Fighting Temptation-2 Samuel 12:1-6

Elephants and Riders

In the beginning, there was a perfect world, until someone desired to be made wise, breaking the command of God. From that point on, mankind would be controlled by desires. There comes a point in every person’s life that he has to fight with desires. With wants. There is something in our bodies yelling at us to give in to our desires. We have a choice to either feed these desires or control them.

James 1:14–15 ESV

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Imagine in your head there is an elephant with a rider on top. The rider is obviously the one in charge of the situation. He controls which way the elephant goes, if it needs to turn left or right. The rider plans the trip, knows what decisions need to be made, and tries to execute these things. Imagine this rider is the analytical side of your brain. The one that takes the time to think, rationalize, plan, and research before making a decision. Then you have the elephant. This huge, hulking animal that could crush you with one stomp of its foot. This creature is guided by instinct, survival, and will respond accordingly to its surroundings. This is the emotional side of the brain. This is the side that feeds into impulse, desires, and status quo. It doesn’t like change whatsoever.

Here is an example of the elephant and rider in action. There is a big apple pie sitting in front of you. The elephant inside you says eat the whole thing. It is impulsive and your desire is to eat sweets. The rider says no. Don’t eat any pie. Don’t have anything sweet. Which one is most likely to win in that battle? Probably the elephant. This same elephant that feeds the desire for sweets is the same one that feeds sin. So how do we control the elephant. What can we do to help the rider in your head to control the elephant?

Be Where You are Supposed to Be

The best way to avoid following your desires is to be where you are supposed to be. This means avoiding the places and situations. I make a joke anytime we pass the ice cream in Walmart, quoting from Psalm 23:4 “4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” It’s a joke, yes, but the reality is that many people purposefully walk through that valley and are surprised when they give into the death that they find. It would be like an alcoholic going to a bar and expecting to walk out sober. If you are an alcoholic, you are not going to expose yourself to situations in which alcohol is involved. If you were a drug addict, you are not going to expose yourself to situations that involve drugs, including turning prescribed narcotic pain medicine after a surgery.

2 Samuel 11:1–2 ESV

1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

David was not where he was supposed to be. His responsibility was to lead his men into battle and instead he chose to remain in comfort in Jerusalem while his men are dying in battle. In fact, according to verse 2, David was just chilling in the palace without a care in the world. Not spending time with advisors, generals, strategists, prayer, worship, nothing. Just having a good ol’ time being king. Had David been on the front lines, the rest of this chapter and chapter 12 would read very differently.

Our simplest answer to fighting temptations is just to avoid putting ourselves in situations that cause us to fall into temptation. That might mean getting rid of some things like your phone, computer, tv, games. This might mean removing certain people off social media. Personally, I have a 1 time tolerance on my social media. The first time someone, no matter if they are a Christian or not, posts something sexual, divisive, anger inducing, or gossiping, I remove them because my soul depends on avoiding the things I struggle with. You might say that is drastic, but did not Jesus’ own words say to cut off your hand or to pluck out your eye? Matthew 5:27-30

Matthew 5:27–30 ESV

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Don’t feed it

Obviously there are times in which we find ourselves in unavoidable situations. In that case, do not feed the beast. All you do is make yourself more complicit in fulfilling your desires rather than controlling them. Let us notice a few things about David seeing Bathsheba.

2 Samuel 11:2–5 ESV

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

David had a chance to turn away, but chose not to. We know David was no where he was supposed to be, but when it came to Bathsheba, he couldn’t help but look. He goes up to the roof of the palace, in the afternoon, looks out into the city and sees her on her roof. David could have turned away but chose not to, which leads to number 2.

David began feeding. As soon as he saw her, he should have walked away, but instead asked who she was. And his servants knew who she was. As close as she was to the palace, it would have meant Uriah was an important person, probably a guard for David, like what we would call the secret service. So she wasn’t just some random nobody in Jerusalem, she was known. Now he had name. Now this was no longer a stranger, but someone to be desired.

David put himself in a worse situation. He brought her to the palace. Had his way with her. And got her pregnant. It was one thing to look on a woman that is not his. It was another that he began asking who she was. Now David has raised everything to 11 by bringing her into the palace. He fed his desire and now it has brought forth sin into his house.

When we face temptation the last thing we should do is egg it on. It’s like messing with a hungry dog by waiving a steak in front of its face. You keep messing with that dog, don’t be surprised when that dog bites you. So if you keep egging on your temptation, feeding it, do not be surprised when you fall.

Don’t Cover Up Sin

Obviously, there are times in which we fail. There is no denying that. Anyone who says they do not sin is a liar according to 1 John 1:8. When we do fail, we should not cover it. What David did escalated things from 11 to 12. He is now in a situation in which a child is being brought into the world by someone who is not his wife, and David’s first decision is to bring Uriah home to cover up his sin. 2 Samuel 11:6-9

2 Samuel 11:6–13 ESV

6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 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. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

When we catch ourselves in sin, we look to hide it. Look what happens to world leaders when they get caught in scandals. They lie, they cheat, they justify, and even kill in order to keep their names clean. We may not think we do this, but how often do we try to justify our actions. How often do we tell a little lie to ease our minds or to cover our sins to others. Otherwise there is shame. There is embarrassment. And for good reason. It is embarrassing to be caught doing wrong. When we see those blue lights behind us, what do we say? “I didn’t meant to, I never do that, I was in a rush, etc.” Do we really mean those things or do we try to avoid a ticket? David tries to spare himself from the embarrassment of being caught with another man’s wife by having Uriah come home, and portray it as two friends catching up with each other

Sometimes we don’t stop there, we will go to the point that our sin hurts others. We might think our actions are our own and they only affect us, but let’s be honest, when has sin really just affected you? When Adam sinned in the garden, did it really just affect him? No, it affected Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth, Noah, so on and so forth till today. Romans 5:12 “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” Our sins can and will negatively affect others. Look at what David does. 2 Samuel 11:14-21

2 Samuel 11:14–21 ESV

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19 And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20 then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ”

David has not only sinned, but has now led others to be complicit in his sin. His sin has now affected his servants, Joab, many of the men that died, Uriah, all the widows he has created, all the children that will grow up without fathers, Bathsheba, and the child he has with her; all because of one man’s sin. Something God encourages every person to do is be honest. And not just because lying is wrong, but because he wants us to be open with the things we struggle with. James 5:16 “16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” If we believe that God will heal us from our sins where does it begin? It begins with confessing our sins. But its embarrassing, humiliating. I don’t want people to know what I deal with. I don’t want people to gossip about me. Will we allow other’s sins to hinder our faith? Will we allow our feelings towards ourselves to hinder our faith in God and His commands? God wants us to rely on Him and to trust in each other. Have an accountability parter. Have someone you can confide in in order to tackle the sins in your life.

Have an accountability partner

If you want to have the greatest chance of overcoming something, whether it is sin, addiction, weight loss, everyone in the world agrees that having an accountability partner is the most surefire way to succeed. Look at Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. They pair each person with a “Sponsor” who has been through the programs and been sober for at least a year. The purpose is to have someone who had been through highs and lows of addiction and the struggles of getting clean to hold a new person accountable and to provide encouragement. David had a man named Nathan. Nathan was a man of God, a prophet of God, and came to David with a story. 2 Samuel 12:1-7

2 Samuel 12:1–7 ESV

1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.

While David was upset at this story, he was blind to his faults till Nathan came and told him. After that moment, David was filled with remorse and penned the words that we know as the 51st Psalm