The Four Seasons of Failure - Part B

Will David be forgiven?

Yes, he will. Immorality is not an unforgivable sin. Of course, he'll be forgiven.

Yes, and that's a whole different message. But what I want you to hear is that the consequences of sexual sin are unique in the pain and the shame that they bring. I want to tell you how David found forgiveness despite his failings, and how you can too.

Now, here's Skip to tell you about a special resource we have for you this month. What is the purpose that God created man for? Listen to this from Skip Heitzig about God's ultimate purpose. God's creation of man was so that his reflection would be in man, but the ultimate purpose is that God might interact with man and woman.

Fellowship, intimacy, to be conversant with, at ease with, to interact with. Fulfilling purpose requires clarity of vision. You'll want to order our vision resource package for this month, which also includes a full-color magazine about the vision that drives Skip's ministry. You'll also receive an audio copy of Skip clearly outlining his philosophy of ministry in the past, present, and future. Receive your vision package when you make a donation of $50 or more to connect with Skip. Give your gift by calling 1-800-922-1888 or online at connectwithskip.com.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or online at connectwithskip.com. Okay, now let's hear what Skip has for us today. We're in 2 Samuel 11 as he begins. So we go from springtime in David's city to summertime in David's sight.

Things are sizzling inside his mind, his heart, what he sees. Verse 2, then it happened, one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof, he saw a woman bathing.

The woman was very beautiful to behold. My guess is David couldn't sleep. He's probably thinking about the battle or he's thinking about expanding the kingdom.

So he gets up and he takes a walk on his house. Now Jerusalem is built on hills and guess where kings live? Top of the hill. The only thing higher than his house was God's house. The temple was a little bit higher, but just next to the temple, down on a little precipice, was the palace of the king. Many of us stood in David's palace or the foundations of it just months ago. From there, the city drops off very steeply so that from the king's house, you can virtually see every house around you in plain view.

Rooftops are flat. People will often be out there. So David's on his rooftop looking down at every other rooftop in the valley. And he saw something. Something entered his view that every man, every man can understand. He saw a woman, very beautiful to behold. I suppose that this were written in modern times.

It might say that David was sitting on the couch with his TV remote late at night or David was sitting in front of his computer screen, sort of aimlessly searching and surfing the Internet. But David, the king of Israel, was on his house and he was looking out. Now, there's two words in verse two I want you to compare.

I'm glad you brought your Bibles to see this. Notice the two words. The first is he saw a woman and that she was very beautiful to what? What's the next word? Behold. See those two words? Saw and behold.

Now, those words are different. The first word suggests a glance. He just saw her. He noticed her.

Couldn't help that. It's what he saw. It came into his view. But the second word suggests a gaze, not a glance. He went from seeing to beholding. He couldn't help the first look. It's the double take that killed him.

It's the what? And he stayed looking and fixated and it turned into a lustful look. Jesus said in Matthew 5, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her in his heart has already committed adultery with her in his heart. As I said, David's sin wasn't the look.

It was the lingering look. Men, every man, men have a visual ignition switch. That is, the pleasure centers of the male brain are turned on, revved up by simply seeing someone like David saw.

And by the way, those pleasure centers are indiscriminate. It could be any woman. And this is where the battle is won or lost. Because once you see something, it's now what do you do with what you see? Do you keep on seeing? Do you go from seeing to beholding?

Or do you turn away and see something else? David should have done that. What David should have done, couldn't help the first look, he noticed, oops, out of here. I mean, Joseph literally ran from his situation. Genesis 39, Potiphar's wife grabs him and says, come to bed with me. And he didn't stay around and go, well, let me pray about that. He just ran away.

So can you. Job understood the power of the look. That's why in Job chapter 31, verse 1, he says, I've made a covenant with my eyes that I will not look upon a young woman. A wise driver once said, he who looketh on a woman loseth a fender. I'll tell you a true story, honest confession. I was 15, maybe 16 years of age. I went from a permit to a driver's license, Southern California. My mode of transportation was a Honda 305 motorcycle. And the only accident I've ever been in, where I got in an accident while I was driving, was this one. I'm on a motorcycle, I'm driving down the street, almost home, I'm following a car, but I'm distracted by a beautiful girl on the side of the road, and my eyes followed her. I'm following her, I'm following her, and I'm supposed to be driving, and what I don't notice is the car in front of me is now slowing down to make a turn.

I plow into the back of the car, I fly over the car and land on the street in front of the car. Talk about a wake-up call in this area. That did it. Now we naturally focus on David and David's lust and David's sin, but I do have to say something about Bathsheba. If Bathsheba wasn't taking a bath out on the top of her rooftop in plain sight, it sure would have helped. She had to have known the vulnerability of that situation given the topography of Jerusalem, if you can walk out on your roof and see it that easily.

She had to have known that. So I just want to say, women, try to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Help us out here a little bit. You know what I'm saying? Your physical appearance can be a snare. Don't give us something to lust after. Don't make it easy.

A.W. Pink, Arthur Pink, writes, if lustful looking is so grievous a sin, then those who dress and expose themselves with the desire to be looked at and lusted after are not less, but perhaps more guilty. In this matter, it is not only too often the case that men sin, but women tempt them to do so.

How great, then, must be the guilt of a great majority of modern Misses who deliberately seek to arouse the sexual passions of young men. Bathsheba, take it inside. So now we go down to verse 3, and we go from the springtime in David's city, the summertime in David's sight, to the fall. This is the fall.

This is Humpty Dumpty falling. This is fall time in David's sanctity. So David sent and inquired about the woman. Seems innocent at first. I just want to ask a few questions, find out a few facts, just one little step toward Sodom, like Lot did.

Just find out. He inquired about the woman, and someone said, is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliim, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. Oh, I hate reading this.

It's so quick, it's so cold, there's no love here. This is just pure passion, raw sex, for she was cleansed from her impurity, and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David and said, I am with child. You probably know that kings in those days could take anything they wanted, any one they wanted. They would develop a harem. But, but, this is a different king. This is God's king.

This is the kingdom of Israel. And according to the law of Israel, there should be one man and one woman for one lifetime. And kings especially were told in the scriptures to not multiply wives unto themselves. How many women did he have altogether?

Seventeen. Seven wives, ten concupines. What does that tell us? It tells us this is a pattern with David. He's a polygamist. He has a harem full of women. Now, now, now think about this. You would think seventeen women would satisfy him. It doesn't. Now why is that? For a very simple reason. The more you have, the more you want.

It's not like the more you have, you'll finally reach a saturation point. I'm done. David's not done. David looked and David lusted and David lived out his fantasy because he had done it before.

Over and over again. This is a pattern with him. David didn't collapse in a weak moment. David cultivated a weak moment. This is his one minute in the chair, but he has cultivated for a long time. I see verse three as a warning.

Do you? Somebody said, is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliim, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite? That's a warning. Hey, David. David, that's somebody's daughter. David, that's somebody's wife.

Hands off. You already stole from her in looking at her privacy. You already took from her what belonged only to her husband when you gazed at her. This is somebody's wife.

This is somebody's daughter. Can I be blunt? Not that I haven't already. Do you think it was fun? Do you think that night David had with Bathsheba was fun?

You can be honest here. Was it pleasurable? Absolutely it was. It was hot. It was sizzling.

As they crawled between David's sheets, it was magnificent. But it lasted one night. Then it's over. Hebrews 11 says it speaks of those who enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Do you ever note that phrase? It's the passing pleasures of sin. It's pleasurable. It is pleasurable.

But it's passing. What David and Bathsheba thought they had only lasted for one night. Well, she gets pregnant. The rest of the chapter is a cover-up. So David sends for Uriah, her husband, from the front lines of the battle to come home hoping that he'll spend a night with his wife, sleep with his wife, and nobody will ever know the kid that will be born is my child. But what he underestimates is the integrity of Uriah. Verse 11. Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink to lie with my wife as you live and as your soul lives?

I will not do this thing. Uriah the Hittite has more integrity than the king of Jerusalem. It must have pierced David's heart when his man Uriah said this. Now, who is Uriah?

Who is this guy? Uriah the Hittite was not a common soldier. He was one of David's 30 valiant men, the Bible tells us. That's why his house was so close to David's house. He had been one of David's valiant men since David had been a fugitive running from King Saul. He was born a Hittite. His parents converted to Judaism and gave him a Hebrew name.

The name Uriah means my light is the Lord. But this soldier comes home and he says, David, I should be in battle, not sitting in a palace. Well, David now tries to get him drunk, thinking if he's drunk he'll go home, lie with his wife.

Didn't happen. His plan failed. So David arranges for his assassination. He says, take Uriah the Hittite, place him in the fiercest part of the battle and let him get killed.

Here's what I want you to see. One sin always leads to another sin. It's not like one and it's over. David's lust led to adultery, that led to deception, that led to entrapment, that led to murder. And that's not the end of the story.

It's not going to just blow over. It's like the husband and wife were shopping at Christmas time in the mall, they're in the same store. And as they're shopping for items, this beautiful woman walks through the store and in a man's eyes follow her throughout the whole store. His wife didn't even look up. But she says, was it worth the trouble you're now in? We might ask David, David, was it worth the trouble you're now in? And you know who David is in trouble with, he's in trouble not only with his family and his army but with his God. So Uriah the Hittite goes back. He gets killed and a report comes back in verse 24. The archers shot from the wall at your servants.

And some of the king's servants are dead and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Now listen to David's response. David said to the messenger, Thus you shall say to Joab, Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it, so encourage him. We go from springtime in David's city, summertime in David's sight, fall time in David's sanctity to the coldest time of all.

It is now wintertime in David's soul. Listen to how callous he is about one of his mighty men. Ah, whatever. People die, he caused his death.

No remorse. You know why? Because David's doing this and it's like, whew, man, no one will ever know what I've done.

Ah, he's leaving something out. Look at verse 26. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. It tore her apart.

And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But, notice this last sentence, but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. Ponder that phrase.

Let that sink in. But the thing that he had done displeased the Lord. Sin is the most expensive thing in the world because it offends God. David thought, it's hidden from everyone.

Nope. Proverbs 5, written by David's son later on, Solomon. It says, the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all of his goings. David is busted. Chapter 12 will tell the story when God sends Nathan the prophet to him. Now, David will confess his sin. You know Psalm 51, you know Psalm 32.

Those are both written after this. This is David's confession of his sin, and listen to how deep it is. Psalm 51, have mercy on me, oh God. Wash me thoroughly, cleanse me from my sin. Can't you hear the emotion in David?

Here's the deal, though. You know how long it was from the night David fell that night with Bathsheba until the time he confessed in chapter 12? One year.

One year. The best time for David to cry out to God was between verse four and five, sitting on the edge of his bed. Say, oh God, what have I done?

Oh Lord, forgive me. But he covers it up, kills a man, gets him drunk, orders his assassination, and doesn't pray for one year. It is wintertime in David's soul. David loses trust with his family.

He loses trust with his army, and he loses intimacy with God. Now when David saw Bathsheba, when he's standing on his veranda, his rooftop, and he's looking down at her bathing, he must have thought he has never seen a more beautiful sight in all of his life. That's how men think at times like that.

I've never seen a more beautiful woman in all my life. And at that moment when the look turned into a lingering look, a lustful look, David forgot everything. Because sin, especially lust, does that. It just sort of cauterizes sense.

You become insane. David forgot who he was. David forgot about his family. David forgot about his army. David forgot about all those psalms he had ever written. David forgot God. He wasn't mad at God. He just forgot God. That's why if you could just somehow rehearse before you act what the consequences might be, but stop a person. Randy Alcorn, who has written so many good books, he's a pastor and an author, said, when I feel particularly vulnerable to sexual temptation, I find it helpful to review what effects my action could have. And he makes a list.

I'll just read a few. Grieving the Lord who redeemed me. Dragging his sacred name through the mud. One day having to look Jesus, the righteous judge, in the face and give an account of my actions. Inflicting untold hurt on Nancy, my best friend and loyal wife. Losing Nancy's respect and trust. Hurting my beloved daughters, Karina and Angie.

Causing shame to my family as they ask, why isn't Daddy a pastor anymore? Losing self-respect. Creating a form of guilt awfully hard to shake, even though God would forgive me what I forgive myself. Bringing great pleasure to Satan, the enemy of God and all that is good.

Causing shame and hurt to friends, especially those I have led to Christ and discipled. And he says, I list those names. Boy, that would stop you.

If you could rehearse the consequences before you act. Did David write more Psalms? Yes, he did. He will. Will David be forgiven?

Yes, he will. Immorality is not an unforgivable sin. Of course, he'll be forgiven. Yes, and that's a whole different message. But what I want you to hear is that the consequences of sexual sin are unique in the pain and the shame that they bring. And as we are about to close in prayer, I want you to think of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians when he said, Let him who thinks he stand take heed, lest he fall. All of us, every man, all of us, men and women, we are all vulnerable.

So, as you're sitting in your chair for one minute, looking at the shotgun, is it worth it? That's Skip Heite, with a message from the series Crash and Burn. Find the full message, as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Now, here's Skip with an invitation for you to join he and Lenya Heitzig on a Holy Land tour next year. This is Pastor Skip, and we still have space on this trip that Lenya and I are hosting. We will be touring Israel from May 1st through May 12th. I hope that you'll join us firsthand to see some incredible sights like the Sea of Galilee.

I'm sure you've always wanted to see that. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Garden Tomb, the place many people believe is where Jesus rose from the dead. The final deadline for registration is December 31st, so there's still time to take action and join Lenya and I for the trip of a lifetime. Find full Israel information at connectwithskip.com. We love to partner with friends like you to share God's life-changing truth with people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. You can take part in this life-changing work today with a generous gift to support this ministry and keep this program reaching you and others across the globe. Pastor Skip is asking God to expand the reach of this ministry into all major U.S. cities this year. To give generously to help accomplish this vision and share God's love with more people, visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Or call 800-922-1888.

800-922-1888. Thank you for changing lives. Join us tomorrow as Pastor Skip looks at the life and fallen of King Jeroboam. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all the burdens on his word. Make a connection, a connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.