Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:1-27
Sermon Series: 2 Samuel: When God is Your King! – Sermon 11
David, Why!?! I think I was in high school. It was a visiting preacher. I don’t remember what the sermon was about, but he used King David as an illustration and stepped to the end of the platform and yelled, David, Why!?!
More times than I want to remember, I’ve thought: Why? In 40 years of ministry, I’ve lost track of how many I’ve seen fall into sexual sin…adultery, homosexuality, pornography. The list is endless. Some were pastors, some missionaries, others church members. Many were friends. Repeatedly, I’ve seen sexual sin wrap its coils around them snuffing the life out of their ministry, marriage, family and heart.
This chapter makes me wish 2 Samuel had ended with chapter 10. A powerful proof that the Bible is God’s Word is how it portrays its heroes and heroines. It always tells the truth about them.
When you think of the life of David, one of two events come to mind. You remember when young David killed Goliath; or you remember when mature David committed adultery with Bathsheba. In the first, David revealed his humility. In the second, David revealed his humanity. When David met the giant Goliath, we witnessed his greatest victory. When he met Bathsheba, we watched his greatest defeat.
Up until this moment, David had never lost a battle but when David enters the battle with his own heart, he’s soundly defeated. What a warning to us! The greatest enemy that you and I have are our own hearts!
David’s life falls into three parts: David’s trials, David’s triumphs and now David’s troubles. David is not a young man at this juncture, driven by passion. He’s in his late forties. His failure changes the trajectory of his life. Sin is easy but never cheap. If it were not for the grace of God, it could be me or you that we’re talking about.
Our world doesn’t take sexual sin seriously. God’s Word teaches that sexual sin has serious consequences – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual ones. There’s a connection with today’s immorality and the astronomical increase in mental health problems. And we’d be shocked to learn how much sexual sin takes place among Christians, even in our church.
What are the lessons for us? If you’re taking notes…
1. We dismiss the power of temptation, vss. 1-5.
Life is really good for David at this point. He’s at the pinnacle of his distinguished career. His Gallup poll numbers are at an all-time high. Look at the last few chapters and you’ll see that David has just emerged as victor from several battles. It may surprise us that David’s temptation comes at a moment of extreme blessing.
In times of adversity, sexual sin can be appealing. It can be an escape. Something to give us a quick fix and take the edge off.
We’re never more vulnerable to temptation than when we’re successful. The danger of blessing is we forget how dependent we are on God. When life showers us with goodness, we assume it’s because we’ve caused it. Our hearts can fill with pride. We begin to think that we’re spiritually invincible.
One of the dumbest statements a Christian can makes is, “I’d never do that.” 1 Corinthians 10:12, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” Wedged between stand and fall are those words “be careful.”
Tim Keller (picture): “The seeds of the most terrible possible atrocities, the capability of the worst possible deeds, live in every human heart, even the best people, even people who are converted by God. Whoever you are, even the best people who have ever lived are capable of this. The seeds of those things, the seeds of the worst possible deeds are right now in your heart.”
Purposelessness is spiritually dangerous. “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1). A literal translation is “David was sitting in Jerusalem.”
Idleness isn’t inactivity. We all need times of leisure. Today’s pastor’s pen is about taking a vacation. Idleness is purposelessness.
It wasn’t wrong for David to not always be at head of his army. The author of Scripture though draws our attention to the fact that David wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He’s killing time when there were enemies to kill.
One of the best ways to guard against temptation is not to say no. It’s to say yes to being busy with a higher purpose. Winning doesn’t come from avoiding sin as much as it does filling your life with God’s good things. Our lives must be filled with faithfulness to our marriages, families, jobs, walk with God. With full lives, we don’t have time for Satan’s invasions.
Boredom is dangerous. David wasn’t safe with himself. He focused on his desires, not his duties.
We must know our spiritual soft spots. On June 5, 1976, the massive Teton Dam (picture) in Idaho collapsed without warning, sending millions of gallons of water surging into the Snake River basin, causing terrible destruction. Everyone was shocked. How could it happen so quickly?
Beneath the waterline, a hidden fault had been gradually weakening the entire dam. It started small—just a tiny bit of erosion. By the time it was detected, it was too late. Workers on the dam barely had time to run for their lives. No one saw the little flaw, but everyone saw the big collapse.
Hebrews 12:1 urges us, “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.” While he was waiting for God to give him the kingdom, David was continually adding to his harem. Sex was his spiritual soft spot. It was the crack in his soul. David had eight wives and who knows how many concubines (at least 10, probably more)!
In Deuteronomy 17, God specifically prohibited the king from multiplying wives. Polygamy was never God’s plan. God tolerated it, but never endorsed it. With Israel’s kings, God specifically forbade it. Yet David went along with the customs of his day instead of obeying the Word of God. He never got his lust under control. It was his spiritual soft spot.
You’d think David’s passion would have been reduced in that he already had so many wives and concubines. Instead of sending for Bathsheba, he could have called in any woman from his harem to satisfy his lust. Sexual passion isn’t like hunger, so that when you feed it, it goes away. It’s like a fire: the more you feed it, the more it rages. “You can’t get no satisfaction.”
How do you know what your spiritual soft spot is? It’s the sin that keeps tripping you up. We all have them. Is gossip or complaining your soft spot? How about anger? What about materialism? Do you struggle with pride?
If you only get from this that lust and sexual sin are the problems but are oblivious to your own spiritual soft spot, you’re as foolish as David. R.C. Sproul (picture) observed, “We fall in private before we ever fall in public.”
We must heed warnings. These verses play out like that Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rear Window (picture). Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly star in this thriller about a photographer who’s recovering from an injury and confined to his apartment. From his “rear window,” Stewart watches his neighbors through their windows. Eventually he uncovers a murder and is almost killed, along with his girlfriend.
David was lounging around the palace. Having gotten up from his afternoon nap. He’s aimlessly walking around the flat roof of his house. Middles East houses don’t have slanted roofs. As the king, David’s house would have been higher than others. From his roof, he could look down on houses around him.
David may have been safe in Jerusalem from the dangers of war, but he wasn’t safe from the danger of his unrestrained desires. David looked over his balcony. On a rooftop nearby was a woman taking a bath. The Hebrew strongly emphasizes her beauty. She’s very beautiful and naked.
We can’t avoid seeing tempting things. It’s not a sin to be tempted. Martin Luther (picture) wisely said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” You can’t avoid temptation, but you can choose not to dwell or act on them.
When seeing this bathing beauty David should have turned around. At this moment we have 1 to 2 seconds to decide whether to refuse temptation or yield. It’s the 2nd look that’s sinful. David lingers, to linger is to fall.
Here’s where he made a consciously sinful decision. He kept looking. He started imagining. The more he looked, the greater the pull. I suspect he watched her until she was done bathing.
Too often, Bathsheba gets blamed a lot. That’s unfortunate. Some even suggest that she’s trying to seduce David. Nothing in the text indicates that. Living in a hot home, taking a bath at this time of the day wasn’t uncommon.
The text implies the bath was a ritual cleansing after her monthly period, which would mean that she was ovulating. Of course one should take precautions – pull the blinds, but the text never blames Bathsheba. The focus is on David. Her absence of modesty is no excuse for David’s sensuality.
Believers must learn to turn their eyes from sexual temptations. Job wisely says, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1).
It’s a sin to lust after someone. When we do that, they’re no longer Imago Dei. They’ve lost their humanity and are little more than hunks of meat.
You can’t negotiate with sexual temptation. You run! “Flee youthful passions” (2 Timothy 2:22). But David didn’t turn away. He kept looking and enjoying. Then he sent and inquired about her. He’s hitting more links on the porn site. He sent his servants on a research project. One came back with, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (2 Samuel 11:3).
There’s the warning. The servant is discreetly telling his king, this is wrong. David learned three things. First, her name is Bathsheba. Second, She’s the daughter of Eliam, a very important man in David’s kingdom. Eliam was one of David’s mighty men. Her grandfather is Ahithophel, one of two men who served as David’s advisors. She’s the daughter and granddaughter of two of David’s most loyal men. He wouldn’t just sin against her, but against them. Finally, she’s married, the wife of Uriah. Uriah is another of David’s mighty men. Everything is telling David to keep his paws off her. She’s taken.
David knew God’s law and the lines he wasn’t to cross. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” (Exodus 20:17). “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Hebrews 13:4). David, are you listening? Don’t cross this line!
Though Bathsheba didn’t know a dirty old man would be leering, we need to be careful how we look to others. The Bible teaches modesty. We’re not to dress in such a way that draws attention to us sexually.
God’s Word is our best warning. It’s hard to live in a way that pleases God if you don’t read His instruction manual. We need biblical teaching. When it comes to sexuality our culture is a disaster area. This world is flunking Sex Ed. We need God’s Sex Ed class. Fulfillment only comes from doing things God’s way. He wrote the original instruction manual. Do you know His warnings? Are you following His instructions?
We must see the final devastation. David saw Bathsheba but didn’t see the tragic cost – the loss of four sons, civil war, fleeing for his life and the disintegration of his kingdom. A short afternoon of pleasure ends with a lifetime of regret.
When David’s sin is described, it’s usually called adultery, but it’s worse than adultery. It’s an abuse of power. Adultery implies a consensual relationship. Saying that David committed adultery makes it sound like they engaged in a romantic fling. But David had all the power. Bathsheba had none. He’s probably around 50; She’s probably around 20. He’s the king. She’s the wife of his soldier. She’s referred to as the “woman.” The Bible only condemns David for this.
Even after Uriah’s death, she’s referred to as the wife of Uriah because she wasn’t unfaithful to him. She was sent for and taken. The prophet Nathan will use the same word for “taken” in 2 Samuel 12 when he tells a parable about a rich man “taking” a poor man’s lamb so that he could feed a guest.
After Uriah dies and David takes Bathsheba as his wife, the word used is an agricultural word. It literally reads that David “harvested” Bathsheba. David’s sin a lot closer to rape. One scholar labels it “power rape.”
Did Bathsheba consent to this sexual encounter? Personally, I think that question is hardly worth asking. When the king sent for you, you went. Bathsheba wasn’t looking for this affair. She was compelled by the king.
It’s hard to know exactly what word to use to describe this. Today we have debates about what qualifies as “sexual assault” or “sexual abuse” or “rape.” It’s hard enough to label behaviors in our culture. Looking back and labeling events from an ancient culture 3,000 years ago is very difficult.
What we do know for certain is that David sinned. He blew off God’s warnings. He sacrificed the future on the altar of the immediate. While David has the power to commit sin, he doesn’t have the power to escape sin’s consequences. Bathsheba sends him a simple message, “I am pregnant.”
2. We cover up sin when we should confess it, vss. 6-13.
On June 17, 1972, hotel staff noticed that a stairwell door lock was taped in the open position. Police officers responded and found five unauthorized individuals inside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Office Building. They’d broken in to readjust some of the bugging equipment installed in an earlier break-in. No one was able to explain what these burglars expected to gain. Whatever it was, if there had been an honest confession of what they were attempting to do, it might have been a minor crime of political intrigue with minimal impact. It was the attempt to cover up Watergate that ended in massive repercussions. President Richard Nixon (picture) was forced to resign amid talk of impeachment. Several close associates were indicted and sentenced to prison.
Legions of sinners understand David’s plight, from those whose white lies are exposed, to spouses whose adultery is discovered, to church leaders whose hypocrisy is made public. At that moment the sinner has a choice: to admit the sin, humble themselves and repent…or to seek some sort of evasion, however desperate it may be to avoid the consequences of their sin.
The lesson of David’s sin is that ultimately the consequences can never be escaped. Confession, repentance, an appeal to God’s mercy is the only path to restoration. Like David, many attempt to cover up their sin. “O, what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive” Sir Walter Scott.
David’s doesn’t know how to stop what he started, so he begins to stack one sin on another. The crisis brought by the pregnancy required a cover up.
David decides to “legitimize” the impending birth by bringing Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, back 50 miles from the Ammonite campaign, making it possible for him to enjoy the intimacies of marriage. David orchestrates this homecoming to appear as if it was to learn about the war, while it actually served David’s plot of hiding his sin. David pretends he’s interested in the war. But his real motive is to get Uriah in Bathsheba’s bed, so the paternity of this child would be attributed to Uriah.
David’s suggestion that Uriah go home and “wash his feet” was a euphemism for sexual intimacy. To encourage compliance, David sent a gift, probably something for the home, after Uriah. It didn’t work. Uriah’s devotion to God and country took precedence over his own personal desires.
When David found out he brought him in and asked why he hadn’t gone home. How could he, Uriah argued, be allowed the comforts of home and a conjugal visit while his friends in arms were deprived of them?
Since his first scheme didn’t work. David buddied up to him. What do buddies do? They get drunk together. It wasn’t friendship. It’s a scheming king resorting to another plot to get Uriah back home to his wife. But Uriah’s loyalty to his comrades prevailed over his desires. David’s plot fails again.
Uriah is acting like the David we knew from earlier days. He’s the “David” David should be. “Uriah drunk is more righteous than David sober.” This attempted cover-up is torpedoed by Uriah’s integrity.
3. We conspire to not have our sin exposed.
The history of humanity is the history of the cover-up for sin. Sometimes those nightmarish dreams people have come true. It happened to a couple from Salem, Oregon while they were on a summer vacation. They’re traveling in their camper truck and the husband got tired, so he let his wife drive so he could get a nap. It was very hot, so he took off all his clothes and stretched out on the cot. The curtains were drawn. so, it’s completely private. After some time, he awoke realizing the truck was stopped. He wondered if something was wrong. What he didn’t know was that his wife was in a town and stopped at a traffic light. He opened the back door to poke his head out to see what was going on. Just as he did, the light changed, and his wife gunned it. The forward motion propelled him right out the back of the truck onto the street. He yelled at his wife, but it was too late, she was well on her way. In fact, she drove 200 miles before she discovered he wasn’t in the back. Imagine the man’s embarrassment as he tore down the sidewalk for the nearest clothing store where he grabbed a coat off the rack. He wasn’t fussy about the size or fit. It’s embarrassing to have what you thought were hidden sins exposed.
How far will you go to cover up your sin? David is desperate. He panics and sears his conscience. Our day has had its share of highly placed people who made matters worse as they sought to cover up their evil.
To show how callous David had become and how noble Uriah was, David sent a letter to Joab with Uriah plotting Uriah’s murder. Get this. David trusts Uriah to carry back his own death warrant. How horrifying and heartless!
The plan was to put Uriah in the front of an intense battle, then withdraw his backup so he’d be killed. While Joab had no qualms about accomplishing David’s goal, he amended the plan as having too great a risk both for Joab and David. It would have been too obvious and made many of those who fought under Joab’s command doubt his military ability.
Joab led an attack against a part of the city where he knew the resistance would be great. In the process of that battle he lost several soldiers, including Uriah. And David trivializes it, “Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another” (2 Samuel 11:25).
David knew exactly who’d ally with him to commit murder. Who your friends are says much about you. Do you have a Joab in your circle? We’re like our friends and our friends are like us. And now David owes evil Joab.
But this is so horrible, even hardened Joab is bothered. Not only did Uriah die, so did other soldiers fighting alongside him.
David’s faithful servant Uriah is murdered, “death by enemy.” Other warriors are also sacrificed to conceal the murder of Uriah. They’re collateral damage. This is the moral and spiritual low-water mark of David’s life. Gordon Keddie (picture), “In an attempt to maintain a sanitized façade and avoid public exposure…the guilty are prepared to add sin to sin, layers upon layer, and so become ever more deeply enslaved to their wickedness.”
David had already broken three Commandments. He’d coveted his neighbor’s wife; stolen her and committed adultery. Once you’ve committed three, it’s a short distance to committing two more. He lied and committed murder. Can’t you see David back in the palace? “I’ve taken care of it! It’s covered up.” Some must have been thinking, “Something’s not right here.” But David denies it all and goes along thinking everything is fine.
David has one last move. After Bathsheba’s time of grieving, probably a week, for the last time in his plot, he “sent” for her. She became his wife and bore his son. He’s breathing a sigh of relief…he got away with it.
Do you have a secret sin? Are you hiding it from others? How long have you been hiding? What are the results of this hiding? What toll is it taking on you, your relationships with others…your relationship with God?
4. We forget that God always sees, 27b.
The literal rendering of verse 27 is: “But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.”
God may be silent, but He’s not sightless. Charles Spurgeon (picture) said, “God doesn’t allow His children to sin successfully.”
All throughout this story of the evil abuse of power, God has been silent. and that’s deeply unsatisfying. Where is God when evil wins? Where is God when injustice runs rampant? Where is God when those in power abuse and get away with it? He may seem absent, but He sees. God always sees. Whether you’re the abuser or the abused, you need to know that God sees.
To those of you who are in a place of power, this is a warning. There are repercussions for your actions. We can’t hurt people and cover it up. You’re accountable to a just God. He can’t be manipulated.
To those of you who are victims, this story can be a comfort. Bathsheba may be the most heroic woman in David’s story. Every other woman only has a brief appearance. Michal. Abigail. Ahinoam of Jezreel. They have important scenes where they interact with David, but each of their stories end abruptly. Not Bathsheba. She’s treated worse than any of the others but plays a major role in the continuance of David’s lineage. She gives birth to Solomon and ensures that he receives the throne at the end of David’s life.
Bathsheba is even mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Her story didn’t end when she became the victim. She’s not undone by the power of another. Bathsheba is a sexual abuse victim whose story doesn’t end there.
In whatever way you’ve been a victim, you’re not alone. God sees. Your story isn’t finished being written. God may seem silent, but He’s never absent. God sees. He sees how others use power against you. Be comforted.
Conclusion
The applications of David’s sin are obvious. We could end with warnings about sexual sin, and we need to be warned. There’s no way to sugar-coat this. You can’t be rightly related to God and at the same time knowingly and defiantly violate His boundaries when it comes to sex. There is an enormous cost to violating His commands about sexual sin.
God gave us sex for marriage. It’s a gift to be enjoyed in marriage. God doesn’t oppose sexual sin because He doesn’t want us to have fun. NO, God opposes it the same way parents oppose a car careening toward their child!
But there’s something more serious that we need to end with. It’s one that weighs on my heart for so many. Let me segue with this.
The other day tornado sirens went off. We’re continually reminded how useful it is to have people who can warn us of incoming dangerous weather so we can prepare for them. But it’s easy to forget that’s a recent thing.
Just a few years ago weather disasters came mostly unannounced. One was the hurricane (picture) that hit New York and New England in September of 1938. One historian includes an account of that storm and the damage it did to the northeast. The hurricane whipped up a wall of water 40 feet high that struck the coast. In a matter of minutes Providence, Rhode Island, lay under 13 feet of water. Boats were later found many miles inland carried by storm surge. Nobody was ready for it, not even on the day it happened.
Among the striking stories which later came to light was the experience of one Long Islander who’d bought a barometer a few days earlier in a New York store. It arrived in the morning mail on September 21st. To his annoyance the needle pointed below 29, where the dial read “Hurricanes and Tornadoes.” He shook it and banged it against a wall, but the needle wouldn’t budge. Irritated, he repacked it, drove to the post office, and mailed it back…and while he was gone, his house blew away.
All of this shows that good information accomplishes little when people refuse to believe it. David sinned and it cost him. He didn’t believe God. The Bible tells us that sin always costs, and God always sees. The Bible teaches we’re all a big mess. We may not sin David’s sin, but we all sin…a lot.
The Bible also teaches that there are no good people and just one sin is enough to keep you out of heaven. Yet, you’ll meet individuals all the time who think that they’re good enough and that in the end, God will let them into heaven. It’s not what the Bible says. Jesus died for David’s sins, and He died for our sins because we won’t ever be good enough for heaven. Jesus died and paid our sin debt so we could be forgiven, have an abundant and eternal life now and go to heaven. It’s not because of anything we can ever do. It’s simply because we accept His forgiveness and salvation as a free gift.
But you’ll meet people all the time, maybe you’re one of them, who think that somehow, they earn heaven and God’s forgiveness. You can’t!
But it gets worse. David’s sin and not believing God cost Him and it also cost His family. You see, my concern is not just for you. It’s for your children. If you don’t believe God and confess that you’re a sinner and need a Savior, you’re not going to teach them that truth and it could cost them too.
David will come clean with God and be forgiven. We know that because God kept His promise to David and in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:6 it says, “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” It comes down to David’s greater Son, Jesus. It all depends on Him. God’s promise in 1 John 1:9 means that there is hope of forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The bottom line is this. Will you believe God, or will you be like the foolish man who didn’t believe his barometer? Will you let your house and life be blown away? If you’ve never committed your life to Christ, admit you’re a sinner and need His forgiveness today. Ask Him into your heart and life right now!