But I’m Not Hurting Anyone, Week 12 Day 1, 2 Samuel 11 and
12
The story of David and Bathsheba may be one of the better
know stories in the Bible. There’s a lot
to learn about sin in this story. There
are a lot of stories about the consequences of sin in this story. There’s even forgiveness in this story. And there’s one thing that’s always gotten me
about this story that I think helps to put sin into perspective. I’ll save that point for near the end.
First, David goes for a evening walk on the roof. There’s nothing wrong with that. Then he sees a beautiful woman taking a bath
on the roof. That would have actually
been normal. Nothing wrong with that
either. But then David sends someone to
find out about her. And now he’s started
down a slippery slope that will end in sin and disaster. And that brings us to our first lesson, don’t
flirt with temptation. You may not give
in to the temptation. But then again you
might. And that would be bad. It’s best to give temptation a wide birth. People are quick to blame the object of temptation
for their problems. But it isn’t the
object that gets you into trouble. It’s
not even the first look. It’s the second
look, the inquiring about it, the chasing after it that gets you into trouble.
David does more than look.
He sends for her. He sleeps with
her. And she gets her pregnant. Given the situation it’s not entirely clear
how much choice Bathsheba had in the matter.
The king calls, you come. Now
David has another problem. He needs to
cover his sin. So first he tries to get
Uriah to come home and sleep with his wife.
Tries to make it look like that child is actually Uriah’s. But Uriah is decidedly uncooperative. He won’t
go home and sleep with his wife while the rest of the men are still in
battle. And that’s the second lesson
that’s here for us, deception doesn’t always work to hide our sin. And while we may be able to hide our sin from
those around us, we can’t hide our sin from God. We’ll see that later. Sin leads to deception.
When David can’t hide his sin with deception he develops a
conspiracy to have Uriah killed. A plot
is hatched to have Uriah killed in battle.
And the plot works. And that is
the next lesson, once we start with deception, it’s hard to stop. And the lies can just keep getting bigger and
bigger. Sending a man to his death, you
can’t get much worse than that. And yet
here is King David, God’s favorite, who finds himself carrying out the murder
of another man to cover his sin. And David
takes Bathsheba to be his wife.
“But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.” Yeah, the obvious lesson here is that God is
displeased by sin. So Nathan comes to
David and through a story gets David to pronounce judgment on his own sin. And God pronounces judgment on David through
Nathan. And a hard judgment it is. David will lose the son from Bathsheba. David will lose his wives. And the sword will never depart from his
house. And there is our next lesson, sin
has consequences. We like to tell ourselves
that “it does hurt anyone.” But it
does. It affects those close to us. It affects the people we work with. It affects the people that we interact with
during the day. Like waves from a pebble
dropped in a pool, the sin in our life moves outward and disturbs others. They may not know what caused the disturbance. They may not even realize there was a disturbance. But it’s there none that less, disturbing their
life, changing their life. Rocking the quietness
of their life.
And with confession there can be forgiveness. David confesses. And the Lord says that He will take away
David’s sin. But the consequences remain. There will be other sons. But his first son from Bathsheba is lost, a terrible
consequence of his sin. Yes, there is
forgiveness, but the damage of our sins remains. We can find forgiveness. We can find reconciliation. We can find new hope and have a life
restored. But what is lost is lost. The future can be redeemed. But the lose from
the past remains lost.
And now back to what has been forgotten. In every Bible I ever owned this story is
called “David and Bathsheba” and “Nathan
Rebukes David”. Or that “titles” read
something like that. Now I’m not saying
that those titles are untrue. But I
think they put the focus in the wrong place.
My title might be a bit more blunt.
“David Kills Uriah With His Sin” Ouch!
But I think this title does a better job of shining a light on the fact
the what we do affects others. I don’t
exist in a vacuum. You don’t exist in a
vacuum. David didn’t exist in a
vacuum. And “if” this world is messed
up, then that’s because everyone has contributed to the mess, each with our own
sin. Each with our own ripples of the
things we’ve done that not only affect us but send out waves that upset the
world around us. David can be forgiven,
but Uriah is dead. That consequence
cannot be undone. My sin, your sin, all
our sin leaves a mark on the world. And
that sin leaves its mark on us.
As long as it doesn’t affect anyone is a lie pure and
simple. “It” affects me. It affects those I know. The ripples go out into the world.
God, just life David, I have sinned against You Lord. And my sin has rippled out into the
world. Its ripples have washed over
everyone I know and out into the world around me. And Lord, I’m am so thankful for Your
forgiveness. And I give thanks for Your
redemption. But now I ask you Lord. Create in me O Lord a mind and a heart those
so desires to follow you that I avoid that second look, that I don’t chase after
the temptation. Give me the strength of
character by the work of Your Holy Spirit in me that keeps me focused on You
and not the temptations of the world.
Amen
Leonard
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