How the Mighty Have Fallen
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How the Mighty Have Fallen
How the Mighty Have Fallen
II 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.
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.
II Samuel 11:8-
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. So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 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.
In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 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.”
As we begin to read this bible story, there are so many things that jump out at me.
First we see David is at home while his men are on the battle field.
That right there should tell us something was not right with King David.
We see David walking on the “Kings Roof”, I believe it was a true accident that he stumbles upon Bathsheba.
But it was in that very moment he had a decision to make.
I can’t remember who said it but they were preaching and they said you can’t entertain temptation.
At that moment David entertained temptation and it almost cost him everything.
He did have to suffer for the mistake he made.
It was a high price to pay for a moment of weakness. Bathsheba did give birth but that boy died.
The temptation was not the sin, it was when he entertained it and gave into it that made it sinful (thats a whole message for another time)
I must ask what in the world changed from the David of
So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. And he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.
I Samuel 24:3-
David at this time had been hiding in caves, running for his life.
It was a game of cat and mouse
Saul and his men had been pursuing after David to kill him.
At this time David was the chosen one, He was going to take the place of Saul as king.
Saul hated David and wanted nothing more than to kill David.
But David had done nothing wrong.
So, for David to not kill Saul when he had a chance said something about David and his walk with God.
I must ask how sensitive was David, to the voice and presence of God that he would be convicted in his heart for even cutting the garment of the anointed one.
How far had David fallen.
He went from a man of God that recognized the importance of not touching the anointed to a man who knew Bathsheba was another mans wife but still entertained temptation.
What changed?
What was different?
What could have possibly shifted in David?
The one thing that stands out to me was in the time of failure David was wearing a crown
David was living in the palace
David had servants
David was living the good life
David did not want for anything
David was King and I believe life just got to easy.
When he was running for his life he was depending on God everyday.
He was not sure if today would be the day that Saul killed him
He was desperate for the protection of God.
Why is it so easy to pray when life is going bad?
Why is it that we stay focused when we are in the fire
Why can we be closer to God in the valley than when we have been on the mountain top for a while.
Theres something about crown.
It does something to us
At times we need to take off the crown and put on a cross.
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
Matthew 16:
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 15:2426
There is something powerful that happens when we deny ourselves and take up our cross.
I believe first we take off the crown when we deny ourselves.
The feeling like we are owed something
But it is not enough to just take off the crown.
We must take up the cross.
The since of
The perfect example of choosing a cross over a crown would be Jesus Christ
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Mark 8:31
Jesus had already made up in his mind that he would carry the cross.
He had already taken the crown off
He had already decided that this was the only way.
As Peter tried to stop him, he became angry and rebuked Peter.
You see when we decide to take up our cross there will always be someone or something trying to stop you.
We must just decide that the cross is much better than the crown.
When we are carrying the cross there is no time to entertain temptations.
When you are carrying the cross there is powerful things that happen.
There is anointing when we carry our cross
When Jesus decided to carry his cross
There is calling that happens when we carry our cross
He began to prophecy
There is miracles that happen when we carry our cross
Jesus as he is nailed to the cross, he could of let go of the cross and called a legion of angels down and killed every person watching his death.
He could of shown all those that were beating him and spitting in his face that he was the king and He could of put on the crown at anytime during the crucifixion.
But Jesus was setting the example for us.
He was doing what King David could not do
David chose the crown but Jesus chose the cross.
Closing