1 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,000 If you were here last week, then you'll recall that I described 2 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,760 chapter 10 of 2 Samuel as being a chapter that got us ready 3 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:24,960 for chapter 11, because chapter 11 really should not have 4 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:25,520 happened. 5 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,480 Now, there was Nothing in chapter 10 in itself that demonstrated 6 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:36,600 a direct sin that would lead to an even greater sin that we now 7 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:37,600 find in chapter 11. 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,719 Rather, the situation of chapter 10 allowed for David's great 9 00:00:41,719 --> 00:00:43,400 sin in this chapter. 10 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,400 None of chapter 10 was by David's doing, but he was put in 11 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:49,960 the position of going to war. 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,600 And this was the catalyst for what we now read in chapter 11. 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,800 Now, I'm sure that you've heard it said that you should never 14 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:00,960 meet your heroes. 15 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,800 And the thought behind this saying is that we will discover that 16 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,680 those whom we look up to will let us down because they are human. 17 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:11,760 And I've had this experience. 18 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,440 I had the opportunity to meet an American pastor and teacher that 19 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,640 I listened to every day on a podcast. 20 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,600 And I've read their theological commentaries and books 21 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,550 and I've even quoted them from this pulpit. 22 00:01:24,790 --> 00:01:28,150 But I'm not going to tell you who it is, because I was at a two 23 00:01:28,150 --> 00:01:31,710 day conference in Ballymena and I had the opportunity to speak 24 00:01:31,710 --> 00:01:34,470 to them and I was so disappointed. 25 00:01:35,590 --> 00:01:37,830 They just didn't want to talk to me. 26 00:01:38,390 --> 00:01:41,990 They passed themselves, but just walked off to something else. 27 00:01:42,950 --> 00:01:46,470 I simply wanted time to enjoy company with them. 28 00:01:47,510 --> 00:01:50,310 I came away so sad and I came away so hurt. 29 00:01:50,990 --> 00:01:53,870 But as I look back now, I realized that I had elevated this 30 00:01:53,870 --> 00:01:55,310 person to a high platform. 31 00:01:56,030 --> 00:01:59,950 And at the end of the day, they were just human, having traveled 32 00:01:59,950 --> 00:02:03,110 however many miles it is from the States, with the jet lag of the 33 00:02:03,110 --> 00:02:07,470 time zone and having to deliver five conference messages. 34 00:02:09,070 --> 00:02:13,030 And so as such, they didn't care about me as much as I cared 35 00:02:13,030 --> 00:02:13,790 about them. 36 00:02:15,470 --> 00:02:18,270 And I say that because it's the same with David. 37 00:02:19,950 --> 00:02:24,670 We herald David as the greatest king Israel has ever known. 38 00:02:25,390 --> 00:02:28,910 We often quote what scripture says about him, that he was a man 39 00:02:29,150 --> 00:02:31,310 after God's own heart. 40 00:02:32,430 --> 00:02:37,470 He had that trusted and special relationship, and he was 41 00:02:37,470 --> 00:02:42,590 the greatest of all the image bearers of who Jesus would be, as 42 00:02:42,590 --> 00:02:46,070 David himself, the shepherd boy, was the great shepherd king 43 00:02:46,070 --> 00:02:52,070 of Israel, pointing us to the greatest shepherd, Jesus Christ. 44 00:02:54,710 --> 00:02:58,950 See, compared to Saul, who was before him, David was everything 45 00:02:58,950 --> 00:03:00,550 that a king of Israel should be. 46 00:03:01,430 --> 00:03:05,470 But we come to a passage where the David we know as the man after 47 00:03:05,470 --> 00:03:11,190 the Lord's own heart falls into sin and into disgrace. 48 00:03:11,750 --> 00:03:15,030 And so we maybe find it hard to balance a good opinion of him 49 00:03:15,030 --> 00:03:17,750 because we have such a high opinion of him. 50 00:03:18,830 --> 00:03:22,630 Yet here we have before us David's folly and his sin, and we 51 00:03:22,630 --> 00:03:23,790 must learn from it. 52 00:03:25,070 --> 00:03:30,030 We must ever be mindful of the words of the English Puritan, John 53 00:03:30,110 --> 00:03:36,550 Bradford, who said, but there but for the grace of God goes John 54 00:03:36,550 --> 00:03:37,110 Bradford. 55 00:03:37,110 --> 00:03:40,310 Of course, we use it today by saying, there but by the grace of 56 00:03:40,310 --> 00:03:47,070 God go I. Bradford was in prison and would eventually be martyred 57 00:03:47,230 --> 00:03:51,750 on the 1st of July, 1555 because of his confession of the 58 00:03:51,750 --> 00:03:53,550 reformed Protestant faith. 59 00:03:55,630 --> 00:03:59,670 Before he was imprisoned, or before he sorry he was martyred and 60 00:03:59,670 --> 00:04:03,070 he was imprisoned, he would hear the crowds jeer on the outside, 61 00:04:03,870 --> 00:04:07,310 and he would hear them celebrate at the execution of a fellow 62 00:04:07,310 --> 00:04:07,870 inmate. 63 00:04:08,510 --> 00:04:13,280 And he would remind himself each time that it was only by God's 64 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:18,680 grace that he was preserved for that moment and from martyrdom 65 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:19,720 that day. 66 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:23,080 And so it is with this chapter. 67 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,600 Yes, we are going to be bitterly disappointed by perhaps 68 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:32,040 what we would describe as one of the heroes of Scripture. 69 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:39,890 But we shouldn't look on sin and we shouldn't gloat at it. 70 00:04:41,250 --> 00:04:42,450 We must be mindful. 71 00:04:42,770 --> 00:04:45,330 But by the grace of God go any of us. 72 00:04:45,970 --> 00:04:51,970 For as much as we cannot save ourselves, so we cannot keep ourselves. 73 00:04:54,130 --> 00:05:00,010 We cannot keep ourselves from sinning because the old self desires 74 00:05:00,010 --> 00:05:03,490 to reappear in the sin that we will commit. 75 00:05:05,020 --> 00:05:08,180 You see, we cannot keep ourselves in what John Calvin refers 76 00:05:08,180 --> 00:05:10,780 to as the preservation of the saints. 77 00:05:11,660 --> 00:05:14,780 It's only the Lord Jesus who can keep us and preserve us. 78 00:05:14,780 --> 00:05:18,100 So we read this account with great care, but also with great awareness 79 00:05:18,100 --> 00:05:24,140 of our need for God to keep and preserve us, just as we have 80 00:05:24,140 --> 00:05:25,740 known throughout each generation. 81 00:05:27,020 --> 00:05:31,550 And so verse one begins with the catalyst that we saw in chapter 82 00:05:31,550 --> 00:05:31,910 ten. 83 00:05:33,270 --> 00:05:37,110 In chapter nine, we understood that the land of Israel was secure 84 00:05:37,430 --> 00:05:38,950 and it was at peace. 85 00:05:39,670 --> 00:05:44,030 But the foolishness and the suspicions of the Ammonites led to 86 00:05:44,030 --> 00:05:46,550 war with Israel, and that war should never have happened. 87 00:05:46,870 --> 00:05:50,310 And as such, David was placed in the position to continue to war 88 00:05:50,310 --> 00:05:50,710 with them. 89 00:05:50,710 --> 00:05:54,270 And when the season, the spring for the season for war, which 90 00:05:54,270 --> 00:05:57,590 was spring, came around, and that was a time of good dry weather, 91 00:05:57,590 --> 00:06:00,250 because troops never went to war in the region. 92 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,720 Rainy season, as it would be called, because they would become 93 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:04,320 bogged down in the wet ground. 94 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,120 So it's in the spring, in the dry weather, that David sends out 95 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:09,040 his men to fight. 96 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:15,600 And when they left, David remained in Jerusalem on his own. 97 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,200 And this is when David's problems begin, because in verse 98 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:28,610 two, we are told it happened very matter of fact, late one afternoon 99 00:06:29,090 --> 00:06:31,930 when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof 100 00:06:31,930 --> 00:06:36,050 of the king's house that he saw from the roof a beautiful or 101 00:06:36,050 --> 00:06:37,090 a woman bathing. 102 00:06:37,410 --> 00:06:39,410 And the woman was very beautiful. 103 00:06:40,050 --> 00:06:44,130 So on a warm Middle Eastern afternoon, David is tired and awakes 104 00:06:44,610 --> 00:06:47,250 to see a beautiful woman across the way. 105 00:06:47,890 --> 00:06:51,410 And David's immediate thought is one of possession. 106 00:06:52,210 --> 00:06:55,730 He wants her and he lusts after her. 107 00:06:56,210 --> 00:06:58,370 And so he asks about who she is. 108 00:06:58,850 --> 00:07:02,850 And the report comes back in verse three that she is Bathsheba, 109 00:07:02,850 --> 00:07:07,090 the wife of Uriah the Hittite who is serving in David's army. 110 00:07:08,530 --> 00:07:11,010 David has now let down his guard. 111 00:07:11,890 --> 00:07:16,530 No longer is this a sin that he can conceal because he has made 112 00:07:16,690 --> 00:07:21,170 at least one person know of his interest in her. 113 00:07:22,620 --> 00:07:28,460 And he still doesn't hold back any form of shame or care of David 114 00:07:28,460 --> 00:07:29,340 is now gone. 115 00:07:30,220 --> 00:07:32,540 And verses four and five set the scene. 116 00:07:33,260 --> 00:07:37,700 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him and 117 00:07:37,700 --> 00:07:38,500 he lay with her. 118 00:07:38,500 --> 00:07:41,900 Now she had been purifying herself from uncleanness. 119 00:07:42,860 --> 00:07:48,390 That little line is thrown there to tell us of human anatomy 120 00:07:48,630 --> 00:07:53,710 of the moment that it was in her life, where indeed she most likely 121 00:07:53,710 --> 00:07:56,470 would have been the most fertile to conceive. 122 00:07:57,830 --> 00:08:01,510 Then she returned to her house and the woman conceived. 123 00:08:01,990 --> 00:08:05,910 And she sent and told David, I am pregnant. 124 00:08:07,190 --> 00:08:11,310 David's sin action of committing adultery has far reaching 125 00:08:11,310 --> 00:08:15,230 consequences and we see it here in him not only sleeping with 126 00:08:15,230 --> 00:08:18,430 Bathsheba, but her then becoming pregnant. 127 00:08:19,070 --> 00:08:22,590 And whether David thought this was going to be a quick fling in 128 00:08:22,590 --> 00:08:26,990 the quiet months of war has led to great significance with news 129 00:08:26,990 --> 00:08:28,670 of a conception of a baby. 130 00:08:29,070 --> 00:08:32,510 And to get himself out of this mess, David devises a plan. 131 00:08:32,750 --> 00:08:36,870 And verses 6 to 13 tell us of what that plan is and how it plays 132 00:08:36,870 --> 00:08:37,150 out. 133 00:08:37,550 --> 00:08:39,630 But it doesn't go the way that he wants. 134 00:08:40,169 --> 00:08:43,129 His idea is to get Uriah home from war. 135 00:08:43,529 --> 00:08:48,129 And being home, he will sleep with his wife and it will be believed 136 00:08:48,129 --> 00:08:49,609 that the baby is his. 137 00:08:50,649 --> 00:08:54,369 But there's one thing that David doesn't count on, and he doesn't 138 00:08:54,369 --> 00:08:56,409 count on Uriah's integrity. 139 00:08:57,929 --> 00:09:02,049 So now the wheels are set in motion as we read in verse 6. 140 00:09:02,049 --> 00:09:06,089 So David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite. 141 00:09:07,070 --> 00:09:09,710 And Job sent Uriah to David. 142 00:09:11,710 --> 00:09:16,750 David connives, that's the only word for it, a plan to get Uriah 143 00:09:16,750 --> 00:09:17,070 home. 144 00:09:17,310 --> 00:09:21,350 And it is under the guise of a report of how things are going with 145 00:09:21,350 --> 00:09:21,790 the war. 146 00:09:22,750 --> 00:09:28,510 Now Uriah is a very dutiful and loyal subject and he tells David 147 00:09:28,510 --> 00:09:31,230 how everything is going and how the various people are doing. 148 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,440 But the key thing is for Uriah to go home. 149 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,040 David's not really interested. 150 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,600 He simply wants Uriah to go home to his wife. 151 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:44,520 So we read in verse 8 then David said to Uriah, go down to your 152 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:46,120 house and wash your feet. 153 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:50,560 And Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him, 154 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:52,360 a present from the king. 155 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,960 Now David does everything he can to force a situation that will 156 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,720 get this unwanted pregnancy off his back. 157 00:10:00,530 --> 00:10:04,370 He gifts Uriah something that I am sure was to encourage some form 158 00:10:04,370 --> 00:10:06,370 of romantic relations with his wife. 159 00:10:06,610 --> 00:10:07,650 But it doesn't work. 160 00:10:08,290 --> 00:10:10,530 Uriah is a man of integrity. 161 00:10:10,850 --> 00:10:14,610 And because the ark of the Lord has no house in which to dwell 162 00:10:14,610 --> 00:10:17,890 and his brothers in arms are sleeping in tents on the battlefield, 163 00:10:17,890 --> 00:10:20,730 he will not take the luxury of eating and drinking and sleeping 164 00:10:20,730 --> 00:10:21,170 at home. 165 00:10:21,570 --> 00:10:26,930 And this is admirable of Uriah as he puts the Lord and the nation 166 00:10:27,610 --> 00:10:28,490 before himself. 167 00:10:29,530 --> 00:10:33,690 And we've seen in scripture before how those with integrity can 168 00:10:33,690 --> 00:10:37,130 suffer from consequences of someone else's sin. 169 00:10:38,650 --> 00:10:43,290 And poor Uriah has no idea what is about to happen or why. 170 00:10:44,410 --> 00:10:48,650 But because of David's sin, which has far reaching consequences, 171 00:10:49,450 --> 00:10:51,530 he will lose his life. 172 00:10:52,730 --> 00:10:58,660 And in verse 13 you can almost see one sense of David trying to 173 00:10:58,660 --> 00:11:01,580 get him to go home one last time by getting him drunk. 174 00:11:01,980 --> 00:11:06,060 Or perhaps David's guilt as he hatches another plan because David, 175 00:11:06,140 --> 00:11:10,740 we read, invited him and he ate in his presence and drank so 176 00:11:10,740 --> 00:11:11,940 that he made him drunk. 177 00:11:11,940 --> 00:11:15,180 Was that drunkenness to get him home to sleep with his wife? 178 00:11:15,180 --> 00:11:19,540 Or was it to give this man on death row one good last moment in 179 00:11:19,540 --> 00:11:19,820 life? 180 00:11:21,430 --> 00:11:24,430 But we're told that in the evening Uriah went out to lie on 181 00:11:24,430 --> 00:11:28,150 his couch with the servants of his Lord, but he did not go down 182 00:11:28,150 --> 00:11:28,950 to his house. 183 00:11:29,910 --> 00:11:33,070 Whether this is, as I said, one last chance to get him to go 184 00:11:33,070 --> 00:11:37,430 home or one last meal, a second plan is now put into motion 185 00:11:37,430 --> 00:11:38,710 that David cannot stop. 186 00:11:39,510 --> 00:11:45,830 Even in his drunken state, Uriah still is loyal to his true 187 00:11:45,830 --> 00:11:47,850 king and his true lord. 188 00:11:48,810 --> 00:11:53,770 And verse 15 says in the letter that David now sends sent 189 00:11:53,850 --> 00:11:58,290 Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back 190 00:11:58,290 --> 00:12:02,410 from him that he may be struck down and die. 191 00:12:04,330 --> 00:12:06,490 Oh, how David has fallen. 192 00:12:07,850 --> 00:12:13,660 There is the sin of acting upon his lust, there is the sin of 193 00:12:13,660 --> 00:12:16,580 the relations that he has with Bathsheba. 194 00:12:17,620 --> 00:12:23,340 And now he is completely guilty of the death of another human 195 00:12:23,340 --> 00:12:23,700 being. 196 00:12:25,460 --> 00:12:28,420 You see, if Uriah won't go with the plan and sleep with his 197 00:12:28,420 --> 00:12:31,460 wife, then he needs to be taken out of the picture altogether. 198 00:12:32,260 --> 00:12:36,380 So David sends word to his chief of the military, Joab and gets 199 00:12:36,380 --> 00:12:38,580 Joab to place Uriah on the front line. 200 00:12:39,220 --> 00:12:43,020 And as a loyal subject, Joab does what he is told, knowing that 201 00:12:43,020 --> 00:12:44,500 Uriah will surely die. 202 00:12:45,300 --> 00:12:49,060 But Joab knows David and his ability to have outbursts. 203 00:12:49,540 --> 00:12:54,700 And so after Uriah does indeed die in the battle, Joab sends a messenger 204 00:12:54,700 --> 00:12:57,140 to confirm what happened in the battle. 205 00:12:57,220 --> 00:13:00,260 And then Joab says to the servant, because he knows David, 206 00:13:00,260 --> 00:13:04,260 in verses 20 and 21, if the king's anger rises, and if he says 207 00:13:04,260 --> 00:13:06,660 to you, why did you go so near the city to fight? 208 00:13:07,190 --> 00:13:09,670 Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 209 00:13:09,910 --> 00:13:12,870 Who killed Abimelech, the son of Jerubbesheth? 210 00:13:13,110 --> 00:13:16,830 Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall so 211 00:13:16,830 --> 00:13:18,390 that he died at Thebes? 212 00:13:19,350 --> 00:13:22,390 Why did you go so near the wall? 213 00:13:23,350 --> 00:13:27,550 Then you shall say your servant Uriah the Hittite, is dead 214 00:13:27,550 --> 00:13:27,830 also. 215 00:13:28,950 --> 00:13:34,400 So Joab plays out David's reaction and he makes a plan, thinking 216 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,800 that David might actually critique his battle strategy, using 217 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:43,040 an example from a previous blow to Israel's army at Thebes. 218 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:47,000 And that's recorded for us in Judges, chapter 9 and verses 50 to 219 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:52,680 55, where there was a foolish tactic in the army that led to the 220 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:53,440 loss of life. 221 00:13:55,360 --> 00:14:00,040 But you see, Joab's whole strategy was for David's command 222 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,200 that Uriah would be killed. 223 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:07,960 But Joab knows David, and this is what he prepares him with. 224 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,720 So the servant goes back to Jerusalem and tells David what has 225 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,800 happened and includes the information that Uriah is dead. 226 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,840 Now, David must have sensed Joab's uneasiness with the whole 227 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:24,570 plan, and so says to the messenger in verse 5, Thus shall 228 00:14:24,570 --> 00:14:29,530 you say to do not let this matter displease you, for the sword 229 00:14:29,530 --> 00:14:31,410 devours now one, and now another. 230 00:14:32,130 --> 00:14:36,930 Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it, and encourage 231 00:14:36,930 --> 00:14:37,250 him. 232 00:14:37,810 --> 00:14:41,370 And so, as much as it is supposed to encourage Joab, he is 233 00:14:41,370 --> 00:14:43,970 involved in this extrajudicial killing. 234 00:14:44,290 --> 00:14:47,570 It is also a command from David to get back to business, to 235 00:14:47,570 --> 00:14:49,410 defending Israel and defeating the enemies. 236 00:14:49,970 --> 00:14:53,050 And David is here directing the servant to convey to Joab how 237 00:14:53,050 --> 00:14:55,250 positively the king has received his report. 238 00:14:55,890 --> 00:14:59,570 And as you would expect, as word reaches Bathsheba, she grieves 239 00:14:59,570 --> 00:15:00,530 over her husband. 240 00:15:01,010 --> 00:15:04,290 She observes a period of mourning rites for anywhere from 241 00:15:04,290 --> 00:15:06,370 seven to possibly 30 days. 242 00:15:06,770 --> 00:15:09,330 And then, after which we're told in verse 27. 243 00:15:09,730 --> 00:15:13,290 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her 244 00:15:13,290 --> 00:15:16,540 to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. 245 00:15:17,340 --> 00:15:21,660 But the thing that the Lord has had, David had done displeased 246 00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:22,620 the Lord. 247 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:28,020 So after what she was to do by right, that period of mourning, David 248 00:15:28,020 --> 00:15:29,900 once more sent for her. 249 00:15:30,460 --> 00:15:34,700 The last time he does so, and he brings her to his house, the palace 250 00:15:34,700 --> 00:15:36,620 from which he has not moved. 251 00:15:36,860 --> 00:15:41,540 Throughout this chapter, and to all of those around him, this 252 00:15:41,540 --> 00:15:45,180 might seem like a thoughtful provision for the needs of a valiant 253 00:15:45,180 --> 00:15:48,640 soldier's widow, a way to honor her husband in his service 254 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:49,320 of the nation. 255 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:55,000 But this is now plan number three, and David is once again putting 256 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,560 into motion a plan to save his own skin. 257 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:03,000 Not only will his child be his, but to the world it will be 258 00:16:03,159 --> 00:16:04,680 legitimately his. 259 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,760 So Bathsheba becomes David's wife and subsequently bore him a 260 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:10,120 son. 261 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,080 For David, this seems to be the end of the story. 262 00:16:13,780 --> 00:16:15,860 For David, crisis over. 263 00:16:17,540 --> 00:16:22,660 However, notice how this chapter ends, and it's quite an ominous 264 00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:26,980 note when the author, from his privileged standpoint, incorporates 265 00:16:26,980 --> 00:16:29,700 the divine assessment of the affairs. 266 00:16:30,340 --> 00:16:34,500 But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. 267 00:16:35,380 --> 00:16:40,340 Displeased, literally, meaning was evil in the eyes, repeats the 268 00:16:40,340 --> 00:16:42,660 formula that is found there in verse 25. 269 00:16:42,820 --> 00:16:46,560 And so it could be read as the Lord regarded what DAV had done to 270 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:47,680 be evil. 271 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,880 Joab may have conspired in a cover up, but the Lord will not. 272 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,160 And he will have the final say, as we'll see in the next chapter. 273 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:03,680 So David, the greatest king of Israel, falls from his privileged 274 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:05,520 position into sin. 275 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:13,089 He lusts after another woman, the woman, another man. 276 00:17:14,449 --> 00:17:19,809 He has relations with her that have very open consequences with 277 00:17:19,809 --> 00:17:20,689 a pregnancy. 278 00:17:21,809 --> 00:17:25,489 And David just falls further and further into sin. 279 00:17:26,209 --> 00:17:29,089 And even though there may be those around him willing to cover 280 00:17:29,089 --> 00:17:35,209 it up, the one who sees all our hearts truly sees and will not 281 00:17:35,209 --> 00:17:38,620 ignore the sin that that is so apparent. 282 00:17:40,060 --> 00:17:43,500 And so the applications of David's sin are obvious. 283 00:17:44,220 --> 00:17:49,420 His tragic downfall proves that none of us are immune from temptation. 284 00:17:50,540 --> 00:17:55,460 David's sin began with a neglect of duty and deepened through 285 00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:56,780 the abuse of power. 286 00:17:57,740 --> 00:18:03,220 So David's fall urges us to realize that indeed, sin is all around 287 00:18:03,220 --> 00:18:03,500 us. 288 00:18:03,500 --> 00:18:07,900 That's why one of those stanzas in the Lord's Prayer is lead 289 00:18:07,900 --> 00:18:12,440 us temptation, but deliver us from evil. 290 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,400 A prayer that should be on the lips of every Christian at the start 291 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:17,480 of every day. 292 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:19,800 For the devil is cunning. 293 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,520 The devil is exactly as we know him to be, evil. 294 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,800 And he delights in nothing more than us falling deeper into 295 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:30,280 sin. 296 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:33,800 He sets the traps. 297 00:18:35,650 --> 00:18:39,330 And here we see one set for David into which he falls. 298 00:18:41,250 --> 00:18:44,050 And so as believers, we must pray. 299 00:18:44,850 --> 00:18:46,450 We must pray for ourselves. 300 00:18:48,050 --> 00:18:51,970 Jesus taught this not just in the Lord's Prayer, but also In Gethsemane, 301 00:18:52,210 --> 00:18:56,850 in anguish, in Matthew 26:41, he says, watch and pray that you 302 00:18:56,850 --> 00:18:58,610 may not enter into temptation. 303 00:18:59,330 --> 00:19:03,310 The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 304 00:19:03,790 --> 00:19:06,830 And this is the night on which he was betrayed. 305 00:19:07,470 --> 00:19:11,630 Knowing indeed that he wants his disciples to be with him in prayer, 306 00:19:12,110 --> 00:19:14,430 that indeed their hearts would be encouraged. 307 00:19:14,430 --> 00:19:17,950 Because Christ knew that the cup that he would have to bear would 308 00:19:17,950 --> 00:19:18,510 be his. 309 00:19:18,590 --> 00:19:22,550 And he was thinking of his followers, that they would not fall 310 00:19:22,550 --> 00:19:25,470 into the temptation of the evil one. 311 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,200 So can I encourage you to pray for yourself? 312 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:33,600 Pray that line of the Lord's Prayer. 313 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,320 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 314 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:43,639 Can I encourage you to pray for each other, that God will keep 315 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:45,320 his people in this day? 316 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,960 And I don't ask you to do this, to do this exclusively for 317 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,240 me, but for all of those who are in Christian leadership. 318 00:19:54,370 --> 00:19:58,930 Pray for them, because those are the ones who the devil goes after. 319 00:19:59,730 --> 00:20:06,370 We have seen many a pastor and teacher fall into sin and left shipwreck 320 00:20:06,370 --> 00:20:08,290 and ministries shipwrecked. 321 00:20:09,569 --> 00:20:11,890 So do pray, I urge you. 322 00:20:12,450 --> 00:20:17,450 The first thought on your day is one of battle, in which the Lord 323 00:20:17,450 --> 00:20:21,740 will fight for you and he will preserve you from the temptations 324 00:20:22,060 --> 00:20:23,100 of the evil one. 325 00:20:24,140 --> 00:20:25,860 And so that's one application. 326 00:20:25,860 --> 00:20:30,140 But the chief lesson of David's fall, however, is one designed 327 00:20:30,140 --> 00:20:33,340 not to strengthen our own power against temptation and sin, 328 00:20:33,420 --> 00:20:36,460 but rather to cast us on a greater power still. 329 00:20:36,780 --> 00:20:39,980 And that is the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. 330 00:20:39,980 --> 00:20:41,300 Remember what we've just sung. 331 00:20:41,300 --> 00:20:46,540 Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me 332 00:20:47,650 --> 00:20:52,530 See, David's fall proves once and for all that true Christians 333 00:20:52,530 --> 00:20:56,130 are capable of committing the most heinous sins. 334 00:20:57,250 --> 00:21:01,330 But while David's sin would lead to a heavy temporal judgment 335 00:21:01,410 --> 00:21:05,970 from God, God's covenant grace in Christ would prove stronger than 336 00:21:05,970 --> 00:21:11,130 David's sin, forgiving him, restoring him and causing his mouth 337 00:21:11,130 --> 00:21:15,710 to rejoice in the mercy of God through the blood of his son. 338 00:21:16,590 --> 00:21:20,350 David's sin had in fact, placed Israel's king in the very 339 00:21:20,350 --> 00:21:24,270 place where Uriah the Hittite had been before coming to God for 340 00:21:24,270 --> 00:21:24,830 salvation. 341 00:21:25,790 --> 00:21:27,310 Did you notice who he is? 342 00:21:28,350 --> 00:21:30,270 He's not Uriah the Jew. 343 00:21:30,830 --> 00:21:32,830 He's not Uriah the Israelite. 344 00:21:33,310 --> 00:21:35,150 He's Uriah the Gentile. 345 00:21:35,470 --> 00:21:36,430 He's a Hittite. 346 00:21:37,470 --> 00:21:38,750 Did you ever pick that up? 347 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,280 He's not of the covenant community by birth. 348 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,840 And so he is an unholy Gentile, or he was an unholy Gentile. 349 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,400 He'd been an outcast from God's presence, left out by sin. 350 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,720 From every blessing of God's covenant. 351 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,760 Now we do not know how Uriah came to know and trust the Lord and 352 00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,640 to be included in the covenant community. 353 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:04,480 But we do know the steps that David must take and that we must 354 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,760 take in order to be accepted by God and then consecrated to serve 355 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:09,880 as valiant Spirit. 356 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:15,060 Filled men and women are the same steps that Uriah took to demonstrate 357 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:17,860 here before us a man of integrity before the Lord. 358 00:22:19,220 --> 00:22:23,340 And the first step is the confession of our sin and the appeal 359 00:22:23,340 --> 00:22:24,500 to God's mercy. 360 00:22:26,020 --> 00:22:31,740 Please do not fool yourself to say that you are without sin in writing 361 00:22:31,740 --> 00:22:32,980 to the Christian church. 362 00:22:32,980 --> 00:22:34,340 That is what we are told. 363 00:22:35,380 --> 00:22:42,990 We sin, we sin in thought, we sin in deed, and we sin in word. 364 00:22:44,750 --> 00:22:45,630 We all do it. 365 00:22:46,750 --> 00:22:48,670 Do not be foolish to think you don't. 366 00:22:49,390 --> 00:22:53,910 So therefore, as I confess my sin daily before the Lord, so you 367 00:22:53,910 --> 00:22:58,310 must confess your sin and you must appeal to God's mercy. 368 00:22:58,310 --> 00:22:59,470 That is the first step. 369 00:22:59,710 --> 00:23:03,430 The second step is faith in the blood that Jesus shed for our 370 00:23:03,430 --> 00:23:04,110 forgiveness. 371 00:23:05,290 --> 00:23:09,010 And regardless of who you are here tonight, saved or unsaved, we 372 00:23:09,010 --> 00:23:12,010 must look to the blood of Jesus because it is only that blood 373 00:23:12,010 --> 00:23:18,010 that satisfies God's wrath against us so that we stand in Christ 374 00:23:18,090 --> 00:23:23,530 and in him alone as the one in whom our sins are truly forgiven. 375 00:23:24,970 --> 00:23:26,050 That's why we pray. 376 00:23:26,050 --> 00:23:30,250 Look not on us, but look on us as found in him. 377 00:23:31,210 --> 00:23:35,050 Because it is only in Christ that our sins can be forgiven. 378 00:23:36,250 --> 00:23:40,730 And the third step is to surrender our lives in faith to the 379 00:23:40,730 --> 00:23:42,970 service and worship of God. 380 00:23:42,970 --> 00:23:46,170 This is the path that every sinner must take. 381 00:23:46,810 --> 00:23:51,530 A path that I have taken and a path that I must continue to take 382 00:23:51,530 --> 00:23:56,130 each day as I am confronted by the temptations of the evil one. 383 00:23:56,130 --> 00:24:00,650 And just as you are confronted by the temptations of the evil one. 384 00:24:01,420 --> 00:24:05,980 This is a path that God has promised will lead us to reconciliation, 385 00:24:06,300 --> 00:24:09,340 to restoration, and to eternal life. 386 00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:15,340 As John writes in First John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, 387 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:19,460 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse 388 00:24:19,460 --> 00:24:21,980 us from all unrighteousness. 389 00:24:23,180 --> 00:24:26,300 David was truly a great king for Israel. 390 00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:29,630 And not only has his greatness been seen, but his greatness will 391 00:24:29,630 --> 00:24:30,550 be seen again. 392 00:24:31,190 --> 00:24:34,030 As we go into these next chapters, we will see a wonderful 393 00:24:34,030 --> 00:24:38,230 mercy from God that demonstrates to us how good God is 394 00:24:38,230 --> 00:24:43,150 and how patient he is and how he truly is a God of steadfast love 395 00:24:43,150 --> 00:24:46,550 because he has given us the true King of His people. 396 00:24:48,070 --> 00:24:52,250 It is not King David, it is King David. 397 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,920 And as we have the echoes of this morning coming to our Ears. 398 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:03,280 For those who heard that sermon, the answer still comes tonight. 399 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,400 Is Jesus your true king? 400 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:12,440 Do you know him as the only one who can save you because he shed 401 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:13,120 his blood? 402 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,400 Because this is what we all need to know. 403 00:25:18,250 --> 00:25:22,010 We need to pray that we will not fall into temptation. 404 00:25:23,050 --> 00:25:28,410 But we must also pray that indeed Christ will save us and make 405 00:25:28,410 --> 00:25:29,690 us eternally his. 406 00:25:31,370 --> 00:25:38,010 So please do not jeer or rejoice in the sin of other people 407 00:25:38,090 --> 00:25:39,050 or their fall. 408 00:25:39,770 --> 00:25:43,770 For there but by the grace of God, goes any of us. 409 00:25:45,130 --> 00:25:47,050 Rather, look to the Lord. 410 00:25:48,890 --> 00:25:52,730 Let prayer be your defense each day. 411 00:25:52,890 --> 00:25:56,850 Pray that you will not and those around you will not, and that 412 00:25:56,850 --> 00:26:00,730 Christian leaders will not fall into sin and the temptation 413 00:26:00,730 --> 00:26:06,490 of sin, but rather will live faithfully and pray that you will 414 00:26:06,490 --> 00:26:11,460 know the goodness of God, the forgiveness of sins and life eternal. 415 00:26:12,580 --> 00:26:14,420 This is God's word to each of us. 416 00:26:14,420 --> 00:26:20,060 A difficult passage because of its language, its meaning, but also 417 00:26:20,060 --> 00:26:21,460 how it confronts us. 418 00:26:22,740 --> 00:26:29,460 It tells us to turn from sin because no sin is hidden from God. 419 00:26:30,500 --> 00:26:35,220 And we will see how this plays out, as the writer says. 420 00:26:35,220 --> 00:26:38,180 But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. 421 00:26:38,990 --> 00:26:40,910 The Lord will not be taken for a fool. 422 00:26:41,390 --> 00:26:45,110 And we will see the judgment that will fall on David because of 423 00:26:45,110 --> 00:26:45,710 this sin. 424 00:26:46,830 --> 00:26:50,030 But an even greater judgment if we remain outside of the kingdom 425 00:26:50,510 --> 00:26:53,470 because we reject the true King of our lives. 426 00:26:54,190 --> 00:26:56,310 So come to him, trust in him. 427 00:26:56,310 --> 00:27:00,990 And as our closing praise will tell us to know his mercy is more 428 00:27:01,470 --> 00:27:02,990 stronger than darkness. 429 00:27:03,070 --> 00:27:11,960 New every morn our sins, they are many, but his mercy is more. 430 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:13,640 Let us pray. 431 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:18,360 Our Father God, we thank you for what it means to know your mercy. 432 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,560 Your mercy is giving us what we do not deserve. 433 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,920 For you keep us from eternal punishment, but all because of Jesus. 434 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:27,880 But it is not by right of birth. 435 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:30,120 It is not by right of culture. 436 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:35,920 It is only by believing and trusting in Christ and in him alone. 437 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,280 So Father, may we respond to your mercy. 438 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:44,640 That indeed we will know its great strength, its freshness to 439 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:49,200 us every day, and that indeed it will truly lead us home. 440 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,120 So speak to us and draw us to yourself. 441 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:54,160 We pray in Jesus name. 442 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:55,440 Amen. 443 00:27:55,930 --> 00:28:11,090 Sam.