David’s Dilemma

Last updated on December 17th, 2024 at 04:54 pm

Something that became very evident to me at a young age was the simple fact that people hold preachers and pastors to a higher standard. Growing up in my Grandaddy’s church, I saw both sides. I saw how people cleaned up around him.  I saw how people came to him for advice and prayer and comfort. There was a certain aura around him that was different. When we moved to Florence, I saw the same thing with Pastor Donnie, then Pastor Joel. Then, when I lived in NC that summer, I saw it in Dr. RK Lee. When I moved to Charleston, I saw it in Pastor Barry Owens. Visiting home, I see it in Pastor Scott. David’s Dilemma.

On the radio, as I’ve listened to Adrian Rogers, Tony Evans, J Vernon McGee, I’ve realized that these are men who (right, wrong, or indifferent) people have placed on a pedestal.  In some ways, I’m starting to experience this same thing myself.  In my workplace, out in the steel mill in Huger, SC, I’ve gotten the reputation of being “preacher” to the guys out on the floor and in the office. There are some days, when I’m hit with certain questions and comments, I get the same feeling that perhaps people look at me a bit differently. It isn’t always the best feeling in the world. 

It is true that men who preach the word of God have an elevated sense of responsibility, as well as a more dire consequence if they mislead the sheep.  It is for this reason I’ve struggled with today’s message. I’ve gone back and forth over it.  

The thought that this sermon is built on was initially placed in my mind when I heard that Pastor Tony Evans was stepping down and resigning from his church of 48 years on account of undisclosed sin in his life. I idolized him.  I listened to his sermons every morning for years going back and forth from my commute to West Florence High, and then Francis Marion University. It didn’t make sense to me. How could a man seemingly so close to God mess up so bad?

In the weeks following, I was exposed to this question in a much more visceral way, and I found the passage of Scripture we’re going to be discussing today weighing heavy on my heart. There have been times when I’ve studied Scripture and I’ve received a sense of peace and comfort. There have been times I have been corrected and admonished through the Word of God.  We speak of God’s Word being a sword, but sometimes we forget that the sword isn’t just used to defend against the wiles of Satan.  It can also be used to cut away at the sin in our lives, painfully calling us to task and imploring us to do better. Indeed, Hebrews 4:12 rings true.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12

So the question prevailed… How could a man seemingly so close to God mess up so bad?  What brought him to that point?  What pitfalls should have been avoided? What lessons are there to learn? 

Today, we are going to take a few minutes to dive deep into a tiny portion of the life of David, one of Israel’s most notable kings, a man after God’s own heart, and a man in the lineage of Jesus Christ himself. Let’s begin.

11:1       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, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 

 2       And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 

3       And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?            

4       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.

2 Samuel 11:1-4

The fact about sin is that it goes from its point of origination to attack 3 locations. It originates in your heart. That’s where it always starts. It then proceeds to attack in 3 locations. It attacks you Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually.

I’ve made the mistake in my own life of believing that certain sins are purposed and certain sins you just “fall into”.  Certain sins are premeditated and certain sins just come upon you suddenly and you’re caught off guard and there’s not much you can do to respond.  This isn’t a concept that has only affected me, because someone before me at some point came up with the phrase to “fall into sin”.  I’ve heard it all my life.

“So and so has strayed from the Lord. They’ve fallen into sin.”. “So and so has fallen away from the faith” This implies that we’ve been caught off-balance. This implies that our faith is on shaky ground and, because we aren’t standing on it, we fall into all the sinful muck and dirt surrounding us.  That’s what fall means right?  Some of the most used definitions for the word fall in the Merriam-Webster are:

• To come by chance (a tragic circumstance fell into his lap) 
• To enter as if unawares (we fell into a trap)
• To leave an upright position suddenly or involuntarily (she slipped and fell on the ice.)

What do you notice about these definitions?  It all implies falling as something outside of your control. Friend, when we fall into sin, the sinful actions that we commit our within our control and done by our own will. How do I know this?

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

God says in his word that ALL temptations that we face will include a path of escape.  God doesn’t lie. That means that you willfully choose to stay with the temptation and sin, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Sometimes, we try to hide behind boundaries to prevent these attacks on our life.

Pops once told me a story about a man named Odysseus (ah – dis -ee – us) who wanted to hear the Sirens sing. These wicked creatures would enchant sailors with song and fake beauty as they passed through a certain portion of the ocean. The only problem was, whenever sailors heard the Sirens sing, they would jump overboard, trying to get closer to the sound, only to drown or be attacked. Still, Odysseus wanted to hear the Sirens sing.  So he had all of his crew stuff wax in their ears, wrap him with ropes and chains to the mast of the ship, and promise not to take the chains off when he begged them to. As he heard the song, he became crazed, wanting to get near the Sirens. He strained at the ropes and chains as they cut into his skin. He screamed at the sailors, begging to be set free. To him, the Sirens looked like beautiful women. The other sailors, unenchanted, saw them for what they were, wicked beasts with claws. You see… Odysseus willfully and purposefully put himself in a position to be lured and tempted by evil, all for a few minutes of pleasure.  Did he have a couple boundaries in place? Yes. But he was still behaving quite foolishly. He chose to stay in the path of danger.  

When it comes to how we guard ourselves from sin, we need to focus less on not crossing the boundary and more on cultivating an attitude that will give us a godly perspective, where we WON’T WANT TO cross the boundary and we WONT WANT TO stay in the path of danger.

I need you to see that David was kind of like Odysseus. 

We’re going to see sin got to David in this way today.

First, He put himself in a bad position.  There were boundaries that he blatantly ignored.  He acted wrongly, chasing a few minutes of pleasure.  Why in the world was David on the rooftop that night?  What aspect of his heart was misaligned with the Lord to the point where he, a man after God’s own heart, committed such a wicked sin? Why did he choose to stay, instead of choosing a path of escape?

A Slothful Heart

The first point that we need to see today is that A slothful heart will set the trap.

David was being lazy.  In 2 Samuel 11:1, we see that it was the time when the kings went out to war. This was the time that they were supposed to be going out and leading their armies since the weather was nice. Didn’t have to worry about troops dying of frostbite and hypothermia I guess.

 The weather was so nice that David decided he was going to stay home and enjoy it.  He was going to take a nice little nighttime stroll in that beautiful weather on the roof of his magnificent palace.  He was going to delegate the future success of his nation to his generals and he was going to take a minute to enjoy all the stuff that God had blessed him with.  He disregarded the responsibilities that God had given him and chose instead to grow slothful and lazy with the blessings that God had given him.

When David decided in his head that he was going to hang back, instead of going out on the battlefield with his men as he was supposed to, the trap was set. His laziness put him in a location that he had no business being in.

Can I tell you today that we allow our laziness with the Lord to put us in all kinds of locations we have no business in.  The Bible says in Proverbs 15:19 that…

19  The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns:

But the way of the righteous is made plain.

Proverbs 15:19

The word way there speaks of a journey, walking a distance. When you’re lazy in regards to your walk with Christ, you always end up walking into a location that’s surrounded by that hedge of thorns. That hedge is a sharp, cutting barrier all around you.  One step, and you end up in the briars and the thistles with cuts on your arms, legs, and face. You end up all tore up and hurt.  You get caught in the trap, and you have to learn a painful lesson in order to get out.

David was effectively in the trap when he walked on that rooftop. He was in the wrong location.  He should’ve been on the battlefield with his men, but he wasn’t. Take a moment this morning and ask yourself, “Is my laziness leading me to the wrong location?”.  Am I hanging out with the wrong people? Am I spending time in the wrong places? If I know nothing good happens after dark, then why am I out? If I know when I’m with a particular friend, then I always get into trouble, then why are we friends?  If I know that bad things happen at a particular place, then why would I go? Trust me, I know all about this, after spending a night out on King Street.

A slothful heart won’t only put us in the wrong locations, it’ll also give us the wrong justifications

Keep in mind, being in the wrong location often leads to having the wrong justification.

13  The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way;

A lion is in the streets.

Proverbs 26:13

What is a justification? It’s a reason given to demonstrate that an action is reasonable.  It’s the excuse you give for why you’re doing what you’re doing

Proverbs 26:13 highlights the excuses of the slothful man. The justification that he is giving for not working is “there is a lion in the street”.  That’s the equivalent today of “I can’t go to work because I may get hit by a meteor”.  Technically not impossible, but almost assuredly improbable. No rational person would take that excuse. Your boss would chuckle a bit right before he fired you.

Regarding my walk with Christ, I’ve found that, when I’m in the wrong location, it’s easier for me to give the wrong justification. When I’m in a compromised position, either physically, spiritually, or emotionally, it’s a lot easier for me to make excuses as to why I’m there and why I should stay there.  I wonder how David justified his actions that night. How he justified staying home when he should have been on that battlefield. How he justified calling for Bathsheba, a woman married to one of his friends, to come to his house in the middle of the night. He could’ve said…

• I’m tired. I’ve always led the battle. I slept with my men in the caves when I was on the run from Saul, fighting the Philistines. I deserve a break.
• I’m the king, I can do whatever I want. I deserve to have this time to relax and enjoy myself 
• I’ve been good to Uriah. He’s one of my mighty men. He owes me. 

 Do you think any of these are good reasons?

What are the reasons that we use today? 

• Well, they said something ugly to me, so I can say something back
• Well, I’ve already gotten this far, mind as well go all the way.
• Well, I made it to church this morning, so no need to go tonight.
• Well, all my friends are doing it….
• Well, if the boss is okay with it, I guess I should be to.
• Well, I’ve done a lot over my life, it’s time for someone else to step up and serve the Lord…

If you step back and take a look, I’m pretty sure you can find an area in your life where you are justifying behavior you KNOW is wrong.  And, friend, the reason you may have the wrong JUSTIFICATION is because your slothful heart has set a trap and you’re in the wrong LOCATION and you are actively being caught in the guilt and grip of sin.

What should our location be folks?

11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life:

      In thy presence is fulness of joy;      At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 16:11

It took him a minute to figure it out I think, but when David penned these words in later years, he hit the nail on the head. My Bible tells me that my location is supposed to be right there in the presence of the Father.  And if you feel that twinge in your chest right now telling you that’s not where you’re at, today’s the day to get it right. 

So, the first point here this morning, is that a slothful heart will set a trap for you.  If you’re not on guard, making sure to stay close to Jesus, you’re going to end up in wrong locations making bad justifications. 

A Stubborn Heart

Secondly, I need you to understand that a stubborn heart will sear the conscience. A slothful heart sets a trap, then a stubborn heart sears the conscience.

One thing I’ve started doing recently is doing some more “manly” type cooking.  Fellas know what’s up. The minute a good woman pops up in your life, you freak out in your brain for a minute because you’re trying to figure out a way to keep her.  My dumb self figured that if I got into cooking steaks and chicken and all that other jazz, I’d make myself look like some testosterone-ey grillmaster. So I had to learn how to do a good sear.

Now, I don’t exactly have a grill on my back patio in my 3rd floor one bedroom city apartment, so I’m making do with an electric stovetop and a pan. Learned about this thing called a “pan-seared steak” There I was in the kitchen one afternoon with a steak and a glowing hot pan. Piece of steak in my hand, fresh from the Food Lion. Drizzle some oil. Throw the meat down in the pan like I’ve seen on Food Network. I was hoping for a calm little sizzle.  I got me a whole steam locomotive up in that house!  That thing starts hissing and popping! Smoke and steam is all in my face.  Turns out I’d forgotten to pat the stupid thing dry of all the extra liquid!

I wanted a nice sear.  I wanted to scorch the outer surface of the meat to get that crispy brown crust.  Instead, I ended up just getting a mess. But the point I want you to understand is the sear.  What is a sear?  It’s when the outside is hardened by heat and flame while the inside is more tender

I need you to see that A stubborn heart will sear the conscience.

26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 

27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

2 Samuel 11:26-27

So, just to fill you in, since we hopped a few verses…

• David sleeps with Bathsheba, and she conceives out of wedlock
• David tries to get her husband, Uriah, to sleep with her, TWICE, so that everyone thinks the baby is his. Both times, Uriah is loyal to his fellow soldiers and refuses to go home.
• David sends a letter, by the hand of Uriah, back to the battlefield with instructions for Joab to have Uriah killed and make it look like an accident.
• Joab fulfills the request and Uriah dies
• David takes Bathsheba to be his wife.  

I need you to see that sin sears your conscience.  Some people let their immorality sit in their lives, like a burning coal, and they let it cauterize the cut of sin.  They don’t get rid of it, they just let it sit and burn until they’re numb to it.

Evidently, David was in this position, because we see he stubbornly continued without repentance for some time after he murdered Uriah and committed adultery with Bathsheba. Each sin was directly related to the previous. He stubbornly continued spiraling, digging the hole deeper and deeper.

The key phrase that this entire point hinges on is “and bare him a son” part of verse 27. This is why you have to study your Bible diligently folks. This would be an easy verse to skip through, but The Lord brings out the meat when you ask Him to…

“and bare him a son”   implies a long length of time where David, a man after God’s own heart, was apart from a right relationship with God.

The Bible says that Bathsheba bore him a son, so we know that at least 9 months have passed. You see, I imagine. David thought he’d gotten away with it. His stubborn heart attitude became a stronghold in his life. It convinced him that he was free and in the clear.  Over that time, he had developed that hardened outer shell while, as we’ll see later, the impact of his sin was still raw in his heart. 

 Let’s see… what had he gotten away with?  What exactly had seared his conscience?

Firstly, David had murdered Uriah, and no one was the wiser. 

This was a big deal. Not just because it was murder, but because of who Uriah was. 2 Sam 23:39 shows us that Uriah was one of David’s elite soldiers.  He was not just a footman. He was part of the group that has become known as David’s Mighty Men.  These were 37 military warriors that David had who were set apart for their heroic actions.  These were David’s personal friends. We don’t know exactly what Uriah did to be put in this group, but we know he was on the same level as men like  

• Adino (ah-dee-no),  killed 800 men in one battle with a spear.
• Eleazar ( el-aw-zawr’), stayed behind during a battle where others fled and killed Philistines.  He swung his blade so much that his hand became stuck, clenched around his sword. 
• Benaiah  (ben-ah-ee-ah-hoo). , one of David’s division commanders, with 24,000 men under his command, killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. He also beat down a powerful Egyptian with a club staff, took the Egyptian’s own spear, and then killed him with it.

These were some powerful, loyal dudes, and Uriah did something similar to be placed with them.  He was so loyal, the Bible says that he chose to sleep with the other soldiers, rather than go home to be with his wife when David got him drunk and told him to.  He was loyal to David, but David wasn’t loyal to him.

David had a real relationship with this man, which made the sin all the more evil. If you were to look in the Dead Sea Scrolls, you’d see that Uriah was the armor bearer of Joab, David’s head commander.  Both David, who commanded Uriah’s death, and Joab, who executed the command, were at fault. Both of their consciences must have been seared, for we see that they simply continued on.

Secondly, not only was Uriah out the picture, but Bathsheba was David’s wife now, so their baby looked legitimate, and no one was the wiser. 

There was going to be no scandal. There was going to be no outcry of injustice. There weren’t going to have to be any split custody arrangements or child support payments. 

• No one in the world knew about that adultery besides David and Bathsheba.  
• No one in the world knew about that murder besides David and Joab.  

The baby was on the way, healthy, and all was good.  All of the nasty business was behind David. Sure… He’d slipped up a couple of times, BUT it was all taken care of. He chose to be stubborn and set in his ways. 

Are we stubborn like that today folks? Is there sin in your life that you refuse to give up?  Is there something that you are doing that you know is wrong, but you keep burying the guilt and the shame?  Maybe at one time the pain pierced your heart, but now its just a dull thud. 

Friend, you can tell yourself that you’re fine. You can tell yourself that it doesn’t hurt like it used to. The reality is that, with each passing day you stubbornly allow that sin to stab you, you become a bit more dead on the inside. And remember, dead people don’t feel.  If the guilt, shame, or pain is becoming more bearable the longer your stubborn heart continues to chase the sin, just know that you are killing yourself, whether it be physically, spiritually, or emotionally.

In my mind, I see David going about his daily routine as the months wore on.  With each passing month, the atrocity of the sins he committed faded a bit. It became a bit easier to handle. Then, there comes the day….

A servant slips into his throne room to announce that Nathan the prophet is here to see him. I imagine it was just another day for David.  Just a standard day of hearing people’s complaints and strategizing with his generals.  He’d probably just had a 10 o’clock with the foreign policy advisor and was dreading the 2 pm with his director of internal affairs. But he decided he could slip Nathan the prophet in.  Then Nathan comes in and completely flips his world. What does Nathan say?

1 And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 

2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 

3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 

4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 

5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 

6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 

7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

2 Samuel 12:1-7

Just like that… 9 months of secrecy come to light. Just like that, everything that David was hiding comes to the forefront. All of his stubborn refusal to get right with God comes to a screeching halt. Look at how it unfolded….

Notice David invokes the name of the Lord in verse 5. He was still talking the talk.  At that moment, he had no idea that the gig was up.  He had no idea that Nathan knew.  David had on his holy face.  He was going to honor God and judge the situation that Nathan put before him righteously. He was going to be the catalyst for the restoration of this poor man with his one little lamb.  David, in his own power, would make this bad situation right by forcing the offending man to pay restitution 4 times over, then kill him for his crimes.

Imagine what Nathan thought as he stood before King David, staring at him as he ranted.  There David was, putting on a show of pious holiness and righteous anger.  He spoke of the man having no pity! I imagine Nathan cringing at that one… David talks of having no pity, having sent Uriah’s death order BY THE HAND OF URIAH HIMSELF.  Nathan quietly waits until David tuckers himself out, then he calmly says, “David, you’re the man. You did this.  You’re the one who has sinned against God”.

At that moment, I think David’s heart dropped in his chest.  I think that the hardened emotional shell that he had built around his heart was smashed to pieces. I think Nathan’s words, infused with the divine revelation and retribution of a Holy God,  hit him like a hammer.  

I’m praying that if that’s where you’re at today, living with a seared conscience toward the things of God, the words that you’re about to hear are going to smash through your hardened heart in the same way. I want you to leave this place today broken. I want you to leave raw.  Because that was what David had to go through to get back into the right relationship with God.

Some of us are still talking the talk this morning. Some sins have sat so long in our lives, that we’ve learned how to work around them.  We’ve learned how to carry them.  We may not even be asking for forgiveness anymore.  These sins have seared our conscience, and we’re no longer sensitive to the Holy Spirit calling us to task on it.

We’re just like David, professing the name of God outwardly, while our hearts are far from him. We’re here in the church building, putting on the show of being holy and righteous, but we’re not really living it out in the world. We’re like David, expressing indignation at the very sins we know we’re committing in our own lives. We don’t care though, because our hearts have been seared numb by the sin.

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Matthew 15:8

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’ve been in this position myself.  I am not preaching to you as one who is above these problems. In my past, I’ve given up ground to Satan that I swore I’d always occupy. I stubbornly thought I could handle it, and now I have scars of sin in my life that I will carry till the day God calls me home. My life is far from perfect. I know how it feels to sin on Saturday night and walk into church with a fake smile on my face on Sunday morning. I know how it feels to switch from leading the bawdy humor around the water cooler at lunch to leading the prayer at dinner. I don’t say this for you to make excuses, but rather to tell you that the Lord peeled back the layers of my life as I studied for this message and He told me, “Sam, you can’t live with that kind of duplicity in your life. You can’t be an ambassador for me and an ambassador for the world. Your mouth can’t sing my praises and preach my goodness while your heart is seared to my instruction.”

So I ask you, is your stubborn heart searing your conscience?  Is the Holy Spirit working your life at this moment, impressing you to get right, and you’re stubbornly refusing?  How long have you been fighting this battle with God?  Don’t you think that it’s time to give it up?

If your sin USED to make you feel bad but you don’t feel the sting anymore, that’s a scary place to be.  Don’t dull the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  And maybe you’re like David today.  You’re still invoking the name of God.  You’re still acting it out your part in the cosmic play we’re in.  The people in the church don’t know.  The people at work don’t know.  The people in your family don’t know.  You’ve got it covered right up, but the dull ache is throbbing in your chest right now because you know that you’re living in sin. It’s still raw under that hard outer exterior you’ve fashioned over the weeks or months or years that you’ve held the sin in your heart. 

That’s some of of us here today folks.  That’s us.  This is the Nathan moment.  I don’t know your unique situation.  And I don’t know how the Lord is convicting you in this moment and working on your life, but if this is your Nathan moment, you need to heed to it.

Why Sam? Why should I pay attention to anything you’re saying right now?

This brings us to our third point this morning.

1. A slothful heart sets a trap
2. A stubborn heart sears the conscience 
3. A scarred heart will set you back

A Scarred Heart

A scarred heart will set you back.

If you’ve ever been in the burn unit at a hospital, you know that people who get seared by flames are often left with scars.  The heat causes the skin to scar. First-degree burns often heal on their own without scarring. Second- and third-degree burns usually leave behind scars.

This was definitely a 3rd degree kind of burn folks. Look at the scars left on David’s life because of slothfulness and his stubbornness

9Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 

10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 

11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 

12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

2 Samuel 12:9-12

Because David despised the commandment of the Lord, there were consequences. Even though David was a man of God, there was punishment to be meted out in his life because of the sin that he had committed. What exactly were those consequences?

There would always be fighting in his house. The sword would never depart. His family was never going to be fully at peace. We see this come to pass when…

• Amnon, David’s firstborn.  He raped his half-sister, Tamar.
• Absalom, David’s third son, murdered Amnon, the firstborn, as vengeance for the rape of Tamar. Then, he was killed by Joab when he mounted a rebellion against David and tried to take the throne.
• Adonijah (add – doni -yah -hooo), the 4th son of David, attempted to usurp the throne from Solomon, the 10th son, and Solomon had him executed.

Verse 11 and 12 prophesy’d  of Absalom taking David’s concubines in the sight of all of Israel. Around the time of that event,  David had to flee from the castle, in fear of his life, on account of Absalom.

We see also in verses 14 and 15 that David’s first child by Bathsheba dies as a baby.  That didn’t just wreck David folks. I have no doubt that Bathsheba took that hard. She lost her husband Uriah, then she lost her child. Both losses came in tragedy. Part of me wonders if she blamed David for any of that as the years went on. I wonder if these events had any lasting negative impacts on their marriage. 

Scars were left. Awful scars that didn’t just damage David, but also damaged his family in an irrevocable way. David may have been one of the greatest kings that Israel ever had, but this singular event tore his testimony as a father, arguably more important than his testimony as king, to shreds. His house never stopped warring. His kids executed each other, and some even tried to execute him. 

Sin leaves scars. Yes, Jesus forgives, but the scars still remain.  This is why the “well… I’ll just ask for forgiveness later” line is so horrid and terrible.  The consequences of our sin may just not leave scars on our hearts, but they have the potential to hurt other people as well.  And these scars set us back. Sometimes they make us question God. Sometimes they bring anger into our lives. We become so hurt and broken giving into sin that we are REMOVED from that right relationship with God, and that sets us back in the relationship.   

You ever been set back in a relationship?  You were really tight, the vibes were good, everything was going along smoothly. Then, you get into a yelling match and something hurtful is said. Or, you get into an argument and you end up giving each other the silent treatment and the cold shoulder. Do those things move you closer towards oneness in the relationship, or does it move you further back from it?

Yes.. you can say you’re sorry quickly, but, sometimes, that isn’t enough. There has to be a change in approach, attitude, or action in order to restore the relationship.  There has to be time put into to build up the foundation that was broken, or rebuild the bridges that were burned

So what about our relationship with the Lord this morning?  Are there any parts of your heart this morning that are scarred, and that’s set you back?  Are there certain areas of your life, maybe in your career or in your home where you see the effects of not maintaining that close relationship with Christ?  Friend, if you see parts of your life like that this morning, you need to heed to the example of David.  

Looking at this passage, we can, without a doubt, see the awful effects that the scars of sin can leave on your life. There were goals that David was never able to achieve.  There were milestones he was never able to celebrate. The same is true for us today folks.  

• There are some people who’ve stubbornly allowed the sin of anger to sit in their life. They became desensitized to the roughness of their words and the harshness of their actions. Their hearts were seared to it.  One day, they flew off at their boss and got fired. They raised a hand against their spouse and got served with divorce papers. Can God redeem them? Absolutely.  But the scars remain. 
• There are some people who’ve stubbornly allowed the sin of selfishness to sit in their lives. They became desensitized to the focus on me, me, me. They spent years chasing the next check to spend on their toys and clothes and vacations. Their hearts were seared to it. One day, they looked around their childless, spouseless home and felt the most crushing weight, realizing they’d squandered a life that could have been shared with others and brought so much joy and life into the world. Can God redeem them? Absolutely. But the scars remain. 
• There are some who stubbornly allowed the sin of laziness to sit in their lives. They became desensitized to the evil they see. They let the kids smart off and ingest the trash TV and social media. They slip into the back of the church, and leave right after the prayer. They pretend that the crazies are only in California and NYC. They could make more of a difference in the lives of their children, the lives of those in their church, the life of the nation, but they are content to sit and watch as people do the wrong thing. One day, they wake up and realize their kid has rejected their upbringing and gone to live riotously, their church is barely treading water because 20% of the people are doing 80% of the work, or they turn on the TV and see that the clowns are running the country. Can God redeem them? Absolutely. But the scars remain.

David’s dilemma originated in his heart, created by his slothfulness, his stubbornness, and his scars.

Samuel Howell

Don’t let your slothfulness steer you into the wrong location and give you the wrong justifications.

Don’t let your stubbornness sear your soul to the correction of the Lord in your life.

And remember that the scars on your life may set you back, but they can’t keep you back.

Why?

Because a repentant heart will restore a right relationship with God

A Repentant Heart

We can see this right here in 2 Samuel 12:13.

13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
2 Samuel 12:13

We see David come full circle here. 

• He allowed his slothfulness to put him on that roof that one summer night. 
• He allowed that stubbornness to lead to the murder of Uriah and months upon months of hiding from God. 
• The scars of his life were going to be put on full display as a warning for us all. But HERE, we see David begin the process of restoration. 

Note that David took responsibility for his actions. He says, “I have sinned against the Lord”. 

Folks, YOU have to come to that realization. It’s not enough for a man of God to stand behind a pulpit and tell you. It’s not enough for your friends, or your parents, or your coworkers, or your children to inform you.  Your standing with God is your responsibility alone to acknowledge and maintain. 

Some people get bent all out of shape because they feel like the preacher is coming down hard on them. Or some other godly person in their life is getting on their case. And they’re resistant to the process of restoration because of it. I’ve seen it in my own life. There’ve been people who’ve heard me preach, and walked out the door and never came back because of it. I’ve had that same attitude myself in the past. There’s been times in my life where God has put a Nathan in place to tell me something, and I haven’t wanted to hear it. 

Friend, you have to take that up with God. He’s the one you really have a problem with if your honest with yourself. And He’s who you need to be talking to about fixing it. 

David took it in stride. We’d do well to follow his example today folks. We’d do well to ask for forgiveness from the Lord and begin the process of restoration. Swallow our pride and take it on the chin instead of sitting and rotting in the filth of sin.

What’s stopping you today? What’s stopping you from doing as David did and admitting your sin? 

You know what happens when you do?

When you admit your sin to God, acknowledging you’ve done wrong and asking for forgiveness, you know what the Lord does?

The Lord forgives you. Completely and wholly. 

Don’t misunderstand me. This doesn’t give you license to continue to live in sin. God’s mercy is not to be treated as a “get-out-of-hell” free card. You can’t just live how you want “because God’ll forgive me anyway”. That attitude implies repeated willful sin, which implies you were never really sorry in the first place. A repentant heart is truly sorry and seeks to “go and sin no more”. Will you always succeed in this quest? No. But the Bible says….

16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief
Proverbs 24:16

God knows the desire of your heart, whether it’s to do better or to continue to live in sin

It was in David’s heart to do better. He wanted to be restored to a right relationship with his God and Savior. Can you say the same for yourself today?

If you can, and you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, know that the Lord has put away your sin. You will not die the eternal death of separation from all that is good. You will not suffer the fires of hell. Only if Jesus is Lord of your life. Message me. We’ll go through what salvation is.

If you’ve already accepted Christ, but you know you’re not in a right relationship with him. Now is the time to do business with God. Get with him one on one and get it straight. No one can do it for you.

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