THE WEIGHT OF GOD’S DISPLEASURE
Just
a few years ago, I returned from vacation to find an email from a dear friend
and colleague in ministry. The story was
familiar, but I still stared in disbelief at what I read. He had recently resigned from his church
because evidence had been discovered that he had not been faithful to his
marriage.
My heart broke as this painful story
played out once again as it has so often…but this time the chief characters
were people I knew. How could it
be? Of all the people I knew in
ministry, I would never have guessed what he had been so successfully covering
up for so long.
Here in our own community we see it as
well. We all know of situations like the
one David instigated by his sin…perhaps without the murder but in many other
ways it was sin just like his.
The truth is, no one is immune. The moment we think that we are, we place
ourselves at risk and let down our guard because we assume wrongly that
something of that nature could never happen to us. Your vulnerability may be something different
from David’s problem with women…it may have to do with pride…
power…money…anger…a divisive spirit…or any of a number of other things that
entice us and control us instead of allowing Christ to have dominion over such
things.
David has now reached his 50’s and has
dominion over all
THESIS: God wants to
lift the burden of our guilt and sin by forgiving us…when we come to Him and
confess and repent and turn to Him for strength to go and sin no more!
David’s horrifying fall is recorded in these
two chapters, 2 Samuel 11-12, and today we look at these familiar issues to
learn and grow in our confidence in God’s power to prevail over sin.
I. WHEN
RESPONSIBILITY GETS OVERTAKEN BY ACCOMPLISHMENT, WICKEDNESS CAN PROSPER.
--David
had reached the highest levels of accomplishment and had enjoyed the kind of
success that few will ever duplicate.
--Whenever we see someone who has reached a high level
of achievement, it is easy to envy them and to allow our ambitions to push us
to imitate them and try to gain what they have.
--The
problem with success is that with it comes praise and privilege, prominence and
patronism.
--David now had reached that kind of success and could
coast for a while without being too concerned with having to deal with the
dangers or pressures of the normal duties and responsibilities a king typically
faced.
2 Sam. 11:1
Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that
David sent Joab and his servants with him and all
--Instead
of diligence in leading the troops, David decided to take the safe and easy way
and stay home while his army went to war.
A. IF WE THINK WE ARE BEYOND THE REALM OF DUTY,
WE SOON THINK WE ARE BEYOND THE REACH OF SIN.
--Like
many who rise to prominence, David had been coddled by those around him,
flattered by the praise and misled by the idea that he was not accountable for
doing what God had called him to do as king.
Prov.
27:21
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the
praise he receives.
--How
many more lives have been ruined by too much success than by too much hardship?
· Hardship
and trouble humble us and drive us either to despair or to prayer.
· Success
and prosperity puff us up and deceive us into irresponsible conclusions about
our own abilities and invincibilities.
Prov.
30:8
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but
give me only my daily bread.
For
over twenty-six years, I have observed this pattern to be true as leaders tend
to struggle to maintain perspective when the trappings of success surround
them. If they get the impression that
others are anxious to make their life easier, to relieve them of unpleasant
tasks, and available to satisfy their desires, they lose their sense of
responsibility and begin to let their guard down when temptations come.
The most frequent temptations are
with money, sex and power.
In tracing the fall of many such leaders, their relaxed diligence and
retreat from duty have often resulted in failure in more than one of those
categories. If they get away with their
abuse of privilege with money, they tend to think of themselves as untouchable
and they continue destructive behavior until they get caught.
B. IF WE THINK
WE CAN SIT ON OUR LAURELS, WE SOON THINK WE DESERVE WHAT WE CAN GET.
--The
idea that we have made it, or arrived at the pinnacle of success in our field,
frequently leads people to kick back and soak up the benefits they think they
deserve instead of pressing on to finish the race strong!
Many
major corporations became major because they excelled at some point in the past
but have become mediocre or fallen into decline because the initial passion and
purpose of the leader degenerated as the profits poured in and the perks piled
up. If a leader gets to the point where
the passion is gone and the calling whispers faintly amidst the background
noise of all his toys, he will soon be content to do nothing and try to enjoy
his labors.
How many young business people set
as their goal in life to ‘retire’ at an early age so they can enjoy the fruit
of their labors? David’s example should
serve as a significant warning that we need to have our hearts and hands
engaged in meaningful, purposeful, God-honoring labor all the days of our
lives!
C. IF WE THINK
THE RULES NO LONGER APPLY, WE SOON THINK WE CAN DO WHATEVER WE WANT.
--As
king, who was going to tell David he had to go to work—in this case, lead the
troops to war?
--“Everyone
else needs to be fighting, but I am the king and the rules don’t apply to me so
I can lounge around the palace, do nothing that would tire me and stay up too
late at night, and who will tell me what to do?”
--Whether
he intended to or not, David was pulling rank on his people and setting up a
double standard, one work ethic for the elite and another for the common folk.
--That
approach is totally inconsistent with the servant mindset of one who leads on
behalf of the Lord.
1 Pet. 5:2-3 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not
under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for
sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3
nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be
examples to the flock.
--No
one wants to serve with someone who has that prima donna attitude and then see them get away with doing things
that are wrong without fear of punishment.
We hate to read
of the escapades of the wealthy and privileged among us who operate with little
regard for the law because they know that they can buy their way out of
trouble. It bothers us when people use
their position to get away with things that would have serious consequences for
others.
II. WHEN
WICKEDNESS GETs THREATENED WITH EXPOSURE, DESPERATION CAN TAKE OVER.
--David’s failure to guard his heart, his hands and his eyes resulted in
the most devastating behavior we can imagine as one decision led to another to
another—each one more evil in design and destructive in character.
--Since this is such a familiar story, I will not
belabor its details but only review briefly the account of what followed his
inexcusable collapse of personal accountability and tragic disregard for moral
responsibility.
1. Late one
evening, from the roof of the palace, David looked down and saw Bathsheba
bathing and set in motion a plan to do what he wanted as king…take the wife of one of his officers, Uriah, as if he
himself were her husband.
--The pattern of using women for his own pleasure and
prestige had already become a major fault of David, a flaw in his character
that now hits with all its devastating impact.
--In previous chapters, we have already read that David
had multiple wives and children born to many different women—all of which was
in direct violation of God’s design and specific orders for what was to be
expected of kings of
--Three things were
forbidden:
· Must not multiply horses for himself Deuteronomy
17:16
· Must not multiply silver and gold for himself Deuteronomy 17:17
· Must not multiply wives for himself
Deuteronomy 17:17
--David had a problem with his desire for women which
had not been brought under control, and now that he is king he thinks he can do
what he wants.
2. Bathsheba
became pregnant and with her husband away fighting in David’s army, everyone
would know that the baby was not Uriah’s.
--So David, in an attempt to cover up what he had done, tried to find a
way for Uriah to come home, be with Bathsheba and then be deceived into
thinking the baby was conceived while he was home on leave from the war.
--Uriah could not be manipulated so easily because
unlike David, he was a man of character, a man of integrity and loyalty, and he
would not sleep with his wife while his comrades were still in peril on the
battlefield.
2 Sam. 11:11
And Uriah said to David, “The ark and
3. David ordered
Uriah to be killed in battle in sealed orders carried by Uriah to his commander
Joab.
--So desperate was David to cover up his sin, that he compounded it many
times more by having this noble man murdered in effect by placing him in a
place in battle where death was certain.
--Joab arranged it, saw to it that Uriah was killed,
and as far as David was concerned, the whole cover up was complete.
--Only Joab knew, Bathsheba knew and perhaps a few
trusted servants who had been sent for her that infamous night of the adultery.
--We have to ask ourselves—how on earth could this
possibly have happened to one who so recently was at the pinnacle of power
showered with the favor of God and man?
--Sin
loves secrecy—it desperately hides from the light, fights to remain
undiscovered, multiplies sin upon sin to avoid detection!
Notice the sequence: he saw, he desired, he took her; he kept his
sin a secret, he realized the danger of exposure (she was pregnant), he schemed
to shift the blame; he murdered an innocent man and ruined a woman’s life; he
tried to salvage respectability and took her as yet another wife!
-Desperate people take drastic measures to cover up their
sin!
What is the most
notorious cover-up of our time? For my
generation, it was the Watergate affair during which the powers of the White
House under President Richard Nixon tried to cover up an amateurish break-in at
the Democratic headquarters in D.C. at the Watergate office complex. A foolhardy act became justification for
forfeiting the presidency all because a deed done in darkness could not remain
hidden! Names that we still know
today—Chuck Colson, G. Gordon Liddy, Jeb MacGruder, John Erlichman, John
Mitchell and many other powerful men tried to bury a sinful theft, a secret
which could not be kept!
Desperate people
used all their power to hide a wrongful deed to avoid the consequences of their
failure!
How many times
do we catch our children doing something wrong and then naively ask them, “Why
did you try to hide what you did? Did you not know that your sins will find you
out?”
Of course they know rationally, but
desperation often makes for horrible decisions that lead to deeper devastation
than honest confession and repentance!
III. WHEN SIN
GETS EXPOSED BY REVELATION, REACTIONS make all the difference.
--After some time had passed, David could have concluded that he had
gotten away with his sin.
--But in a brief sentence at the end of chapter 11, we
realize that this awful injustice and cold-blooded crime was not going to go
unnoticed—at least by God!
2 Sam 11:27
…But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.
--The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to see David to tell him a parable
and confront him with his sin—in no uncertain terms!
u 2 Samuel 12:1-7a
--You are the man! Let it be
clear that you have gotten away with nothing—God knows what you did!
2 Sam. 12:7-8
Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of
--How does such a face to face encounter with sin impact a person like
David…like you?
--There are two ways people typically respond to such a
confrontation with the reality of their own sin:
A. BELLIGERENCE AND COLD-HEARTEDNESS
--Why is it that when some are cornered with the truth,
instead of coming clean, they come out fighting as if that will change what
once was hidden but has now come to light?
--Rather than admit the truth, even when it stares us
in the face, some of us will demand that we are innocent, that we have be
unjustly accused and promise to fight back.
When our sons
were young, we heard a lot of yelling outside and went out to find that
neighborhood boy and one of our sons had gotten into a little mix-up. Our son angrily accused the other boy of
spitting on him. The charge was
immediately denied by the boy, but even when I pointed to the disgusting
evidence on my son’s shirt, there was no remorse, no confession, no admission
of guilt. Instead, “Well, I didn’t do
it…he must have spit on himself!” That
is how foolish we must sound to God when we defiantly deny that we are at
fault…that what we did was not really sin…that someone else must take the blame,
not us.
B. BROKENNESS AND CONTRITION
--To David’s credit, after all this time of hiding,
when his sin was exposed, he at once came to his senses and confessed
immediately that he was guilty as charged:
2 Sam. 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to
David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
Psa. 51:1-4
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the
greatness of Thy compassion 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 Thee, Thee only, I have
sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when
Thou dost speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge.
--So much more is involved in this tragic event…the
death of the child…the loss of moral authority in David’s family and kingdom
resulting in a take-over of the throne…the humiliation, suffering and eventual
suicide of Bathsheba’s grandfather, Ahithophel…and on the cycle of misery went.
--But even though there were consequences…there was
also forgiveness!
2 Sam. 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to
David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
Psa. 51:10, 17
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me... 17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O
God, Thou wilt not despise.
To my knowledge, no one I have
ever known has surpassed the magnitude of David’s sin. To this day, what he did provides ammunition
for those who are just looking for any excuse to mock the Lord and demean His
work in the lives of His children. That
is just as Nathan said it would be:
2Sam. 12:14 “However, because by this deed you have
given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is
born to you shall surely die.”
David suffered the consequence of his sin and
experienced a shattering of the life he had known because he chose to “despise
the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight” (12:9) and to think that he
was doing too well to fall prey to the enticements of sin.
We can just
as easily fall into the same trap David did.
Paul reminds us that if we think we stand, we better watch out because
we will surely fall!
1
Cor. 10:12
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
If
it happened so dramatically to David, do we dare think that it cannot happen to
us? David felt the weight of God’s
displeasure crushing him until he came clean before the Lord. What is weighing down on you today? Come to Christ, all who are weary and heavy
laden and He will take your burden upon Himself and set you free!
February 27, 2005
© David Horner 2005
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