[0:00] 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. I know the thing up there says 12. We've talked about the boy with the five loaves and the two fishes.
[0:37] We've talked about the girl who was with Naaman. We've talked about various different ones. And today we're talking about, again, about this baby that was never named.
[0:48] Why was the baby never named? See if you remember from last week. Yep, eight days. Circumcision. They would name the baby on the day of their circumcision.
[1:02] The baby died on the seventh day. So he never got a name. So it's baby with no name, but there's lessons for us to learn there. So sorry about my voice.
[1:13] If you're having trouble hearing, just wave at me because it's a little lower than normal. So, okay. All right. So we're talking about this baby with no name. And we talked about the fact that sin always grows.
[1:28] It always gets more and more and more. And so we need to be careful. And we need to take care of sin when it first starts, before it has a chance to grow. When it first comes into our mind, we need to take care of it.
[1:40] Let's have a word of prayer. And we'll kind of review real quickly and then carry on. Heavenly Father, thank you for today, Lord. Thank you for our visitors with us. Lord, we thank you for those that are here.
[1:51] Lord, pray that you would be with those who are not going to be here today. There are some that are traveling. Some that are ill. Lord, we pray for each one of them that you would just meet the need that they have. Lord, we pray for those who will be here for the morning service.
[2:04] Be watching over them as they travel here this morning. Lord, just pray that you'd be with us as we discuss your word, as we look at it. Lord, as we hopefully grow from it and are nourished by it.
[2:18] Lord, help us to have a time this morning where we have a closer walk with you. Because we learned some things about taking care of sin before it can grow.
[2:31] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So, we talked about the fact that it does grow. And we used, one of the things we used was James chapter 1, verse 15.
[2:42] It says, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. So, it's always growing and growing until it just overtakes everything.
[2:52] And one sentence we used that I found was, there is no such thing as a little sin. Because there is no such thing as a little God to sin against.
[3:05] When we sin, we're sinning against a holy, almighty, magnificent God. So, when we sin against him, it's a big sin. Oh, it's just a little lie.
[3:16] No, it's a big sin in the things that we are doing. We looked at 2 Samuel chapter 12, which was up there. And it's when David is going through his emotions about this baby being sick.
[3:27] And then the baby finally dies. And the servants have been hesitant to go in and see David because of all the things going on with the baby.
[3:38] But finally the baby dies and they don't want to tell him. But then in verse 23, it says that, of chapter 12. But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast?
[3:52] Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him and he shall not return to me. And there's so much in that verse there. Someday we'll take a look at that and kind of look at the ramifications of that verse.
[4:06] So, the baby did not get a name because it did not make it to the eighth day when his circumcision would have taken place. You know, here's David.
[4:19] David is the man after God's own heart. The man who has killed the lion. He's killed the bear. He's killed Goliath.
[4:30] He's done all these different things. And yet, he commits this sin. Why does he commit this sin? Well, we've been looking at Galatians in the morning service.
[4:41] And Galatians chapter 5 says we're supposed to walk in the spirit to not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But, it says, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
[4:52] He's a contrary one to another. So that you cannot do the things that you would. And so David doesn't quench that desire that he has. In chapter 11, verse 1, I talked about, you know, it was just a little lie.
[5:06] Well, David did just a little slight disobedience. A slight disobedience. Verse 1 says, and it came to pass, chapter 11, And it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab and his servants with him in all Israel.
[5:23] And they destroyed the children of Mammon, beseeched Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. The time when kings go forth to battle, but David stayed home.
[5:35] And we talked about the fact that he probably had a deserved idleness. He had a chance to just sit back and relax. We said that by this time, David has been victorious 21 straight times.
[5:48] Different battles or against different cities or different kings, David has gone 21 times in a row. He has won. He's like, you know what?
[5:59] I've taught Joab how to do this. Joab's been right here. He can take care of this. You don't need me for this one. I'm just going to stay here and relax. It's kind of the attitude that he has.
[6:11] And we talked about, I gave you a member of the illustration about the aqueduct that goes in Spain, goes down to Segovia. 1,800 years it had worked as an aqueduct.
[6:24] Water flowing through it, taking water down to Segovia. They decided, you know, this is such a magnificent piece of architecture. We need to retire it. We need to make it a museum piece type thing where people come and visit and see it.
[6:38] Well, they did that. They put in modern piping and everything and got the water down the city that way. But when they did that, the sun beating down on the aqueduct began to crack the mortar.
[6:49] The bricks began to loosen up. They began to sag. See, what 1,800 years of service had done, had been able to help it maintain itself, just a little bit of idleness, it started to disintegrate.
[7:05] We always need to be working for the Lord. Someday I probably will retire. Maybe. And then if I do, I still need to keep working for the Lord. I don't need to be maybe doing the same thing, but somewhere along the way, I need to make sure I'm still serving the Lord and what he has.
[7:22] When we have that idleness, remember the old saying about the idleness being the devil's playground?
[7:32] We start to do things that we shouldn't. And David got an invitation from the devil to do some things that are wrong. He goes up in his house, up at the top of his house, and he sees a sight up there.
[7:51] Look at verse 2 of chapter 11. And it came to pass in the evening tide that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house.
[8:05] And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look at. David gets up there, and he's taking a look. He's just going up to get some fresh air, to look around.
[8:18] He's awake. But he gets up there, and he takes a look. Look, I'll look. Looks can be so tempting, can be so distracting, can get us off the wrong.
[8:34] What are we supposed to look at? Looking unto Jesus. You've never heard that before, have you? Looking unto Jesus. David goes up, and he starts looking around, and he sees Bathsheba.
[8:48] That look caused him all kinds of problems. And we talked about the fact that when we have a look. Eve, in Genesis 3 and 6, and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes.
[9:05] A look. Achan says, I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, 200 shekels of silver, a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight.
[9:17] Then I coveted them. It all started with a look. And we talked about Samson. Samson in Judges 14.1, he said, he saw a woman in Timnah.
[9:31] Just that phrase. He saw a woman in Timnah. He desired her. He wanted her. Got his parents to get her. See, when we start with the look and we let our look go and let it gaze, that look quickly will turn into something else.
[9:47] A lust. A lust. David stayed there and continued to look. And that's what got him in trouble. Because he stayed there and continued to look.
[10:00] When a look can turn to lust, very quickly. Job said in Job 31.1, I made a covenant with mine eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid?
[10:12] Job 31.1. And in Psalm 119.37, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy ways.
[10:23] We talked about that word vanity. In Webster's Dictionary, 1828 version, I mentioned the fact that here's how he defined vanity.
[10:36] Empty pleasure, vain pursuit, idle show, unsubstantial enjoyment. All things that we want, that we think we're going to enjoy, things that we think we're going to get pleasure in, and all these things, but you didn't notice the adjectives.
[10:49] Empty, vain, idle, unsubstantial. They don't amount to anything. He says, no, don't go that direction. Verse 3.
[11:02] And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And we talked about who Uriah is.
[11:14] Uriah is one of his best soldiers. Uriah is one of his most faithful, most loyal men. We're going to find that out in a minute. That's where we left off last week. We ran out of time.
[11:26] Today, third thing. You look, you lust, and then you take a license. A license.
[11:38] And that's exactly what David did. Look at verse 4. David sent messengers and took her. And she came in unto him, and he lay with her. For she was purified from her uncleanness, and she returned unto her house.
[11:54] This whole process could have stopped if David had just, when he looked, if he had turned away and gone back downstairs.
[12:04] But he didn't do that. Instead, he kept looking, and it led to some sinful actions. You know, what does the Bible tell us about our thought life?
[12:17] 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5 says, He says, You're supposed to cast them down.
[12:37] You're supposed to bring them into captivity. Turn them over to Christ. Let him have them. Don't you dwell on them. Get your mind back on Christ. Wednesday nights, we've been talking about meditating.
[12:50] Meditating on the word of God. Psalm 1. And we're talking about meditating on what God's word has for us. And we need to make sure our minds are there, not on all these other things around us.
[13:04] Again, David's a man after God's own heart. That's in Acts 13, 22, by the way. If you're wondering what that is. David knew what God wanted him to do.
[13:17] David knew what God would have required of him. He knew what he should do. He chose not to. He knew what was right.
[13:29] And he didn't do it. You know, so often the Holy Spirit will speak to us. So often the Holy Spirit will tell us things and give us things from the word of God and say, you know, think about this and think about this.
[13:40] And before you make that decision, read this. And we just ignore. We just kind of like, nope, I'm not going to go there. Excuse me.
[13:53] Kind of reminds me. There's a park ranger in Yellowstone a few years ago. He was leading a group of hikers to a fire lookout there in the park.
[14:04] And his radio kept buzzing. You know how those radios are always going off. And he kept doing that. So he turned his off. Because he was telling them stuff about the flowers. He was telling them about the animals and stuff.
[14:16] And it was interrupting his train of thought. So he just turned it off. As they got nearer the tower, a ranger who had been in the tower comes running down to them all out of breath and says, didn't you get my messages?
[14:33] He's like, no, I haven't. You need to be listening to the messages that I send you. What's the problem? There's a grizzly bear that has been following you guys for a while now.
[14:47] He says, I was trying to warn you so you would know to be on the lookout that that bear was there. See, when we turn things out, it can give us a whole lot of trouble.
[15:00] When we turn things out, we can go places we would not normally go. We need to make sure we're listening to the Spirit every moment of every day. Do you turn a deaf ear to that still small voice that's sometimes in there talking to you?
[15:17] Saying, hey, look at this. Hey, look at that. Margaret? Every time I turn off that small voice, it's within five minutes. A voice can I listen? Yeah.
[15:29] It doesn't take long, does it? Nope. I can't turn off that small. You're a small voice, you can't turn off. Yeah. Fred? I understand. I got you.
[15:39] I understand what you're talking about. So, they've done the sin. And then the third thing, a shameful discovery.
[15:52] What did they finally find out? Well, David finds out that his private sin is no longer going to be private. David, his sin ended with personal pain and public shame.
[16:07] Personal pain and public shame. His sin is about to be known by everybody. Look at verse 5. And a woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am with child.
[16:22] Being with child is hard to hide. Hard to say, oh, that's just it. Yeah. Uriah's away fighting the battle on Bathsheba.
[16:33] She's just been picking away at the whatever. She's just been eating and eating and eating because she missed it so much. And that doesn't work. Nope. Can't do that. Why did David get himself into this situation?
[16:49] How did he get himself into this situation? First of all, the choices that he made. The choices that he made. You know, unlike other of God's creation, he gave us the opportunity to choose.
[17:05] We have choices that we can make. You know, God wanted us to choose to follow him because of our love for him.
[17:16] He wanted us to be able to choose to follow him because what he has done for us is so overwhelming that we want to follow what he has. He doesn't want pre-programmed robot type people who just go along and follow everything and just, yes, sir, I'm going to do this.
[17:36] No. He wants us to do it out of a heart of love for the opportunities that he has given to us for the things that he has done for us. Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 19.
[17:48] I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.
[18:03] God's been giving them the blessings and the cursings. And he says, choose what you want this day. God allows us to have a choice in how we're going to live our lives.
[18:17] He gives us a choice in the things that we're going to do. And that's good. But, there's always a but in those things, isn't there? He does not give us a choice of what the consequences of those decisions are going to be.
[18:35] We make a decision. We make a choice. Okay, that's your decision. That's your choice. You can do whatever you want. But the consequences of that choice are not in your hands.
[18:47] You make a decision to do something, and it starts to play out. You say, whoa, this isn't what I thought was going to happen. I should have thought about it a little more. One of the things that drives my family nuts, they ask me something.
[19:05] We'll see. We'll see. Because I want to think about it. I want to know, okay, if we do this, what are the ramifications that go with it? If I decide I'm going to do this, where does it go from there?
[19:19] I want to know those things. So, my wife hates it. We'll see. She said that usually means no. I said, okay. I have a wrong one like that. Yep.
[19:31] I want to. Dana. Dana?
[19:50] So, David chose to commit adultery. David made a decision. He did not choose to have a baby. That was not part of his plan.
[20:02] He was just going to enjoy himself, have some fun. Having a baby was not part of what he thought. You think about our day and age that we live in. Oh, yeah, we can just go have sex anytime.
[20:16] Oh, I'm going to have a baby, so now I've got another choice to make. And it's sort of like David. Okay, now I've got another choice to make. Do I let this just go, or what do I do about it?
[20:28] And he chose up having Uriah killed. Today we choose to have the baby killed. You know. Every, huh? They were both innocent.
[20:40] And they're both innocent. Yeah. They had nothing to do with it. So, anyway. When we make choices, consequences always come.
[20:53] Romans 6.23, verse you know well. For the wages of sin is death. And we're about to see that. The wages of sin is death.
[21:04] So, what's David going to do? Well, you know the story. David's going to work behind the scenes. David's going to do some things again that he knew better, but yet he's going to make some choices that he should not have made.
[21:20] I titled this part, A Shadowed Deceit. He's going to deceive people, try and make them think something else, but he did it in behind the scenes type thing.
[21:33] You know, you think about it. When we sin, what's usually the first course of action? Find a way to cover it up. I want to cover it up.
[21:45] I don't want people to know about it and everything. So, remember, go back to Adam and Eve. She saw the fruit, and it was pleasant to look at and everything. In verse 7 of Genesis 3, it says this, In the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
[22:07] What is the first thing they try to do? Cover it up. There was nothing wrong with the way they were, but now that their eyes have opened, now that they have sinned, they see it totally differently, and they're trying to cover up.
[22:23] You know, the only right way to cover up a sin is to confess it and get past it. Get going. Proverbs 28, 13.
[22:36] Proverbs 28, 13 says, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
[22:47] He says, don't try to cover them up. Confess it. Bring it to God. And go from there. Deceit.
[23:01] How did David try to deceive the people? Well, first of all, he lured Uriah back home.
[23:12] Look at verse 6. And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
[23:23] And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. Stop there for a second. Think about that.
[23:35] Nothing unusual about that. Hey, send me, send Uriah back here. I want an update on the war and how things were going. Okay, that sounds normal enough. I need to find out how things were going there.
[23:46] And he trusted Uriah. Sounds good. Verse 8. David said to Uriah, Go down into thy house and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
[23:59] Go down to your house, see your wife, get a good night's sleep. By the way, here's food so you can have a feast while you're there. Just go have a good time. Ah, interesting.
[24:10] Verse 9. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord and went not down to his house. And when they told David, saying, Uriah went not down to his house, David said to Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey?
[24:28] Why then didst thou not go down to thine house? I called you home. I'm giving you a chance to go with your family and do things and stuff. Verse 11. Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents.
[24:46] And my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife?
[24:57] As thou livest and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. Ooh, talk about a man of character. No. My buddies are out there in the battle still.
[25:09] They're out there sleeping in tents in the middle of a field. No, I'm not going home. They're still there. Verse 12. David said to Uriah, Tarry here a day also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart.
[25:25] So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him and he made him drunk. And even he went out to lie in his bed with the servants of the Lord, but went not down to his house.
[25:41] David goes as far as to give him all kinds of food, give him all kinds of drink, get him drunk, now go home. Still, even in a drunken state, he is not going to go home.
[25:55] He is not going to go against what he has for principles. David's plan fails at what he was trying to do. Think about it.
[26:06] A drunken soldier has more discernment than the king who is sober. Think about it. He didn't have as much to hide.
[26:16] That's right. So David comes up with plan B. Okay? Letter B. A letter. A letter. Look at verse 14 and 15.
[26:29] And it came to pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire ye from him that he may be smitten and die.
[26:46] Now stop and think about this one for a minute. Uriah, I have a letter I want you to take to Joab. Here it is.
[26:58] Take this to Joab and make sure he gets it. David has just watched Uriah say, I will not go down to my house. I will not go to sleep with my wife.
[27:09] I will not do anything while all of my buddies are out there. I will not go against them and what they're facing. I am one of them. So David goes, you know what?
[27:23] I can send a letter. A letter. I can send a letter to Joab. I can have Uriah take it.
[27:34] And in that letter I'm going to say, make sure you get him killed. Make sure that he dies in battle. And I can send it with Uriah and I know his character.
[27:46] He will not look at the letter. He will not open that letter and take a peek because it's addressed to Joab and just like any good mailman he's going to make sure it gets there right without any interference whatsoever.
[28:00] He takes the letter to Joab and David says his character is such that I know he will not. Can you imagine how the depths that David has now gone?
[28:14] Not only did he sin with Bathsheba, not only did he try to trick Uriah, now he's calling for Uriah's death. And he's doing it in such a way by using the man's good character against him.
[28:33] It just amazes me. Because you look back and again it says David, David was a man after God's own heart. All the things that God and David had accomplished and God had used David for and David knew all these and yet now David has sunk to this depth that he's going to use this man's character against him knowing that he will not look.
[28:57] Wow, that's just an amazing thing to me when you think about it. Yeah.
[29:10] People bank on somebody's good character their sermon and use it against them. Yes. Yep.
[29:22] That happens a lot still today. They try to use character against you. I don't want to get political but how many people are coming into our country based on the fact that we know what your laws say and we know what they're and so we're going to use your laws against you.
[29:45] That's a big thing about a lot of things that are taking place. anyway, it's almost quarter past. I'm going to stop there before I begin another section.
[29:56] So we've got one more week of talking about David and the baby. This whole lesson today of current relevant example that happened when that couple at the concert.
[30:13] Yeah, if you haven't seen that on the news, yeah, that comes under I think we're going to talk about next week. Be sure your sin will find you out. It comes under that.
[30:25] Alright, let's have a word prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we