This is the episode of the sin of King David and Bathsheba.
King David’s name can hardly be remembered without recalling his relationship with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. You will notice how many times this appendage: the wife of Uriah, comes after the mention of her name. She was never remembered as wife to David, but wife to Uriah.
CONSEQUENCES
1. the death of the child ‘who was conceived in sin and shapened in iniquity.’
2. His own sin and example of lust loosed the bonds of morality in his household, and his son (Amnon and Absalom) followed his example and improved upon it. Absalom set up a tent on the roof of the palace and violate his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. And from that came Absalom’s murder of his brother, and from that Absalom’s exile, and from that Absalom’s rebellion, and from that Absalom’s death, which nearly killed his poor old father.
3. And for all the rest of his days his home was troubled, and his last years ended with the turmoil of a disputed succession before his eyes were closed, all traceable to this one foul crime.
4. Joab was the torment of David’s later days, and Joab’s power over him depended upon his having been the instrument of Uriah’s murder; and so the master of the king, whose bidding he had done
5. Ahithophel was the brain of Absalom’s conspiracy. His defection struck a sharp arrow into David’s heart—‘mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted.’ He evidently hated the king with fierce hatred. He was Bathsheba’s grandfather; and we are not going wrong, I think, in tracing his passionate hatred, and the peculiar form of insult which he counseled Absalom to adopt, to the sense of foul wrong which had been done to his house by David’s crime.
We want to look, and we want to answer these questions. We want to answer: How did it happen? Why did it happen? What could he do when it happened? And in answering those questions, I am praying that at the end of my sharing, we will go away to avoid the folly of this great man.
THE LUST OF THE EYES: The love of beauty and the pulls of temptation are inextricably entwined. People do not ordinarily desire ugly things. We have been made by Almighty God to love beauty and to seek it out even though no one’s notion of beauty is exactly the same. Beauty is being used in a very broad sense, simply as a term for things that are appealing and have the power to create desire within us. To have the lust of the eyes is to desire things we deem beautiful without a corresponding love of righteousness, God’s righteousness. We will break the laws of God in order to have what we consider beautiful. Sometimes people commit vicious evils to have what they find appealing and beautiful at the time. Instead of lawful appreciation of what is beautiful, we use and abuse them. Unfortunately, much of this abuse is to our own body.
All of us are innundated constantly with nudity in magazines and newspapers, on T.V. and even now on the computer. Our mind has a generous bank of pictures of women who come to work with short skirts, tight slacks & blouses, and maybe more cleavage shown than is necessary.
That is why we need to be vigilant in our daily walk, whether at work, in school, or in recreation time. We need to set a standard in our own lives of what is “too much to see!” We need to have a solid idea of what is sacred about the women that we come in contact with.
JESUS SETS THE STANDARD
MARK 9:47, Jesus says, “And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out, it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell.”
I think this is absolutely the harshest words about how the eye can affect our whole life, dooming us to hell. Pluck the eye out! If you have that much trouble with “lust of the eyes,” pluck them out. We need to cut off our access to these temptations.
THE LUST OF THE FLESHI have heard Pastors, and church leaders and others at men’s conferences, retreats and the like, say, “Well, it’s not really a sin to look on a woman, as much as what happens after that.” “You know, that’s perfectly normal for men…” It’s part of manhood; it’s part of living in this body of flesh, but we need to remember, it is the flesh. Why did David sin? Because he permitted himself to be drawn away of his own lust. He didn’t bring his desires under control, and he was able to. And the flesh is always your enemy.
The woman was not only married, but she is married to one of valiant men. Both Eliam and Uriah were named among David’s list of valiant and mighty men in 2 Sam 23.
Is there another way we know that he could resist? Yes. Uriah is proof that David did not have to do it. Uriah has a very beautiful wife. Uriah is a man just like David, with passions and desires, and yet what does he do when he is off duty, given special leave to be home with his wife? He curbed his desires; he curbed his passions not once but twice, two nights in a row. He says, “I’m not going home. Joab is out in the field. The soldiers are out in the field. Should I go home to the comfort of my home, when they are living in tents? Should I go home and sleep with my wife, when the soldiers kept themselves from women when they were at war? Should I go and do that?” It is no wonder that David named him among his mighty men. Here was a man who was one with his men and loyal to his King.
Moreover David had other wives and concubines; he could visit any of them at will. But he chose to violate a woman who belonged to another. How did it happen? It happened when he was drawn away of his own lust. In James 1:13, God is very careful to show us what happens when we are tempted. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. (14) But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (15) Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” The verbs "drawn away" and "enticed" derive from the activities of fishing and hunting. "Enticed" usually describes the drawing of fish out of their original retreat. We are tantalized, as fish are with bait. What is on the end of a fishing line? A LURE! The picture is of a man's desire first attracting his attention and persuading him to approach the forbidden thing, and second, luring him by means of bait to yield to the temptation.
Go to Galatians 5:16-17. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” What Jesus is saying, “Understand it would be better to pluck out your eye, than to let it keep pushing you into situations of sin and destruction.” The standard is higher as we journey on in our Christian life. It is a test to keep ourselves in check every day as we come into contact with the opposite sex, and (for some) same sex. We need to have a higher standard with which we live, that does not degrade ourselves down to the level of the rest of the world.
Reflection Question:
1. HOW ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR STANDARD? DO YOU HAVE A STANDARD FOR “LUST OF THE EYES.”? Have you determined what is permitted in your life and what is “over the line?” SET A NEW STANDARD FOR YOURSELF AND THOSE YOU “HANG WITH.”
HE WAS SEDUCED BY HIS NEW FOUND ACCEPTANCE, AUTHORITY AND POWER. He must have gotten used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it. I don't think he was so deprived that he needed to add another wife to his harem. What was it then, that closed in on him? Except for God, he made all the decisions pertaining to the nation. God allowed him to take initiatives e.g. in the building of the temple, but unlike other Kings, David was to rule under God’s leadership and not his own. He has come into a new place — nations are at his feet — men bow before him; it is a new position. Previously hiding in caves and on the run, now that is all changed. The temptations as a man on the run no longer disturbed him. He has settled in. And in this new place. Now he found himself with a new set of temptations that cluster thick around the throne; for where there is the honey of royalty, there will surely be the wasps of temptations.
Being the one on the throne now, there is this control over persons, this new seduction of having absolute authority. There were men who would do anything for him and here was a situation which he felt he could cover up, being where he is now with power and authority. If he planned well, it would blow over and he can move on. Who is going to come against him? Is his servant going to come against him?
So he was bold to send for Uriah. You see, sometimes we get to a certain place where we think we’re immune to God’s judgment. We are in such a place that God would never judge us. We can cover our sin. We can get away with it, because we have power, we have authority. David thought, surely, who is going to come against him? No. He’s not even afraid to let Joab know what he is doing. It is obvious. “Send me Uriah.” Uriah comes; he send Uriah back. He says, “Put him on the front line of battle.” Joab knows David. Joab knows his lust. Joab knows his desires. Joab knows that man. He’s not even afraid of Joab, because Joab is under him.
The arrows had been shot at him before, from one direction alone, now the storm ceases on one side, and begins on the other. If men knew that the storm would always come to one side of the house they would repair and strengthen it, and then they would not fear the blast; but if on a sudden it whirled round and took the other corner, how would they be prepared for that?
CONCLUSION
1. BEWARE THEN WHAT YOU SEE. It is lawful to appreciate what is beautiful, but it is another thing to desire it without a corresponding love of righteousness, God’s righteousness. What have you been looking at and desiring? That is why we need to be vigilant in our daily walk, whether at work, in school, or in recreation time. We need to apply God’s standard in our own lives as to what is “too much to see!” Have you establish a solid idea of what is sacred about the men or women that we come in contact with? If you haven’t, it’s time to be praying to see with God’s eyes. Does staying righteous before the Lord require me to cut off this access to be enticed? In Job 31:1 Job shares with us, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. Is there a similar covenant that God is inviting you to make that will keep you righteous?
2. BEWARE OF THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH: things that appeal to your senses and draw you constantly. If any of you were told that there were serpents in your house, which had escaped from their den, and were hiding somewhere, — perhaps near your bed, or in a cupboard or bookcase, I am certain that, when you reached your house tonight, you would look very carefully on the doorstep, and in the hall, to see whether there was a young viper there. You would turn up the door-mats, in case there might be one concealed there! and you would not be satisfied until you had thoroughly searched the house, from the top to the bottom, in order that those deadly snakes might all be captured and destroyed. This is just what you ought to do with yourselves, brothers, for the snakes are there. In every part of our nature, these venomous creatures have been hatched, and they have multiplied beyond all calculation. Sins of all shapes and sizes lurk within you; and if God’s grace does not keep you watchful, or ever you are aware, you may be painfully conscious of their deadly power. Are you conscious of the areas of weakness in your life? Where is the proper context to desire these things? Nathan says that David had despised the Lord, despised the Word of the Lord. Can we give God’s Word greater honor in our lives? Can we grow more in our love for Jesus so that these lusts do not hold you ransom?
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