2 Samuel 11 (Part 1) Bible Study | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

It's always great to see you on a Friday evening.

And I'm glad that you're here tonight for this particular

chapter. Because it is a very important.

One for many reasons, as you will discover that the subject

of our study, this evening is perhaps the most infamous scene

pertaining to David's life. You have heard me say different

points throughout our studying first and second Samuel, that

when we come to a certain event or occurrence, I mentioned how

this will be a pivotal moment for David and in some cases for

the nation of Israel as a whole and I'm going to say that again

tonight. I'm going to say that again for

this chapter and add to that that what is going to take place

in these verses. Will bring about results unlike

anything else before after this notorious episode and it won't

be for the good. After you and I complete chapter

11 and chapter 12, you're going to notice something for the rest

of. The second Samuel, what you're

going to see is that there will be a heightened.

And heartbreaking series of crimes scandals.

Betrayals feuds division. And it will have an impact

Beyond David's own household. It will Ripple into society

itself and you might be wondering, why will that be the

case and a major contribution to the chaos that will ensue is

because David is about to now execute a series of Unthinkable

actions. That will trigger a lifetime of

repercussions. This is a serious chapter 2

solemn chapter. It's a dark chapter.

David is going to have a moral failure.

And this moral failure will indeed breed tragic fruit.

In fact, it will come to the point of his final breath and

even beyond that. And that is the power of sin.

And all of this is is going to be an upsetting reporting as

upsetting as it is. It's just a testament to the

Integrity of the word of God. The Bible is not just a book of

Truth. The Bible tells the truth, And

the Holy Spirit because we believe this book is inspired by

the holy spirit because he is the true author and he has used

human vessels throughout time, he in his power and his wisdom

potentially restricted, the authors of this book to hide the

failures of their hero Heroes and even their own shortcomings

and we should praise God for that because it's through these

failures and these descriptions of Falls that we get to glean

wisdom. Mm, and we get to prevent these

disasters from occurring in our own lives.

If we if we have ears to hear And so, what's going to happen

in second Samuel chapter 11, is that this is going to be a

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

serious Crossroads for the rest of this narrative and it's all

going to begin with the act of adultery.

Where a man will take somebody else's wife and engage in

Intercourse and our intimacy. That is illegitimate, that's

where it's all going to start. And the pursuit of wisdom

tonight is what we Endeavor to do because we want to look at

this and realize, this is this is given to us for a purpose.

And so we don't choose our topics for Friday nights.

That's the beauty of verse by verse preaching.

We just honor what God puts before us as we go through a

book and we stick to it, no matter how difficult it may be

to hear know how difficult it may be to to comprehend or to

apply. And we trust that God has the

best in mind for us and we just we endure what he has to say.

So I want to say this from the from the beginning before I read

because our Bible study tonight, it's only going to be the first

five verses we can rush to this. But you know the model here we

don't do that. We take our time to digest all

that God has to say. I want to say, by mentioning

this that the sin of adultery is Never by accident, it's never by

accident. It is.

Only the ugly fruit of previous unchecked failures that have

overtime work together to cause a collapse.

And the purpose of this study tonight is to examine the

contributions to this. Great fall in David's life.

You see what the Holy Spirit does by giving us these details

is to show us what went wrong before this wrong and that's

important for us to grasp because as we examine these

things, we will in return. Be able to examine what can

corrode and what can actually influence our ability to resist

all temptation, especially the tent.

Tatian in regards to the category of sexual immorality.

Sexual morality is a growing struggle, not just in the world,

but in the church statistics are staggering staggering.

And when I learned early on in Ministry, of what people in the

church are indulging in and what even pastors are indulging and

they say, 50% of pastors are involved in.

Pornography 50% And then we wonder perhaps, why are we not

seeing the power of God? Like we should be.

And so this is vital because in my personal study of the first

five verses I was able to find five factors that contributed to

this moral failure. And as we carefully examine

these contributions to this agonizing sin it will help us be

prepared, be guarded, be alert, but that's how I want you to

have a lens. As I read these verses as it is

our practice. I'm going to read these five

verses and you they mention other details but I want you

with eyes to see what is it? That went wrong and David's life

at this point of his life and maybe before this point of his

life that encouraged him to embrace this sin.

So freely and so pay attention. I hope you have a copy of God's

word in your hand and we're going to pray and ask the Lord

to help us with this study and trust that it will build our

faith for his glory. Lord, we know that this text is

dark. It may be disturbing.

But you have given it to us because love warns.

And we just thank you in advance for why you have given us this

tax and how in your Providence it has come before us on this

Friday evening. So Lord we just pray for a

special assistance from the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

That it may rest upon the ministry of the word and that we

may be built up. As a result in Jesus is

matchless precious glorious. Holy name.

We pray. Amen.

Second Samuel chapter 11. Verse 1.

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

In the spring of the year, the time, when kings go out to

battle, David sent joab, and her servants with him and all

Israel. And they ravaged the ammonites

and besieged. Rabbah, but David remained a

Jerusalem. 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 and behold,

rather than David sent and inquired about the woman.

And one said, is this not Bathsheba the daughter of eliam,

the wife of Uriah, the hittite. So David sent Messengers and

took her and she came to him and he lay with her, she had been

purifying herself from her uncleanness and we should she

returned to her house and the woman conceived and she sent and

told David. I am pregnant.

Not very inspiring but very instructive.

Is there anything that stands out to you in those verses?

Yes. Mmm, David sent his men out to

war, but he remained at home. We're going to see why that is a

problem in a moment. Anything else?

Yes. Yes, that is a huge problem.

He committed adultery. Is there anything that you see

there that led to that? Okay.

So the in the gate indication here is not that he saw her and

that he bounced his eyes and realize, that's a woman bathing

in her in her own home. There seems to be prolonged

gaze. Absolutely.

Because he was able to register that.

She was beautiful and we're going to see how a look can be

extremely dangerous. Yes.

Even upon the report of The Men Who informed him who she was

that did not deter him from pursuing his lust.

Yes, Yes. It's not a good sign for you to

be laying around in your couch until the evening.

That's a dangerous sign. These are wonderful.

You guys are touching on all these points.

Yes. Isn't that interesting that the

servants, they're not stupid if they didn't pick up?

On, what's Happening early on? Surely something must have

registered when a woman came to David by herself to be with him

by themselves. And there's a lot to say about

that. And one of those things is that

it's very difficult to correct, somebody in power, isn't it?

For a lot of people it is, especially when that person is a

man of God, and they have a history where they have done,

much for God, it's very difficult for people to be able

to stand up for righteousness and to correct somebody who has

influence. That's a great observation.

The servants seem to be complying with what's happening.

Yes, Very good observation. We're putting all the blame on

David here. Are we not?

And yes, it's true. That he is the instigator but

Bathsheba seems to show very little if any Resistance.

It takes two to tango my friends, doesn't it?

Yes. Yes, worries.

Yes. Yeah, that's right.

And as I said earlier, you don't just fall into the sin of

adultery or sexual morality for that matter.

Yes. Yeah.

Isn't that interesting? I was originally sent wonderful

to come to Bible study to find answers to these questions.

Why is it mentioning here at the end of verse at the end of verse

4 that she was? She had purified herself from

her uncleanness? Well that's a law.

That's a levitical law and it's an indication of well, you'll

find out, you'll find out but good, good observation, maybe

one or two more. Yes, Carl.

Yeah, that's an interesting observation to.

Well, I think their shame here think there's embarrassment

here, think there's regret, I think there's grief and this is

just the beginning of the pangs of what is to come.

And as maybe we find one more if the guys can help with the

buzzing here there's a buzzing on my right side.

Maybe you don't hear it but I do hear it.

And maybe as I go along, they'll disappear as I get louder.

Maybe that won't happen. But yeah, if you can help with

it, I'd be wonderful. Maybe one more observation.

Yes. Say that again.

Oh, what? So you have to speak up if you

don't mind. When he was bored.

Yeah. Yeah.

That's great. Yeah, boredom.

Yeah, there's boredom. You're absolutely.

And you had something sister. Yes, he does have a few wives.

In fact, a numerous amount of wives, great observation.

Why? I think you guys just finished

the Bible said I don't really need to continue.

We can just wrap up sing a couple songs and go home but we

won't because we're going to expand on the very things that

you just mentioned. And so I told you today that

there is five factors not just in here.

I mean I would say four of them are here but one is connected to

To what's happening here. That is completely related to

David. And so if you're a note-taker or

if you just have this wonderful gift of retaining things in your

mind, pay attention because we want to look at these failures.

That contributed to this ultimate failure and failure.

Number one, Is not found in these verses, but it is

something that is observed when you have an overarching view of

David's life and that is this, the failure to deal with

unrestrained passions, early on the failure to deal with

unrestrained passions, early on, we have familiarize ourselves

with David enough to know as our sister just said that although

he was a spiritually strong man, he did find himself. if wanting

in one very important aspect, this man had great conviction

for much of the law. But if there was one thing that

he failed in it, it was in his perception of God's design for

marriage. He fell short and he's

commendable for his convictions and other places.

But when it came to the blueprint of marital Covenant,

he was somebody who was severely lacking in the number of wives

that David had and accumulated over his young life into into

his adult life is telling its evidence that he did not have

self-control in the area of sexual desires.

And so we look at this and we realized that it started with

having two wives and having to let to having multiple and who

would have thought that having multiple lives would eventually

lead him to taking somebody else's wife?

And you and I have to begin in our analysis of David's fall

here because it is absolutely foundational.

See, when we see what happens with his coveting of uriah's

wife, that is not something spontaneous, that's not

something that just spring up out of anywhere.

It is a result and it stemmed from a serious defect in his

whole belief system. And here is where I need you to

pay attention tonight that who you are today, and what you

invest in yourself or lack of investment.

Today will determine who you'll be tomorrow.

That includes what you believe and that includes how you

behave. That is a rule for every element

and every aspect of life including how you and I deal

with sexual Temptation. Now If you are a person who

struggles and who is weak in the area of succumbing to passions,

whether it's promiscuity, whether it's pornography,

whether it's being inappropriately, flirtatious and

think that at some point that's just going to disappear.

When you, when you realize you need to settle down, you are

dangerously mistaken, dangerously mistaken.

Lust is something that can never be satisfied.

When it is fed. When you try to fulfill its

urges, I'll tell you what happens.

Your only strengthening your appetite You're only

strengthening your appetite. Only when you give yourself to

God's design for sexuality will you know the fruition and the

blessing of it, when you step outside of those boundaries, you

inherit messiness and that is why people who are addicted to

pornography. They find themselves over time,

exploring and in an opening themselves up to very strange

and extreme versions of it. Because what happens is they

blunt their appetite and then they need to go for another kind

of That brings a shock to them. And so what you see here with

David is a prime example that if you think you will actually calm

that Temptation down by giving into it realize that this man

could snap his finger and have any woman at his command and it

still left him wanting and chasing and planning and

scheming. And here's why many people fail

in this area because they view sexuality purely on a physical

level. So what do they do?

They look for a physical Outlet to deal with it.

When at its core, it's a spiritual issue.

And so we come up with strange Solutions, the worst of them is

just giving into it because we think that sexual desires is

equated to being thirsty or being hungry, you can't survive

by not drinking or by not eating, you can survive by not

giving over into yourself into this desire, you can survive as

tormenting as it might be to. You can actually, you can

actually survive to your dying day without giving in to this at

any point. But see, we've been fed from

this culture that you can't live without it.

That this is the, the prime Ecstasy of all other pleasures.

And so people just, they just give in and you have other

people who have innocent Solutions Who think that, you

know, they can just give themselves into Reckless

Behavior, but oh, once they get married, all of it will be

solved. Listen, marriage is not your

savior for sexual sin Christ is Marriage, isn't once you find

that person and you and you you consummate and you're intimate

with that person. If you don't realize that what

you allow, previously is not dealt with your bringing that

into your marriage and that's why I tell single people all the

time. If you are bound particularly to

pornography and you have the same time are Desiring marriage

Kill that thing before you even consider a spouse.

Kill that thing before you even consider a spouse because I'm

telling you the spouse will not save you.

Only the Holy Spirit can. And so you have to deal with

these things early on, because if not subdued, by the spirit,

natural means will not work and what we learned before we even

come to, these verses is a universal principle that God has

established in Galatians 6:7, whatever one shows that will he

Galatians 6:7

also reap And for so long, he's been sowing whenever I want

something. Whenever I want something new

and exciting whenever I see a woman giving me attention and

compliments me and gives me, gives me this feeling of

excitement and exuberance and I give into that, I marry her and

I add her to the list of my roster of woman.

Because he's been doing that for so long.

Now it's manifesting in a new level, see what David is able to

do here is because of his lack of conviction from his teenage

years. and so realize again, that your War would sin today is

an investment for your Victory tomorrow and your leniency for

sin today could be the investment of great collapse

that is unforeseen failure, number one that led to this Was

the inability to restrain passions early on by the power

of the spirit. Now let's come to the second

failure in verse 1 and the spring of the year, the time

when kings go out to battle Davidson job and his servants

with him and all Israel and they ravaged the ammonites and

besieged. Rabbah, but David remained at

Jerusalem. That first part of this verse,

we're going to touch on at the end, but for the sake of our

assignment tonight, let's underscore the last phrase here.

The last sentence of this verse. But David remained.

At Jerusalem the same verse informs us, why?

This is a problem when kings. David is a king go out to

battle. He stayed at home.

David had to duty. And his duty was to go out into

the battlefield. Why in the spring it was easier

to go to war. It's like things in life that

every year, have seasons. And this time, they didn't have

the technology to go to war during the winter.

Or during stormy Seasons, they went.

When the ground would be drying, there is more favorable.

Weather seems strange to us. But that was the case.

David was supposed to be out on the battlefield and instead he's

staying in his bedroom. Why?

I mean, we can, we can give many reasons why regardless it's not

justified. He's supposed to be there and

maybe he's getting old and he thought to himself, I'm not into

this anymore. I can't move like, I used to,

but he still was a commander and he needed to be with his men.

And instead, he's sitting on the couch watching TV.

And here's the thing that we have to understand, that David

is neglecting his god-given responsibility.

And here's the point here, when anybody has a casual attitude

towards the will of God, they always leave the door unlocked

for temptation to kick, open. There is something extremely

protective when you and I are actively engaged in what God has

called us to do when you go beyond this idea, that God just

saved me so I can get to heaven. But he also deposited something

in me so that I can serve him on the earth when you get to that

point, that's a wonderful motivation unto righteousness.

She realized that you've been commissioned by a holy God, from

Heaven here on Earth. And you realize that there is

something of me that has been fashioned to fill a position

that nobody else does or can. That's that's awesome.

There's Hope there their Zeal there.

There's there's purpose there and when you fail to perceive

that, here's what begins to happen.

You begin to become open to settle for empty Pleasures or

vein passions. So people who don't take the

will of God, seriously are the most susceptible to the world

seductions and fleshly impulses all the time all the time.

And so I think here, this is a great place to ask a very

pressing question for all of us at this Bible study, you ready?

Am I where I'm supposed to be? When it comes to the will of God

for my life notice. I didn't say are you perfect?

I'm asking you what path you're on.

What path are you on? What do you see?

Even though you can't see the future?

What steps are you? Taking that can give you the

confidence that I am in the will of God.

What's your relationship with the word of God?

Like You know Kings were called to write down the law and to

read it day and night. They were supposed to have a

copy of God's word. And if we're royalty according

to Christ, and we should adopt Royal principles and

disciplines. What's your relationship like

with the word of God? What's your relationship with

prayer? What's your prayer life?

Like, ready for this one? What's your relationship with

the local church? What's are you obeying?

The will of God and how you should relate to the local

church. Are your gifts collecting dust

or are they opening up and being used to build other people?

See you have to consider that and if you can't say, I don't

know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, you're in

jeopardy. You're in Jeopardy.

David is in a dangerous place right now because David is not

where Christ called them to be and Christ promises you.

And I a particular joy that can only be found on the path of

obedience, and when you don't walk in obedience, you miss out

on that joy. And when you miss out on that

Joy, you are willing to make room for false happiness.

In other things to satisfy you. In January this year, it will

be. I believe, 11 years of walking

with the Lord for me personally because I got saved the 2012 of

January. Can I tell you something these

11 years? He's never failed to satisfy me.

Never never failed. I can tell you 100 failures of

the false promises of this world but I can guarantee you that

Christ has never failed to fulfill me.

Am I different? Am I an alien?

No, I'm Flesh. And Blood just like you and I

testify confidently that Christ satisfies.

And here's a principle that I give people, especially in the

area of sexual Temptation. And I hope that this is a life

verse for you in the Book of Proverbs, it's in chapter 27 and

verse 7, and I want you to see it in your own Bible so that you

can have it embedded on your soul.

Chapter 27, verse 7 of proverbs. 27 verse 7, one who is full

Proverbs 27:7

loathes honey. But to one who is hungry.

Everything bitter is sweet one. Who is full loads honey, but one

who is hungry, everything bitter.

Is sweet. When people begin to feel the

intensification of exploration of worldly, Goods.

I know one thing about that person.

They're hungry. And the substance that should be

filling them in Christ is lacking.

And we are all wired to know contentment.

Or else, what's this Pursuit of Happiness that people are on?

The the pursuit is not wrong, it's the object that's wrong,

right? But the person who is full in

God, he can walk by a buffet of Temptation and not even look

twice because he's already at rest.

And so here is the joy. He is the, here's the goodness

of God, that when you are satisfied in him, it keeps you

from lurking and looking for things that even if you know,

it's bitter but because you have nothing else going on, you need

to fill that void. So you begin to now taste here

and there and it's actually poisonous, it's bitter.

So the solution here is deeper than then, this is right, and

this is wrong, you're not satisfied, you're not satisfied.

Well, it's because my wife has been like this lately is because

my husband's by Lego City. No, no, you're not satisfied in

God. It's as simple as that.

Don't give me any excuses down deep inside.

That's the core reason why you are flirting with this sin.

And so you. And I have to understand here,

that David being outside of the will of God is a recipe.

For something that he's about to indulge in that will hurt him

and bite back failure. A failure to be diligent in the

duty that God has called him and his called you the closer you

are to the will of God, the further, you will be away from

temptation. But the moment you Veer off,

you're in dangerous territory. So here's the thing, people ask

me. Do you have devotion?

I didn't feel like it's not a matter of what you feel.

Can I tell you what? It's a matter of survival, I

don't feel like it, who cares, huh?

Doesn't matter. It's a matter of you surviving.

That's what it is and if you have that mentality realized,

what if I don't cling to you if I don't stay close to you, I

will invite things. I I'm capable of doing anything

all know David here. This is King David, the

psalmist, the worship leader. The Men Who had Faith.

Unlike any other Israel. This man was susceptible being

outside of the will of God. Be careful, stay close to him.

Stay close to him. That's the second failure.

A failure to be diligent in our duty.

The first one was a failure to deal with unrestrained passions

early. On now we come to the third one.

The third failure that led to this ultimate failure, a failure

to conquer idleness. It's very similar to the second

point, but it's worth mentioning on its own.

It Happened One late afternoon. When David arose from his couch

some translations as we heard says evening.

It's not uncommon than nor is it in different parts of the world

today, for people to wake up, very early, work hard.

And then to have a siesta, a nap, the hottest period of the

day and wake up and go back to work, but the holy spirit is

very specific in highlighting that David resting on his couch

is not a result of a long, an early day of work because he's

not at work one and two It Happened.

One late. Late afternoon close to the

evening time that we find David on his bed.

Laziness doesn't always lead to lust but it definitely

encourages it. See what we see here.

Is this man is lounging around the house.

He's extensively sleeping. He's browsing in his Palace and

you've often heard it said that. If the devil can't make you bad

he'll make you busy, right? Have you heard that before the

devil can't make you bad? He'll make you busy, but you got

to realize there's another side to the issue.

And here it is. If you and I are not hard at

work, we give the devil some work to do.

So there's two extremes, right? We can become so busy with our

worldly responsibilities that we forget our Heavenly calling, but

you and I can also be So distracted, so laid-back that

the lack of work in our lives, the lack of the sweat of the

brow, the lack of being focused on having a mission and

assignments, gives Satan something to work with.

I don't think we consider that as a danger.

But can I tell you something at this bible study this Friday

night. Yes, lazy Christians are

dangerous. Lazy Christians are dangerous.

There are danger onto themselves and they are a danger to the

health of the local church. You have to just read the

Epistles to see that if there is a disruption or a distraction in

a home, in a circle of friends are in a congregation.

There is a high chance that the source you ready for this is

someone who is not given to daily responsibilities.

And has a lot of time on their hands.

I want to show you how that's true, not just for sexual sin.

I want to, I want to show you how it's true even for different

types of sin, go to the epistle. First Timothy in chapter 5.

A failure to conquer idleness. in 1st, Timothy Chapter 5 and in

verse 13, Paul is speaking about young widows in the church and

he's giving Timothy instructions of who to enroll and who not to

enroll in the financial support Ministry and Paul reserves.

The younger widows who have lost their husbands from being a part

of that contribution system for different reasons.

And he speaks about the danger of their youth and the danger of

their single status. And in this verse, in verse 13,

he's going to mention something about the manifestation of their

lack of maturity. And it's really an insight about

the danger of idleness. So, you're there in first,

Timothy 513. Let's read besides that, they

learn. It's talking about the young

widows to be idlers going about from house to house and not only

idle hours but also God. Ships and busybodies saying,

what they should not. What Paul is saying, Timothy, be

careful and enrolling younger widows because, look, how they

use their free time instead of caring for The Afflicted.

Instead of washing the feet of the Saints, instead of utilizing

that free time to be devoted to the Lord, and being like Anna,

who came to the temple. And she was an older Widow, but

she fasted and prayed. Instead of doing those things,

they are on a campaign of going from house to house to house and

in our contacts, ready for this from group chat to text group to

this or that. From Instagram to Snapchat, too.

I don't know what else is out there.

And are saying things that they shouldn't be saying.

And here he highlights. That this is dangerous because

their free time is luring them to be nosey to be investigative

to look into the Affairs of other people's lives and because

they don't have much going on in their own lives.

They are caught up with what people are doing with their own.

And so, they sit and they talk, and they bring reports and, and

then gossip and shoes and now slander comes and fabricated

stories. And all of us in here, know the

capabilities and the collateral damage that can come from a

group of people who can sit down and say things that they

shouldn't be saying. And Paul is warning about this

danger, because they have nothing to do.

They're going to do something often times.

When you're not doing something good and idleness, simply means

avoiding to do work. When you're avoiding genuine

responsibility, god-given conduct, you're going to embrace

other other vices. And so, he wants to avoid this

problem because he knows the power of this in a negative

sense in the congregation. So, you know, what Paul solution

is you ready for this? It's not, well, they better be

praying and fasting. Well, if they're not given the

Themselves to spiritual discipline if they're not called

to celibacy. If they don't have the gift of

singleness verse 14 is a solution.

So I would have younger widows marry Bear, children manage

their households and give the adversary no occasion for

slander. And when he tells Pastor Tim to

do Pastor Tim, tell the young ladies to engage in pursuing and

finding a spouse. Here's the translation, it's

very difficult for Satan. To work through you when you're

worn out serving your husband and your children.

It's very difficult, you give no occasion to him, and you might

be thinking, well, I know some woman who can still slander and

gossip and they have a husband and they have plenty of kids.

Can I tell you something? Even that, that may be the case,

they're doing it wrong. They're doing it wrong.

Because clearly, they're not finding satisfaction and

discipling their children and serving their husband.

If they still have time to go from house to house to how

they're doing it wrong. And so look at the preventive,

wisdom here. They need to get busy, they need

to get an alignment with a high call of being a wife.

And if they can't have God Wills to being a mother, let them in.

Let them get caught up in that. So that Satan can see.

I can't deal with this person's already fulfilling what God's

call them to do. They're managing the household.

They're, they're they're serving their family and so he moves on

and here's the point. It's a principle that a healthy

work ethic provides an extra layer of protection.

Ian on the shield of our sanctification, when we are

resisting, the suggestions of the enemy.

But listen, when we do not have that work ethic, I'm not talking

about Ministry, I'm talking about life, making a living

endeavoring to do things to to to make your mind at work.

Your hands at work for the glory of God, you weaken.

Your ability to resist and you invite some overpowering ideas

that can make you captive to the enemy and actually use it as a

tool to hurt the church and in David's case, can I tell you

something? It would have been much, much

harder for him to look and behold at a naked woman.

If his eyes were at War, If his eyes were, if he was focusing on

the ammonites and strategizing with his men, this would never

have occurred. And so I get very concerned when

I learn of people who have nothing going on in their lives

because something is about to occur, it just needs a little

bit of time. This is true for men.

This is true for women. Get busy serving God, get busy.

Doing what you're called to do as a Christian in society.

Too much free time is not good time.

Leisure is good. Only to strengthen to go back

and do what God's called you to do.

But if you're wondering and just bouncing around in life, you're

a liability, a failure to conquer idleness.

Actually. Contributed to this awful

decision, A failure to deal with unrestrained passions, early on

number to a failure, to be diligent in the duties that God

has called you to do. Number three, a failure to

conquer idleness. Number for the second part of

verse 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 Here's David we have no idea

what he's doing on his roof. I know one thing he's bored.

And he's probably surveying the city.

Remember he's a king, he's at the top of the hill.

He has a few, unlike anybody else and as his eyes are

scrolling left to right? And up to down in his vision,

comes what a woman bathing. And the impression that we get

here is not that he sees her and turns away, but that he's Caesar

and he stops. And he begins to study her and

he begins to consider her and the conclusion in his mind is I

want her. I want her. and so, what we

learn here is that these Irresponsible.

Eyes, turn into thoughts and those thoughts eventually

morphed into a planned action get her for me.

So it begins with a look, there's a knot.

And David himself, knew of the power of indulging in that,

which is worthless Through the Windows of these eyes, and he

failed to take his own advice. And I want to show you how David

literally pens what he should have done.

But he fails to do this is a beautiful reference to right in

your Bible. If you do right in your Bible,

right beside 2nd Samuel, 12, it's in Psalm 101 verse to Psalm

101. Verse 2 and verse 3, this is

like heartbreaking to know that David wrote, this under the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit and at some point because he had

an open-door failed to remember what it meant for him.

Psalm 101 verse 2. Here's what David writes.

Psalms 101:2

I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh, when will you come to me? Just pause it.

That's a man. Who's hungry after God.

Oh, when will you come to me? Lord, when will you make

yourself known? This is a man who is, who is in

the presence of God, but notice what he says, I will walk with

Integrity of heart within where My house.

I will walk with Integrity of heart within my house.

Now, look at verse 3. I will not set before my eyes.

Anything that is worthless? Do you see the connection that

David is making here? There is a link between having a

heart of integrity and the discipline of not setting

worthless things before your eyes.

And we can all agree that what you put in this mouth in terms

of food will inevitably have an effect on the health of your

body. And as that is digested and your

stomach distributes, It Whatever substance goes in there, whether

it's good or bad. It's going to, it's going to

affect you one way or another. And in the same way a major

contribution to our spiritual health, is what we indulge in

with our eyes. What you allow your eyes to

Feast on will have a great effect on the overall spiritual

condition of your pursuit of Holiness.

Holiness, is simply your spiritual health.

And David here, knew that listen are unassisted imaginations, are

enough trouble on their own. To add to that, visual

stimulation will guarantee a strengthening to that, which we

must silence and subdue. And so, when this man says, I

will walk with Integrity of heart, what he had in mind was

in the privacy of my home. I will not even give myself to

looking at that which will harm this integrity.

And I want to say something very serious, but I feel like this is

lacking much of the sexual bondage that people are in

today, began with a prolonged look Much of the sexual bondage

that people in our today, began with a prolonged look, would it

be a shock to you for for me to say?

That a person who looked at one inappropriate Instagram, post

long enough, LED them into daily / nog, Rafi exposure. and

because of that free filth in enlarged and appetite where that

same person where they started with one Instagram, post are now

paying for a prostitute, too fat to satisfy their fantasies It's

real, it's real. And we were living in an evil

age that has no shame in exposing things, to grip your

mind, burn those images there, so that you have nowhere to run.

The first look, nobody can escape the second one.

The third one is our responsibility.

And it's hard to imagine, but remember what I just said there,

how one social media posts can lead to picking up somebody?

That you don't even know if you think that's far-fetched.

Remember that the psalmist of Israel and the privacy of his

balcony from this time, is actually going to now have a

murderous Scandal on his reputation.

This is not an extreme example. This can happen and just because

it's not in the history books for all to see it happens more

often than you can imagine. So, here's what I want to say,

and it's important that if you and I are a people who can't

control these eyes, then you will not be able to control your

body. It starts with the eyes.

If like job, you don't make a covenant with these eyes where

these eyes go, what they allow, what they entertain will

eventually guide your body. And that's what we see here with

this man and that may seem like a hopeless message and in the

age of indecency, but don't let unbelief.

Don't let on believe in. Don't let what happened?

What's happening? The culture to crush your hope,

remember, in that same passage that we read.

In 1st Thessalonians, rather 4:8 that whole chapter at least the

first part of the chapter deals with the subject matter at hand

and and Paul ends his argument. He ends his charge by the Holy

Spirit by telling the people of this church, listen therefore

whoever disregards this and what's he saying is that if you

read the prior versus, he's calling him to Holiness in the

area of sexual immorality, and he ends his thought by saying,

whoever disregards, this disregards, not man, but God,

but God who gives his holy spirit to you.

Now, some have limited that verse to say.

Yeah, if you don't listen to Paul standards for sexuality,

you're not really ignoring Paul, you're ignoring God true but

there's there's hope in this. What he's saying is listen,

don't let the standard of the world or your brothers and

sisters who are not taking their Holiness, seriously.

Don't let that determine the potential Purity that you can

walk in because the instructions that I'm giving you I'm also

giving you the resource that's able to make those things.

Own the Holy Spirit. Don't disregard this, don't not

believe this, don't just brush it off.

Don't just wallow in your failure, embrace the standard,

believe it and realize that the Holy Spirit.

Now is here to empower you to walk in it.

So that's the hope that we have as Christians that we can

actually know a Grace that comes from Heaven, to be able to walk

in this protection and preservation for True pleasure

in God in the design that he has for our sexuality.

So Paul says, don't disregard this because by disregarding

this, you're actually also pushing away.

The very power that can help you realize it.

We have a supernatural faith and we have to believe it before we

can actually experience it. So that's the fourth failure.

The fourth failure is the failure to realize the danger of

a prolonged look and now we come to the final failure.

The final failure is in verse 3. And David sent and inquired

about the woman. And one said, is not this

Bathsheba the daughter of Al. I am the wife of Uriah, the

hittite, The fifth and final failure, do not limited to these

things. Is the failure to take heed to

God's warnings. The failure to take heed.

To God's warnings. We don't know how long it was

before David called his servants to inquire about this mysterious

woman that enticed him. But when the news came back, his

men were successful in providing a detailed report of her

identity. And some say, well this is David

finding out if she was single so he can just add him to the

roster of his Harem and just another number with the others.

We've lost count of how many wives he had.

As though, that is a justifiable reason.

But what is really stunning? Is that what he found out about

this woman should have repelled him.

He's already gone too far but this should have stopped him in

his tracks when he realized who her father was and he realized

who, her husband was the fact that she had a husband.

First Corinthians, 10:13, we are promised.

That in all and in every Temptation, God will provide a

way of Escape. What that means is that you can

never ever justify a sin by saying that it was too powerful.

To turn away from in Temptation. God has supplied us everything

that we need to be able to endure it, right.

It doesn't say immediate ejection from it but to endure

it and then eventually Escape it.

God has given us everything that we need.

So part of that is being in preparation for that temptation

to come watch and pray. Lest you fall into temptation

but you know, God is so good. God is so good that he often

even even warns us in creative ways while we are being tempted.

While we are being tempted. And one example there are many

in the scriptures, let me give you one.

Remember when I'm Alec took Abraham's wife And Abraham was

telling everybody. He's use my sister hey, he

doesn't want to be killed, his wife is beautiful.

I mean, she must have been beautiful.

She was, she was called beautiful and her older older

years. And this King takes her.

He puts her in his bed and then God visits him in Genesis 20 in

a dream. And here's the paraphrase.

You're a dead, man. You're a dead, man.

Because you took somebody's wife.

And I am Alec is like, I didn't know.

He told me, he told me, it was a sister.

And God says, yes, I know that you did this out of a place of

not knowing what was going on, but I'm giving you a warning.

If you don't give her back, you're finished and he does he

repents, right? So God can at times, grab our

attention attention, even in the pursuit even in the plot of

doing that, which is wrong. Here's the problem.

Many people don't pay attention. You know, like a bible study on

a Friday night. Right.

And we just happen to fall on this, I don't know what's going

on in your personal life. God knows, you don't need to

tell me even but if you know that you're heading towards a

path, you realize that you are failing in the areas that were

just mentioned. Here's God, giving you a way

out. You know, what the way out was

for David. Hey, they could have just said

this is Bathsheba know. They said, this is Bathsheba the

daughter of a lion that doesn't mean much until you realize that

bathsheba's father'll. I am was the son of a man named

a heath offal. Who is David's favorite

counselor in his Administrative Office. more than that, he

realizes that he He's inquiring about a woman who's married to

one of his mighty men? You are is just not one soldier.

Uriah is, in that list of Mighty Men.

At the end of second Samuel. You're going to see it.

His name is, there engraved among the Great.

And that should have startled him.

You know what registered in his mind when he heard this?

Oh good. Her husband isn't home.

That's what he registered. And when I look at this, I think

of a new testament principle, you heard from first

Thessalonians 48. But look at Paul and what he

says to encourage Holiness in this area in 1st Thessalonians,

4 6. I want you to see this because

it's profound He's pleading with his brothers.

Listen, learn to control your own body.

And Holiness, don't be like the Gentiles who do not know God and

are given over to their passions.

Then he says this in verse 6, That no one transgress and wrong

his brother. What do you mean by that?

And no one, transgress and wrong his brother in this matter

because the Lord is an Avenger and all these things.

As we told you beforehand and solemnly, warned you.

By the way, he's not talking to non-believers, he's talking to

Christians. That no one transgress and

wrong. His brother.

I believe what Paul is saying in part here, is that when a man

specifically considers another man's wife or when a woman

considers, another woman's husband.

That. The engagement of that sin

between two, people does not just affect those two people.

What Paul is saying here is, Hey listen, don't wrong your

brother. In this meaning, I believe in

part, not just the person that you were sitting with but the

person that, that person belongs to Do you realize?

Yes, you Christian in the church.

That's somebody's daughter. Do you realize that?

That's somebody's husband. Do you realize that sexual sin?

Always affects a community. Always.

When it's exposed, it hurts a lot of people, it hurts.

A lot of people. I'll give you proof of that.

How do you feel when you hear of a church leader falling into

sin? It hurts.

Doesn't it? The people are hurting the

fellow Elders. Are hurting.

Everybody's hurting everybody who has a soft heart does.

At least And here's what Paul is saying because this is how

pathetic we can become in our own pursuit of Holiness.

If you have no care about that person that you're wrong.

And would you at least have some kind of a thought for the person

that might be hurting. Who belongs to that individual?

Who is in Covenant, with that individual.

That's not just limited to marry people.

You single. People hear me out.

When you're considering somebody else, who you're not married to

do you realize that you are violating a potential Covenant,

that is to come? They realize that that person is

gonna have a husband. One day that person is going to

have a wife. One day, don't wrong.

That future brother. Don't wrong that future sister

because you want a short-lived fantasy to be fulfilled.

Realize that this goes beyond you, it goes beyond that

individual that you're conspiring with and you're being

secretive with. There are others who are going

to be affected by this. You know what David should have

thought, how could I do this to? I felt full How could I break

his heart? How can I?

I'm such a fool. Uriah is wife.

So shame, then he should have fell on his face and quoted.

Psalm 101 verse two and three again.

Lord, I want I want to have integrity in my heart within my

house. Again, help me never ever to set

my eyes on that which is worthless that would have been a

glorious glorious ending to this chapter.

But unfortunately, He fetches for her.

A failure to take heed to God's warnings.

It's sad. It's sad to realize how people

can hear God. Who's putting obstacles in their

paths. Because they're so empty inside

because they've been so deceived by their own flesh that they

bulldoze through the warning signs.

And say, I want what I set my eyes on I wish David did here

what he did with those Mighty Men Who heard him say, while he

was in war. Oh, that somebody would get me.

Water from that. Well, in Bethlehem, by the gate,

And a few of them looked at each other and said, what do you

think? I love David.

I love him too. Let's do it.

And they go through the Garrison of the Philistines and they

scooped up. Some kind of container filled

with that Hometown Water that I'm sure David drank from.

So at so many points in his earlier years and they come back

to Dave and they say, here, David, we got you the water that

you asked for And David and second Samuel, 23:17 second,

Samuel, 23:17 said, far, be it from me.

Oh, Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the

men who went at the risk of their lives.

Therefore, he would not drink it, these things, the three

Mighty Men did, And he pours out that water.

I wish you did that with his lust.

When you realize how can I drink from somebody else's fountain?

That's not my wife. I will not do it.

I will not say cheap. This sinful impulse.

I pour it out and I turn away from it.

If you want to know when a pleasure, any kind of pleasure,

no matter how much it overtakes you and convinces, you any

pleasure that is illegitimate, is a pleasure that dishonors

somebody else in any way. Any pleasure that dishonors

somebody else is illegal. Never forget that.

If it harm somebody degrades them.

No Crossing pour it out, and turn away five failures on this

Bible study. I know, it's a very heavy one.

But what's heavier is to not hear about it.

And to experience the consequences of it, So we come

to the concluding verses in verse 4 and 5, and we'll end

here. So, David sent Messengers and

took her and she came to him and lay with her, he lay with her.

Now, she'd been purifying herself from her uncleanness, so

brother. And are you asking about this

and in levitical law, when a woman was undergoing her monthly

flow, there was a protocol for her to regain a clean status so

to speak. And we don't have the time to

explore that in detail. And so there was a time of

refraining from intercourse for a certain amount of Of days

after that, after that time. And so what we were being told

here also is that she just had that time of the month.

She now is free to do what she can do.

And the indication here is to prepare us for verse 5, that

bathsheba's pregnancy is surely from David, not from her

husband. So it's preparing us to say.

Nothing happened before. What's what's about to

transpire? Here is a direct result of an

illegitimate intercourse. But there's something else you

want. I thought about it and it's this

Bathsheba was being faithful in observing the ceremonial law was

scheana and some even say that the bath that she was taking was

part of that observance. I don't know, it doesn't say but

so here's what's interesting. This woman is willing to adhere

to the ceremonial law, but when you read about it she shows no

hesitation To defiling herself with a man that's not her

husband. Isn't that strange isn't that

strange? It's incredible, because it's a

picture of a faulty Holiness where we get to pick and choose

what we want to obey, what we don't want to be, or you can

even say it's it's this deception where well, I've done

this for the Lord. So so I can do this and he'll he

won't mind, right? It reminds me of the Pharisees

when they arrest Jesus and it says there in John that they

refused to go into Pilots headquarters less, they defiled

themselves before the Passover feast and here they are plotting

to kill an innocent, man. Oh, you don't want to defile

yourself so that you can eat of the feast.

But you're going to actually have a man crucified for doing

nothing like it PHA crasy, produces Twisted conduct, it's

scary. And the people who are in, it

are convinced that it's right. So, here's baths.

But yeah, I'm ceremonially clean.

But now she's about to come into a man's room that that is going

to defile her morally. Picking and choosing what you

think is, right? Or what you think is wrong, what

you think is, okay? We that's just that's just

dangerous. Verse 5, we read and the woman

can see, then she sent and told David, I am pregnant before

that, we reach, she just returned home.

Like it seemed like things are just going to go on.

As normal now Bathsheba goes home.

David stays at home, A one night stand.

That's it. We just blow off some steam and

nothing's going to happen. And we read.

In fact, something does happen. And this is just the start. but

before we end tonight, but back at verse one, in the spring of

the year, the time, when the Kings, go out to battle, David

sent joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they

ravaged the ammonites This war is a continuation of chapter 10.

Remember the ammonites were the ones who harass David's

ambassadors. And more than that, they started

a war. They hired the syrians and they

said, let who does this David think that he is?

He thinks he can spy on me, totally wrong assessment.

They try to go to war job and his men show up the syrians,

flee that I manage realize it, and it says that they Retreat

back to their City, they closed the door and they hold on for

dear life. Hoping that David will never

show his face. Face again.

And so, here are these men who sinned against David and time

goes on thinking that David forgot.

And then we read in the spring of the Year, few months go by

and what are we read? David, make sure is that they

are going to pay the price for what they did.

And he's going to ravage them. And here's the thing that I take

from this that unfortunately you have Sinners who are like the

ammonites who think that and interpret God's momentary

silence as either forgetfulness or like-mindedness.

And so his silence seems to be approval.

So they continue and they think that God has not registered what

they have done. And unfortunately, the children

of God think the same way that just because there is an

immediate consequence than surely, it's not that big of a

deal and they fail to realize that God loves you too much to

not discipline you in one way or another.

And what the ammonites are about to learn about David is what

David and the remainder of this chapter and the next chapter is

going to learn about God. That unrepentant sin will never

be ignored by God. It won't.

There is a chilling verse that we will get to maybe in a week

or two. Look at the last verse.

The last part of the last verse but the thing that David had

done displeased the Lord that like when I I almost get chills

whenever I read that because you have this long chapter of

David's little schemes and his cover-up plans and all that

stuff. And when I read that verse, you

know what I sense God was watching the whole time.

God was watching the whole time and the time would come because

David concealed his transgression instead of

confessing and forsaking it, because of his concealment, a

prophet is going to come. Just like, David came at one

point in the spring and says, listen you can't get away with

what you did. Can't get away with what he did.

So, my brother, my sister, I don't know where you're at

tonight. I don't, God knows, I hope

you're doing well in the Lord. I hope you're a strong.

I hope that these failures are not present in your life, but if

they are, this is the chance to take heed to God's gentle

warning to saying, don't don't do it.

And realize the danger ahead of time.

Realize that the failure to deal with unrestrained.

Passions will serve as a sewing. And realized that a failure to

be diligent in your duty for the Lord opens up a foothold for

Temptation. And realize that if you don't

conquer idleness, some kind of sin will conquer.

You believe that if you fail in believing that a prolonged look

can actually open up to a thought pattern that can

actually evolve into a plan action, believe that if you

don't nip it there, at the site of the thing that it can, it can

transform it to something that will Monstrous.

And realize that a failure to take heed to God's warnings.

God can't do anything else. More than that.

He will now override your will if you want to go, he'll let you

go. But if you're truly a child of

God, he will do something about it when you go.

Let's pray. Lord.

We thank you for tonight's Bible study.

We thank you that your word before us today.

Was understood and its purpose and design.

And Lord, we just ask. That in this place, as a result

of this Bible study, new levels of Victory will be realized.

But we pray for the grace to retain the elements that we

have. Explored in these verses and

that they would register in US deeply.

And we asked, oh God, that you would be worshipped tonight in a

special way. For how you've spoken to us.

Protect our marriages, protect our household, protect us in an

age of disgrace. And Lord we pray Proverbs 27 7

that we would all be so full in you that we would loathe the

honey of this life. The bitter things that try to

persuade us that will fill us, Lord help us detect it, not just

with head knowledge but with experiential knowledge, I am

satisfied in God. I am filled with the joy of the

Lord. I have fellowship with the king,

I will not cheap in myself to something that will ultimately

bite back and disgrace me in the Lord that I serve.

O Lord, may that be the heights that we reach because of you and

your promises for those who hunger and thirst for

righteousness. They shall be filled.

So fill us a fresh. Let Faith arise that there is

more pleasure in your presence than what pornography has to

offer. When loose Partners have to

offer than what external beauty has to offer, your presence is

more than enough, you are able to conquer our wandering hearts.

And so we just pray that we would know that in a real way

tonight. In Jesus name, we pray.

Amen. Amen.

Let's stand and worship as we close sing to the Lord before

you head on home.