April 20, 2008                                                                

“Recovering from Moral Failure”

Scripture – Psalm 51

© Rev. Joseph Liddick

Introduction:

For the past month we’ve been looking at the life of David, trying to discover some of his secrets on why he was called a “man after God’s heart.”  We noted as we compared his life with that of Saul that he had learned the things in life that were truly important to God.  We also noted as he went up against the Philistine giant Goliath that he had learned how to overcome huge obstacles in his life. Today we’re actually going to take a look at a darker story in David’s life, one involving a sex scandal, conspiracy, murder, and cover-up.

I don’t know about you, when I hear about the things that leaders sometimes do that get them into trouble I can’t help but ask, “How could they have been so stupid?” The truth is, people do stupid things all the time:

·        A burglar in New Jersey stuck a piece of paper in the lock at an office building so he could sneak in later and rob it. The suspect was tracked down after police found the paper. It was a parking ticket with the man’s name and address on it.

·        Police in Wichita, Kansas arrested a 22 year old man at an airport hotel after he tried to pass two counterfeit $16 bills.

·        In Virginia a bank robber was nabbed because he made the classic mistake of returning to the scene of the crime. He was collared after he tried to deposit some of the loot into the same bank he had held up a month earlier. He was recognized because the same teller waited on him both times.

·        At a Topeka, Kansas convenience store a robber who discovered there wasn’t very much money in the cash register tied up the clerk and waited on customers for three hours in order to increase his take.

·        Police in Pennsylvania interrogated a suspect by placing a kitchen colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a copy machine. A piece of paper with the words, “He’s lying,” was placed in the copier. After the suspect responded to each question, the officers would press the “copy” button, and the words “He’s lying” would print out. The suspect figured the “lie detector” had the goods on him, so he confessed.

·        In California, an elderly lady did her shopping and upon return found four males in her car. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at them at the top of her voice that she knows how to use it and that she will, if required…so get out of the car! The four men didn’t wait around for a second invitation but got out and ran like mad, whereupon the lady proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver’s seat. Small problem – her key wouldn’t fit the ignition. Her car was identical and parked four or five spaces further down. She reloaded her bags into her car and drove to the police station. The sergeant that she told the story to nearly tore himself in tow with laughter and pointed to the other end of the counter where four pale white males were reporting a car jacking by a mad elderly white woman…no charges were filed.

Now maybe you haven’t done something as stupid as these things, but if you are anything like me there is undoubtedly a chapter or so of your life that you’d like to forget. There have probably been times in your life when you have given in to temptations to do things that you later regretted. You’re not alone. David was the greatest king in Israel’s history, but even the greatest among us have some dark moments in their lives that they’d rather forget.  Still, it is in the very midst of David’s darkest moment that we discover why he is known to posterity as a man after God’s own heart.

David was Tempted to Sin (2 Samuel 11:1-4)

Temptation to sin is a universal experience.  The Apostle Paul once wrote to the Corinthians, “No temptation has taken you but such as is common to man …”  Unfortunately, our post-modern culture has tried to claim that temptation is irrelevant, though, because people want to believe that there are no moral absolutes in the world. If there are no moral absolutes, then there is no such thing as sin.  But no matter what we believe or do we cannot escape the moral sense of right and wrong that has been indelibly written on our hearts since the beginning of time. 

Temptation comes to us through wrong desires that have taken up residence in our hearts.  We are all born with a nature that is bent toward sin.  The apostle James said, “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.”  Satan, the enemy of our souls, knows our individual weaknesses. Like a good fisherman, he baits his hook according to the appetite of the fish.  The “world” attacks our soul, where we are tempted to substitute all sorts of temporal things for God in the hopes that they will bring ultimate satisfaction.  The “flesh” attacks our body, where we are tempted to give in to natural urges and cravings in an attempt to find selfish pleasure.  And the “devil” himself attacks the spirit, where we become crippled with anger, resentment, bitterness, doubt, and despair.  In David’s case, he was tempted, as are many men, in the arena of his flesh.

Now it is not a sin to be tempted.  Even Jesus, who was without sin, was tempted.  His soul was tempted as Satan offered him all the kingdoms of the world.  His flesh was tempted as he was enticed to turn stones into bread.  And his spirit was tempted to test God by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple.  But temptation is resistible, as Jesus showed us, and sin does not have to be inevitable.

David Gave in to His Temptation

It is one thing to be tempted, but it is yet another to go looking for it.  We all have a tendency to seriously underestimate temptation’s strength as well as our own weakness at being able to stand up to it.  As Oscar Wilde once put it, “I can resist anything but temptation.”  Unfortunately for David, he was foolish enough to put himself in a vulnerable position where he would be tempted.  You see, it was the time of year when kings went to war.  David, however, stayed home where all the soldier’s wives waited and prayed for the safe return of their husbands.  He couldn’t help but notice some of them.

And notice one of them he did!  One night while he was strolling on his palace roof, he glanced down to spot an attractive woman taking a bath on the roof of her house.  So David summoned one of his servants and had him discretely invite the lady to his chambers.  She was more than willing because, after all, he was the king.  And after their little tryst, David sent her home and thought the whole affair would be over.  Here’s how this temptation played itself out:

·        First he looked.  Men are visually stimulated, and I think David knew exactly where to look.  So do you.  Maybe you even have the internet sites bookmarked.  Adult stations on cable TV and X-rated videotapes make billions of dollars each year because men like to look.  And they usually argue, “What’s the harm?  It’s not like I’m committing adultery or something.  Just because I’m on a diet does not mean I can’t still look at the menu!”  No, but I’ve discovered that when I’m on a diet and see enticing dishes on the menu, I have very little willpower to resist them. 

·        Then he lingered.  It’s one thing to be tempted by what you see, but it’s another thing altogether to walk around the block for another look.  The longer you look, the more opportunity you give to your mind to fantasize about those things which should be forbidden.  And as we eventually give in at each level temptation continues to grow and progress in intensity.

·        Then he lusted after her.  As David’s mind began to fantasize over this situation, his desire for her and the need to act out his fantasy became very intense.  Eventually his lust consumed all his energy and could only be satisfied if it was carried out.  At this point he had already committed adultery with her in his heart.

·        Finally he laid with her.  Have you ever noticed that when you decide to do something wrong the means are so readily available?  As David continued up the ladder of temptation, he finally gave full expression to his unbridled lust. 

David Tried to Cover Over His Sin

Have you noticed that sin takes us farther than we want to go, costs more than we want to pay, and keeps us longer than we want to stay?  When temptation first begins to lure us into sin, it tries to convince us that there won’t be any lasting consequences for our actions, that we won’t get caught, and that it only affects us.  Those myths were all shattered for David when he got the word that Bathsheba was pregnant!  I heard a story about a man who met a snake one day who convinced him that he was a friendly snake, so he took him in and became his friend.  He fed him and cared for him, and took him everywhere he went.  Then finally one day the snake bit him.  As the man lay dying he said to the snake, “I thought you were my friend,” to which the snake replied, “You knew that I was a snake.”  Sin will always bite you eventually, no matter how attractive it seems. 

When David realized that he was in danger of being found out for his sin, he began to concoct an elaborate plan to cover it up.  That’s what sin does to us – it makes us want to hide, just like Adam and Eve.  And then sins begin to compound: cover-ups, lies, deceptions.  And as is often the case, he had to involve others and make them dirty as well in his schemes.  He had his general send Bathsheba’s husband Uriah home from the war for a little R&R so that he would make love to his wife and believe that the child she was carrying was his own.  The only trouble was that Uriah had more integrity than David did.  He felt guilty over the prospect of taking personal pleasure when the army was risking their lives.

When this cover-up didn’t succeed, David had to sin even more to keep up his deception.  He sent Uriah back to the army, but he also sent orders to his general to put him on the front line, attack the city, and then suddenly pull back.  Not surprisingly, Uriah was killed.  I’m sure David never imagined back when he first looked over his roof and saw Bathsheba that giving in to that temptation would eventually turn him into a murderer as well. Well, after she mourned for her husband, David eventually brought her into his palace and made her his wife, where she eventually bore him a son.  And he thought the whole affair was over, done with, safely covered up.  What he didn’t take into account was the word of God which says, “Be sure – you’re sin will find you out!”

David Showed Genuine Repentance

We might be able to hide sin from one another for a period of time, but we can’t hide it from God. Eventually, he will demand an accounting for the things that we do.  In David’s case God sent the prophet Nathan to him with a story about a rich man who had many flocks and herds and a poor man who had only one ewe lamb.  When the rich man entertained a guest, instead of going to his own flock he took his neighbor’s one lamb.  When Nathan asked David what should be done to that man, David responded, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die.”  Then Nathan looked David straight in the eye and told him, “You are the man!”

Immediately David’s heart was broken – not grieved so much that he had been found out, but grieved that he had sinned against the Lord.  Psalm 51 is the song of his confession and repentance.  Let’s note several key parts of it.

·        Confession is honesty before the Lord (v.3-6).  Until we are willing to acknowledge the sin we have done and the sin that resides in our heart, we have no hope for forgiveness.  Confession means “to speak the same,” to call it like God calls it.  No excuses, no passing the blame, no rationalization.  Sin is not a mistake in judgment, a miscalculation or error, or even an “inappropriate relationship.”  It is a deliberate violation of God’s holy law.  Confession, on the other hand, is truthfulness with ourselves and others that we have done wrong and are willing to accept responsibility for our actions.

·        God is merciful and gracious (v.1-2, 7-9).  While on the one hand God is righteous and holy and hates sin, he also is merciful and wants to restore sinners.  He continually reaches out to them with love.  That’s why he sent Nathan to confront David.  There is no sin that is too heinous for God to forgive.  Not adultery.  Not lying.  Not even murder.  And forgiveness means that he removes our sin “as far as the east is from the west.”  In his prayer David asked the Lord to save him from “bloodguilt.”  In the OT, the blood of an animal became the substitute for that of a man.  But it was never adequate.  That’s why he eventually sent his own Son into the world.  Through his sacrificial death on the cross, the one who knew no sin actually became sin for us.  God paid the penalty for our sin with the death of his own Son.  That’s love.  That’s mercy.  That’s amazing grace.

·        God wants to give us a new heart (v.10-12).  After seeing the blackness of his own heart, David knew that he needed a new and different heart.  It’s one thing for God to forgive us.  It would be quite another to leave us in a situation where the cycle of sin is doomed to repeat itself over and over again.  God wants to give us the power to break that cycle by giving us a new heart, a clean heart, a pure heart.  That is possible because he gives us his Holy Spirit to dwell within us.  He speaks to our conscience, reminding us of what is holy and what is not.  His sanctifying power enables us to say “no” to temptation and live in victory over sin.  He offers to us his fruit of love, joy, peace, etc. 

By his demonstration of a broken spirit before the Lord, David showed why he was a man after God’s own heart.  God completely forgave him and restored him.  But David still had to suffer temporal consequences for his sin, though.  We need to understand that forgiveness does not necessarily cancel out any temporal consequences for our actions.  David’s infant son, conceived in this affair, died.  His oldest son attempted to steal the throne from him and, in the process, stole his wives from him.  He was denied the right to build the temple for the Lord.  And each of these events reminded him that sin has serious consequences, but God was merciful toward him.

Conclusion:

We all stand in need of God’s mercy and grace today.  Like David, we have occasionally let temptation lure us into activities and attitudes that are sin.  Maybe you haven’t committed adultery, or lied, or murdered, but one sin is no different from another.  The Bible says, “There is none that is righteous” and “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  And our feeble attempts to cover over our sin have not escaped the all-seeing eye of our Lord, who died for that sin.

The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.”  Since we are all sinners, that’s bad news.  But wait – there’s good news!  It also says, “The free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”  God is reaching out to you today with his free gift of forgiveness, of cleansing, of restoration.  All he asks of you is to become a person after his own heart – confess your sin to him, repent of it, and turn in faith to Christ who died on a cross to bring you back to God.