. 12:13). There was repentance and there was forgiveness. Altogether we have three items here: transgression, repentance, and forgiveness. If we put all three together, the result is Solomon. First there were transgression and repentance plus forgiveness. After that, there was Solomon (2 Sam. 12:24), the one who built God's temple. Solomon is the result not only of transgression and repentance, but of transgression, repentance, and God's forgiveness. Here we see two marriages. The first was a marriage between David and Bathsheba. The second was a spiritual marriage, the marriage of David's transgression and repentance with God's forgiveness. God's forgiveness married David's transgression and repentance. This marriage brought forth the man named Solomon who built the temple of God. The church is always built up by this kind of person, Solomon, the issue of man's transgression and repentance plus God's forgiveness.
After David received God's forgiveness and the joy of his salvation was restored, he prayed for Zion, for the building of the walls of Jerusalem, for the strengthening of his kingdom (Psa. 51:18). Eventually, as the result of God's forgiveness of his sin, God gave him a son to build the temple of God for God's presence as the center of the city of Jerusalem.
I hope the Lord will show you what human words cannot say. If you have been and still are a typically good person who has never murdered others, who has never transgressed, and who has never needed to repent, then God does not need to forgive you. If this is the case, then there will never be a Solomon, and the temple of God will never be built up. As we have seen, the building up of God's temple comes from man's transgression and repentance plus God's forgiveness.
One day I said to the Lord, "Lord, my transgression and repentance need Your forgiveness. But, Lord, You know better than I that Your forgiveness also needs my transgression. My transgression needs Your forgiveness, and Your forgiveness needs my transgression. If I have no transgressions, then You don't have a place to spend Your forgiveness." When I said this to the Lord, it seemed that He said, "Yes. Because of your transgression and repentance, I do have an opportunity to spend My forgiveness. I am happy about this." But you should never say, "Let us do evil that good may come." You must do your best. But no matter how hard you may try to do everything right in the eyes of the Lord, sooner or later something will happen. Suddenly, you will murder, take over others, transgress. However, after you transgress, there will be a way for you to repent. If you repent, God will be ready to forgive you. Then you will beget a son and name him Solomon. The name Solomon means "peaceful" (2 Sam. 12:24; 1 Chron. 22:9). But Solomon also has another name, "Jedidiah" (2 Sam. 12:25), which means "beloved of the Lord." To you, Solomon means "peaceful," but to the Lord, he means "beloved of the Lord." This son will be the one who will build up the house of God, today's church.
You need to be right in the eyes of God all the time. But be assured that your being right is not good for building up the church. However, you should not say, "Let me do wrong!" I tell you, even if you try to be wrong, you will discover that you are not able to do wrong. I do not know what kind of sovereignty this is. But one day you will do something awful. All the brothers will shake their heads, unable to believe that you could have done such a thing. Nevertheless, you have done it! Then you need to read Psalm 51, make it your psalm, and go to the Lord, saying "Lord, I repent. Against Thee and only Thee have I done this evil thing. Forgive me." After this repentance, you will have another marriage, the marriage of your transgression and repentance with God's forgiveness. This will bring forth a Solomon, one who is peaceful to you and beloved of the Lord. This person will build up the church, God's temple. At that time you will be very useful in the building up of the church.
You may say, "What about today? What shall we do—wait for that kind of person to come?" No, do not wait. Your waiting does not avail. We should just walk in the presence of the Lord and let the Lord do it. As Charles Wesley said in one of his hymns, "'Tis mercy all!" Yes, it is altogether a matter of God's mercy. Forget about your background, your situation, or what may happen in the future. You simply need to trust in the Lord's sovereign mercy. If you have a heart for Him and for His people, He will work everything out. He will give you the full enjoyment of the birthright of Christ.
These verses in the genealogy of Christ are very difficult. They are not milk or meat; they are bones. If we spend an hour or two praying over these verses and over the points covered in this message, we shall see something more. We shall see that we need to be a person with a real seeking heart, a heart seeking God and God's people. Then we shall be today's Boaz, Ruth, Obed, Jesse, David, and eventually today's Solomon, building up the house of God.