#1 Psalm 51 - And Then Came Conviction

Dr. Ron Sumners

June 14, 2009

2 Samuel 11:1-12

In October 1989, most Americans were thinking about northern California. The World Series was about to begin. Cross-town rivals; the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics were playing each other.

I remember it well. There was a man in my church in North Carolina who owned the local Hardees restaurant. (He was a tremendous asset at Brotherhood breakfasts).  He and his son had gone to San Francisco for the series. Certainly, neither they nor any of the thousands at the game were thinking about an earthquake. But in less than ten minutes, all that changed. Suddenly the nation was transfixed by the unfolding tragedy that gripped the entire Bay Area.

Moral earthquakes also strike when we least expect them. Though the causes of these catastrophes are all too predictable, the moment of devastation is almost always a surprise.

Certainly, that was the case with King David in the Old Testament. At the least likely moment, he found himself in the midst of a terrible moral earthquake that would affect him for the rest of his life. (2 Samuel 11:1-12)

It was a time when kings go to battle, but David decided not to go. Instead he sent Joab, his faithful general, to do his fighting for him. Meanwhile, he stayed in Jerusalem. He was not where he was supposed to be. David should have been out in the battle, leading his army. He was not. He stayed behind in the lap of luxury.

Then one evening, the idle and irresponsible David got up from his bed and walked around the courtyard roof of the palace. From there he spied a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, but instead of looking away, as he should have done, he ogled her. If he had binoculars at the time, he would have used them. He was not only where he should not have been; now he was looking where he should not be looking – his second big mistake.

David made the leap from looking to plotting very quickly and then sin came in. If he had simply turned away there would have been no temptation and consequently no sin. That is true with you and me. We sometimes cannot control how we are tempted, but we can always turn away.

At this time in his life and career, David had reached the pinnacle of success. He was the undisputed king of Israel. He had driven out the enemies that had plagued his people for so long.

Not only had he reached the pinnacle of success politically, he had reached the pinnacle of success spiritually as well. He was a man after God’s own heart. He had fulfilled his covenant with Jonathan by showing kindness to Mephiboseth. He had made this crippled son of Jonathan one of his own son.

It is hard to believe that a man could descend from such heavenly heights to such devilish depths in such a short time, but David did. Just as we do at times. The Bible says that the heart of man is desperately wicked and that we are prone to sin, and we are just as likely to embrace perversity at the height of our success as we are the depth of our despair.

One tactic of Satan is to strike when things are going well – when we are riding the crest of some achievement or victory. He knows that at such times we are vulnerable because we let our guard down. Satan not only attacks us where we are weak; he also attacks where and when we are strong!

So, at the moment of his greatest triumph and achievement, the beautiful Bathsheba came into David’s life. Then came sin!

There is one thing that we all have in common. Though some are rich, some are poor, some are tall and some are short, all have “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). In fact, “There is none righteous, no not one” (Rom. 3:10). That is not a fact we generally care to admit.

Yet, no one can live in victory until they recognize and realize the cause of sin. David is a prime example of the cause of sin. If we are honest with God, we will see ourselves in his sad story.

David saw Bathsheba bathing but he did not turn aside. He did not stop there. After all, it is not a sin when things unworthy of your calling pass through your mind. Sin comes when we do not let the temptation pass through our minds. When we begin to harbor it, when we begin to look upon the temptation with intensity, then we get into trouble. David saw. But instead of averting his gaze, he ogled Bathsheba. And then the inevitable happened; he coveted. He wanted something that he had no right to have.

David did not let it go. He saw. He wanted, and then he explored the possibilities. He sent and inquired about the woman. David, with deliberate premeditation, plotted the parameters and possibilities of his sin. He saw. He coveted, and he took!

He sent for her and they committed adultery. Today we are a bit too sophisticated to speak in those frank terms. We call it an indiscretion or an affair. The softening of the term does not change what it is. David and Bathsheba committed adultery. It is one of the things prohibited in the Ten Commandments!

David saw; he coveted and he took. His sin followed the same pattern as every other great moral earthquake in the Bible. When Eve was in the Garden of Eden, she saw; she coveted; and then she took. Following the great battle of Jericho – when the walls came tumbling down – a single Israelite man, Achan, sinned. God had told Israel to take no spoils from Jericho. Achan did take things that he saw. Because of his violation, a pall fell upon the whole people. It ultimately caused the Children of Israel to lose the battle at Ai and lose thirty-six of their men. Achan’s sin came because first he saw a robe and some silver, then he coveted, and finally he took! He was stoned along with his family for his sin. (Joshua 7)

David found himself in an awful predicament. Bathsheba told him that she was going to have a baby. What made that such a difficult situation was that her husband had been away fighting David’s battle. The baby could not be his. He was out in the lines of battle – where David should have been! David became frantic. So, he called Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, home from the battle and said to him, “Uriah, you have been such a loyal soldier; I want to show my appreciation. I want to give you the week-end off. You take a little R and R (rest and relaxation).

So, home to your wife and enjoy her company, then you can go back to the battle.”

David thought that Uriah would go home, be with his wife, and then when it was discovered that she was pregnant, they would assume it was Uriah’s child!

Uriah was too faithful a soldier for that plan. He would not cooperate with David. He would not sleep in comfort with his wife while his fellow soldiers shivered in the cold, sleeping on the ground of the battle campground.  He went outside the palace gate, got his bedroll and slept right there on the ground.

When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he had to make other plans. He decided to invite the diligent soldier to the palace and get him intoxicated and send him home to his wife while his resistance was low. At this point it is hard to believe that this was a man after God’s own heart! But that is the effect of sin; it takes a man and his affections and twists them all out of proportion. He got Uriah good and drunk, but even in a drunken stupor, he stood firm for honor’s sake and would not go to his wife.

By this time David was desperate.  He sent his loyal servant back to the battlefield. He also sent word to Joab, the commander, to put Uriah in the front lines of battle. This would mean that Uriah would probably be killed and indeed – he was killed. David thought that he had adequately covered his sin. No one would know that the child that Bathsheba was carrying was actually David’s. He tried to cover his sin with treachery, lies, and finally the death of Uriah. This is the curse of sin. Once it starts it takes over and dominates our lives. We find ourselves constantly looking over our shoulders to see if anyone is coming or watching. We have to cover our sin with a lie. We have to cover that lie with another and it goes on and on.

After Bathsheba’s time of mourning the death of her husband was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she bore his son. The thing that David did was evil in the sight of God. Even if he had been clever enough to hide it from everyone else in the whole world, God knew! David thought that he could sin and still win. He thought he had gotten away with it – he was wrong! And so are we if we think we have done anything that God is unaware of.

David learned all too well that the pleasures of sin are for but a season. Nathan, God’s prophet, came to him and told a remarkable story of injustice about a rich man who stole a poor neighbor’s one little ewe lamb to feed a guest, even though he had plenty of his own. The story made David angry and he said that such a man should repay fourfold and then die. He did not realize that he was prophesizing his own fate. David was soon to discover that it was his household that would suffer four-fold consequences for his sin!

The baby of David and Bathsheba died soon after birth. Some time later, Amon raped his sister, Tamar. They were both David’s children. The awful curse of enmity, abuse, incest, and betrayal visited the house of David. David was supposed to be enjoying the glories of his accomplishment and the fellowship of his family, but there was only misery after his great sin.

Absalom, another of David’s sons, upon hearing about what Amon had done to Tamar, killed his brother. David’s sin had cost him an infant son and also the harmony and integrity of his family. 

And if that were not enough, shortly after that, Absalom revolted against his father. He tried to take over the throne from David. Absalom was killed by Joab during a battle. David wept over the body of his son saying, “Absalom, oh, Absalom, would to God that I had died instead of you, oh Absalom, my son.” He had now lost three sons and witnessed the desolation of his family.

Sadly, the sins of the parents are often passed on to the children. Our foolishness and rebellion do not only affect us. It affects all those around us.

We need to understand the consequences of unconfessed sin before we pursue that path. Sin is never worth the consequences that it brings.

The thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord, but until Nathan pointed it out, David had eyes and eras that had been blinded and deafened by sin. He was unable to see and comprehend the truth. David was so full of sin that he didn’t realize Nathan was bringing an indictment against him. He was fixed on the appeasement of his own concerns and had no spiritual discernment at all.

By the time Nathan concluded his story, David’s eyes were opened and conviction gripped his heart and mind. At that point, David actually accepted the blame. He knew that it wasn’t the circumstances; it wasn’t the situation; it wasn’t the peer pressure; it wasn’t the devil that made him commit the sin he did. He took responsibility. The blame was all on him. Real conviction always produces that response!

God knows all. He knew us before the foundation of the world. He knows where we were last Friday night and what we did. God knows everything about us and yet still loves us. That is amazing grace!

David confessed his sin in genuine repentance. “I have sinned against the Lord,” he cried. None of us are at the place of confession until we recognize and admit that we are to blame for our sin. It is not the fault of something or someone else. It is yours and yours alone!

David confessed his sin and genuinely repented. Though this is true, he could not erase the damage he had caused. He had to live with the consequences of his sin. He was forgiven but had to deal with his consequences

.

It is no wonder so many of us are without purpose and joy and power and victorious Christian living. The terrible thing about sin is that when we sin, we are not merely sinning against our children, our wife or husband, our rival, or our enemy. We are sinning against God!

David realized this and he began to pass from death to life again. He heard the word of God as it spoke to his situation. He immediately recognized the fullness of his own sin. His heart was pierced at last.

He was, after all, David. Though he had fallen, he knew how to pursue the heart of God. He was familiar with God’s grace. He knew the source of everlasting joy. He did not find it in the arms of Bathsheba – nor will you. When David was confronted with his sin – then came conviction!

After that came repentance and after repentance came renewed hope!

Are you ready for conviction? Without it there can be no real repentance and your life will be characterized by an absence of hope!