A Fallen King (1)

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The section of Scripture that is before us now and will be the focus of our study for the next six Sundays that I'm preaching at least

is set within the context of war.

Chapter 10 through 12 of 2 Samuel actually are bound together by an ongoing war between the nation of Israel

and the kingdom of Ammon or the Ammonites.

In fact, you've got your Bibles open there.

Just look at the end of chapter 10 at verse 14.

This kind of summarizes where we are as we jump into chapter 11.

It says,

When we get to chapter 11 in verse number 1,

we find that springtime is now upon them and it's time to go back to war.

So they resume this battle in the city of Rabba against the Ammonites.

All of the personnel of Israel's primary army have gone out once again in chapter 11 to battle the Ammonites.

Everyone that is except for King David.

In chapter 10, David is involved in the fighting.

In fact, the last four verses or five verses of chapter 10 are a telling of David's part of the battle,

whereas Joab was leading the battle against the Ammonites.

Now we get to chapter 11.

They've had their respite from war.

Everyone goes back to the battlefield except for David.

And it's the absence of King David that gives rise to the story that makes up almost all of chapters 11 and 12.

By the time we get to the end of chapter 12, we see the conclusion of this war.

And so it's set within that context.

It begins with war and it ends with war.

And right in the middle of it, the writer of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel pauses to ignore what's happening with the Ammonites

and zeroes in on something that happens with David.

The verses contain and communicate what is one of the most tragic and scandalous events in biblical history,

especially as it relates to the true worshipers of God, believers.

It describes the disastrous fall of one of the great heroes of the faith.

And it serves as a warning for us as believers of the potential that lies within us to fall into extreme sin.

And it shows us the devastating consequences of that sin,

even for one who's standing judicially before the God of heaven is one of forgiveness.

There are still consequences for what we do.

And it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle,

that David sent Joab and his servants with him in all Israel.

And they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah.

But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

And it came to pass in an evening tide that David arose from off his bed,

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 look upon.

And David sent and inquired after the woman.

And one said,

Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

And David sent messengers and took her.

And she came in unto him, and he lay with her.

For she was purified from her uncleanness, and she returned unto her house.

And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said,

I am with child.

Every time we study the Bible,

it's helpful to be reminded of its divine inspiration.

That is, that what we have in the scripture

is the perfect, inerrant word of God

given to us for a very specific reason.

Now, if you think about it,

there are millions and millions of people

and millions and millions of stories throughout history

that God could have chosen to include in the scriptures

as a part of his divine revelation to us.

But his infinite wisdom chose and orchestrated the inclusion

of what we have now in what we call the Bible.

Of all the things that God could have told us,

this is what he has determined was necessary for us to know.

And for us to know him.

And for us to know what is necessary for us

to be led ultimately to Christ and to salvation.

So in our study of the Bible,

whether it be our personal study

or whether it be our study as a church together

on Sundays or in another time,

it's helpful to always ask ourselves,

why did God choose to tell me this?

How does this fit within his divine purpose of revelation?

What is it that God is trying to reveal to us

in whatever passage we may be studying at the time?

And that's exactly the question

that is needful for us to ask now.

Of all the things that God could have included about David,

and there's a lot that he has included about David

in the scripture,

but of all the things,

why this?

Why this story?

There's no real theological teaching here.

Remember, the theological teaching that we find

comes from outside of the chapter.

It's just a story,

and it's not a good one.

It's a terrible story.

Yet God chose,

for a specific reason,

to give this to us,

to help us know him,

to help us understand his purposes.

This chapter is so much more

than a historical narrative

that is simply moving the story of Israel along.

It's not here by chance.

It reveals to us, once again,

the perfect holiness of God

as it is set against the depravity

and wickedness of man's heart.

As celebrated as David is in the scriptures even,

and as celebrated as he is

within both Jewish and Christian communities,

he was a deeply flawed man.

And like the rest of us,

he had a wicked heart,

that fell far short of the glory

that God demands that we give.

So no matter how much we champion the life of David,

he was utterly incapable of being

what we desperately need in a champion.

So what is the purpose of stories like this?

Is it just to move the history along?

No, it can't be that.

God's gotta have more of a purpose than that.

Is it to reveal to us the dangers of sin

and the consequences of sin?

It absolutely is that.

But ultimately, what this chapter does

is it subtly points us to Christ.

Where David was lacking, Christ made up.

The Bible goes to great lengths to tarnish

and expose all the men that we love,

except for one.

Because there was nothing there to tarnish.

There was nothing there to accuse.

He was perfect.

The perfect son of God

that came in order that we might be forgiven

of the sins that we commit,

similar to David and Moses and Abraham and so on.

Well, before we explore the narrative,

I wanna point out the fact

that the writer never comments

on the thoughts and reasonings

of the people involved in this story.

Did you notice that as we read through it?

There's no place in the scripture

where David's thoughts and Bathsheba's thoughts

and Joab's thoughts are really demonstrated in any way.

We have no idea what they were feeling.

We have no idea what they were thinking.

All we see is action.

With one small exception in the words of Uriah to the king,

there's no reasoning at all given

for why each person did what they did in this story.

Dale Ralph Davis wrote a really fantastic commentary

on both 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.

In fact, I would even encourage you to purchase it.

I think I got it for maybe $10 or less.

And I think that it would be a help to you

if you wanted to study these books further.

And I can give you that information later.

But he gave a really helpful literary note on this.

Here's what he said.

The writer's most apparent restraint

lies in his utter silence

regarding the feelings of his characters.

He does not clarify whether Bathsheba was baiting David

nor whether she considered the fling with the king in honor.

We do not and we cannot know.

The writer offers no help on this.

He doesn't even indicate how Joab felt

about David's plan to kill Uriah.

He carried it out and maybe even improved upon it.

But whether he felt shock or smug satisfaction

or something else, we are not told.

And then he says,

The writer seems to silence all feelings

in order to isolate David's actions.

The writer silences all feelings in this chapter

in order to isolate David's actions.

But why would he do that?

Why wouldn't he fill in this story?

Why wouldn't he fill in the gaps?

And I think the reason for excluding

any reasoning on the part of the people involved

emphasizes the fact that reasons and feelings

are irrelevant.

It doesn't matter how you feel

when it comes to the way that you behave.

It doesn't matter the reasons that you may would give

to try to justify the wrongdoing of your life.

At the end of the day,

your feelings and your reasonings are irrelevant.

At the end of the day,

what matters is this is what God has said

and this is what you have done

and you have violated the law of God

and therefore you stand guilty before God,

no matter how much you insist

on justifying your own behavior.

And so we don't find any feelings.

We only find action.

Well, let's look closely at the narrative

and just take a few minutes here

on these first five verses.

When we first study these five verses,

I think the most proper place for us to begin

is understanding sin's beginnings

and the origination of sin.

How was it that David was able to fall

so quickly in this sin?

Well, sin is conceived at the convergence

of desire and opportunity.

Sin is conceived.

It takes place at the moment that our desire

and an opportunity converge together

in a single moment

and we act upon that opportunity

and upon our desires.

James, the half-brother of Jesus,

said it this way in his letter in chapter one.

Each person is tempted

when he is lured away

and enticed by his own desire.

Then desire, when it has conceived,

gives birth to sin

and sin, when it is fully grown,

brings forth death.

So sin is committed

whenever we act upon an opportunity

to fulfill our own fleshly desires.

It's a daily battle of both the mind and the will.

For desire originates in the mind first

and opportunity is then seized by the will.

Let me explain that scripturally for just a moment.

Mind, heart, will.

That's the progression

to the origination of sin in our life.

The first thing is the battle of the mind.

Look at, or don't look at it,

I'll just read it to you.

You can write down the reference if you want.

2 Corinthians chapter 10.

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Paul writes to the Corinthians and he says this,

the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh

but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

We destroy arguments

and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God

and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

In other words, the beginning stages of sin

start with the battle of the mind.

Those things that exalt themselves

against the knowledge of God, Paul says,

those are the things that in spiritual warfare

we are trying to pull down,

whether that be disbelief,

whether that be false doctrine,

whether it be the temptation to sin,

all of it begins in the mind

and we must take captive every thought

to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

Well, how do we do that?

We do that with the word of God

through the spirit of God.

Remember, Paul wrote about the battle armor

of the Christian believer

and he goes through all the different facets of our armor

and then he gets to the end

and he gives the only offensive weapon.

The only offensive weapon is the sword of the spirit

which is the word of God.

Well, how do we fight off

and win this battle of the mind against sin?

With the word of God.

And as we commit ourselves to the study

and the obedience of the word of God,

the Holy Spirit himself, God himself,

enlightens our minds, enlightens our understanding

and gives us wisdom in order that we may obey

what it is that we've read.

And whenever we refuse to study the word of God,

when we do not commit ourselves to the faithful study,

we then are susceptible to the reasonings

and the arguments that may pop into our minds

about false doctrines, the reasons

and the arguments that would pop into our minds

that would point us towards sin.

And because we have not exalted the truth of God,

we will end up exalting the things

that exalt themselves against the truth of God.

So Paul says all of this begins in the mind.

If you want to win the battle over sin,

it starts with your mind and then it moves to the heart.

It moves to the heart.

Think about this from Jeremiah 17, 9.

The heart is deceitful above all things,

desperately wicked.

Who can know it?

We speak of the heart in our idioms these days

as the seat of emotion.

It is the place of feeling, the place of desire.

So as we exalt thoughts that exalt themselves

against the truth of God,

those things make their way into desire

and into the lust of our hearts.

And then Jeremiah reminds us

that we can't trust our hearts.

We hear phrases every now and then,

it bothers me.

My girls like Disney stuff like every other girl does

and they enjoy all of these things.

And I'm all about empowering my girls

to be strong women.

And we took some time this week

to study together as a family Proverbs 31

because I want my girls to understand

this is what a true,

true empowered godly woman is.

And we went through that description together.

The last thing I want them to do

is buy the lie that says follow your heart.

Or just look into your heart.

Because God's word says that our heart

is wicked, desperately so.

Who can know it?

And what resounds in our hearts,

that is the heart of flesh,

are those thoughts that we have reasoned together

against the knowledge of God

and it only leads us to sin.

And that's when we get to the part of the will.

Romans chapter six helps us here

where Paul writes and says,

let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body

to make you obey its passions.

Do not present your members to sin

as instruments of unrighteousness

but present yourselves to God

as those who have been brought from death to life

and your members to God

as instruments of righteousness.

Did you catch that in that phrase?

In fact, you could read all of Romans chapter six

and here's what the bottom line of that chapter is.

We sin by choice, not by force.

Every time you fall

and you do something against the law of God,

it is because you have chosen to do so.

You are responsible for your sin.

You are culpable for your sin.

Therefore, you are responsible and culpable

for the consequences of that sin.

So Paul says, don't let sin reign in your body

but rather exercise your will to choose righteousness

as opposed to wickedness.

And fortunately, God in his grace offers his people

an escape hatch in every temptation.

And again, Paul writing to the Corinthians,

first Corinthians chapter 10 this time,

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

says no temptation has overtaken you

that is not common to man,

but God is faithful

and he will not let you be tempted

beyond your ability.

But with the temptation,

he will also provide the way of escape

that you may be able to bear it.

God provides this escape hatch

for each one of us in every temptation,

but it's up to us to take the escape.

Now I want you to consider

all of the moments and opportunities of escape

that David had in this story.

Look first at verse one.

We've talked about it a lot already.

We won't spend a lot of time on it now.

But the first escape hatch was the fact

that he should have never been at home to begin with.

He tarried still at Jerusalem, we're told.

It seems innocent.

I mean, surely after everything that David has done,

at this point, he's probably reaching 50 years old or so.

We've seen the way that God has used him.

We've seen the battles that he's fought.

Surely he has earned a little extra vacation from battle,

but we know he didn't need it.

He just had several months of vacation from battle.

It seems innocent.

Maybe it's not that big a deal,

but as you see the story unfold,

you realize that was actually a big deal.

The first thing was he should have never been there.

He abdicated his responsibility in this moment.

A little bit of laziness,

a little bit of slumber cost him dearly in the long run,

but it was an escape hatch.

He didn't have to be there.

Look at verse two.

It came to pass late one evening that David arose from off his bed,

and he walked upon the roof of the king's house.

And from the roof, he saw a woman bathing herself.

My brother and my dad have shown me pictures of what's known in Jerusalem as the city of David.

It's a section of Jerusalem,

and there's still ruins of David's palace there.

And they've shown me pictures of how you could be in the palace.

It's up on a hill,

and the places around it are very close,

but they're down.

So it'd be very easy to stand on the roof of the king's palace

and be able to see everything that's going on with the subjects below you.

You could see right into their homes.

You could see right into their backyards.

And what's happening here is,

we would assume,

is Bathsheba's probably in the courtyard of her home.

And David walks out on the roof,

and he's observing what's going on among the people that are still left there in Jerusalem.

And as he looks down,

he sees Bathsheba taking a bath.

But here's the thing.

In verse number two,

he had to walk up the stairs to the roof.

Here's the escape hatch.

The same stairs that went up to the roof

left the roof.

What would have been best for David in that moment

is after seeing Bathsheba,

to shield himself

and to immediately exit

the same way that he entered onto the roof.

But instead of exiting,

instead of taking the escape hatch,

he gawked over Bathsheba.

He fantasized over Bathsheba,

and he developed in his heart

this desire for her.

And he chose the desire

rather than choosing the righteous thing

of just going back down into the palace

and purifying his mind.

And then we get to verse three.

David sent and inquired after the woman.

And God does something unique here,

something very helpful.

Would have been.

He gave a word of reminder to David

before he has an opportunity to act.

God puts a voice in David's life.

We have no idea who this person is.

Probably just a servant

in the household of the palace.

Puts a voice.

And here's what the voice says.

Is not this Bathsheba,

the daughter of Eliam,

and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

God does that for us a lot, doesn't he?

We're going through moments of temptation.

We begin to follow down this path of temptation.

And then God puts a voice.

Most often that voice is the word of God.

Sometimes it may be a sermon on a Sunday

or a scripture reading.

Sometimes it may be through our personal devotion.

Sometimes it may be a friend

that just cares about us and loves us

and is reaching into our lives

to try to disciple us in a moment.

But God is so gracious to sometimes put voices around us

that will say,

hey, is that not Bathsheba?

This was no stranger to David.

Eliam, her father, was one of David's mighty men.

So was Uriah, her husband.

They had fought shoulder to shoulder with David

probably from even before

when Saul was still reigning in Israel.

When David was on the run,

they were fighting shoulder to shoulder.

This was not a stranger in Jerusalem.

This wasn't a random person.

David very well could have been at their wedding.

And here he is looking at the houses

that are closest to the king's palace,

those who he wanted to keep closest to him.

He knows these people and he looks over

and he sees Bathsheba

who no doubt he's probably fantasized about

in his mind before

and he sends to inquire

and then God puts a voice there

and says, David, isn't this Bathsheba?

This is your friend's daughter.

This is your friend's husband.

And he's faced with another choice there in that moment.

Yes, then what am I doing?

And he could have easily stopped every intention,

went to a place of prayer,

repented and got out to the battlefield,

but that's not what David did.

What'd he do?

Verse four.

He sent the messengers.

He ignored the voice

and he took her

and she came in unto him

and he laid with her.

For she was purified from her uncleanness.

That's just a statement to the bathing

that she was doing

was a ritualistic bathing

after her menstruation,

proving that there was only one person

that this baby could have belonged to

because her husband wasn't there

and she returned to her house.

David refused to take the divine escape routes

and he sent for Bathsheba

in order that his lust might be fulfilled

in what he probably assumed

would be a secret one-night stand.

Verse four is all action on David's part.

There's no reasoning.

He saw.

He sent.

He took.

He lay.

Action verb after action verb.

And he thought it would just be an exciting fling

while everyone else was on the battlefield.

But it turned to a nightmare

because now the king of Egypt,

not of Egypt,

the king of Israel,

the shepherd of Israel,

had now impregnated

one of his good friend's wives.

And she simply sends word and says,

I'm with child.

I don't want to take too much time here,

but I don't think that we can look at this passage

without addressing the issue of adultery

and the warning that's here.

This is a sobering passage

because it's so contemporary.

Alistair Begg said it this way,

the contemporary nature of what is conveyed here

is not simply tolerated in our culture.

It's celebrated.

And unfortunately,

the wicked view of marital fidelity

has infiltrated the church.

Statistics are alarming

about the rate of Christian divorces

that are a direct result of infidelity.

A 2014 study stated

that 54% of Christian men

regularly view pornography,

which is just another form of adultery.

And if you don't have a spouse,

it's just another form of fornication.

Impurity.

Some try to circumvent

the law of fidelity

by just simply cohabitating

with various sexual partners.

It's sin.

It's not right.

There's no love in this story.

There's no love in this scene.

Again,

Dale Davis says,

there's nothing but action.

There's no conversation.

There's no hint of caring

or affection,

of love,

only lust.

David does not call her by name.

He does not even speak to her.

At the end of the encounter,

she is only the woman

in verse five.

And the verb that finally counts

is conceived.

But the telling verb

is he took her.

Love has nothing to do with this scene.

Adultery never does.

Because adultery does not result

from true love

no matter how insistent

one may be

when attempting to justify their sin.

Love comes from God alone.

And it's impossible

for true love

to give way

to sinful behavior.

Adultery is the result

of the drunkenness of lust.

And to make anything less of it

is to utterly reject God's truth

and sink into the depths

of human depravity.

And those who commit adultery

don't normally find themselves

following it up with murder

as David did.

But that doesn't make

the adultery itself

any less serious.

So how do we fight

this battle of the mind

and this battle of the heart

and this battle of the will

as it relates to

the sin of adultery?

Let me just give you

a few verses.

The battle of the mind

you guard what you see

what you watch

the thoughts that you entertain.

Remember Philippians 4.8

Whatsoever is true

and just

and faithful

and right

and pure

think on

these things

Paul says

the battle of the mind

in this way

has everything to do

with what you put on the TV

and what you allow

on the computer

and how you allow your mind

to entertain

various things in your life.

Think on what is true

and right

and good

and faithful

and godly

win that battle of the mind.

But then there's

the battle of the heart.

Colossians chapter 3

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

helps us here.

Here's what Paul writes

to the church at Colossae.

If ye then be risen with Christ

seek those things

which are above

where Christ sits

on the right hand of God.

And then he says

verse 2

set your affection

on things above.

What's the things above?

Christ

is the things above.

Godliness

righteousness

truth

set your affection

your heart

your desire

desire after God

for you are dead

and your life

is hid with Christ

and God

and when Christ

who is our life

shall appear

then shall ye also

appear with him

in glory.

mortify

put to death

therefore

your members

which are upon the earth

fornication

uncleanness

inordinate affection

evil concupiscence

and covetousness

which is idolatry

for which things sake

the wrath of God

comes

on those

who disobey.

What's the battle

of the heart about?

It's about setting

your affection

on what is

Christ like

and what is true

not on what

your heart

tells you

it wants

the most

and then there's

the battle

of the will

in 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

and verse 4

or verse 3

this is the will

of God

even your

sanctification

that you should

abstain

from fornication

that every one

of you should know

how to possess

his vessel

in sanctification

and honor

not in the lust

of concupiscence

even as the Gentiles

which know not God

it's the battle

of the will.

He doesn't say

that there's some

type of magic formula

that comes

he just says

don't do it

abstain

just say

no

this story

is a sobering

acknowledgement

of the potential

for incredible sin

even in the life

of a believer

David wasn't

a lost man

he was a man

after God's own heart

it was through

David

and his seed

that God

was going to

bring the Messiah

this is significant

this is a significant

believer

a worshiper

of God

and it's a reminder

to us

that the best

of men

are men

at best

and we might

have expected

a story like this

to be

connected

with Saul

or one of the other

blatantly wicked

kings in Israel

but we would never

have assumed

that David

would have done this

and that's just

the adultery part

let alone

the murder

and the deception

it reminds us

that we are

just as

susceptible

to falling

as David

and it's a fitting

warning to all of us

in fact the Bible

warns us often

about this

1 Corinthians 10

let anyone

who thinks he stands

take heed

lest he fall

Proverbs 16

pride goes before

destruction

a haughty spirit

before a fall

you think

I would never

do that

think again

you don't know

the depths

of your own

depravity

Galatians 6

brothers

if anyone

is caught

in a transgression

you who are

spiritual

restore him

in a spirit

of gentleness

gentleness

is the operative

word

not heavy

handedly

why

because we are

to keep watch

on ourselves

lest we also

be tempted

and when we're

tempted and fall

we don't want

heavy handedness

we want mercy

and grace

and then we think

of others

in the New Testament

think about Demas

Demas was a

companion of Paul

he was a faithful

minister of the gospel

but when Paul

writes to Timothy

in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

at the end of his life

he says Demas

has forsaken me

having loved

this present world

a man who traveled

side by side

with the apostle Paul

and now he's

forsaken him

don't think that

it wouldn't happen

to you

it's much more

than a history lesson

it's a divine

warning

that we can all

fall deeply

into sin

so stay watchful

Robert Robinson

was born to

a very poor

family in Norfolk

England

1735

when he was

14 years old

his mom

sent him

to London

to follow

a barbary

trade

he was going

to be a barber

and while he

was there

he got caught

up in a gang

of delinquents

and really just

lived a life

of debauchery

when he was

17 years old

he and his

group of friends

decided that they

were going to go

to a meeting

where George

Whitfield was

preaching

and if you've

ever studied

anything about

George Whitfield

you know that

he was a very

evangelistic preacher

he had these

open door

or open air

meetings where

he would stand

in a field

and he would

preach to all

of these people

and it was a

very evangelistic

preaching

lots of people

came to know

Christ through

the ministry

of George

Whitfield

well they

went there

not to hear

the preaching

of George

Whitfield

they went

there to

on his own

quote

scoff at the

poor deluded

Methodist

is what they

went there

to do

and he didn't

get saved

that day

but there

was a phrase

that George

Whitfield

kept repeating

and it stayed

with Robert

Robinson

after the fact

it was

the wrath

to come

the wrath

to come

the wrath

to come

and he

couldn't

shake that

thought

out of his

mind

so that

a few days

later

he ended up

subsequently

coming to

Christ

and trusting

the Lord

and he even

became a pastor

and a very well

known theologian

at the time

in 1758

he wrote

and published

a famous hymn

that we sing

here at our

church

in fact

I think

we're scheduled

to sing it

next Sunday

evening

Sunday even

come thou

fount of

every blessing

is the song

that he wrote

and the song

asserts the

confidence

and wonder

of the salvation

that only comes

through Jesus

Christ

it's filled

with excitement

and joy

and love

for the Lord

and for God's

grace

but the third

verse of that

hymn

clues us in

to the dangers

that we could

all fall into

you remember

in the third

verse

Robinson writes

prone to wonder

Lord I feel it

prone to leave

the God I love

and this verse

became somewhat

prophetic

in his life

because in his

later years

he returned

to the same

debauchery

that he was

guilty of

as an unsaved

teenager

living in London

and because

of that sinfulness

he began to

walk away

from the

orthodox

teaching

of the

Bible

even became

a Unitarian

at one point

denying

the Trinitarian

God

and as the

story goes

he was

one day

riding on a

shared stagecoach

late in his

life

and there was

another woman

that was in

the stagecoach

with him

and she was

reading through

a hymn book

and humming

the tunes

of the hymn book

and to break up

the monotony

of the ride

she starts

a conversation

with Robert

Robinson

and says

what do you

think about

the hymn

that I was

just singing

and as the

story goes

Robert Robinson

emotionally

responds

madam I am

the poor

unhappy man

who wrote

that hymn

many years

ago

and I would

give a

thousand

worlds

if I had

them

to enjoy

the feelings

I had

then

I would

give a

thousand

worlds

if I

had

them

to

enjoy

the

feelings

that I

had

then

I think

both King

David and

Robinson

would have

never gone

down their

respective

paths

had they

looked ahead

at the

devastation

it would

cause

and their

lives serve

as a warning

for us

if you want

to know

what comes

at the end

of sin

look to

these men

the

displeasure

of God

and the

consequences

of sin

are not

worth

a few

moments

of pleasure

so church

take

warning

David's

not our

champion

Jesus is

and the

best thing

about the

champion

that we

have in

Christ

is that

there's

forgiveness

and grace

no matter

what we

do

for all

who will

come

not trying

to justify

and make

excuses

and tell

God

exactly

well this

is what

happened

it's really

David's

fault

or it's

really

Bathsheba's

fault

or whatever

the mercy

doesn't

await those

people

the mercy

awaits

those who

come with

a humble

and contrite

spirit

and that's

available to

you today

if your

sin has

taken hold

of your

life

but it

will only

take

a contrite

spirit

and a

humility

seeking

forgiveness

acknowledging

your own

sin

that will

receive

that

mercy

and that

forgiveness

thank you

for listening

to this

sermon

made available

by Lakeside

Bible Church

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it wherever

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or alter

it in

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express

written

consent

from Lakeside

Bible Church

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