2 Samuel 11-12, April 12, 2012

WELCOME ; 2012-13 STUDY

FOR ALL HAVE SINNED,  2 Samuel 11-12; April 12, 2012

Carol Kuykendall writes “As I sifted through my mail I noticed Photo Radar Program boldly stamped in black. Before I opened it, I knew I was busted. Sure enough the letter inside had not one but three pictures that identified me as guilty of “excessive speed of 33 miles-per-hour” in a “20 miles per hour school zone.”  Then I remembered the moment several weeks ago when the flash of the camera caught me by surprise. I didn't even realize there was a school a couple of blocks away; no children were around and no other cars. Besides I was running late for the doctor’s appointment

But here was the incriminating evidence. The first picture showed my car approaching the camera. The second was a close-up of my face. The last clearly reveal my license plate on the back of the car.

The letter contained lots of small print about my options. Immediate payment of the fine would “close the matter” or I could report somewhere to settle the matter in a trial at a later date. Or I could wait until was issued the second summons, which would nearly double the fine.

I left the envelope on my desk for several days because I didn't want to deal with it but every time I saw it, my guilty feelings grew. Yesterday I finally picked it up, reread the fine print, wrote out a check and stuffed it in the envelope. Later as I dropped it in the mailbox I dropped my sense of guilt as well, after all the letter promised that “the payment closes the matter.”

1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.

PRAY Lord, you are the one who promised “that payment closes the matter.”  Thank you that burdens are lifted at Calvary. Jesus death paid a debt I could never pay. Help me to live in the light of that Truth.

David Displeases the Lord-Sins, Repentance, Forgiveness

2 Samuel 11 ¹ In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing.

The Jewish people were constantly taking baths or performing the mikvah ritual. A mikvah is defined in Webster's as, "A bath in which Orthodox Jews immerse themselves for ritual purification, as before the Sabbath or following menstruation." We know Bathsheba was not sunbathing for we are told it was evening. V 4. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.)

Oh, be careful little eyes, what you see, (repeat)
For the Father up above,
is looking down in love,
So be careful little eyes
What you see.

Lust of the Eyes -1 John 2:16  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.

Matthew 5:27-28, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

2- The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Oh, be careful little mind what you think (repeat)
For the Father up above,
Is looking down in love,
So be careful little mind,
What you think.

David’s Sins

·        Lust of the eyes

·        Adultery

·        Dishonesty

·        Murder

·        Cover-up

⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then^[a] she went back home.

Oh, be careful little hands, what you do (repeat),
For the Father up above,
Is looking down in love,
So be careful little hands
What you do

1 Corinthians 6:18-19 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

  Bathsheba mourns

1 Corinthians 10:13 ¹³ No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Two innocents and a King- Bathsheba was the bride of Uriah, one of David’s faithful generals. She probably came from a God –fearing family, her father’s name was Eliam, which in Hebrew means “God is gracious.” From our account in the bible we can find no fault with Bathsheba, much as Esther had done, she was summoned before the King and had no recourse to object.

 Remember Sarai, wife of Abram twice she was chosen because of her beauty and added to a harem; first by King Abimelech and later by the Pharaoh.

Deceit-Uriah, brave warrior is away fighting the war. When Bathsheba sends word that she was pregnant. David calls him home and tries to arrange for Uriah to sleep with his wife to cover David’s indiscretion. Warriors in battle must be consecrated and forbidden to be with women. Uriah was so conscientious, faithful that he was slept outside the palace. Even the night David tried to get him drunk Uriah refused to break the oath. David trusted Uriah’s honor enough to let him carry his own death order to Joab.

Many women in this room have been lied to and deceived by someone they love.  It hurts deeply; our hearts are broken and our souls wounded.

But in Deuteronomy 31:6 we are reminded: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

We can depend on Jesus to be faithful and true.

1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.

REPENTANCE

Have you even had to confront someone who has shown poor judgment, or deliver bad news to a friend? Remember Jonah ran away from God’s appointment for him.

What a brave and obedient servant Nathan was to approach King David and expose his sin.

David as judge was enraged at the injustice of the story about the little ewe lamb stolen from the poor man.

5“As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

David shows true remorse and confesses to Nathan and God. ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

PSALM 51 was written out of his repentance.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

12:15 Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. ¹⁴ But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.” 
The LORD forgave David. However David had to suffer the consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, others had to suffer as well. In future chapters we will see how his sins are visited on his family. He will pay at least four times over.

 Our Sins Affect Others

·         Some of the king’s men died;  Uriah murdered 11:17

·        Bathsheba mourns her husband 11:26

·        Sword will never depart his house 12:10

·        Calamity on your family 12:11

·        His wives taken in broad daylight 12:12

·        Enemies show contempt for the LORD 12:13

·        Bathsheba's baby dies 12:19

Repentance is incomplete unless it leads to confession and restitution in cases of injury; unless it causes us to forsake not merely outward sins, which others notice, but those which lie concealed in the heart; unless it makes us choose the service of God and live not for ourselves but for Him. There is no duty which is either more obvious in itself, or more frequently asserted in the Word of God, than that of repentance. 
M. Cocoris, Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, Moody, 1984, p. 65.
1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins

FORGIVENESS

Colossians 3:13 ESV bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

David psalms show us his heart for God. His remorse was genuine and the LORD forgave his sin. However an innocent baby had to die as consequences of David’s sin.

24-Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; ²⁵ and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.

When Bathsheba is pregnant with child, she is called the wife of Uriah. However after she loses the baby she is referred to as Bathsheba. One commentary says she was the eighth wife of David. The number eight signifies new beginning. With the birth of Solomon it was also a new beginning for David as well. Solomon will build the temple for the LORD.

Bathsheba is honored when she is listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:6 “David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.”

Isn’t it strange how God can take a bad situation and use it for His good?

I used to think I was a pretty good judge of people. Lately I have been having my doubts. This lesson was difficult for me, betrayal and lies are the hardest to forgive. 

My Grandpa Reese used to say, “You can lock up from a thief, but you can’t for a liar.”

A lie has no legs. It requires other lies to support it. Tell one lie and you are forced to tell other lies to back it up. Stretching the truth won't make it last any longer. Those that think it permissible to tell white lies soon grow colorblind.  Austin O'Malley.

Do you have unforgiveness in your heart? It can be difficult to forgive when we have been hurt. However, we are commanded to forgive as our heavenly father forgives us. Our worth is found in Christ alone, not in the way we are treated by others. Forgiveness is impossible without God’s love to uphold us.

We trample the blood of the Son of God if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. It does not matter who or what we are; there is absolute reinstatement into God by the death of Jesus Christ and by no other way, not because Jesus Christ pleads, but because He died. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement is a propitiation whereby God, through the death of Jesus, makes an unholy man holy. Oswald Chambers.

 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator;

 If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;

If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;

 If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer;

But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.

Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989, pp. 121ff

Will you choose to remember that no one escapes the consequences of his sins?

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

PRAYER