23-0521a Transcript

(4:55) Good morning, everyone. (4:57) Good morning. (4:58) Well, as you can tell, we’re going to be in 2 Samuel 11th chapter. (5:06) So now that the chapter’s been read, or the portion of chapter that we’re going to be going over, (5:14) I’m going to do my usual verse-by-verse with a comment in between.

(5:22) I hope you don’t get tired of that. (5:25) And the titles, if you read the bulletin of my lessons this morning and this evening, (5:34) are lessons that we can learn from David’s sin here. (5:39) And this is good advice, not just for young men, because as men we struggle with this problem the most, (5:51) but it can be applied to any temptation that we’re confronted with.

(5:57) This one, obviously, is primarily the temptation of sexual sin, but this can be anything, (6:06) any lust of the eye, material objects, shiny new red Ferraris, lusting after those, (6:16) making that the god of your life. (6:19) These steps that we’re going to follow as we go through this will be beneficial for everyone, (6:27) from the smallest sin, like gossiping, to the greatest of sins, like murder, (6:34) which David is responsible for his actions. (6:38) God cares deeply for His children, and like any good parent, He gives us instructions for behavior.

(6:49) He sets boundaries for us and tells us stories that have moral lessons for us to learn from. (6:57) And those stories, of course, are here written for us in the Bible. (7:02) And we know that God wants us to go over these stories and learn from them.

(7:07) Because Paul tells us in Romans 15 that for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, (7:18) so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (7:24) So in the Bible we learn from others' mistakes and others' victories, (7:31) and we can apply the principles or take the warnings from those events. (7:37) So it’s good to know what pleases God and what makes God angry, (7:42) and the only way to do that is to read His Word.

(7:47) And one such story is found here in 2 Samuel 11. (7:53) And we’re going to only concentrate on the first 17 verses, (7:57) and we’ll look at what happens next this evening. (8:03) So, as was read, and I thank the guys who read this.

(8:07) I know it was a long reading. (8:08) I feel bad for the guy who’s going to read this evening. (8:12) He’s got the whole chapter.

(8:15) But fear not, God will be with you. (8:20) Or maybe I’ll be merciful and just read it myself. (8:25) But anyhow, let’s look at these verses.

(8:29) Then it happened in the spring at the time when kings go out to battle, (8:34) that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, (8:38) and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. (8:43) But David stayed at Jerusalem. (8:47) At this time, David was said to be close to about 50 years old.

(8:52) He could have still gone out to war, but he chose to stay behind. (8:58) Israel fought against the nation of Ammon, (9:01) and Joab, Abraham’s nephew, is the father of Ammon. (9:09) So David was being idle here.

(9:13) He could have been busy helping out the troops, but he was being idle. (9:18) Verse 2, (9:19) Now when evening came, David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house. (9:24) And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.

(9:31) So the time was near 3 o’clock p.m., and in the Middle East, as actually everywhere, (9:39) noon to 3 is the height and heat of the day. (9:42) And in those warmer climates where David was, affluent people often would nap during this time. (9:49) And then in the cool of the eve, they’d go up on their roof where they could catch a nice cool breeze.

(9:57) And we see Peter did this. (9:58) Peter the apostle at Simon the Tanner’s house. (10:02) He went up on the roof to have some quiet time to pray, and that’s where he saw a vision.

(10:08) Anyhow, so common was going up on the roof that in Deuteronomy 22a, (10:15) God made a provision, a law, governing such a thing. (10:21) He said that you must build a parapet around the edge of your roof so that no one falls off (10:28) and you have blood guilt on your heads. (10:33) So this was a common thing.

(10:36) So for David to be walking around on the roof, that was normal, everyday stuff for them. (10:42) So he was up there catching a breeze. (10:46) And it says in this story that David saw a woman bathing.

(10:53) And we have many examples in the Bible of people who saw. (10:59) In Genesis 3-6, Eve saw that the fruit was good for eating. (11:05) And in Genesis 6-2, the sons of God saw the daughters of men, (11:13) and that they were beautiful, and married them.

(11:16) In Genesis 34-2, Zecham saw Dinah and took her and raped her. (11:26) One cannot help seeing things. (11:29) We’re a visually oriented animal, but looking is not okay (11:33) if you dwell upon negatively with what you saw, (11:39) and lust after that object that you saw.

(11:43) Matthew 5-28, Jesus says, (11:46) Whoever looks upon a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (11:55) So the old adage, oh, I can look, but I can’t touch, uh-uh. (12:00) Just don’t look.

(12:02) You can see, but don’t saw, as these people who have fallen have done. (12:10) Don’t lust after what you’ve seen. (12:13) So how do we prevent lusting? (12:17) There are godly examples and advice in which we can utilize (12:22) to help us have self-control in our daily lives.

(12:27) In Genesis 39-12, we know that Joseph ran away (12:34) when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. (12:39) Joseph removed himself physically from temptation. (12:45) In Job 31-1, Job said, (12:48) I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.

(12:54) So Job makes a promise to himself that he’s not going to do that. (13:01) Why would he do that? (13:02) Because he’s probably done it before, (13:05) and there’s consequences to our actions. (13:10) So later in his life, David learned to ask, too, for God’s help.

(13:15) In Psalm 119-37, he petitions God, and he says, (13:20) Turn my eyes away from beholding vanity. (13:25) Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9-27, (13:29) I discipline my body and make it my slave. (13:35) So what does that actually mean? (13:38) It means that Paul exercised self-control over his body (13:44) by denying its various appetites.

(13:47) And I bet Paul was a faster. (13:51) Let me expand on that after I wet my pipes. (14:00) So let’s consider fasting.

(14:03) There are many physiological benefits to fasting. (14:07) It is actually like doing a healthy reboot for your body. (14:13) So by fasting, you can retrain your pancreas to produce insulin properly, (14:20) especially if you’ve been junking out on sugar binges.

(14:25) You can also stimulate the immune system by fasting, (14:32) and by doing so, that will help you fight disease. (14:36) Your body will actually eat cancer when you fast. (14:44) Your body will seek out disease in your body and destroy it.

(14:53) And by fasting, you can even train your body to use its own fat cells as fuel (14:59) to help you lose weight, and the benefits go on and on. (15:03) But there’s a rarely spoken of benefit when you fast. (15:08) It’s the fact that we learn self-discipline by saying no to our hunger pains.

(15:16) Hunger pains are the natural instinct signal to you that you’re hungry. (15:24) It’s for survival. (15:25) And when you start to learn, when you deliberately fast, (15:29) you start to learn to say no to a human urge of the body.

(15:39) And so when you’re fasting and you feel those hunger pains, (15:42) you’ve got to say to yourself, no, I’m not going to listen to your hunger pains. (15:46) I’m fasting for this period of time. (15:50) And you go and get yourself busy doing something else.

(15:53) And by learning to deny this survival urge, (15:55) you can use the same process to say no to other urges that the body (16:02) and the mind can demand on you. (16:06) That’s how Paul could say, I discipline. (16:10) Other versions say buff it or beat.

(16:14) So Paul says, I beat my body and make it my slave. (16:20) The body or flesh, if you will, is perhaps the greatest producer of unhealthy urges (16:27) that are contrary to the teachings of Jesus. (16:31) And Paul uses this metaphor because everybody can picture the master-slave relationship.

(16:39) And that’s what Paul wants you to think in your mind with his words. (16:44) Be the master of your body. (16:46) And if it’s disobedient, beat it.

(16:52) Have self-control over it. (16:56) Not literally. (16:58) What is that, a flagellation? (17:01) Some religious kooks take that to the extreme and scourge themselves.

(17:07) Don’t do that. (17:08) Just be disciplined. (17:12) Have the mindset, you’re not going to be master over me.

(17:16) I’m going to be master over you. (17:20) So we must master it. (17:23) And isn’t that what Yahweh God told Cain after his sacrifice was rejected (17:31) and he was brooding, thinking about how his brother Abel, who was accepted by God, (17:37) how much he wanted to kill him.

(17:39) Well, God knew his heart and came to him and said, (17:43) Sin is crouching at your door. (17:47) It desires to have you. (17:51) But you must master it.

(17:53) It’s the same idea. (17:55) Have mastery over our emotions. (18:00) And God and those physical urges and those natural instincts become so easy to us.

(18:10) It’s expected of us. (18:13) Also in 2 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us we take captive every thought (18:20) and make it obedient to Christ. (18:23) We can’t stop thoughts from popping in our heads.

(18:28) We don’t know how those physically or mentally manifest themselves, (18:35) but you don’t have to dwell on them. (18:37) You can dismiss them. (18:39) And so Paul says take captive those thoughts and make them obedient to Christ.

(18:48) So in other words, when you get a certain thought in your head, (18:52) like, gee, I’m going to steal that car, (18:55) stop right then and there and say, okay, how does this compare to what Jesus wants me to do? (19:03) Thou shalt not steal. (19:04) Okay, I’m now comparing it to the Word of God. (19:08) Does it fit? (19:10) No, the thought of stealing is not what God wants me to do.

(19:13) Reject it. (19:15) You take captive that thought. (19:18) Dismiss it to Christ.

(19:19) He’ll handle it. (19:21) So just have control. (19:26) Normally I pick on Mrs. Kavinsky there, Carol.

(19:33) She’s got a great story about thoughts that pop in your head, (19:38) and birds, birds, nests, and everything. (19:40) But, you know, when a thought comes in your head, I believe, (19:44) you wouldn’t let a bird just sit on your head and make a nest. (19:48) You know, you shoo it away.

(19:51) Well, same sort of idea. (19:53) You know, I like her bird nest metaphor. (19:56) It’s a good illustration about how to handle, you know, (20:02) thoughts that are contrary to the teaching of Christ when they pop in your head.

(20:07) You can’t stop them, but you can dismiss them. (20:10) It’s our job not to dwell on them. (20:16) Sorry, Carol.

(20:20) And also, Paul told the Philippians, you know, once we get rid of that thought, (20:30) okay, what do we do? (20:33) Substitute it with good thoughts. (20:36) Get your mind thinking of good things. (20:39) And Paul illustrates this to the Philippians in Chapter 4. (20:43) He says, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, (20:47) whatever is pure, whatever is wonderful, (20:48) whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, think about such things.

(20:53) So, substitution is a solution for bad thoughts. (20:59) Okay? (21:00) If you’re dwelling on something you shouldn’t be, start thinking about good things. (21:07) Also, if we change the way we look at those around us and view them as family, (21:14) there is less likely a chance to fall into the error that David did here.

(21:21) In 1 Timothy 5, 1 through 3, Paul’s advice to Timothy, (21:28) a young man who was going to become a minister for the Lord, he said, (21:34) do not rebuke an old man, but encourage him as you would a father. (21:39) Younger men as your brothers, older women as mothers. (21:43) Younger women as sisters in all purity.

(21:46) Honor widows who are truly widows. (21:50) So Paul is trying to engender into Timothy to get him to look at people as if they were family. (21:57) Because if you look at people as family, and we are all Christians here, we are the family of God.

(22:03) God wants us to view each other as family members. (22:07) And if you get into the habit of seeing people as brothers and sisters, (22:11) you’re not going to be lusting after them. (22:15) You’re going to be more concerned about caring for them.

(22:19) And that’s what Paul is trying to get Timothy to do here, (22:23) to have a proper attitude towards people. (22:27) And the final point I want to make about how to utilize the tools, so to speak, (22:32) that God gives us to make good choices in our lives is grace itself. (22:39) We know that it is by grace we are saved, by having faith in Jesus, his son, the Messiah.

(22:45) And I want us to see that God’s grace has many aspects to help us out in our daily lives. (22:52) And one of its workings is discipline. (22:56) Excuse me, I’m on an antihistamine, and I’m drying out fast.

(23:06) Sorry. (23:07) In Titus chapter 2, verses 11 through 14, Paul says to Titus, (23:14) another young man who was studying to be a minister, (23:19) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. (23:25) It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions (23:30) and to live self-controlled and upright lives.

(23:36) In this terrible world, while we wait for the blessed hope, (23:40) the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, (23:46) who redeemed us from all wickedness and purified for himself a people (23:52) that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (23:58) So grace disciplines us. (24:02) Grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions.

(24:09) And isn’t lust one of those worldly passions? (24:12) Lusting after an object? Lusting after flesh? (24:17) Well, how does it do that? (24:20) And to figure out that, we must look at the word teach (24:23) and find out how it was used by the people at that time. (24:27) So let’s see what teach means in the Greek language. (24:30) And you might be shocked by this.

(24:33) Normally, you think teach is just getting in front of somebody (24:36) and blah, blah, blah, pointing to an object, blah, blah, blah. (24:40) And then you know something. (24:42) But it’s much more than that.

(24:44) In the Greek, it comes from, and I’m going to slaughter this word, (24:51) peidou, p-a-i-d-e-u-o. (24:55) You try to phonetically sound that out. (24:57) Anyhow, it means in Greek to educate by discipline, punishment, and chastisement.

(25:06) Instruct, learn, and teach. (25:09) When I read that, I thought, whoa, that is old school teaching (25:14) where if a little kid strays and his mind is wandering, (25:18) the teacher whacks him with a ruler. (25:21) That’s physical punishment, chastisement, discipline.

(25:26) Old school. (25:29) The root of that Greek word I can’t pronounce is peis, p-a-i-s. (25:36) And its definition is, and this is going to stun you, (25:41) it actually, its definition is a boy as often beaten with impunity.

(25:47) So if you can picture this in your mind, (25:50) the little boy whose mind is wandering and he’s doodling with someone, (25:54) he should be listening to the instructor. (25:57) That instructor says, I’m going to give you a licking, (26:02) but not the licking you really deserve. (26:05) That’s what impunity is, is holding back.

(26:10) That’s kind of like what grace does. (26:13) That’s why it’s in this definition of teach. (26:16) Grace teaches discipline.

(26:19) And isn’t that what grace is? (26:21) God holds back what we really deserve. (26:24) We deserve death when we sin, but he holds that back. (26:29) But he’ll discipline us in other ways.

(26:33) And we’re going to see that in our story here. (26:36) So many of the New Testament writers tell us that God disciplines those he loves. (26:43) 1 Corinthians 11, 32, Hebrews 12, 6 and 7. (26:47) So God, because of his grace, will teach us a lesson by punishing us (26:52) to get us to change our behavior.

(26:56) He can punish us by any way he chooses, financially, physical health problems, (27:03) any kind of tribulation and calamity can come upon us because of our behavior (27:09) and God trying to reach us to get us to change our way. (27:15) God knows how best to get through to us. (27:18) When Miriam, Moses' sister, was insolent to Moses (27:24) by criticizing him for marrying an Ethiopian, (27:29) God inflicted her with leprosy.

(27:33) She had to stay outside of the camp for a week. (27:37) Leprous, as white as snows, (27:40) ready to fall off the body to get her to hold her tongue. (27:52) God will use what’s most effective on us to get us to change, to get us to repent.

(28:04) And it’s up to us to recognize the hand of God when it’s on us. (28:09) And I believe that if we’re honest with ourselves, (28:12) we can figure that out if we’ve been walking in the light or if we’ve been walking in darkness. (28:19) And if you’ve been walking contrary to God’s desires for his children (28:23) and you’re having something bad happen, (28:28) you better check to see if you’re being disciplined by God or not.

(28:33) You need to repent if you are doing something wrong. (28:37) And right away, confess your sins to God. (28:41) God’s desire for us is to be holy as he is holy.

(28:49) So God will purify us with discipline so that we can choose to do good. (28:56) Okay, back to David. (28:59) Verse 3. (29:00) So David sent and inquired about the woman and said, (29:04) And one said, (29:06) Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? (29:13) Does the name Eliam ring a bell? (29:16) In 2 Samuel 23-34, you’ll see that he’s related to somebody very close to David.

(29:25) And Eliam is the son of Ahithophel. (29:30) If you know your Old Testament history, Ahithophel was the counselor to David (29:36) whose advice was as good as the word of God. (29:43) That’s how valued his counsel was.

(29:49) And he’s also the guy who betrayed David. (29:53) When Absalom, David’s son, rebelled against David, (29:59) Ahithophel switched sides. (30:03) And King David writes about that incident in Psalm 41-9.

(30:08) He says, (30:09) Even my close friend, whom I trusted, who I ate bread with, has lifted his heel against me. (30:16) So Bathsheba is the granddaughter of the traitor Ahithophel. (30:24) Well, after the coup by Absalom failed against David, Ahithophel got his affairs in order, (30:33) and he went out and hung himself.

(30:36) Does that ring a bell? (30:38) That incident there? (30:40) Well, many believe that’s actually sort of a double meaning thing. (30:45) It happened to the people in that time, (30:48) but it was a prophecy of what was going to happen in Christ’s time. (30:55) Jesus is one of his closest people.

(30:59) Judas Iscariot did exactly the same thing. (31:05) He sold Jesus out, realized his wrong, and went out and killed himself, (31:15) which wasn’t the right thing to do anyhow, but he did it, just like Ahithophel. (31:20) So I’d say that was a double meaning.

(31:24) Prophecy slash history. (31:26) Anyhow, David crosses the line here. (31:32) He was now acting on what he saw.

(31:35) It was okay to accidentally see somebody bathing, but he should have averted his eyes. (31:41) He should have been like embarrassed. (31:43) Oh, oh, and go do something else.

(31:46) Instead, he stood there and stared. (31:49) He liked what he saw. (31:51) But he should have been getting busy doing something else to get his mind off it, (31:57) what he had just seen, but he didn’t.

(31:59) And so he started desiring that beautiful, shiny object he saw. (32:06) And in James, this is a good time to look at this process of lust and sin. (32:13) In James 1, 13 through 15, James, who was also the brother of Jesus, (32:21) was the writer of this letter or book, and it is known as the New Testament book of wisdom.

(32:31) Kind of neat that Jesus is the author of all wisdom. (32:39) So I guess James learned something from Jesus. (32:42) It says, let no one say when he is tempted, I’m being tempted by God, (32:48) for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone.

(32:53) But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (33:02) Then when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. (33:05) And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

(33:10) So let’s look at the word tempt from the Greek. (33:13) It’s pairezo. (33:15) I can pronounce that one.

(33:17) It is also the same word for test. (33:21) Its definition is test and tempt. (33:24) So when being used in the Bible, the translators had to look at the context (33:29) of how the word was being used to determine which word to use, test or tempt.

(33:35) And if the desired outcome is for failure, they always used the word tempt. (33:41) And if the desired outcome is to pass the test, it’s test. (33:47) So the good sense of this word pairezo is to try, test, and prove.

(33:54) And we see that in Psalm 17.3 where David says, (33:58) If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, (34:03) you will find no wickedness on me. (34:05) My mouth is not transgressed. (34:08) So there he uses pairezo twice.

(34:12) Well, in the Old Testament, it’s another word. (34:14) But if it was in Greek, it would be that. (34:17) Anyhow, the Hebrew equivalent is suth, s-u-t-h.

(34:28) But here we can see he uses it twice, and each time it’s to test, (34:34) which is in the positive sense. (34:37) And also in Proverbs 17.3, (34:40) A crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold. (34:43) But God, Yahweh, will test the hearse.

(34:49) So there are times, since it’s the same word, in our lives, (34:56) you might not know if you’re being tempted or tested, (35:00) but it all comes down to the same thing. (35:03) You better pass the test. (35:06) However it’s being used in your life, (35:08) whether it’s Satan trying to tempt you to get you to fail, (35:13) or whether it’s God trying to test you to see if you understood his word (35:19) and how to apply it in your life, (35:21) and he’s rooting for you to pass the test.

(35:26) The simple matter is you’ve got to pass, either way. (35:33) So in 1 Chronicles 21, we see the negative sense of pairezo or suth. (35:45) Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel, (35:51) and that word incited is the word suth, and in Greek it’s pairezo.

(35:56) So that’s the negative sense. (35:58) David got incited by Satan and did something he wasn’t supposed to do, (36:08) and that was number the troops in Israel. (36:11) Bad things happened from that.

(36:14) So in simple terms, James reveals that the sin process in simple terms is this. (36:21) One, bait is presented. (36:24) Two, the bait is seen and looks good.

(36:27) Three, the bait is taken. (36:29) And four, bad things happen. (36:33) Separation from God and spiritual death, (36:36) and if you’re not repenting, you could end up being dead forever, basically, in hell.

(36:45) So by verse 2 of this story, steps 1 and 2 of the sin process has been met. (36:51) The bait was presented, and the bait looked good to David. (36:55) And notice in verse 14 of James 1, we are carried away by our own lust.

(37:02) If we dwell on that lust too long, it can become sin and sin becomes death. (37:08) And Satan knows this. (37:10) He presents the bait to David, and he made sure somehow David saw Bathsheba.

(37:19) He didn’t make David lust. (37:22) We do that all on our own. (37:24) He just knows how to push the buttons.

(37:29) So at this point, neither people had sinned. (37:32) Bathsheba was innocently bathing privately. (37:35) David was being a peeping Tom.

(37:38) And David was incited to act on his lust. (37:46) Verse 4, David sent messengers and took her. (37:50) And when she came to him, he lay with her.

(37:52) For she was purified from her uncleanness, and then she returned to her house. (37:57) And that purification thing deals with Leviticus 15. (38:02) If you’re curious, you can look up what that means.

(38:06) I’m not going to get into that. (38:08) But anyhow, she was following the law. (38:13) There’s gray area here, but I think Bathsheba is going to be innocent when this is all over and done with, (38:20) and I’ll explain why.

(38:23) When the messengers from the king came and knocked on your door to take you, (38:29) you have no choice in the matter. (38:32) You go with them. (38:34) David acted on the desire of his heart, and he had, it says, relations with Bathsheba.

(38:41) So step three, the bait is taken, is completed in this progression of sin of David’s. (38:49) Having taken the bait, step four is instantaneous. (38:54) Bad things happen.

(38:55) Separation from God because of sin and spiritual death occurs. (39:01) God warned Israel that if they put a king over them, there would be rules for the king to follow, (39:07) one of them being from Deuteronomy, and he shall not multiply wives for himself. (39:15) God’s design was one man and one woman.

(39:21) God lets us know here, if you have more than one partner, the heart will wander in lust for more. (39:30) Multiple partners create more lust, not satisfy it. (39:37) I’ll illustrate that in a little bit, maybe this evening.

(39:40) The woman conceived, in verse five, and she said and told David, I am pregnant. (39:47) So sin has its consequences. (39:50) This is one of them, and this sin is going to compound and continue to grow as far as troubles go.

(40:00) And David and Bathsheba both were in adultery here, which is punishable by death. (40:12) I know in the Bible it says that if a woman is in the process of being violated, (40:18) it’s her duty to scream out, to at least make an effort to stop the process. (40:26) Bathsheba could have said, no, king, this is not right, but she didn’t say it.

(40:32) In Deuteronomy 22, she’s got to resist and she’s got to scream. (40:42) But there was no resistance of any kind mentioned here in the text. (40:47) So her short message to David was, I’m pregnant.

(40:52) That’s like saying to him, okay, king, you got us into this. (40:57) What are you going to do now? (40:59) And so that takes us to 2 Samuel 16 through 17. (41:02) Let’s look at verse six.

(41:06) Then David sent to Joab saying, send me Uriah the Hittite. (41:10) So Joab sent Uriah to David. (41:14) Verse seven, when Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab (41:19) and of the people and of the state of the war.

(41:23) This is all subterfuge, or what we would call pretense. (41:32) The battle was over 60 miles away, a three-day’s journey, and David questions Uriah. (41:40) Uriah’s got to be thinking, you’ve got messengers coming back and forth all the time (41:45) relaying how the battle’s going.

(41:47) You needed to call me from the battle to ask me how Joab is and how the troops are (41:53) and how the battle’s going? (41:55) You’ve never done this before. (41:57) Perhaps he was thinking that. (42:02) So it’s certainly pretense.

(42:09) Something’s out of sorts was probably going through Uriah’s head. (42:13) So in verse eight it says, then David said to Uriah, go down to your house, wash your feet. (42:19) Well, people washed their feet before they entered the house.

(42:21) He wanted Uriah to go in to Bathsheba. (42:25) So Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king was sent out after him. (42:31) David was trying to sweeten the deal, get Uriah in a good mood.

(42:37) Verse nine, but Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord (42:43) and did not go down to his house. (42:46) Verse 10, now when they told David, saying Uriah didn’t go down to his house, (42:53) David said to Uriah, have you not come from a journey? (42:56) Why did you not go down to your house? (42:59) And Uriah said to David, the ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, (43:07) and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. (43:13) Shall I then go to my house and eat and drink and lie with my wife? (43:17) No, by your life and the life of your soul I will not do such a thing.

(43:25) Wow, Uriah is a man of integrity, and I think he smells the rat. (43:32) He couldn’t indulge in the pleasures of married life, (43:36) while his fellow soldiers are out in the worst of conditions, (43:40) being in continual danger of their lives in battle. (43:45) Verse 12, then David said to Uriah, stay here today also, tomorrow I will let you go.

(43:52) So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. (43:56) Now David called him and he ate and drank with him, and he made him drunk, (44:01) and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord’s servants, (44:06) but he did not go down to his house. (44:09) This was David’s last-ditch effort to get Uriah to go to his home and have relations with his wife.

(44:19) Even drunk, Uriah didn’t do it. (44:24) If he did go, the pregnancy naturally would be called Uriah’s child, (44:30) and that was what David was hoping, but Uriah sticked to his guns. (44:36) Verse 14, now it came about in the morning that David wrote a letter (44:41) and sent it by the hand of Uriah to Joab.

(44:46) And he had written in the letter saying, (44:49) place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, (44:56) so that he may be struck down and die. (45:02) What did David just do here? (45:08) This was premeditated murder. (45:13) He didn’t do it himself, but he had it done.

(45:20) How sad for David, and how sad for such a good man as Uriah. (45:28) Verse 16, so it was as Joab kept watch on the city (45:33) that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men of Ammon. (45:39) And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, (45:43) and some of the people among David’s servants fell, (45:46) and Uriah the Hittite also died.

(45:51) So David’s sin here keeps snowballing into more sin. (45:56) It was just adultery, and now it’s become murder, (46:01) and not just the murder of Uriah, (46:06) but Joab put several of the valiant men up there. (46:11) They fell too, so their blood also is on David’s head.

(46:17) So we can see that sin has its consequences. (46:22) But we’ve read where God provides tools (46:27) in which you can say no to these thoughts (46:31) and not have to go through all of this. (46:35) So this evening we’re going to conclude this story.

(46:38) Right now we offer the invocation. (46:40) If anyone needs the prayers of the church, (46:43) or if they’d like to put on Christ in baptism, (46:46) we’ll be glad to assist you in whatever way, whatever need you have. (46:52) We love you.

Come as we stand and sing.