Title: Displeasing the Lord

Date: 4.3.18

Text: 2 Samuel 11

Place: Rhema

Title: Displeasing the Lord

File: 2Samuel6

Preacher: Stephen Taylor

A while back marked the 20th anniversary of the Thredbo Landslide. I still remember it as if it was last year. At midnight on the 31st July 3500 tonnes of debris came crashing down the slope wiping out two ski lodges and killing 18 people. The only survivor Stuart Diver was trapped under the avalanche for 3 days before being miraculously rescued.

It took over 7 years for the Supreme Court to make a judgement as to why this landslide happened. And it was a comedy of errors. There was a leaky water main that further destabilised a road that had not been properly constructed and maintained which led to rock and soil coming down and engulfing houses that were built on very sharp inclines. In short, one thing led to another which led to a disaster, a terrible tragedy.

When we turn to 2 Samuel 11 we are going to see another disaster, a disaster that also costs numerous lives & left David’s kingdom & God’s chosen nation in tatters. A disaster due not to an avalanche of rock & soil but to an avalanche of sin. Where one sin led to another sin which led to another sin which led to a disaster it’s in the Bible as a warning to you & me.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “So, if you think you are standing firm,be careful that you don’t fall!” If you think that you are doing OK in the Christian life, watch out! If a man like David, described by God as a man after my own heart, if he can fall and fall so spectacularly. I am not safe and neither are you. And it all starts with David

1. Coveting – David and Bathsheba (verses 1-3)

“In the spring,at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joabout with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.They destroyed the Ammonites & besieged Rabbah but David remained in Jerusalem”.The troops are off to war but the commander is not with his soldiers like he should be. He’s back in the luxury of the palace, neglecting his kingly duty.

As Matthew Henry once said “When we are out of the way of our duty we are in the way of

temptation.” David’s in the wrong place. At the wrong time. Verse 2. “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roofof the palace. From the roof he sawa woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,”

Now up until this time, David hasn’t sinned, he just been tempted. How did Martin Luther put it? “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” You can’t avoid looking at beautiful people. But you can make sure that a glance doesn’t become a gaze.

But David is tempted when he sees this woman. What should he have done? He should have kept on walking. He should have got on with something else. But what harm will it do to just look? I’m not hurting anyone am I? Well there is harm & he will go ontomany hurt people.

So there is idleness, imagination and then information. “David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,the daughter of Eliamand the wife of Uriahthe Hittite.”And this was a further warning for David. Each part of the answer was a statement that should have said "Off Limits!" It should have given David pause that she was "the daughter of Eliam" David's faithful associate, and the granddaughter of Ahithophel, his wise counsellor. That she was already "the wife of Uriah the Hittite" should have stopped him cold, because this meant that she was married to one of David's mighty men. This information should have been enough to go no further but David was already hooked.

Let’s just pause to take stock for a moment to apply this to ourselves. We need to know God’s ways. David was going to break at least two of God’s 10 commandments. Do not covet. Do not commit adultery. The more we know about God and his ways the more we know what is right and what is wrong. But also we too like David should make sure we are found where God wants us to be and not where we shouldn’t be. There are places that are dangerous for us to go and so we need to be careful about going there. Places like certain classified movies, we know what will be coming. Pornography, it is not going to help your situation. Ever. Some music videos. The beach is also that sort of place.

Remember David was at home in the palace and today the home is not the safe haven it once was. Home actually might be the most dangerous place there is. For anyone and everything can now come into our home through modern technology.

The start of this passage sees that sin starts with David himself. His own heart, his own mind, his own lusts. David was not safe even in his own home, even surrounded by the walls of Jerusalem. He is not safe from himself. Friends neither am I, nor are you. James says “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their ownevil desire and enticed”.Sin starts inside of us. That is something that each one of us needs to be aware of. Coveting

1. Committing – David and Bathsheba (verses 4-5)

“Then David sent messengers to get her.She came to him, and he sleptwith her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)Then she went back home.5The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

There is no conversation. No emotion. No affection. No love. Only lust. At the end of the encounter she is still only “the woman”. David took her. And now she has conceived. We might want to ask questions of the text. Was David under stress? Were there difficulties at home? Was he unappreciated? Was he suffering a mid life crisis? Did Bathsheba struggle? Did she agree to this liaison? But none of these issues are addressed because ultimately none of them are relevant. David has done the wrong thing. David has done a terrible thing.

You see the focus of the blame is on David and David alone. He has taken what is not his. He has used his power and his influence to sleep with another man’s wife. While she was doing something that showed her holiness, she was purifying herself from her uncleanness, he was doing something wicked. While her husband was off serving the king of Israel, the king of Israel was being self serving with his wife. And soon the whole world would know because she is now pregnant. And Uriah has been away from his wife the whole of her monthly cycle, so the baby could not be his.

The sin that had started within David has now hurt both himself and Bathsheba. And mark my words here. There might have been a night of passion and fun but this has hurt them both irretrievably. According to Proverbs 6, committing adultery “Preys on your very life“ (verse 26). It burns you verses 27 and 28, like scooping hot coals into your lap.

Friends it is one thing to covet. But committing adultery opens you up to another world of pain. And friends you and I need to be open to the warning that we read in this passage.

Friends, the point here is that you and I are capable of this sort of behaviour. There but for

the grace of God goes I. If you think you are standing firm, be careful lest you fall. The Bible is full of good godly men and women whose sins sees them come a cropper. Church history is full of our ministers, priests, deaconesses, Church leaders, Sunday school teachers who seem godly on the outside but are rotten on the inside.

I admit that at one time, I would say to myself that would never happen to me. But I have seen too many friends marriages dissolved. Too many ministerial colleagues find themselves in compromising positions. Too many Christians fall. That I realise that if I say it could never happen to me then I am in grave danger. And if I think that it could happen to me, then I have to do something about it and do it NOW?

So let me ask you some questions as I ask the same questions of myself? How close am I am from disaster? Am I willing to risk it all to fulfil one more temptation? Do I want to continue my habit of sinning now and asking for forgiveness later? Am I too smart to get caught? Have I survived prior chastening and am therefore not worried about acting on my temptations? Each one of need to ask ourselves some tough questions.

1. Coveting, Committing, Corrupting - David and Uriah (verses 6-13)

But the sin doesn’t end with adultery. It is like an avalanche going downhill getting bigger and bigger. It starts with David, goes onto Bathsheba and now it will affect her husband Uriah. Verse 6, “So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriahthe Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David”.Now maybe David is going to stop this from getting bigger and be man enough to apologise? David is certainly capable of doing something godly like that isn’t he?

7When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going.8Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.9But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

Oho! David doesn’t put things right, he goes with plan A, concealment. Get the husband home. Let him sleep with his wife. Muddy the waters and I might just get away with it, he thinks to himself. But Uriah is too righteous for that. He did not go to his house.

So he tries a variation on Plan A, Plan B the next night. Verse 12. “Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.13At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.” Uriah drunk is more godly than David sober.

David’s sin is snowballing out of control. Lust led to adultery. Which led to deception. Lies. Drunkenness. Where is it going to end? Well not here it is going to get worse, much worse. But before we get there let’s see what David should have done. He should have firstly talked to God about it. He should have prayed. We have seen in the past that David has often enquired of the Lord as to what to do and when he doesn’t enquire of the Lord he gets himself in trouble. How does the hymn put it? “Oh what peace we often forfeit; Oh what needless pain we bear – all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer”.

But it is hard to pray when you are trapped by your sin isn’t it? So he should have also confessed his sin to the Lord and to Uriah and to Bathsheba. Yes there would have been consequences, massive consequences. But there are going to be massive consequences anyway. Next week we are going to find out that there will be forgiveness when David confesses and prays. But let’s not get there too quickly. David should have confessed his sin.

And so should we. Sin by sin. Line by line. Act by act. Please don’t just say as in the words of the Lord’s prayer “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive the trespasses against us”. Please don’t keep your sin general. Because repentance starts when we turn from our sin and we only turn from something when we name it. And move on from it. But remember also what Jesus said to his disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The flesh is weak. You can’t do this on your own. So friends draw upon God’s help and do it now.

1. Cover Up - David and Joab (verse 14-25)

But David doesn’t do that. And the web of deceit brings more and more people into its conspiracy. The first one being Uriah himself. He goes back to the front line with his own death warrant in his own hands. Joab is to verse 15, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck downand die.”

Joab takes this Plan C and makes it worse. His plan D is for not just Uriah to die but a small company of troops. That will better cover Joab’s tracks. More innocent men are caught up due to David’s sin & David’s conscience is seared all he cares about is getting off scot free. He says to Joab, ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another…..’ Say this to encourage Joab.” David is now morally bankrupt. He can’t see evil as evil! Look at the

1. Conclusion – David and God (verse 26-27)

“When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.27After the time of mourningwas over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son”.It worked. He gets the girl. He gets the child. And no one will ever know. Yes? No. The last line in the story, the bottom line says “But the thing David had done displeasedtheLord.” The thing had displeased the Lord.

You see the sin had started with himself, gone to Bathsheba. Onto her husband, then to Joab, members of his army but it had also affected his relationship with God. Throughout the story we have gone through every step and God seemed to be absent. But the silence of God doesn’t mean the absence of God. Just because evil is winning doesn’t mean that it will win in the end. In the words of Dale Ralph Davis “David may have Bathsheba’s flesh and

Uriah’s blood but he will have come to face Yahweh’s eyes”.

There is a day of judgement. There is a time of accountability. Justice will be done one day. And you and I might seem to get away with our sins. But there will be justice for sin. There must be punishment for wrongdoing. You and I need to be aware of the Lords displeasure and His wrath.

So where do we go with this now? Next week we will look at 2 Samuel 12 and see that there is forgiveness for sin but before we get there, let’s stay in this chapter. In this ugly incident. In this terrible story. David wasn’t the worst man to ever live. He isn’t Stalin or Hitler or Pol Pot. He was on the contrary a great man. A man after God’s own heart. And yet even he can fall to these depths. That is a solemn lesson for us. We are like David. We are rotten on the inside. There is nothing, nothing that would cause God to choose us, to loves us, to be our friends. We can only be saved by grace. God’s marvellous grace.

But is this fair? No it is isn’t. And this chapter shows it isn’t fair. Look at the other main characters. Bathsheba. She’s a victim in all of this. She is taken by King David. She loses her husband and ultimately her child because of someone else’s sin. Because of David’s sin. And then having to watch while David seems to get away with it!

And what about Uriah, what a remarkable man he is. One of the mighty men of Israel. One who keeps his integrity intact. One who is a loyal servant of the army. A faithful man of God. What does he get in return for all his goodness? An early death. A suffering servant. How fair is that? And yet I want to point out that this isn’t the end of the story for either of them because both Bathsheba and Uriah are found in the genealogy of Jesus.

Slide 34

Matthew 1:1, This is the genealogyof Jesus the Messiahthe son of David,the son of Abraham. There we are Jesus will be the son of David and inherit David’s crown. But turn with me to verse 6. “David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife”. Bathsheba is a forebear of King Jesus. Uriah is in the royal genealogy. Amazing isn’t it? And the gospel writer is not trying to hide it. It is there for all to see. The skeletons in King David’s closet. For the sin was great. But the God who is sinned against is even greater.

The sin was spectacular but the Salvation is amazing. The sin deserved death. But God’s grace gives us life. The king cannot be trusted. But King Jesus will be perfect. The fall is spectacular but the message of Jesus is even more amazing. For through him he is setting up a kingdom where the David’s of this world can be forgiven and made new. And the victims of our world can reign with him in all eternity.

This passage might seem to point to mankind going as low as it can go. But it also points to a God whose love is higher than the heavens. And so if we sinners, reach out to him. Confess to him. Ask for his Spirit. Trust in his son. Then we will die with Christ and we will be raised with him on the last day.