David and the Giant (Not Goliath)

The Giant That Got David

2 Sa 11:1-27

Another Bully is going to approach David. Lust.

For many it is a huge problem, for others not so much. There is always a lust pattern that will try to snag your heart away from God. David had won many battles, maybe all up to this point, but he was about to crash and burn.

David and the Giant (Not Goliath)

2 Samuel 11:1-27

1. Temptation in Idleness

2 Samuel 11:1 “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”

David is a picture of the believer who decides they knows what’s best and starts to elevate their will over God’s. David takes himself out of the will of God and enters the comfort zone.

Amos 6:1 “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the chief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes!”

Zion is Jerusalem the main city of southern Israel, Mount Samaria is the capital city of the northern Israel. This is where the leaders are, the strength of the armies comes from. This is where important decisions are made. And God is saying woe to you if you are at ease, not paying attention.

Psalm 123:4 “Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.”

My wife chuckled when I read her Amos 4:1 where the ladies of the northern capital were referred to as cows.

Amos 4:1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!””

This is the epitome of someone who has checked out of God’s narrow path to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season.

Don’t be so familiar with the things of God that you miss a divine appointment. David was supposed to go out with the kings, but he stayed with the house servants.

2. Small Decision - Big Mistake

2 Samuel 11:1 “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

David’s decision not to go out with the kings was a decision to stay behind. In a sense it is the same as the sin of omission. James 4:17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” David knew what God wanted him to do and neglected, ignored, turned a blind eye to the will of God.

For the mature Christian it not always the major sins that will be the big issue in their lives, but it is the small things that are neglected. Don’t forget a cup of cold water defined some Christians lives.

Matthew 7:13–14 ““Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Don’t be one of the many, be one of the few.

3. It Just Happened

2 Samuel 11:2–4 “Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.”

The story of David and Bathsheba is an old tale of lust and sin. It ironic that people say the Bible is dated and out of touch, but here we see one of the most prevalent problems in relationships accurately portrayed. The slippery slope of lust, rationalization, and sin.

It’s a age old cycle.

James 1:15 “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

Adam and Eve, the first “sinners” followed this same pattern. (Gen 3:6)

Desire is ἐπιθυμία in greek means lust, craving, or a strong desire for something that is forbidden.

Sin ἁμαρτία in greek means missing the mark or leaving the standard for holiness and righteousness.

Death θάνατος in greek means separation (either from God as in spiritual death; or from the body as in physical death).

God’s answer for us as Christians is to be co-crucified with Christ. We are to identify with the victory over sin that was accomplished at the cross and to live “in Christ”.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Things like this don’t just happen. The victorious life doesn’t either it starts by daily picking up your cross (Mt 16:24) and reckoning yourself dead to sin (Rom 6:11).

4. Consequences and Cover-ups

2 Samuel 11:5-13

David has committed an egregious sin, He slept with Bathsheba. His sin is going to find him out because he has gotten another mans’ wife pregnant. He refuses to face the consequences of his sin and plots to have Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah fooled into thinking he is the father. only problem is that Uriah went out with the army to fight the kings’ battles. David plans a scheme that will bring Uriah home on some other business and meanwhile he can enjoy a conjugal visit with his wife.

2 Samuel 11:8–9 “And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.”

When that didn’t work David tried a second time.

2 Samuel 11:13 “Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.”

David had met his match with this man of integrity. Uriah would not relax while his army was on the battlefield. This must have been a strong sting of conviction to David who “stayed back”.

All of David’s subterfuge and plotting was to no avail with a man of God who operated in integrity. David’s sin would find him out (Num 32:23).

5. Deadliest Decision

2 Samuel 11:14-21

Two messages were exchanged which seemed innocuous. When Uriah would not be tricked into falling for David’s plot to cover up David’s sin it was time for plan “B”.

2 Samuel 11:15 “And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.””

When Joab, David’s general got this letter he obeyed it fully. It is a terrible irony that Uriah faithfully carried out his duties by first delivering the letter that doomed him and then going to the front line in a being sacrificed all to appease David’s conscience.

2 Samuel 11:22–25 “So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.””

David’s heart was hardened to the point he could act magnanimous in the defeat and encourage Joab to feel better. He divorced himself from the conviction of the Holy Spirit and rationalized his transgressions away.

But as Numbers 32:23 says, “But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.”

6. Divine Displeasure

David’s Giant was Lust which conceived and brought forth sin. (James 1:15)

Now that sin is going to have to be dealt with.

2 Samuel 11:26–27 “When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”

Road to Restoration goes through Valley of Repentance and by Brook of Confession.

The thing that David Had done was “evil in the sight of the Lord” (a literal translation). David went from being the “apple of God’s eye (Proverbs 17:8) a most precious and protected one to this. He became someone whom the Lord didn’t want to look at.

We are going to see David experience the road to repentance. It is not an easy road. It requires humility and conciliation. David was going to come face to face with his own Old Sin Nature. He would eventually repent of all his plotting and subterfuge which lead to Uriah’s death and more.

He would eventually write Psalm 51 in response to his sin and its consequences. And yes there would be severe consequences.

Today we seem to think if no one saw us or confronted us over a sin that we got away with something. Proverbs 15:3 tells us, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.” The truth is that we never “get away” with anything. God is there and Jesus is the Righteous Judge.

John 9:39 “And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.””

Acts 10:42–43 “And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.””

Acts 17:31 “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.””

Jesus is the Judge who paid for everyone’s sin on the cross. However, we still need to go to Him and receive the gift of everlasting life according to the promise of John 3:16 and John 5:24.