Sermon Tone Analysis

March 5, 2012

By John Barnett

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As we open to II Samuel 12, try to think of the searing pain that would come when secret, private sins get exposed for all the world to see.

Just imagine what David felt as the truth of what he had done could no longer be hidden.

That is the event and those are the emotions that David is feeling in the verses of this chapter.

One of the great deterrents to sin is looking at the consequences.

God's Word records David’s crash through each barrier God put in his way, and the resulting wreck David made of his life and family.

For a moment join me in that climactic moment as David faces his sin is a most uncomfortable moment.

Please read the first 15 verses of II Samuel 12:

II Samuel 12:1-7a Then the LORD sent Nathan to David.

And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.

3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children.

It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.

4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

When David stood at the other end of Nathan’s boney finger, pointed directly in his face—he was guilty, and he knew it.

David had broken every law in the book, God’s Book .

*DAVID BROKE ALL TEN*

In reality, David had broken all of the Ten Commandments when he sinned with Bathsheba.

How had he broken them all?

In two ways; first by his actions he broke them all.

And secondly, by God’s standards he broke them all.

1.*“No other gods…”*—David allowed his lust to be the god to which he bowed in obedience.

2.*“Not take the Name…”*—David took the Holy Name of God in vain as he said he was God’s man and lived like the devil.

3.*“Not make a graven image…”*—David engraved the image of naked Bathsheba as she bathed so deeply on his lustful soul, that he forgot even the God he loved for that moment of sin.

4.*“Remember the Sabbath…”*—David didn’t keep the Sabbath or any other day holy for God once he allowed lust to rule.

5.*"Honor thy father and mother…”*—David dishonored them and all his family as he sank into such wicked and premeditated sin.

6.*“Not kill…”*—David sent the murder request to Joab, so it was not his sword but the arrows of others that David used--but it was his desire that Uriah be killed.

7.*“Not commit adultery…”*—that was the clearest of all David’s law breaking.

8.*“Not steal…”*—David stole the wife of his neighbor and trusted friend Uriah as Nathan clearly pointed out in the story of the lamb.

9.*“Not lie…”*—David’s false response was a lie when the messenger came with the ghastly news of Uriah’s death; and even more, every day David lived in sin was a lie that he deceptively covered.

10.*“Not covet…”*—David broke this law as he so coveted his neighbors wife that he would steal her and kill her husband to share in sexual sin with her.

So David was a guilty sinner.

He broke them all.

But in reality, so have every one of us.

We all by God’s standards have become guilty of breaking them all.

Listen to the very first New Testament letter, written by the very first New Testament local church pastor named James.

James 2:10 /"For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."/

*So Have We Broken them all*

The good news is that Jesus died for all of us who are guilty sinners.

As we walk through the accident scene and study the skid marks of David’s crash into sin with Bathsheba, may each of us determine by God’s grace that we will heed these lessons and not give in to the momentary pleasures of sins and reap the whirlwind of consequences.

Remember the wrong choices David made?

*FIRST STEP DOWNWARD—*

*David desensitized his conscience by incomplete obedience.*

… *David took more concubines and wives* from Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron.

Also more sons and daughters were born to David (2 Samuel 5:13).

At this point, David had let himself become involved in socially acceptable things that were unacceptable to God.

Initially, it was just carelessness—a slight wandering, a tiny loosening in a socially acceptable area.

But I believe that David’s sin with Bathsheba was sparked by small disobediences back in the earlier days as he relaxed his grip on the way God asked Him to live.

*Lesson: Stay sensitive to God by obeying Him!*

*Second Step Downward— David relaxed his grip on personal purity.*

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah.

*But David remained at Jerusalem* (2 Samuel 11:1).

David had let little things slide in his life.

Beware of allowing any unguarded moments in your life, thinking you’re safe from sin’s reach and it won’t bother you anymore.

For at that very moment the ravenous devourer himself is crouching and preparing to spring.

You and I need to be doing whatever it takes to maintain purity in our lives!

That is what David discovered—only it was too late.*

Lesson: Keep purity your priority.*

*Third Step Downward— David focused his heart on physical desires.*

/"Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house.

And *from the roof he saw a woman bathing*, and the woman was very beautiful to behold"/ (2 Samuel 11:2).

In this period of restlessness with time on his hands, in a moment of listlessness and boredom David wandered the palace and used the highest spot in the city to take a supposed innocent peek at Bathsheba, his neighbor’s wife.

This woman, who was very beautiful to behold, happened to be bathing at the time.

What I want to underline for you is this: There is no such thing as an innocent peek at another man’s wife; there is no such thing as an innocent peek at an off-color TV show; there is no such thing as an innocent peek at pornographic materials!

Likewise, there is no such thing as an innocent “trying out” of intoxicating alcohol, enslaving cigarettes, debilitating drugs, or premarital sexual relations!

All of these temptations are part of downward steps toward life-crippling habits which can destroy your testimony and usefulness for Christ!

It is impossible to flirt innocently with lust!

Temptations abound all around us as well.

Because temptation to sin is so powerful, we need help.

Before you might think this message isn’t for you, look at James 1:13-15:

/"Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted* when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.*

Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death"/ (NASB).

Note that James (the initial pastor of the first New Testament church, the first leader of the Church of Jerusalem, and our Lord’s earthly brother) doesn’t say “if” but “when.”

God's Word says temptation is inevitable; temptation is inescapable; and temptation is going to follow us all through our earthly lives.

In other words, this chapter’s message is for ALL of us.

And this message hinges on one word—LUST.

Lust (epithumia, “super desires”) is dreadful, dangerous, and deadly.

Lust is surrounding us and, in various forms, planted within us.

Lust is either pursued for pleasure or fled from for righteousness.

Remember: youthful lusts that we nurture and feed as young people will chase us throughout our lives (2 Timothy 2:22).

So we must decide to flee lust—no matter what our age happens to be.

Lust which tempts us to sin against God will cost us far more than we could ever imagine.

And that is what David found out! *Lesson: Flee LUST!*

*FOURTH STEP DOWNWARD—

David rationalized his mind about wrong decisions.*

So *David sent and inquired about the woman*.

And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (2 Samuel 11:3).

David took yet another step downward, away from God, when he started rationalizing in his mind: Oh well, it’s not really that bad.

It’ll only be once … nobody will know …

Each of us has an infinite capacity for rationalization—not just David.

According to Webster, rationalizing is seeking “to provide plausible but untrue reasons for conduct.”

And David was about to learn what a horrible thing that sin is!

Over the years countless men and women who have descended into sexual sins have been asked the same question: "What could have been done to prevent this?"

With haunting pain and precision, most of them have answered nearly the same thing: "If only I had really known, and really thought through and weighed what it would cost me and my family and my Lord, I honestly believe I would never have done it."

In the back of my Bible (the one that is always with me at work, at home, and whenever I travel) I keep a very pointed reminder of the consequences of sexual sin.

We must always remember to put the focus where Scripture does—on the love of God and the fear of God, both of which should act in concert to motivate us to holy obedience.

*Lesson: Remind yourself of the real price of sin.*