Day #122: 2 Samuel 12:1-6

BACKGROUND:

In the spring, after the latter rains were over and it was customary to resume military activity, David ordered Joab to launch an invasion of Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. Though kings usually led their armies personally, David, remained in Jerusalem. (wrong place - wrong time)

One evening, restless on his bed... David arose, went to a rooftop of the palace, and from there happened to observe Bathsheba... the wife of his neighbor Uriah. She was bathing out in the open. One may not fault David for perhaps seeking the cooler breezes of the late afternoon, but Bathsheba, knowing the proximity of her courtyard to the palace, probably harbored ulterior designs toward the king. Yet David’s submission to her charms is inexcusable, for the deliberate steps he followed to bring her to the palace required more than enough time for him to resist the initial, impulsive temptation (James 1:14-15).

Having discovered her identity, he sent for her at once and, assured of her ritual purity (Leviticus 12:2-5; 15:19-28), had intercourse with her. The bathing itself may have been for the purpose of ritual purification and would therefore not only advertise Bathsheba’s charms but would serve as a notice to the king that she was available to him. In due time she found that she was pregnant by the king and, undoubtedly in great distress, informed him of her condition.

The crisis brought by the pregnancy required some kind of suitable resolution, so David determined to “legitimize” the impending birth by bringing Uriah back from the Ammonite campaign, thus making it possible for him to enjoy the intimacies of marriage. But the subterfuge did not work, for though David resorted to two schemes to induce Uriah to go home and be with his wife, the noble Hittite refused.

Why should he, he argued, be allowed the comforts of home and a conjugal visit while his friends in combat were deprived of them? Even after David plied him with wine, Uriah’s sense of loyalty to his comrades prevailed over his desire for his wife.


In utter frustration David wrote a memo to Joab commanding that Uriah, when he returned to the front line, be abandoned to the enemy by an unexpected Israelite withdrawal. Ironically Uriah was the bearer of his own tidings of doom. This plan succeeded; Uriah was surrounded and slain. Ordinarily David would have been upset by the news of casualties. He would have wondered at Israel’s indiscretion in fighting under Rabbah’s wall, a blunder which had cost Abimelech, son of Gideon, his life long ago (Judges 9:50-54). So Joab instructed the courier who bore the news to inform the king specifically that Uriah also had died. This he knew would mollify David’s anguish.


David’s response to the news was predictable. He told the messenger to tell Joab that in circumstances such as war, life and death were matters of blind chance. His instruction back to Joab was only that the siege of Rabbah be even more aggressive. Bathsheba soon learned of her husband’s tragic death. After the customary time of mourning, she moved into the king’s palace in time to bear their son. The Lord was displeased, however, and set events in motion that would trouble David till his death.

Sometime after the birth of Bathsheba’s son, Nathan the prophet told David a story of a rich man who, in spite of having everything, stole a poor neighbor’s only ewe (female lamb) to provide a feast for a guest.

Enraged, David pronounced that the man who would do such a despicable thing ought to die. Though the Law contained no such penalty for the theft of property, kidnapping was a capital offense and it may be that David viewed the taking of a pet lamb in this light (Exodus 21:16). In addition, he said, the rich man must restore four lambs for the one stolen for not even the rich man’s death could compensate the poor man’s property loss.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Let me start by asking you this morning – have you ever felt like David felt when he wrote in Psalm 71:12 - “O God, do no be so distant from me.” Have you ever felt that? Experienced that? Where God seems so distant – so far away? Have you ever experienced a dry spell in your spiritual life, where you’re just as close to God as you want to be?

Here’s what I know about a spiritual dry spell or spiritual slump. You don’t lose your salvation. But you do lose the joy of salvation. You lose the happiness. You lose the peace. You lose the confidence. You lose the closeness that you felt to God.

When you are a dry spell, you find yourself just going through the motions. A routine replaces your relationship with God. If you go to church, it’s because it’s time to go to church. But there is no joy, no expectation, no looking forward to what God will do in your life.

That's where we find David in 2 Samuel 11 & 12 - we find David far God.
He’s gotten off track. He’s lost his way.

He commits two acts that in a thousand years he would have never dreamed he could do. Some years ago, in Panama city, Florida while on vacation,two girls take a raft out on the surf. (100 yards from shore, you can stand on the ocean bottom). On this particular day, the girls fall asleep and the boat is caught in the ocean current. When the girls awake, they have drifted far out to sea. The girls are hysterical. Eventually, the girls are rescued by the Coastguard.

This story is a perfect illustration of what happened to David. This story is also so typical of many Christian lives. We give our hearts and live to Christ, but over time, we find ourselves drifting out to sea

I don’t’ want you to wake up one morning and find yourselves a million miles from God and heading towards personal disaster.

How did David Drift away from God? The drift from God starts with…
#1. A Careless attitude.

2 Samuel 11:1 says, "In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, …David remained in Jerusalem." David was not where he was supposed to be. In the spring, Kings went out to war, David was home. One thing I’ve learned about the Christian life-The path to ruin/death/destruction is gradual.

I can’t be walking with the Lord one moment and the next moment become totally rebellious. It starts with careless actions. I am fine, I am growing. Great! Super!

So be careful. If you are thinking, "Oh, I would never behave like that"--let this be a warning to you. For you too may fall into sin." 1 Corinthians 10:12(LB)

David started getting LAZY. He woke up one morning and said, I really don’t feel like it. I really don’t feel like going to the temple today. I know I wrote I would be a gatekeeper at the Lord’s house but not today

His self-control went out the window. His personal discipline started to wane and…
He got careless with life.

The drift from God starts with carelessness and then…
2. It moves into CURIOSITY
“... From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful.." 2 Samuel 11:2

The sight of a beautiful woman turned his head. The first look is free but the 2nd look kills David takes one look and says WOW & then he turns his head for 2nd time

We are just like David. We get curios
We say… I just wanted to see what the party was like.
We say… I just wanted to drink a little sip
We say… I was only going to take one puff
We say… I never intended to go to that web site

When we take our eyes off the Lord, it is very easy to put our eyes on things.
David started to let his eyes drift! Trouble with the eyes…A glance can become a gaze!What are your eyes looking at? Are you in that experimenting stage?

Problem for David – he was all alone. He didn’t have around him a network of Godly people who would help him.

The drift from God leads to..
#3. Contact >“Then David sent messengers to get her…” 2 Samuel 11:4

Make no mistake, this is not some romantic encounter. What started out in David’s thoughts ended up action. He touches what he shouldn’t The time to make tough decisions is never at the battle site. Read the story below.

John invited his mother over for Thanksgiving dinner. During the meal, his
mother couldn't help noticing how beautiful John's roommate Julie was. She
had long been suspicious of a relationship between John and his roommate and
that only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between John and the roommate than meets the eye. Reading his mom's thoughts, John volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Julie and I are just roommates."
About a week later, Julie came to John and said, "Every since your mother
came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle.
You don't suppose she took it, do you?" John said, "Well, I doubt it, but I'll write her a letter just to be sure." So he sat down and wrote:

"Dear Mother, I'm not saying you 'did' take a gravy ladle from my house, and I'm not saying you 'did not' take a gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner."

Several days later, John received a letter from his mother which read:

"Dear Son, I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Julie, and I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Julie. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now. Love, Mom"

Once the engine is running, it is hard to turn it off! How many of you like to go fishing! You put on a fancy lure to attract the fish. You don’t care how many fish you attract as long as one takes a bite. The right thing at the wrong time is always
the wrong thing

The drift from God moves from contact to…
#4. Cover-up.

So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite.And Joab sent him to David." 2 Samuel 11:6

What stated out in David’s thoughts ended up in the conception of an innocent child with another man’s wife. When David learns of Bathsheba’s pregnancy, he immediately tries to cover his tracks. His mind starts racing… I can I stop others from finding out

We have all done this…Hiding something from our parents, keeping secrets from our spouse. Hoping they never find out. David is doing everything he can to keep his sin a secret

Satan’s trap for you, is to hide sin, keep sin a secret. Secrets have power. When a secret is uncovered, the power of the evil one is diminished. Is there anything you're hiding?

The drift from God comes to a sad end when…
#5. We become Carnal

… "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." 2 Samuel 11:15

Carnal is a BIBLE word. It means living in the flesh and not by faith. Living for myself and not for God! When the cover up doesn’t work, David resorts to Murder

Sin is always a downward spiral! I’ve been around lots of people who’ve started with Christ but drifted away. Their became carnal.

Living In A Sin Or Sins Always Has A Way Of Changing Us.Attitude stinks, cast blame, make excuses, say things which are not the true, we become angry, lie, keep secrets, work performance drops, grades drop, stop coming to church, put down church &people in the church, run from problems, run into more rebellion, our language changes, just don’t care, start leading others into sin

By the way, unconfessed sin always makes us carnal. How do we stop the drifting from God! How do I get back on track? What I am about to say is really life changing. This maybe the most important thing you hear all week.

How did David turn his life around? Nathan the prophet confronts David with his sin.
David’s heart is broken. He knows that God will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.

David prayed these words…

Psalm 51:1-13 (LB))
"loving and kind God, have mercy. Have pity upon me and take away the awful stain of my transgressions. [2] Oh, wash me, cleanse me from this guilt. Let me be pure again. [3] For I admit my shameful deed--it haunts me day and night. [4] It is against you and you alone I sinned and did this terrible thing. You saw it all, and your sentence against me is just."

"[7] Sprinkle me with the cleansing blood and I shall be clean again. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. [8] And after you have punished me, give me back my joy again. [9] Don't keep looking at my sins--erase them from your sight. [10] Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires. [11] Don't toss me aside, banished forever from your presence. Don't take your Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. [13] Then I will teach your ways to other sinners, and they--guilty like me--will repent and return to you."


God’s is the God of 2nd chances. If you have grown cold in your love for God - if you have been distant from Go - if you have drifted from God's path and God's pland for your life, here's what you do...

1. Confess
Have you ever been on a trip and once you were on the road you forgot something and had to turn back in the opposite direction you were going? This is repentance. Stop, turn around.

2. Experience God’s forgiveness

Confession; Al Johnson, a Kansas man who came to faith in Jesus Christ. What made his story remarkable was not his conversion, but the fact that as a result of his newfound faith in Christ, he confessed to a bank robbery he had participated in when he was nineteen years old. Because the statute of limitations on the case had run out, Johnson could not be prosecuted for the offense. Still, he believed his relationship with Christ demanded a confession. And he even voluntarily repaid his share of the stolen money! Today in the Word, April, 1989. God takes your sin .. Forgets it Throws it

3. Get some help

That’s is what this COV is all about. Find a Pastor, an Elder a leader here at the church - someone who is walking with God. Ask them to pray with you, hold you accountable, mentor you, walk with you.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.