Scott Wiley here, the Executive Director of Wisdom International. We're celebrating our 25th anniversary this year. What began as a radio programme in a single city has grown into a global ministry now in sixteen languages. We're hosting a banquet to celebrate all that the Lord has done and you're invited. Please visit wisdomonline.org slash twenty five.
That's wisdomonline.org slash 25. There's a link in the show notes. And now here's Stephen with today's message from Wisdom for the Heart. Forbidden lust. It is like someone dying of thirst while begging for salt.
David's lust and polygamy and sexual compromises have eroded his integrity. You didn't read about it. I mean you saw a verse here too and you scratched your head. But the hammer doesn't fall and I guess everything's all right. There wasn't any hammer, there wasn't any shoe dropping in the honeymoon of wife number six or concubine number 12.
But it is now beginning to fall. The story of Marcus, Antony, and Cleopatra has captivated the The tension of generations over the past several thousand years, this adulterous liaison between. this Roman ruler and the queen of Egypt. would become the fodder of the gossip mill. The world over, and of course, Hollywood in recent years had to tell the story too.
Uh both Marcus and Cleopatra deceived their Spouses and their empires. Eventually allowing their Lust to replace even their national loyalty, and their kingdoms would never quite be the same. In fact, they would end up deceived. themselves after losing a significant battle, if you study a little of their biography. Marcus is stripped of his position and title.
With that defeat, he flees to Egypt to rendezvous with Cleopatra. Only when he arrives, he is told that she has taken her life. And he in despondency falls on his sword. Then as he lingers just before dying, he discovers that she was still alive and he has been deceived. But it is too late.
At one point in time, Marcus Antony was known as the silver throated orator of Rome, this early Roman Republic. From his demise will come the Roman Empire with a Caesar. He was known as a courageous soldier, a strong leader. But the one thing he lacked, even from his earlier years, was strength of moral character. and integrity.
In fact, while he was still a young man, his tutor famously shouted at him the phrase, O Marcus, O colossal child, able to conquer the world yet unable to resist. Temptation. I imagine there isn't any biblical story that has captivated the attention of generations. any more over the last several thousand years Then the liaison of King David with Bathsheba. What began with a look?
that led to lust. that led to this liaison would would give birth to a legion of circumstances In fact, you could write over the caption of the next scene where we find ourselves in our study of David's life. This same rather lamenting description, oh David, oh colossal child, able to conquer the world, unable to resist. Temptation. So far in our study, and we're in 2 Samuel 11 now.
In our study of this singer king of Israel. The record of inspired scripture, if you've been with us, you've noticed how often.
So much time elapses in just a few verses. In fact, in one chapter, he is a young shepherd boy who takes on Goliath. In the next chapter, He is a seasoned warrior, married to the daughter of King Saul. leading troops victoriously into battle. And it all happens in the space of fifty or sixty verses.
Most of the time, the biography of David is a blur. It moves at blinding speed. And yet now, when you arrive at this chapter, God slows everything down. In fact, Samuel, 2 Samuel is going to effectively devote two chapters to less than ten months. In the life of David.
The narrative sort of slips into slow motion. God obviously wants us to learn some lessons and to learn them well. From these moments in David's life. If I could offer a lesson or two at the outset. Before we dive in, One of them would be this.
If David can fall, So can we. I mean, if David, you know, the courageous giant killer, the the the ferocious, trusting, faithful warrior. With abandon. Taking on the enemies for the glory of God. This loyal citizen to a corrupt king who waited for years in hiding, running for his life, a man who delighted with joy at the coming, the return of the ark of Of the covenant of God, a poet singer who by now has written dozens and dozens of psalms where he loves to sing of his adoration to the glorious Creator God.
If that man can fall... Why would we ever be overconfident? Hit ourselves. Why would we ever think we can't? Let me give another foundational observation, and it's this.
No one falls into sin. In a moment.
Now we gotta backtrack a little bit. Fact? You can't understand 2 Samuel chapter 11. Until you understand what's been heating in the oven for some time. You might.
Right into the margin of your text somewhere around there in your notes, a text you can go and look at your leisure. Just write Deuteronomy chapter 17, and for the sake of time, let me just review it quickly. Moses predicted A time when the people of Israel would want a king. And God revealed to Moses in the law three prohibitions of these kings that would come to rule Israel. Number one, they were not allowed to multiply horses.
Number two, they were not allowed. allowed to to build a personal store of gold and silver. And number three, they were not allowed to multiply wives. In other words, the kings were to model humility. Non-materialism.
and monogamy. To do otherwise would effectively defy God's created order as well as abandon. Trust in His provision, in His protection. in his Providence. You see, multiplying horses related to military power.
Increasing gold. related to materialistic pursuits. And multiplying wives related to moral purity. And in this Rather brutal. Materialistic, polygamous world that looks a lot like ours, the king over God's people was to set an example.
And by the way, we as royalty, sons and daughters of the king, should do none the less than this. If you study his biography with this in mind, these prohibitions. David will consistently slay the horses of enemy troops after his victorious. Battle over them. He will consistently bring gold and silver and dedicate it to the temple.
But when it comes to this matter of the opposite sex, He will fail.
Now you might think, well, he's two out of three. If this were baseball, he'd be a superstar.
Well this isn't baseball. And keep in mind Especially when you read the Old Testament, that what the Bible records isn't necessarily what the Bible condones. It often just simply states fact. You might have if you've been with us. Watched with a measure of confusion.
And I think I'm going to need to spend an entire sermon on the subject of polygamy because that's next. in our culture. But if you study this biography, You've been confused. not quite sure what to do with it. He marries Michael, the daughter of King Saul, and then you watch as he sort of rescues.
Abigail, this damsel in distress, after Nabal, that husband. of hers dies of a heart attack and and you're kinda cheering on the fact he scoops her up. But You're wondering. Why God's hammer doesn't fall somewhere in Their honeymoon. The scriptures are silent.
The leading many, in fact, I've had men tell me that's justification for their lifestyle. I've had polygamists, I've heard from them and read them, that they would say that David is actually setting an example. But then David marries Ahinuim. And you're not sure where to file that one. Then he moves to Hebron and adds four more wives, and now you're Your filing cabinet just can't handle it.
And along the way, you discover he's picked up concubines. Whereas one little kid said, cucumber vines. And he's really not finished. In fact, he won't finish. The Bible will not white out the sins of our spiritual forefathers.
And here's that lesson at the outset of our study: none of us fall into sin. In a moment, it's usually a a series of decisions. Compromises that build or grow, made over a period of time that are compartmentalized, that are justified, that are rationalized, that are even sanitized. And a fall is just the next step. In a direction you've been heading.
You don't fall into sin, you walk. in the sin.
Now up to this point and David's biography, he has Suffered many obstacles and difficulties. In fact, he's been at his best. Hasn't he? In this climb. One author writes it this way, look at him now, he's had a humble beginning.
He's then a giant killer. Two decades now of leadership, choice men in the right places, a military force every foe respected. Enlarged boundaries that now reached 60,000 square miles. No defeats on the battlefield. exports, imports, financial health.
A beautiful new home, plans for the temple of the Lord.
So what if he married a few more wives and privately created a harem? Who would complain? By the way, there's another lesson there at the outset that I want to record. David is about to pursue yet another woman. When he has a harem, and a multitude of wives.
Here's the lesson. Sexual desire is never satisfied outside God's created design. It only It creases. and digresses. and destroys.
Forbidden lust. It is like someone dying of thirst while begging for salt. David's lust and polygamy and sexual compromises have eroded his integrity. You didn't read about it. I mean, you saw a verse here too, and you scratched your head.
But the hammer doesn't fall and I guess everything's all right. There wasn't any hammer, there wasn't any shoe-dropping in the honeymoon of wife number six or concubine number 12. But it is now beginning to fall. It's now beginning to fall. He's about to take a step that He would never himself have been able to imagine You could entitle the first half of David's Life The triumphs of David.
This chapter is the hinge in his biography, and you can entitle the second half. The tragedies. of David. The kingdom will never quite be the same. In fact, the failure of the average Bible student or Christian, to understand that this chapter spells The end of his triumphs and the beginning of his tragedies will most likely fail to connect the dots.
of his coming loss of family relationships, a coming political firestorm, intrigue and crime that will include murder and rape and jealousy and abandonment and treason and disloyalty and multiple murders to come. They'll never connect the dots unless you understand this chapter. in its context. And by the way, you'll also miss The depths. Of his genuine confession and repentance and the amazing grace of God.
Unless you understand this correctly.
Now verse 1. In the spring of the year The time when kings go to battle that's not a throwaway line though, that's a hint. David sent Joab and his servants with him and All Israel and they ravaged. The Ammonites, that means they creamed them and besieged Rabah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his bed. This couch. was walking on the roof of the king's. House. Let's pause there for a moment.
The author has hinted at several things we ought to take note of. First of all, David. was not in battle, he was in bed. Had he been where he belonged, perhaps this episode with Bathsheba might never have occurred. And isn't it true that sometimes our greatest battles with temptation come when things are going?
So well.
Now at a future date his commander Will convince him to not go into battle because the enemy is targeting David to kill him. That's not happening here. David is is most vulnerable to the bait of Satan. He's bored. with the mundane chores of uh predictable days.
There's more leisure than necessary. He's luxurating in his New palace. His army is mopping up one more victory. Ho hum! Didn't even need to pray about it.
He's resting comfortably. Physically and metaphorically, on his past heroic accomplishments. Life couldn't be easier. And the writer doesn't want us to miss this. He's lounging in bed in the late afternoon.
Now there's nothing wrong. with an afternoon nap. Excavations have revealed that Eastern monarchs frequently built palaces on top of palaces. They built gardens, beautiful gardens.
Some of them have been Drawn out. for contemporary audiences to see and Hard to imagine. What they would do They would Build open-sided column-supported dining rooms. and bedrooms where they could enjoy from their flat roofs of their palaces the cool evening breezes. In the evening a king would be able to walk around his rooftop garden.
in some privacy. Above the noisy streets below, where he's protected. but from which he can see his kingdom sprawling around him. That's exactly where David is at this moment. And it happened.
Verse 2. Late one afternoon, when David arose from his bed, His couch was walking on the roof of the king's house. that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very. Beautiful.
Now the biblical record, by the way, isn't going to write a Hollywood script, but it It doesn't exaggerate. When it says that she was beautiful, it means it. In fact, we're told that she was very Beautiful. One Old Testament linguist pointed out the fact that the Bible rarely uses The word translated very and I checked it out myself and Went to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and and discovered that that word very, usually translated exceedingly, only appears about 12 times in the New Testament. The Bible doesn't exaggerate.
And so when it says that she was exceedingly beautiful, She is The perfect storm. She is perfect. for this last step. And I would agree, by the way, with others that she bears some responsibility. In his wonderful commentary on the life of David, which I've enjoyed reading.
Chuck Swindahl writes on this text here, Bathsheba was careless and and foolish. From her own home she would often have looked out to the royal palace nearby, She would have known that she could be seen.
Now whether she knew it or not, We'll never know. And it probably wouldn't have mattered. David did see her. And when he should have turned away, he He looked again. And his looking Turned.
into lusting. See, lust is never satisfied, anyway. It always craves more. Verse 3, and David sent and inquired about the woman. In other words, I'm going to add her to my harem.
And one said, The messenger said, Is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? This messenger, by the way, deserves a medal. His answer is loaded with With warnings. There are at least four of them. Notice he doesn't just give her name.
He puts it in the form of a question that, translated into English, means: what in the world are you thinking? That's what he's saying. Isn't this Bathsheba? The daughter of Eliam. The Bathsheba The name woodenly translated, I don't know much about her, but it means daughter of seven.
More than likely, it means the seventh daughter. Eliam and his wife have had seven daughters. She's one of them. She's somebody's daughter. She's somebody's daughter.
She's the daughter of Eliam. It's where it gets interesting to me. Liam was the son of Ahithophel. Ahithophel was the trusted counselor. of King David.
We're gonna meet him again. in this biography. It's interesting to me. That this chief counselor, in fact, it explained to me this week, I finally got it. It explained to me why Ahithophel will later abandon David.
Switch sides. Side with Absalom and give Absalom the correct advice. Had he followed it, he would have gotten the throne. He said, Here's how you need to kill your dad. Absalom ignores his advice that Hithaphael will leave and take his life.
Why does he end a life of such a respectable Career and leave David for Absalom. Why? Because. He's been seething for years. Because of what David did.
with his granddaughter. in ripping his family apart. The messenger isn't finished.
Now, typical introductions in the Middle East will begin with the name, perhaps of the father, add the grandfather. The spouse is rarely included. He saves that for last, verse 3. She is the wife of... Uriah the Hittite.
In other words, that beautiful lady Down there. is married. That should have stopped him cold. But his heart And culture is so much like ours, where a wedding band is nothing but a minor. obstacle in the way.
Not only is she married, though, get this, she's married to Uriah, David. You know him well. He's one of your mighty men. He's one of the 37. The track all the way back.
To those days of hiding out from Saul, running for his life. These are faithful men who gave everything to David. David, you know Uriah. She's his wife In fact, he's a converted Hittite, fascinating man, we know little of. But his name more than likely was changed at his conversion to Uriah.
It means Yahweh is my light. David, your God is my God. They've been fighting together. They've been on the same side. They've watched each other's back for years.
David, what are you thinking? She's the wife of Uriah. He knows what David's thinking. Which is why he comes back and effectively says, David, you can't do this. She's the granddaughter of your trusted counselor, she's the wife.
of one of your faithful friends. As if to say, you cannot be serious. David is undeterred. His mind now governed by lust, This lesser passion He has set reason and logic Aside. and faith and worship.
and fellowship. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote in his book entitled Temptation. He writes insightfully, listened to these words. He says, in our members there is a slumbering inclination toward desire, which is both sudden. And fierce.
When a secret smouldering fire is kindled, It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire Or ambition, or vanity, or revenge, or love of fame, or power, or greed for money. Doesn't matter. At that moment when the fire is kindled, note this. God loses all Reality. Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with.
forgetfulness of God. And the powers of clear discrimination and decision are taken from us. There on that rooftop, you need to understand. David doesn't hate God. He's choosing to forget God.
and his judgment and clear thinking become the casualties. There's only one verse in the text that informs us of their encounter. It's going to be hard to write a script. for a movie out of this one. We're not told anything, really.
We're not told if she was surprised. his advances? Or if she resisted. We're not told that David charmed her. or threatened her.
Not one word is recorded between them. In fact, in the Hebrew language, there's little doubt that God is boiling it down to brute force. Verbs. Let me read it that way, verse 4. David sent messengers.
took her. She came to him. He lay with her. She returned. Period.
No connection, no conversation, just cold, heartless, selfish, uncaring. Lust. But I do want to point out one thing that the author of Scripture wants us to get. In my text, it's in the parenthesis, which I've skipped. Let me go back to it.
It's in the middle of verse 4. It simply says, Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.
Now getting that correct will determine our Our application.
Some translations imply that she remained in David's house until she ceremonially purified herself from sexual intimacy, according to the law delivered in Leviticus chapter 15. And that would lead me to obviously make application from the fact that even though they sinned, they put on a religious show as if they cared about the law of God. Said they cared about God. Which people in sin often do. I have had individuals involved in immorality say, I have never been closer to God in my life than right now.
We pray together. We read the Bible together. It's amazing. The absolute loss of discretion and discernment. That was Stephen Davey, and this is Wisdom for the Heart, a production of Wisdom International.
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