February 4, 2001

a most unlikely grace

Once again sex is in the news. A national leader – a minister – has admitted to an extra-marital affair and to fathering a child out wedlock. The person of whom I speak is of course Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson is a pastor, civil rights leader, as well as a role model to millions of black children. He has also served as a spiritual counselor to Bill Clinton during the time that he was trying to regroup after his moral failure.

   A repentant Jackson                Jesse and wife at church

The story is not new. Jackson is not the first powerful figure to succumb to sexual temptation. Please turn with me to the book of Second Samuel.  I want to draw your attention to chapters 11 and 12. 

 We are going to explore the age-old story of the sinful relationship between David and Bathsheba. The Bible uses this story to show the tragic consequences of this particular sin and yet, at the same time, show God’s remedy; His most unlikely grace.

 This account begins somewhere around 1,000 years before Christ. Israel was enjoying what may well have been it’s golden age; it’s time of greatest prosperity.  It also had possibly the most powerful army on earth at the time.  David had been king for some 20 years and was no longer a young shepherd boy, rather he was a mature man of 50. He had passed through many trials and tests and had come out of them better and wiser. Both David and the kingdom were secure and settled.   

 Nonetheless, 2 Samuel 11:1 notes, “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David

remained in Jerusalem.”

Due to the weather, the conditions of the roads, the general health and morale of the men, armies back then generally took the winter off. Now it was Springtime. The military was once again on the march. Everyone, that is except for the Commander in Chief. He stayed behind, for some unexplained reason. This was not his usual pattern. The Bible made note of it.

 David was a warrior king. Under his leadership the Israelites had defeated nearly everyone that was a threat to their security. God had empowered him and had wondrously blessed him. Nonetheless, David had taken off his armor and had resorted to a life of ease. At this point, he was happy to let Joab and the other men do the fighting for him. 

 Listen now to verse 2, “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful....”   

While the rest of his men were engaging the enemy, David was at home taking a nap. He had grown soft. Had David been out fighting, he would not have fallen under this temptation. But, the truth is, he was not fighting, he was instead failing.

His idleness made him vulnerable. We have oftentimes heard the saying, “The idle mind is the Devil’s workshop.” This story provides us with a powerful example of that truth in action. 

Moving on now, the Bible says that as the king was walking around on his palace roof, he saw this very beautiful lady taking a bath. To be honest with you, nothing was wrong with the woman bathing in this story. She is never faulted for her actions. Most homes back then had an open courtyard where they cooked their meals, rested, and yes where they took their baths. While the courtyard was open to the sky, it was nevertheless very private. Generally speaking that is, unless someone was up on some tall roof looking down. That is exactly where David was when he happened to see Bathsheba.

(As you can see, I have here an actual picture of the ancient “City of David.” As you can see, it would have been easy for David to look down from his palace wall unto another person’s property.)

 Just a side note here. Do you realize that if Bathsheba would have been ugly to the bone, this sin probably would not have happened? The Bible makes her beauty a part of the story so it had to have played a part in the sin. Being beautiful or strikingly handsome has it’s risks! As difficult as it is, it is a burden that some of us have to carry -- ha.   

 Satan knows our weaknesses.  He is also a specialist at glamorizing sin.

·        Think with me of the Marlbough Man. Sharp looking dude, right?

·        How about the people in the beer ads on television? 

·        Or have you ever seen someone sad in a state lottery commercial?

The producers do not show someone dying of lung cancer, or some homeless derelict on skid row, or someone who is stealing from his or her children in order to satisfy his or her gambling habit!  No. They are want to glamorize sin and, just to be honest, they are good at it!

 Remember Eve’s experience in the Garden of Eden? Listen to a portion of Genesis 3. “‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” The fruit had death written all over it. It had been passed on from the very hand of the devil himself.  Nonetheless, it looked great!  She not only ate it, she gave it to her husband and he ate it too. 

Someone once wrote, “Sin as a caterpillar is dangerous, but sin as a butterfly is a thousand times worse.  If sin in its ugliest form is dangerous, who can know its unmeasured power and influence when it puts on robes of beauty!”  Friends, be careful of the beauty of sin.  It’s beauty is only skin deep!

 Was David wrong in glancing over and seeing Bathsheba? 

Personally, I don’t think so. There is nothing wrong with accidentally seeing something that maybe you shouldn’t see. It is the second look that gets you. You see, the second look is a matter of choice, and as you know, David took the second look. 

 Immediately, “David sent someone to find out about her.” No longer was looking enough for the king, he had to know more. Who is she? Information, please! “The man said, ‘Isn't this Bathsheba, ...the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’” 

 David knew the rules. That bit of information should have stopped him right then and there. God saw to it that the king was reminded that the lady belonged to another man. “She is the wife of....” 

·        Stop David. 

·        Don’t go any farther. 

But no, David charged on ahead like someone trying to beat a red light. David, the great conqueror of Goliath was being conquered by his own evil lusts. It bears noting here that David sinned not because he had to but simply because he wanted to. Sin is a choice!   

The passage then continues in verse 4, “Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.” 

I find it interesting that the Bible doesn’t say that the two of them slept together. 

No, it says that David slept with Bathsheba. God knows who sleeps with whom.  God put the responsibility right where it belonged. The sin was primarily his; no accusation was made against Bathsheba.

It is important to note here that David’s power was practically absolute.  What he wanted he got, what he demanded he received. Whether Bathsheba was willing or unwilling, she had no other alternative but to obey or suffer the consequences of the king’s anger. Had she have refused his commands, quite likely she would have been punished severely or she could have even been put to death.

 Let me give you a simple but often overlooked point here. The line about her having “purified herself from her uncleanness” is just a discreet way of saying that the lady was not pregnant at the time. For sure, the child that was conceived that evening was David’s.

·        She knew it;

·        he knew it,

·        God knew it!   

now, david tries to cover up his sin

Hardly any words can usher forth such a wide range of emotions as “I’m going to have a baby.” Those six words can thrill or chill. They can herald one of the greatest blessings of life or they can serve as a tragic reminder that playing with sin does have its consequences. 

 When David heard the words, he went into a panic. Everything from that point on seemed directed at self-preservation. Why? The Law of Moses was very specific in regard to the sin of adultery.

Leviticus 20:10 “If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” According to the law, David, even though he was the king of Israel, should have been stoned to death. He was no fool. As David looked at the situation and he considered what was at stake: his kingdom, his name, his reputation, and as I just noted -- possibly even his life -- he resorted to a scheme which led him yet deeper and deeper into sin.

 Proverbs 28:13 warns, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” David decided to conceal.

 David had Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, sent home on military furlough from the war. He wanted him home so he could sleep with his wife and therefore be considered the father of Bathsheba’s child. Uriah, however, was a unusual man.  He was as extremely loyal and dedicated. Earlier Scripture had noted that he was in truth one of the top 36 men in David’s army. He was a warrior devoted to both his king and his country. He could not bring himself to enjoy either the comforts of home or the company of his beautiful wife while others were laying their lives on the line in some battle. Therefore he refused to go in to his wife. 

 Next, David called Uriah before him and had him eat and drink until he became drunk. An intoxicated man will do things that he would not do when sober. He will commit sins that he would avoid at other times. Strong drink and sexual excesses often go together. Still Uriah would not go to his house much less spend the night with his lady.  He slept outside on the porch.

 Second Samuel 11:14-17 then adds, “In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, ‘Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.’ So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.” 

The only way that the king could see that he could cover up his first sin (adultery) was to sin again. Believe it or not, David the king resorts to murder. He had the good soldier put in a position back on the battlefield that would result in his sure death and yes, the plan worked. The Bible says that “Uriah the Hittite died.”  Now, David’s dirty little secret was finally safe. Uriah would never be able to deny that he was the father of Bathsheba’s child. Death had sealed his lips.

 The fact that he worked so hard to keep the act, the pregnancy secret, shows that the king knew that his actions had been sinful and wrong.

 The Bible does not indicate that David felt any guilt over that which he had done.

Deliberate, repeated sinning had dulled David’s sensitivity to God’s laws. The rule is, the more you try to cover up a sin, the more insensitive you become toward it. 

Notice now verses 26-27, “When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.”

In those days widows did not receive any Social Security, military pensions, life insurance, or welfare benefits. A natural question was, how was Bathsheba going to make it? We do not know of any other living relatives that would marry her or take her in. Therefore, David, out of the seeming generosity of his heart, took his dead friend’s wife into his own house to be his wife and her yet unborn child on as if he were his very own baby. What a guy! What a guy!

 The plan had seemingly worked to perfection. David’s sins were securely under wraps, and he wound up in the end with the beautiful lady as well. Life is sweet, isn’t it?

 Listen to the very next words from chapter 11, “But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.”

While here, I want to briefly REVIEW some of the things that led to the David’s fall:

·        He was resting when he should have been fighting. We will have all of eternity to rest.  Now is the time to fight the good fight of faith!

·        He looked a second time.

·        He let the temptation get the best of him.  It is no sin to be tempted. Again, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. The problem with temptation comes when we invite the temptation in for farther review!

·        He acted in lust rather than in love.  He did not love Bathsheba.  Why, he didn’t even know who she was! He let his old sinful nature take over; he was motivated by lust! 

·        He ignored the Word of God.  He knew what God had said about his behavior, yet he plowed on ahead anyway! He ran though every stop sign that God put up!

·        HE HAD A THING FOR WOMEN.  David’s problem was not a cold uncaring wife who did not love him or meet his emotional needs. No, friends, David had many wives. Michal, Saul’s daughter was his first wife. Then he married Abigail, the widow of Nabal, then Ahinoam of Jezreel. While living at Hebron, he took to himself four more wives. Then when he moved his home to Jerusalem, he added more wives including Bathsheba as well as concubines. 

 Solomon, his son by Bathsheba eventually followed his lead by taking unto himself over 700 wives and 300 concubines.

 Listen now to Deuteronomy 17:16-17 which warns, “The king... must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray....”  This rule was given to the kings of Israel so that they might discipline themselves and be saved from the very things that caused David’s downfall.

 God instructs the Prophet Nathan to go and confront the king. I don’t know about that prophet, I do know though that this preacher would not be too awfully excited about going to the President of the United States and accusing him of adultery and murder. How about you? 

 A number of years ago I had received word that one of my deacons was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a lady with whom he worked. He was one of the co-owners of the company. She was in a responsible position in her own right. I had seen the two of them out together but, to be honest, I didn’t give it all that much thought until the rumors starting circulating. Finally the proof came out and I had to call the brother in. I hated to do it. He was also a friend of mine. 

I told him that I had heard some rumors about a certain man in the church that was being unfaithful to his wife. I also noted that the brother had a precious, a wonderful family. He was at the same time a leader in the congregation. I then asked for his advice as to what I should do. (Again, I remind you, he was a deacon.) He encouraged me to call the man in and have a talk with him. He told me such sin could not be tolerated in the church. He finally added that I needed to go ahead and act on the matter as soon as possible. I then told him that he was the man.   

In effect the same thing happened to David. The prophet told him a similar story and then he ended it with the same words, “You are the man!” In 2 Samuel 12:13, he added, “You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.”

YOU!  YOU!   YOU!

 “David, you did it!” In the eyes of the Lord, it was just as if the king himself had held the very sword that struck Uriah dead!

 Before I move on, I want you to listen to the heart-pain of God over this matter. 

Listen to Second Samuel 12:7-8, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.’”

One of the names of God is “The Giving God.”  As such, God is generous to the max.  Here He is reminding David of all of the blessings the Lord had given him.  In fact, God would have given more, if it had been necessary. David’s problem though was not that he had too little, it was that he wasn’t satisfied with what he had. As with Adam and Eve, God’s provisions were not enough to satisfy human lust; human desire!

 david’s PUNISHMENT

Notice now Second Samuel 12:10-12, “Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ ‘This is what the LORD says: `Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” 

The prophesy came true just as Nathan said. David reaped exactly that which he had sown, and more!

·        His daughter Tamar was raped by her brother Amnon, who in turn was murdered by his brother Absalom. 

·        Absalom lead a rebellion against his father David, and was killed in the struggle. 

·        David’s wives were violated in public, as he had secretly violated the wife of Uriah. 

Thus, David’s glorious reign was clouded, in his later years, with unceasing troubles. What a lesson for those who think that they can sin and sin and get away with it.

 Hebrews 10:31 warns, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

 If David had known the painful consequences of his sin, he might not have pursued the pleasures of the moment. But, he didn’t know. We never know all of the ramifications of our sins until it is too late. 

Although he was eventually forgiven, he never fully got beyond the consequences of the evil circumstances he had started. They plagued him and his family and his kingdom to the end of his life.

 Numbers 32:23 declares, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” David would say a hardy “amen” to that!

 david and god’s grace

Billy Graham once observed, “If your sorrow is because of certain consequences which have come in your family because of your sin, this is remorse, not true repentance. If, on the other hand, you are grieved because you also sinned against God and His holy laws, then you are on the right road.”

 The beautiful and powerful Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 were Psalms of repentance written by David after his rebuke by Nathan. Psalm 51:7-12 says in part, “Cleanse me..., and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”

 Psalm 32:5 then adds, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you  and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ -- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

David found grace in the eyes of the Lord! In spite of the awfulness of his actions, God loved him and forgave him! 

 Do you want to know what this message is all about today? Grace! I wanted to paint a terrible picture of sin for you and then I wanted to come back and cry to you that God’s amazing grace took care of it all. When David truly turned from his sin in repentance, his evil deeds were stricken from the record!

 Please turn with me to Matthew 1. Here we find the genealogy of Jesus Christ.  Have you ever wondered why all of this genealogy stuff in the Bible? 

 Listen to this.  It might just give you your answer. Matthew 1:1, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab..., Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife....”

Whoa!  Did you hear that?  Right smack dab in the middle of the Lord’s family tree is David and Bathsheba! A murderer and an adulterer! That means that Jesus’ great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandmother was Bathsheba and His great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather was David -- the one and the same that I have been talking to you about in this message!

 Oh by the way, Tamar’s name is in His genealogy too.  She wasn’t exactly a girl scout leader and Rahab made the list as well. In case you don’t remember, her business was in “direct sells.” Each of the women in the Lord’s family tree had some sort of cloud over their character. 

 The point I want you to realize is, if God would forgive so much with David and Bathsheba and these other women whose names I just mentioned, while they were guilty under the law, how much more would He forgive you and me who are under grace? As I was preparing this sermon, I couldn’t help myself, I just had to say out loud “GRACE!”  Grace!  Oh the length, the width, the height and the depth of GRACE -- GOD’S GRACE!”

 If I had my choice between having you fix me a peanut butter and honey sandwich or having a five-year-old fix me the sandwich, I will chose the child anytime. Why? Because I like the goodies! The kid is going to have loads of peanut butter and honey all over everywhere. This morning God is spreading grace the way a five-year-old would spread peanut butter. He is getting it all over everything.

 God is saying, if you need forgiveness, He has it for you.  You can have it in abundance!  He is spreading it everywhere that sinners can be found!

 So, in conclusion, remember David and Bathsheba.  Remember the example of his fall and punishment as well as their example of being trophies of God’s grace -- His abundant and blessed grace, His most unlikely grace!