And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.

2 Samuel 18:7 ESV

David the husband sinned and his baby died. David the father sinned and some of his children rebel and are destroyed. David the leader sinned and tens of thousands of lives are lost.

I told you this was a good story to get the fear of the Lord.

Our punishment was taken by Christ on the cross, our debt paid in full. We’re never to treat someone who sinned against us like they have a debt to pay. Jesus paid their debt too.

David is forgiven but sin reaps consequences. David’s grown sons die for their own sins, not David’s; God is not unjust in what’s going on. But behind it all was the pronouncement of the sword never leaving David’s house.

When David was living uprightly, his family and all Israel were blessed because of it. It works both ways, and God’s big and wise enough to figure all that out on the corporate and individual level.

We are deceiving ourselves if we think our sins don’t hurt anyone else, but our blessings aren’t just for ourselves either. The blessings found in God’s mercy and grace are multiplied many times over, and God can restore and redeem any situation.