The moment we forget that life is a battlefield and not an end to itself, where there are no spectators, we are all participants in this war, like it or not. Every age, once we forget these things, the problem of life is made worse. It becomes confusing, and when we are confused, we are weaker. We are not stronger. Does anybody like to be confused?
I don't like to be confused. I prefer being level-headed. We call it being cool, I guess. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville.
Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Second Samuel. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Second Samuel, chapter eleven, with today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. David's great sin. I think most of us are familiar with this chapter.
It is very easy to be self-righteous and condemning, looking at the story of David. And I say that because I find most commentators, to me, are just that. But on the other hand, it is not advisable that we, knowing David is going to be forgiven for this great sin, that we somehow trivialize it or dismiss the gravity of the sin. It's a horrible section. And so, this is the chapter that we have not been waiting for.
At least I have not been waiting for it.
Some stories in the Bible I really don't care for. Yet those stories are profoundly helpful, necessary. They must be read and studied and applied as best we can, and this is one of them. The reason why I don't like some of the chapters that I have in mind is because they are tragic. For example, the fall of man in Genesis chapter three.
I mean, that's not a chapter you cheer yourself up with. There is the selling of Joseph by his brothers into slavery. It's not amusing. There are many lessons with both of them. I am not at all speaking against what the Bible has to give us.
I am just telling you, like it is. The story of David and Bathsheba is not easy reading, and then there is the crucifixion of Christ, as essential as it is. It doesn't mean I like to hear about him being spat upon and then crucified, even though it is for my sins. I wouldn't take any of the stories out of the Bible. But they force me to face things that I would otherwise not confront, which is the beauty of God's word.
And as for the fall of man, women are still quicker to listen to Satan in the quest for knowledge than men are, and this is carried over into the New Testament. Brothers still can cast their brothers into misery again, from the story of Joseph. And Christ is still vilified by many lost souls. And as for David and Bathsheba, great and godly men and women can and do stumble together. And then all the other Christians are on trial.
Also, how will we treat them? Let's take them out back and shoot them. As the behavior of some, in Jesus' name. In a quest for some sort of righteousness that is not found in Christ, others, I think rightly so, look for a process of restoration as best as it can be gained if the participants are repentive.
Well. Sin ruins everything it touches, without exception. It just has to brush up against it. Even this is brought out in Haggai, the prophet. You know, if a righteous thing is touched by an unclean thing, that righteous thing is unclean, and it doesn't go the other way.
You know, if you touch something that's contaminated, physically, it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to clean it.
Sometimes, though, it does. Therefore. Because sin ruins everything it touches, our eyes are on God. How is He going to handle this?
Well, first we've got to get through this eleventh chapter before we begin to get to that part. But here is a man after God's own heart, and a man greatly loved by God. That love never stops. And David will repent. God will forgive.
There will be consequences, and we have to pay attention to all of it. Five hundred years later, Ezekiel says this, speaking about the millennial reign of Christ. And I take the position that David will be the human overseer in Jerusalem. Christ, of course, will be Lord of all. And this is the verse.
Some don't agree with that, but you know that's how it is. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob, my servant, where your fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell there. They, their children, and their children's children forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever.
Well, whether it's David literally reigning as the mayor of Jerusalem in some capacity of leadership, whether that is the case or not, this is the fact that God is still honoring the man. Five hundred years after these events, over five hundred, and then thousands of years later, David is still held in high esteem by God, and we have to remember this as we go through this story. That is critical to what is taking place. If this is true of David. Then there is hope for the brothers of Joseph, who sold him into slavery and went on about their business.
Acts chapter thirteen verse thirty four, and that He raised Him, that is Christ, from the dead, no more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus: I will give you the sure mercies of David, and how I want the sure mercies of David on my life. And so that's the introduction to this. Tragic chapter, David's great sin, and it could have been many titles given to it. None of them very easily retaining the meaning of it all.
Now, verse one: It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
So this is continuing the war that began in chapter ten when David sent his condolences to the king of Ammon, the son of the king that died, and they were shamefully treated, and that was an act of war. And David, of course, sent Joab then. David stayed back, so this is not the first time David is staying back. And Joab goes, and this big war breaks out. The Syrians get involved, and mercenaries, and David wins.
And back and forth they go. I outlined that last session. But this is the springtime because food is more plentiful for the troops in the spring than it is in the winter. The winters in that part of the world are more rainy than they are cold. There is some cold there too.
But when kings go out to battle, it says. But this king did not go out as the head of his army. This was the wrong time to delegate such a responsibility. He remained where he should not have been. That's critical to this story.
That's why it is posted the way it is posted by the historian. Temptation will wiggle its way to this king because he's not where he is supposed to be, and that is a profound lesson for all of us. David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel in verse one. This is again the second time that he does this. The first time he got away with it, but it seems that now it's becoming easier for David to send someone else to do his work for him.
A pattern is being developed. It won't, from what we know, the information we have. It's just the second time, and that's all it took. Where the comforts of that new palace. Luring him into a state of pleasure first, I think that was a big part of it.
I think he was really enjoying himself in the flesh. It says, and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. And again, that's Joab with the army of Israel, and not David. But David remained in Jerusalem.
I know it sounds like I'm being redundant, but I think these points merit a repetition to some degree. David is probably in his latter fifties. As far as his age goes, the rabbis of old say he was about fifty-seven, fifty-eight. That's easy to believe. We know that Bathsheba was much younger when David is old and on his deathbed, she is still very much active.
In fact, she becomes a big part of saving the kingdom when David is about to die, and we'll get that when we get to Kings.
However. It is dangerous for God's people to stay behind when the army goes to battle. You know, many of you know there are times you know you should have gone to church, but you wanted to feed the flesh. You stayed home and then you regretted it. Even if nothing happened, you just you knew you were not at your post.
You missed formation, and that was the Holy Spirit just gently saying to you: "You know, if you keep this up, it's not going to go well for you because you have much to give to others, whether you know it or not." This does not always mean that the place of peace is the place of safety. It can be more dangerous in the place of peace than it is on the battlefield, the actual battlefield. It means rather that any place that is our duty to be, and we are not there, is the most dangerous place. If it is my duty to be in this pulpit, and I am not here, I am in the most dangerous place. If I'm not supposed to be here, but somewhere else, that you follow the logic, I hope it is where God has us, because every place on this earth is spiritually perilous, some more so than others.
Had David been with his army instead of in the palace. This sin would have been dodged more than likely. Certainly, you know, when they all would come back and Uriah would have been home, it would have just made things a lot different. And so, the moment—repeating what I said last week—we forget the moment we forget that life is a battlefield and not an end to itself, where there are no spectators. We are all participants in this war, like it or not.
Every age, once we forget these things, the problem of life is made worse. It becomes confusing, and when we are confused, we are weaker. We are not stronger. Does anybody like to be confused? I don't like to be confused.
I prefer being level-headed. We call it being cool, I guess. Yep. We are told David stayed behind to inform us of that. Old time adage or adage, if you prefer, that idle hands are the tools of the devil and the flesh.
That's why, really, the devil he has to use the flesh of the world to pull off what he's going to do. Verse two. 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, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. Ominous words are they not? Then it happened one evening.
Do we know the story? And when we read that, that's when the drama music would play. If we were watching a play or a rendering of this in theater, that's when the music would come in. Then it happened one evening. Lust only needs one evening, one shot.
Says David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house.
Well, he had his afternoon siesta, and it's evening. There is still enough daylight to see. It is, you know, the Jewish day is from sundown to sundown, and he's approaching that.
So he had his nap, and then he gets up to go outside and enjoy. You know how it is. You know, you wake up now, and he's on the terrace, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing.
Now she knew she was visible. Bathsheba is not the main. Problem, but she's part of the problem. It takes two to tango. She knows she can see the palace of the king.
You know she's not that naive. How can I say that with any strength? Because the story doesn't say.
Well, when David invites her, there's no hesitation. There's no molesting going on. She is a willful participant, and she wanted to be noticed. There's no way around that. And would any of you go out into your backyard nude if you knew there was any chance?
Of someone seeing you, unless you wanted them to see you, don't answer the question, please. She wanted attention, and that is a problem that the ladies have to watch more than the men. There are some things men are more susceptible than women are, as a rule, and then vice versa. There are things that men are more susceptible to than well, the other way.
However, I said it. You can sort it out. You know what I mean. I'm testing to see if you're wise. And to fake it, to pretend that it's not so, you end up in this mess that we have as a culture, where there's no difference between men and women.
This absurdity that you can't even use the word pregnancy around some people—they're so uptight with Satan.
Well, anyway, all that follows in this story is the result of this look. Were there other episodes? Maybe we're not told. Doesn't need to be. One is all it takes.
It happened one evening, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
Well, that's not her fault, and it doesn't make it his right either. That's not an excuse. That's not a defense before God.
Well, she was irresistible.
Well, lead us not into temptation. Comes the prayer. And this is just what Christ; these kind of things have in mind. That I am not lured into sin, whatever brand it may be.
Some are very strong when it comes to sexual lust, but very weak, maybe, when it comes to substance abuse. You see, there's a brand for everybody.
So the four things a pastor has to watch is self. That's pride, exaltation. Yeah, I am actually pretty good. They're getting the best pastoring they're ever going to get, the best preaching. That's pride.
Sloth doesn't do his work. Gets up into the pulpit and tells stories and gives statistics because he's not digging into the Word. When he feels that the Scripture is becoming so common to him that it's almost boring, he doesn't fight back. Then there is silver. He wants to get rich off the ministry.
And then there is sex. One of those four are going to be hurled at the pastor, and it is up to him to have countermeasures in place. Unfortunately, that is true that he can have countermeasures, and this is also true. If that is his susceptibility, it's yours too. Because you have to deal with the same force and the four S's: sin, self, sloth, and sex, in some way.
They're going to try to overtake you, and you are supposed to say, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." I have met men that were given to drink, and really, not other sins really didn't lure them. That was the one, and it did its damage.
So we cannot prevent unclean and wandering thoughts because they are invasive. But we can set up a perimeter. We can set up defenses to weaken them, to slow them down. That's what the salt of the earth means. The salt does not take away that which corrupts; it slows it down.
How much time do I need to get to heaven? That's how much time I need. I need it to slow it down enough for me to get to heaven. I don't want to live to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years old, as Methuselah. How long did it take him to find his shoes in the morning at that age?
My dad would say, "You're slow as Methuselah," and I never got who is that guy. And then I found out how old he was. Boy, if a hundred-year-old moves slow, how slowly does a nine-hundred-year? Anyway, Paul writes to the Corinthians, bringing every thought into captivity. To the obedience of Christ, taking every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
You've got to fight it, and it is tough. You say, Pastor, I've tried, and I keep failing.
Well, God keeps loving you, doesn't He? And He keeps expecting you to keep fighting it. What He does not expect you to do is quit, turn tail, and run, and plunge into the sin and justify.
Well, I tried; it didn't work out. That's a recipe for apostasy. Satan hates that you get back up. Job put it this way: Though he slay me, I will trust him. I put it this way: Though I might fail and don't understand why I don't get more help in this area, I will trust him.
Because I cannot unsee him as my savior, verse three.
So David, we're only up to verse two. We've got to get through this.
So David sent and inquired about the woman, and someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite?" You just gotta love that, right? Is this not the daughter?
So dramatic. I don't know. It transfers from the Hebrew, but whoever translates it into the English, I think they anyway.
So he liked what he saw, and he wanted to know: Well, is she married? Who is she? And the answer should have stopped him, and it did not. What a lesson! His flesh was gaining momentum; the spirit was being overruled.
Lust was morphing quickly into sin. Off and running, sin doesn't care anything about our morals, our love for Jesus or others or reason. It just wants to be satisfied, and it cannot. It's insatiable. It just wants its attention, and Satan is relentless in his attacks.
And we know this. That's why this story is so important to us. We're never out of sin's reach.
Okay, I get that, but I'm also never out of the reach of righteousness too, and so the war is on. Temptation stalks us.
Well, we are to learn how to put camouflage on, which is perplexing because why is it that when people wear camouflage, I can see them? Anyhow, we find that we may be after God's heart and still against God's heart in our behavior. We know that it does not have to be again the sin of David or Bathsheba. There are many brands out there. It's how we fight back that really matters, and someone said.
So others were in on this from the beginning, but none of them knew where this was going. Where was it going?
Well, it was covetousness first, and then came the adultery, and then followed the lies, and then murder, and not only murder, death. Because it wasn't just Uriah who died because of this sin; there were other troops that were killed on the battlefield to cover David's sin. And it wasn't only—and I don't want to get too far ahead of myself—but David was looking out for Bathsheba too. And sometimes I think, if Abigail were around the palace, probably all the times I think this—if maybe she died, maybe she went back to her ranch. Because I feel strongly, if Abigail was still in the palace, that she would have deterred David from such things.
She just had that going on for her. Gift of her personality. Where was she? We don't read of her. She had one child with David, as far as we know, and that was it.
And again, she either died or went back to the ranch. Hopefully, nothing worse than that. The daughter of Eliam. This is important to the story of David's life. This would be Ahithophel's granddaughter.
Eliam was his son, according to Chronicles. And that would make Ahithophel, who was one of David's counselors, who will join Absalom in his rebellion against David. And it's likely that this event left that sour note in his heart. You know, you sinned with my granddaughter, and he probably began to hate David after this. This would account also for her close proximity to the palace.
Why was she so close to the boss? She was connected. Her family and Uriah, being the grandson by marriage, to Ahithophel. Again, I mentioned she was evidently much younger. First Kings, chapter one.
So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. This is when David was old.
Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shuahmite was serving the king. And so they point out that he was very old, and the inference is she was not, and that would mean that David's much older than her. And you know, you can't read the story without saying. How great would David have been had he not stumbled like this? And then you have to follow up and say, "But how great a lesson do I learn about God's mercy by just watching how He treats David, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Well, he was evidently a convert to Judaism.
A Hittite was not a Jew. They lived in that region. Their glory days were past as a people, and This did not stop David finding this out, but maybe did David justify his sin? Said, "Well, you know, he's not really a child of Abraham or Jacob. He's really not a Jew.
Did he do some? Because that's what the flesh will do. The flesh will grasp a drowning man, grasping for a straw.
So the flesh will grab at anything it can do to justify the sin and blind the host." Verse four. Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity, and she returned to her house.
Well, this is interesting. David sent messengers, plural. See, there is some dialogue going on. It's not he sent a messenger. What was David thinking?
I want her. And that's it. The blinders were on. The tunnel vision was in place. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes.
So David, the next thing he did was let his own ladder down to hell. That's what David did, and that's what we can do. Paul, trying to put fires out all the time when those Gentiles started flooding into the church, they did not have the benefit of the Judaic upbringing. They had so much, you know, polygamy and just the just so much junk. When they came into Christianity, and old habits die hard, and he had to deal with these things, and he did.
He says, "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." Anybody can understand that. Verse twenty three of Romans seven. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. And bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members; it's in my flesh; it's in me, and I am a sinner. And so, the Bible, of course, does not sweep any of this under the rug.
It says, "And she came to him." Again, there's the two it takes to tangle: no protest, no resistance. She would have been well within her right to say, "I cannot do that. I am a married woman." She does not. And just because we attain something. Does not mean that we are entitled to it.
You can find a wallet loaded with money, and it's not therefore yours automatically. It does not mean that God approves of something simply because He does not stop it. And this is one of the great lessons of the story. It says, "And He lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity." This is going to be repeated. But this is an indication that she was coming off of her cycle, and therefore she was not pregnant.
But she will be, and the historian is meticulous in giving us the essentials. This has been the latest edition of Cross Reference Radio. Pastor Rick Gaston is teaching through the Book of Second Samuel, which details the reign of David as king of Israel. There are so many life lessons to be learned during these years of David's life. We're glad you've tuned in to hear more from God's Word.
This radio ministry comes to you from Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you're interested in Accessing more messages, just like this one, you can listen online or download these messages at crossreferenceradio dot com. You can also subscribe to our podcast by going to your favorite podcast app. We can't wait for you to step into the next teaching that Pastor Rick has for us.
So come back next time for Cross Reference Radio.
