David & Bathsheba #3
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2 Sam 11:1-5 “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.””
Review: Lots of ways to fight temptation.
the sword of the spirit - Jesus in wilderness fought w/ word
a tactful retreat - Joseph fleeing Potipher
retreat w/ the eyes, and with your imagination
job made a cov. w/ his eyes
marriage - Paul said get married and don’t refuse intimacy.
church community - you need accountability, and God sent it for you in his church. David had Nathan.
ILL: it’s hard to keep the wolves away if you live on the fringes of the herd.
so do those things
and if you do - you will become a distinct community in the midst of a perverse world
and that disctiveness - is attractive.
the american church invested so much into being “seeker sensitive” over the last fifty years, and in that process we lost our distinctiveness. The attractive nature of Christianity has always been rooted in the distinctiveness of the church.
who walks around joyously? those with a clean conscience.
which means - we preach against sin and we proclaim God’s forgiveness for those that repent and believe.
and that life of freedom and joy?
it’s a city on hill. a light to the world.
Today - the last few strategies.
First - take dominion of your schedule.
2 Sam 11:2 “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch…
it’s late afternoon - and david is lounging.
ever wake up late in the morning and just feel gross? the day is passing you by.
God’s mandate for his people is to take dominion, to take control, to wield the world around us for the kingdom of God and for his good purposes.
that’s all active. It’s you doing stuff to the world around you.
David is passive - on his couch - zombie scroll on his phone.
he’s not doing anything to the world.
the world is doing stuff to him.
He should be happening to the world - ISNTEAD the world is happening to him.
He’s vegging - no netflix, but he’s channel surfing over the rooftops and windows in his neighborhood.
he has no plan - no agenda - no schedule - and as a result… he isn’t posiotioned to produce fruit, but rather, produce sin.
and he does - no surprise.
Now, I don’t think it’s true that one unplanned afternoon could ruin your marriage… but it might.
and a life characterized by idleness - is only ever destructive.
and not just for you, for your family, but for those around you.
why? because you don’t live in a bubble. the decisions you make affect others.
It’s like you tell your kids - if you don’t pick up your room, somebody does. You not taking care of it is unkind to others.
So - the sin of idleness produces more sin. and it bleeds over into the life of those around you.
Fighting sexual sin starts in a lot of other areas.
mortify the flesh in your schedules. in your personal disciplines.
this is why it’s helpful to discipline yourself, diet, lifestyle, excercise.
why? because discipline is a skill, if you possess it in one area it’ll likely bleed over.
THIS ALSO would have spared bathsheba. Her husband was away at war. Instead of being on high alert she had her guard down.
Plan your days.
Happen to the world around yhou - don’t just let the world happen to you.
David didn’t do this, and one little sin leads to more and more.
you see how the guard rails come down in one area and it affects you in many others?
that’s exactly what happened to david.
He’s idle. And his idleness leads to death.
Sin is a package deal.
So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
David’s idleness leads to lust,
leads to being the tempter (the one Jesus says should have a millstone tied around their neck),
leads to sex outside of marriage,
leads to lying, and trying to make Uriah break his vow.
leads to murder in his heart and plotting against his brother
leads to wielding his governing authority and the government at his disposal wickedly
leads to murder
and don’t think this isn’t the case for us today. it is. except we murder the baby.
SO HOW DO WE STOP THE SNOWBALL???
Quick confession.
If David had confessed his idleness, or even his lustful voyeurism, this would have stopped dead in it’s tracks.
but because of pride - because of shame - we refuse to confess the little sins.
and they don’t stay little for long.
And those in sexual sin - once it’s progressed that far - they try to hide.
the lies pile up - the constant anxiety - the idea of someone looking at your browser history terrifies you, and then one day you slip up, the truth is out.
the marriage ruined. trust destroyed.
it can be rebuilt… God has grace for that. but that takes time.
and listen - it always comes out.
Number 32:23 “...your sin will find you out.”
confess! confess quickly! there is a “too late” moment.
David learned his lesson eventually… and he passes it on to us to learn by instruction NOT EXPERIENCE
Ps 32:3-5 “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
BUT PREACHER! I’ll be embarassed.
yes, sin is shameful.
But Jesus endured shame, so that you would be forvien.
Pro 28:13 “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
All sin will be covered - either by deceit or by grace.
A word to parents: teach your children early on that it goes worse if they try and hide their sins. Teach them to confess to mom and dad and not try and cover their sins with deceit. Do this with stiffer penalties for deception and by instruction and good modeling. Teach them to confess quickly while their sins are small.
So is this you?
confess quickly.
Jesus waits for you to confess and repent and believe in his gospel now.
Wield the truth of teh word and celebrate the goodness of the gospel 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
confess your idleness, confess your lusts, confess your sexual sin.
run to Christ. And become someone that happens TO the world.