Sermon Tone Analysis

The Way Back to God  Now I want you to take your Bibles Ltonl@gh and I want  you  to open please to II Sam., chapter 11.

We're going to be looking tonight in chapters  11  and  12.

We're  going  to  he thinking on this subject--The Way Back to  GOd,  the  Way  Back to God.

Now I want  to  read  chapter  11,  verses  I  and  2-- And it came to pass after the year was  expired  and  the  time which kings go forth to battle that David  sent  Joab  and  his servants with  him  and  all  Israel  and  they  destroyed  the children of Ammon and besieged Rabah but  David  tarried  still at Jerusalem.

ANd it came to pass in an eventide or eveningtide that David  arose  from  off  his  bed  and  walked upon the roof of the king's house and from the roof  he  saw  a woman washing herself and  the  woman  was  very  beautiful  to                  - ----------- I'm going to stop reading right there  and  just  pick  up  the reading in just a  moment  but  I  have  enjoyed  studying  the life of David.

You will remember we started  ivith  David  when he was just a youngster, a stripling of a boy and  how  he  was chosen by the prophet Samuel to be  the  next  king  of  Israel and what a nan David was.

I think  so  much  of  David  that  I named one of  my  sons  David.

And  it  was  because  of  this David that I named my  son  David.

David  is  and  was  a  man after God's own heart and as we look at  David  and  study  the life of David we just have  to  stand  back  and  say,  What  a man!

NO wonder the Bible  calls  him  a  man  after  God's  own heart.

Was there ever a man  like  David?

flow  brave  he  was when he slew a lion, xvhen he killed a bear, and then iqhen  he went  out  against  Goliath.

Ilow  brave  and  courageous  was David and how tal6nted was David.

He  was  almost  as  talented as Ken Whitten.

He was  a  talented  young  nian.

He  was  the sweet singer of Israel, the one who could  pick  up  that  harp and uh sing and from his fingertips would come those melodies and from his throat would come  that  music  and  from his mind and from his heart  through  the  inspiration  of  the HOly Spirit would come those  glorious  psalms  that  we  still marvel over and how they tell us  of  us  and  how  they  touch our lives.

If you don't know how to pray, I want to suggest, my dear friend, that you read a Psalm a  day  and  you just pray throught  that  psalm  and  you  will  learn  how  to pray, just by reading the psalms because they are the prayerbook as well as  the  psalm  book  of  Israel.

Yes,  how talented and how humble he was.

Why when  uh  Samuel  caine  to anoint the king and all the other sons of  Jesse  came,  little Sam-uh little  David  was  out  there  tending  the  sheep  and after he was anionted to  be  the  king  of  Israel  he  didn't then decide he would uh was too good to be a  shepherd  but  he went back out to take care of his  father's  sheep.

He  was  a humble man and how noble was  David  when  he  had  Saul  right there in his hands and Ahen he could  have  destroyed  or  when he could have made a fool of Saul and yet  he  respected  God's anointed and even his heart was  tender  when  he  thought  one  time he had not acted  with  the  full  respect  that  he  ought  to have acted  towards  God's  anointed  king.

Oh  what  a  noble  man that this man David and we  look  at  David  and  you  say,  What  a grand and glorious man and vet we com                  11.   Oh    I zi@h_it were not here.

1--w@l s-h--so-m-'e h-ow t hat it w as j u s t taken from the   @rC-o-"f God that we  did  not  have  to tell     you this  story,  this  horrible  story,  this  liellish   story,   this vile  story,  yes  this  filthy  story  of  David's  sin.

And   yet the Holy Spirit has put  it  here  and  the  lioly  SPirit  has  put it  here  for  our  admonition  and  for  our  instruction  and  the H fp           a@_p t,      'here--now   listen   to   me-~/@e   o    y               t :L t @_@           I n- @'-Eb r i                          @@@ a@E"'            @d-9n@Roge oly Spirit has put it  here  as  a  warning  to  Jim  Wh o Dale Palmer and  -to  Scotty  Shows  and  to  everyone     cons     o  re n t@better t      t more@ @n  David.

David  loved  God.

[le  was  a  man  after  God's own heart.

And  David  fell  and  great  was  the fall   of   David and the Holy Spirit  has  recorded  there  and  he has    put     it here as a warning to us  all  and  I'm  glad  that the   Bible   put it here though I'm  not  glad  that  it  happened.

I read somewhere  that  Alexander  the  Great  had a        portrait painted of  him  and  ALexander  the  Great  in  this  portrait  has his head down and his hand up like this as though he's meditating but those who  know  know  that  he  was  not meditating.

With  his  hand  he  was  hiding  a  horrible  scar  but God's  Word  does  not  hide  the  scars  upon  the   saints.

It's there and when GOd  paints  a  portrait  there's  no  hand  to  hide          is  is  a  part  of  the  portrait  of  this   man   David.

e going to loolc  at  David's  sin  and  the  title  of  our         tonight--it's  a  very  simple  study  and  I  hope  and   I           that  it  will  mean  the  same  thing  to  you   as   you         as it  meant  to  me  as  I  prepared  it.

We're  going  to                                                          back     to    So first of all,  I  want  us  to  look  at  the  cause  of  David's sin, the cause (.rf David's sin a,-id aS  T  med4ta7t--d  upoi  th4@T would  say  that  his  sin  was  primarily  caused  by   3   things.

First  of  all  his  was  the  sin  of  idleness.

Look   again   in chapter 11 and vs. 1-- And it came  to  pass  after  the  year  was  expired  at  the  time when k'@ngs go forth to batt"@ tha7t Da,,,4-d s4ent  Joab  atid  his servant with hiin and all Israel and they destroyed the children  of  Ammon  and  besieged  Rabah   but--and   notice   that the  Holy  Spirit  puts  the  word  but  there,   that   conjunction there,  He  puts  it  there  in  contradistinction   to   what   has gone  on--but  David  tarried  still  at  Jerusalem.

ANd then notice in vs. 2 the lst part-- And it came to pass  in  an  eventide  that  David  arose  from  off his  bed.

Now you  look  at  that.

Man,  I  want  to  tell  you  that  it  was time to go  to  bed  and  David  was  getting  out  of  bed.

It  was at  eventide  that  he  arose  from  his  bed.

See,  we  can  hardly believe  that  this  is  the  David  that  we  once  Icnew.

lie   is committing  the  sin  of  idleness.

He   is   committin2   the   sin that we call the sin of omission.

sus  s@ld-t,hat   the   sins                                           of camm-@sio-n@                           oy, What are   the    sins    of     omissi on9                           he sins that   you were supposed          to                              Uh, no no no no.

sin                                                 @  to  do  what   you ought to be doing., James sai  to  im t at knoweth to go@o  an   oe   1  not,  to  him  it  is  sin.

It   is   a   greater isin to fail to do what  you  ought  to  do  than  t-o  do  what  -ou fought not to do for  if  you're  doing  what  you  ought  to  do  yo Ican't do what you ought not to do.

Right?

Sure, absolutely.

Nobody  can  uh  do  2  things  at  one   time   so   if Ul you're doing  what's  right  you  can't  be  doing  whatis  wrong.

I If you    thinkin  what's  right  you   can't   be   thinl<ing   what'Si ;vrong.

And  so the@                       fore,                             u@t         Iy e  asue  he  was not  doing  what  he  ought  to  have  done.

It  was     1    hen  '@ 1n s @en, I                              -f-fivolousi @.

Thwe se   ene mles  a                pposed   to    fight    were God's enemies.

These were those people that were the enemies of  God  and  God  in  His  righteous  judgment  had  brought judgment  and  David  as  the  king  and  the   uh   righteous   king that he was was supposed to have led in battle.

I appreciated these young men singing, lie're on the Battlefield  for  our  Lord.

ANd  I  hope  and  I  pray   God   that these boys will be on the battlefield for our Lord and they'll take that 'and  translate  it  out  of  a  song   into   life because  even  teenage  boys  need  to  be  on  the  battlefield  for their  Lord.

David  was  a  teenage  boy,  not  mucli  older   tliin thpse  boys,  when  he  killed  Goliath.

Tlae  Bible  says  when  he slew  Goliath  he  was  ruddy  and  of  a  fair   countenance.

That means  he  had  a  little  peach  fuzz  on  his  chin.

lie   hadn't started to shave yet.

Just a teenage boy when he slew Goliath.

Ile was  on  the  battlefield  for  his  Lord  but  at  this time  when  he  should  have  been  on  the   battlefield   for   his Lord  he  was  not  on  the  battlefield  for  his  Lord.

And   the Bible says in  the  New  Testament  that  we  as  Christians  are  to endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ.

And   that we are to  put  on  the  ivhole  armor  of  GOd  but  David  when  he                                                          many                                                           the     good                                                          gun        to ta e  d for granted.

David now had begun to take       and     David had  just  assumed  that  the  blessings  of  GOd  were  just   going  to keep on coming, just keep on coming and so David now  becomes  lax.

David  takes  off  the  armor   and   David   now   is lol i@n _-a             f @e                                         has not         ee@-&-deeming       e.

Well  might  he  have  read  Proverbs,  ch.

24   and   vs.

33 though it had not yet been written but well might h the truth of that proverb-- Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one t travaileth and thy want as an armed man.

Here was Dav committing a sin of idleness, a sin of laziness,  a  sin  o omission.

He was not doing  what  he  ought  ot  have  done.

He was just simply thinking that the  blessings  were  goina  to come.

I want to  tell  you  somethino,  friend.

Idleness  is  a dangerous thing and uh you know sometimes  we  hear  proverbs and because they're proverbs--I mean human proverbs and slogans and cliches--we seem to  forget  them.

We  say,  Oh, that's only a proverb, tliat's only a cliche.

How  does  a cliche get to be a cliche?

How does a proverb  get  to  be  a proverb?

When somebody sai(i that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

We've heard that so much that it                                                         oes in otie ear and out the otlieL.----But

mv friend that is a                       AN-idle mind  is  the  devill,@-worksh6lY@ and this is where David got into trouble  to  begin  with,  just simply by the sin of idleness, just simply  by  taking  God  for granted, just assuming that the blessings  of  the  Lord  are going to continue to come.

But not only was it a sin of  idleness,  but  right  along  with that it was a sin of carelessness.

Look  again  if  you  %vould in vs. 2-- And it came to pass in an eventide that  David  arose  from  off his bed and wallced upon the r(i(tf- (iE f-hp- k@ng's holisp- and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself  and  the  woman was very beautiful to look upon.

,Now uh David could not help perhaps the  lst  look.

Perhaps that was chance, perhaps he had not  intended  to  see  what  he saw.

Another proverb that we've often  heard  is  this  that  we canit keep the birds from flying over our heads but @ve c-,in certainly keep them from making a nest  in  our  hair.

And David perliaps could not have helped himself  at  this  first thing but oh if he could have only remembered again Proverbs, chapter 4, vs. 23--The trutli that later @vould  be expressed by Solomon--Keep thy  heart  with  all  diligence  for out of it are tfie issues of life.

But  he  was  careless  with his thought life and a look turned to lust and ivhat fie  saw                    sent after and inquired.

h@@-ble     -nrs            pter 23            keth righteously and speaketh uprightly, ye  that  i, despiseth the gain of oppression, that  shaketh  his  hands from holding a bribe, that stoppeth--listen !@o  this,  young people--that stoppeth his ears from the liear ng  of  blood  and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil  he  shall  well  on  high IiIs place of defense shall be in the munitions of  the  lof@ Bread shall be given unto his--unto him and  liis  waters  shall be sure.

Now notice, what,_i,.t,-_@,g@@-:..Lf@lutgteth hIsie es from t"e                                                           -@-i-t                               u@ a        n your seeinp of ev     You canno        ax7b e          min  5                  When David saw this, David should have    looked away.

David himself said  In  ps.

101,  vs.

2  and  4--I   will behave myself wisely  in  a  perfect  way.

Oh,  when  wilt   thou come unto me?

I  will  walk  within  my  house  with  a   perfect heart.

I will  set  no  wicked  thing  before  mine  eyes.

Oh if David could have  only  remembered  what  he  wrote  himself   in that time of devotion, if  he  could  have  only  learned  what   uh Solomon would later  say,  Keep  thy  heart  with  all   diligence, if he could have  only  known  the  truth  that  Isaiah   the Prophet had spoken, that tie  must  set  no  wicked  thing   before our eyes.

If  only,  if  only  David  could  have  been   like uh Joseph when  Potiphar's  wife  tried  to  entice  Joseph   a@d she said, COme lie with  me.

JOseph  was  wise  enougli  the   Bible says that he fled, that he  got  away  from  that  thiiig.

He had no daliance with evil, he  had  no  he-he  had  no  time   for evil to sprout its seeds  within  his  heart.

lie  mipfit   laugh at Joseph, call him lloly Joe  but  he  stayed  pure for   the Bible says, There hath no temptation  taketh  you  I)ut  sucli   as is common to man and GOd  is  faithful  who  will  not  suffer   a man to be tempted above that he  is  able  but  will  with  the   temptation make a way of escape so  that  ye  might  be  able  to   bear it.

And often the  way  of  escape  is  the  kino.s's

highway, 2 feet and a  hard  run.

But  David  didn't  do  this.