A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART
#4 - "LEARNING FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS"
2 Samuel Chapter 11
by Rev. John Hannem,
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Someone once said: A fool learns from his own mistakes, a wise man from the mistakes of others. In other words, a wise man learns to not touch a hot stove as he watches someone else get burned. He learns to always carry a compass in the woods as he listens to a friend tell about getting lost. Learning from the mistakes that others make is the easy way to learn. As we continue our series on the life of David, we come today to 2 Samuel, Chapter 11. Here we will see how David falls into a very serious sin. Our goal, of course, is not to imitate him but to learn from his mistake. As Christians we want to avoid the trap, the sin, into which David fell. Let's pray and ask God to use His Word to strengthen our souls today.
David and Bathsheba: Many of you are probably familiar with this story. It is a true account, though its plot almost sounds like a script taken from a modern day soap opera. The events in 2 Samuel 11 occur about ten years after David began his reign as king. Joab is the leader of David's army, and David is in his palace in
Both Bathsheba and David know they are in trouble. The Old Testament calls for the death penalty in cases of adultery. So David comes up with a plan to cover up the sin. He has Joab, his general, send Uriah home to
Verse 26 says that when Bathsheba hears that Uriah is dead, she mourns. Apparently this doesn't mean she was heartbroken, just that she followed the proper etiquette of a seven-day public mourning period. 11:27a says that after the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. To those who were watching, this must have seemed like an act of great compassion. The king takes the young widow of one of his soldiers under his wing. But vs27b tells us that what David had done displeased the Lord. Now this is quite a story. I told you this text sounds like a script from a soap opera. But in this chapter there are four important lessons for us concerning sin which I think can be very helpful as we seek to live in a way that honors God.
#1) Anyone is capable of falling into sin. Often you hear a news report about a murder which occurs. The killer is apprehended and then some of his neighbors are interviewed. More often than not they say something like this: "Boy, I can't believe this happened. He seemed like such a nice guy."
Yes, if you are a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ, you are freed from the power of sin. Yes, our sin nature has been put to death. But, we have to keep on fighting it. As Luther said, "The sin nature is like a man's beard. You shave and get rid of it one day, but it comes back the next." Because each of us as a Christian still has to deal with the power of indwelling sin, each of us has the potential to commit a horrible sin, just like David did. It might not be adultery or murder, but we are capable of doing and saying things which can harm someone else and which can dishonor the Lord. Winston Churchill put it very well when he said, "Under sufficient stress the modern man we know so well will do the most terrible deeds, and his modern woman will back him up."
#2) Sin tends to be compounding. Do you realize that if you put $100 in the bank tomorrow, left it there for 200 years, getting an average interest rate of 5%, you would have $100 million. Actually, your heirs would. Maybe that seems incredible, but that is how compounding interest works. Unfortunately, sin works the same way. David's sin starts with just a little lustful thought that leads to a strong sexual desire for Bathsheba, which is coveting Uriah's wife. His sinful thoughts then become sinful actions as he commits adultery. David then attempts to cover up that sin by lying, attempting to deceive Uriah and everyone else. Finally his sin culminates in murder. By the time David is finished, he has explicitly broken four of the Ten Commandments: #6, You shall not murder; #7, You shall not commit adultery; #9, You shall not give false testimony; #10, You shall not covet.
You see, one sin leads to another, and another, and another. The Watergate scandal back in the 70s, which led to President Richard Nixon's resignation as President of the
#3) We need to be especially careful about sexual sin. Does it seem a bit surprising that adultery is the sin into which David falls? Does it surprise you that sexual sin is what almost destroys a man who seemed totally devoted to God? It should not. In recent years, there have been numerous Christian leaders who have fallen because of sexual sin. Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart were probably the most well-known, but there have been many, many more. Sexual sin has rocked churches in just about every community.
Bible commentaries point out that David was especially vulnerable to sexual sin because of the culture in which he lived. Polygamy and concubines gave him a distorted perspective of sex. The same thing is true in our society. Movies, television and popular music proclaim the message that immorality is normal, that it is OK, and that everyone is doing it. That is the message that three-quarters of the primetime sitcoms give on television every night. Knowing that we live in a culture which glamorizes sexual sin, we need to be especially careful that we do not fall into it. We need to be selective about what movies and television shows we watch and what music we listen to.. We need to be careful that our jokes and conversation don't become inappropriate. We need to make sure our relationships with friends of the opposite sex remains pure. For many sexual sin is an easy trap in which to fall. We don't help ourselves by pretending otherwise.
#4) Another lesson we learn is that sin can never be hidden from God. Listen to the last phrase of 11:27b But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. When Uriah was killed in battle, David and Bathsheba may have started to feel very secure. Now, no one would discover what they had done. But God knew exactly what had happened, and He was not happy. Those of us who read or watch murder mysteries know there is no such thing as the perfect crime. There are always clues which point to the culprit. Even if someone did commit the perfect crime and left no clues for anyone to find, God would still know exactly what happened.
Friends, maybe you have told some lies that you are sure no one will ever discover. Or maybe you cheated on your taxes but are confident you will never be caught. Maybe you are sure no one knows what books you have been reading, what videos you have been watching, what internet sites you’ve ben visiting or what thoughts you have been thinking. But God knows. He knows all of our actions, all our words and all our thoughts. Now, please don't start to think of God as a big electric eye in the sky who is always spying on you and waiting for you to do something wrong. He is not that way. If we are a believer in Christ, He is our loving, Heavenly Father. But, we need to remember that we can't fool God. You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can never fool God. We can never hide our sin from Him.
So, those are four lessons we learn from 2 Samuel 11. All of us are capable of falling into sin; sin tends to compound into more sin; we need to be especially careful about sexual sin; and we can't hide our sin from God.
But before we close today, I want to talk about prevention, about how we can resist temptation and stay out of the sin trap. I think sometimes we pretend that sin just happens. We are like the three-year-old who got caught eating cookies he was not supposed to eat. He said, "I just climbed up to smell them and my tooth got caught." The Bible says, "Not so." Listen to 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. In other words, sin can be avoided. We can resist temptation. How can we do that?
First, we need to make sure we don't flirt with sin. Kids sometimes see how close they can put their hand to the fire without being burned. That is a good way to get burned.
Secondly, we need to rely on God's Holy Spirit to help us resist temptation. A little girl was asked how she dealt with temptation. She replied, "When Satan comes knocking at the door of my heart, I send Jesus to answer the door. When Satan sees Jesus, he says, 'Oops, I am sorry. I must have the wrong house.'" That may be a little simple, but there is truth there. We can't resist sin with our own strength. We have no more chance of avoiding selfishness, greed, lust and pride on our own than the Screaming Eagles Hockey Team would have of beating either the Montreal Canadians or Toronto Maple Leafs. But God, through His Spirit, does enable us to resist temptation and overcome sin.
Thirdly, we need to build up our resistance to sin. Exercise, proper diet, adequate rest, all help us build up a resistance to physical disease. Likewise, we need to build up our spiritual resistance to sin. Studying the Bible, prayer, worship, fellowship with other Christians, all help us develop the spiritual strength we need to resist temptation. If you have been neglecting one or more of these means of grace, you need to make some changes. Lots of folks laugh at the idea that things like Bible study and prayer can help someone overcome a sinful habit. But it works. Recent studies continue to show that drug treatment programs which include these basic Christian disciplines are much more successful in helping people overcome their addictions than treatment programs which don't have this dimension. If we seek to stay close to God, He will help us avoid sin.
Friends, what have you learned from David's mistake? During the next week each one of us is going to be tempted to sin in some way. No, it may not be adultery or murder, but we will be tempted to do, say, or think something which will dishonor God and harm someone else. I hope from David's mistake, we have learned we should resist temptation. And I hope by God's grace we have the strength to do so.