Wednesday Night Service 7PM - When Good Kings Fall - II Sam. 10-11 - Pastor Ryan

If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2 Samuel chapter 10. 2 Samuel chapter 10. Been a little while since we've been in 2 Samuel. We've had a few Wednesdays with some different things going on. Also, just a reminder, so last Wednesday we watched the 1916 Project. And we're going to be showing that again this coming Sunday. Evening at 6.30. So if you missed that and you would like to come check that out.

You can come join us Sunday evening at 6.30 in here. And we're going to be showing that one more time. So as we come to chapter 10 of the book of 2 Samuel. Just to bring us all back up to speed. Get us all back on the same page. David has been anointed king. And so he's come into his own. He's been crowned the king. And all kinds of good stuff's been going on for David.

And he has proven himself to be a faithful king. He has overtaken his enemies. God has given him victory. God has been with him. And not only has God been with him and given him victory. But he has shown a great deal of graciousness and kindness. Because the last time that we were together. We saw that he had reached out to Mephibosheth. Someone who was the son of Jonathan.

Technically the rightful heir to the throne. Although God had anointed David as king. And he showed him kindness. Showed him kindness even though it wasn't deserved. And it was all... All because of his relationship with Jonathan. So as we come to chapter 10. It's still continuing with the good part of King David. We didn't quite get all the way finished with chapter 10.

But the overarching message of tonight is... Or title if you will of the message tonight from chapter 11. Is when good kings fail. But before we get to the sad part. We'll talk about another happy chapter. And chapter 10 says this. Now it happened afterwards. That the king of the Amalekites. The Amalekites had died. And Hanun his son had become king in his place.

And David said I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash. Just as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David's servants came to the land of the Amalekites. The princes of the Amalekites said to Hanun their lord. Do you think David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you?

Has David not sent his servants to you? In order to search the city. And to spy it out and to overthrow it. So Hanun took David's servants. And he shaved off half of their beards. And he cut off their garments in the middle as far as the hips. I prefer the King James on this. As far as the buttocks. And sent them away. When they told it to David. He sent to them.

For the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said stay at Jericho until your beards grow. And then. Return. Now. We don't really know what had caused David to want to show this kindness. Perhaps as David was fleeing from Saul. The king of the Amalekites had shown him some sort of kindness. But when this king passed away. He had heard news of what had taken place.

And he just wanted to extend a hand of grace. Wanted to extend a hand of kindness. So what he did is he sent his servants. Basically with a gracious message from David. Sorry to hear about your dad. I'm always here for you. It was an extension of grace and kindness. That his. Servants delivered on behalf of the king. But the message was misunderstood. The message was misunderstood by.

By Hanan's. Advisors. And they said hey listen. You know what's really going on here right. David has actually sent spies in to check out what's going on. Let's send a message back to David. Let's not accept this kindness from him. Instead let's send a message back. Now. The way that they sent this message. Was about the most humiliating thing. That you could possibly do to a Jewish man.

At this point in time. The first thing that they did. Is they shaved half their beards. Now listen. It's no shave November. At which point in time. All men returned to the glorious state that God intended. And that's that their faces would be covered with hair. Right. And so for men living. In the time of David. Their beard was their glory. And for those of us that can't grow it on top of our heads.

Our beard. Still our glory. And so they shaved off half of their beards. But not only that. They went and they cut their pants. Right. And they cut their pants. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. Well they. They caused everyone to have a moon. Right. Like moons were out that day. And so they absolutely humiliated these guys. And so they sent word to David.

And they're like. We have a problem. They didn't accept the kindness. And instead they have absolutely humiliated us. And when they sent them back. David said. You stay there. Until your beards grow back. You stay there. I will handle this little problem. So it says. In verse. Verse. Six. It says. Now when the sons of Ammon saw that they had become odious to David.

And that's an understatement. The sons of Ammon sent and hired the Arameans of Beth Rehob and the Arameans of Zobah. 20,000 foot soldiers and the king of Maacah with a thousand men and the men of Tob with 12,000 men. And when David heard it he sent Joab and all the army the mighty men. The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city while the

Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field. When Joab saw that the battle was set against him in front and in the rear. He selected all the choice men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. But the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of Abishai his brother and he arrayed them against the sons of Ammon.

And he said if the Arameans are too strong for me then you shall help me. The sons of Ammon are too strong for you. Then I will come to help you be strong and let us show ourselves. Courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in his sight. So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Arameans and they fled before him.

And when the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled they also fled before Abishai and they entered the city. And Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem. Now they realized that they had made a really big mistake. So if you will. They hired mercenary soldiers and they brought those mercenary soldiers in to fight. But Joab and Abishai cousins of David or excuse me nephews of David who were also the head of his mighty men went down and took soldiers.

Now you may take note because it's an interesting thing to take note of. The first time that David's men are referred to this is in verse 7 when it says David heard of it and he sent Joab and all the army the mighty men. It's the first time that we read that some of David's elite level soldiers the Navy SEALs if you will. Of David's time were referred to as the mighty men and Joab was the head of them and Joab was quite the military commander himself and and again when we get to it is always fascinating to find out the military exploits of these mighty men and what they were able to do and Joab laid out the battle plan and as they laid out the battle plan and went into battle both the Ammonites and the Arameans fled before them.

And so we pick up in verse 15 it says and when the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel they gathered themselves together. And Hadadezer sought sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the river they came to Helam and show back the commander of the army of Hadadezer led them. Now when it was told David he gathered all Israel together and he crossed the Jordan they came to Helam and the Arameans arrayed themselves to meet David and fought against him. But the Arameans fled before Israel and David killed 7,000 charioteers of the Arameans and 40,000 horsemen and he struck down show back the commander of their army.

And he. Died there when all the kings of the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel they made peace with Israel and they served them so the Arameans feared to help the sons of Ammon anymore. So ultimately God brought victory and it was an opportunity for David to continue to extend his power that he had had. Now before we move on to this next chapter I think there's a couple of interesting lessons that we learn from that chapter.

A couple of things that we can kind of apply to our lives and they actually have to do with the kindness of God. The first lesson that I think that we learn. Is this if we refuse to accept the kindness of God that he extends to us then there's really only other one of those really only one other option for us and that's judgment. God has extended his hand of kindness to humanity and he extended his hand of kindness to humanity through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

And many people say why would a good God send people to hell and I would ask you this why would a God who has extended the hand of grace and kindness not offer judgment. If you're unwilling to accept the grace and kindness that he has extended to everyone ultimately we as people have one option and that one option that we have is to humble ourselves before the Lord because his hand of kindness is extended but if we refuse the hand of kindness then the hand of judgment is our only other option. The second lesson that we learn is this and that's for those of us that are servants it was the servants of David that were sent they were sent to extend a hand of grace.

The to the household of Hayden and to the Ammonite and to the Ammonites and when they went and extended that hand of grace and kindness they were rejected and humiliated by the Ammonites. And as they were rejected and humiliated by the Ammonites ultimately David was the one who fought their battle they went to a place where they could be restored back to being the servants of the king. And friends there's a message. As servants of the most high as servants of the king we have one job.

The one job that we have is to extend the hand of grace and kindness to the people that God sends us to. Some people will extend will will accept that that extended hand of grace and kindness kind of like Mephibosheth did. They will they will take that in and they will say thank you so much and they will be very grateful for that and it's a wonderful moment when you extend that grace of God to people. and they take it and they run with it and they just absolutely make the most of it.

But there's also a good number of people that when you extend the hand of God's grace to them, they will spit in your face. They will misunderstand what you're doing. They will misunderstand the message and they will then blame you for bringing the message and look suspect upon you and ultimately seek to humiliate you. I know, I've had it happen to me. And when you do that, it's very hurtful.

But listen, at that point in time, you have one option and one option only. Go and find a place of restoration and let God fight your battle. Because King David fought the battle for the servants of David and we have to let God fight that battle for us. Our job continues to always be the same. Extend a hand of grace and kindness to the people around us and let them do with it what they will

and let God handle the results. And so, as we wrap up chapter 10, we see this last of really the good acts of David. And as we come into chapter 11, we come to what I call the chapter I would like to remove from the Bible. I wish this chapter didn't exist because this is one of the hardest chapters in the Bible to read. It's one of the hardest chapters in the Bible to teach.

And it's one of the hardest chapters in the Bible to accept. Because up to this point in time, though David has had his moments of weakness, he's had his moments of failure, he's continued to be a man after God's own heart. Continued to be a man that we look up to and we respect. And we say, good King David. He knew what it was to wait on the Lord. He knew what it was to serve the Lord.

He knew what it was to be humble before the Lord. And he knew what it was to be the shepherd that God had called for him to be. But when we come to chapter 11, we see a side of David that we wished did not exist. Because we see the side of David that we know ultimately exists in all of us. And that's the side of David that allows the flesh to rule. That allows the flesh to rule.

That allows sin to rule and reign in his heart. Now, there's a couple of things I would like to point out to you before we get into this chapter. And the fact of the matter is, one of the greatest proofs of the accuracy of the Bible is that it is willing to report the facts, both good, bad, and in this case, ugly, about its greatest of heroes. See, if the Bible were false, it would hide all of the bad things about its heroes.

It would make sure that, the only thing that we would read is the good things about its heroes. But you see, the Bible is not concerned about the reputation of its heroes. The Bible is concerned about the truth of God. And that's what we see in this chapter. But I want to tell you that there is a hopeful message in chapter 11. And that is the fact that even though

David is going to sin worse than you and I can probably ever imagine, he will still be a man who is loved by God. And it gives David the hope that, those of us who grew up in the church, those of us who grew up knowing what was right our entire lives, those of us who grew up hearing the gospel and perhaps even following the gospel at an early age and yet sometimes stumbling in ways that we maybe never should have, it gives us hope because we realize that we are men at best, but at our best, we're just men. And so as we come to chapter 11, it starts off like this. It says, 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 Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon,

and they besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Now before we get into the text again, I would like to share something with you, and it's something that I call the anatomy of a downfall. As a matter of fact, I think I hadn't put that up there. The anatomy of a downfall. What happens between chapter 11 and chapter 10 and 11? Because there's a whole lot

that must have taken place in the life of David. Because he can almost do no wrong at this point in time. Can we all agree with that? God was with him. He continued to be victorious. It was like everything he touched turned to gold and everything was looking awesome. The man who was pursuing God and trusting God, and yet something is going to happen between chapters 10 and 11

that will cause him to fall into sin. Because you see, nobody goes from great victory to great failure, and one fell step. There's an anatomy of a fall that begins to take place in our lives. And there are three things I would like to tell you that I feel like are the anatomy of the fall of David. Number one, David became overconfident. David became overconfident.

I know that because he has seen nothing but victory up to this point in time. Can we all agree with that? Everything he's doing is amazing. Everything he's doing is awesome. He had gone through the time of running for his life from Saul. He had gone through the time where all he could do day after day was trust God for literally his next breath. And now he's in a place

where he's living comfortably in a palace. He has defeated all of his enemies. Everybody looks to David for his wisdom. Everybody looks to him for his power. And he did what happens to all of us. He went from trusting God to becoming overconfident. Confident. I know it because of what it says in verse one. He stayed home. So number one, he became overconfident.

Number two, David became comfortable. David became comfortable. You know what I find is true about us as human beings? We are all looking for a comfort zone. Are we not? We're all looking for a place where I can just sort of coast, right? I want that with my car. I want the cruise control with my car so that I can finally get to the place on the highway where we're all driving

about the same speed and I can hit cruise and I can sip on coffee while I drive at the same speed because I have reached my comfort zone. And that is what we're all looking for in our lives. We are all looking to reach this magical place where we are comfortable and we can cruise and we can just hit cruise control in our lives and just start to coast. Oh, you know what my old wrestling coach used to always tell us?

If you're coasting, you're going downhill. And that's the problem is he had become comfortable. And I'm afraid sometimes in our Western culture that we have become so comfortable with everything that we've got. We've become comfortable in our churches. We've become comfortable with our little small groups. We've become comfortable with all of the pleasures of life that we have.

We have enough of God to make us feel good but not so much to challenge the sin. And we've become maybe a little bit comfortable because that's what happens with David. He doesn't have to be comfortable. He doesn't have to fight for his life anymore. He can sort of sit back and relax. David had become comfortable. And then number three, David got distracted.

David got distracted. And we're gonna find that that's exactly what happens to him. Only you know where David's distraction started and we'll talk about this again in just a minute. David's distraction actually started a long time ago when he took a second wife. When David took a second wife, he started to get distracted. And then he took a third wife and a fourth wife and a fifth wife.

And now all of a sudden, he's distracted by the flesh. Yes, he's pursuing God. Yes, he's the man after God's own heart because nobody's perfect. But now he's distracted because now he has this little struggle that's begun in his life. This struggle of lust, this struggle of passion that he needs to fulfill. And it's not just one woman that can do that for him anymore.

It's a whole lot of other women. But hey, they're his wives, right? At least he married them. After all, it's part of the culture. Everybody was doing it. It was something everybody else did. All the other kings did it. And he got distracted. We need to know that distractions are all around us. And what you'll find is if you're getting distracted, it probably started a long time ago.

It probably started when you weren't paying close enough attention because you allowed something small to start building in your life. And now it's morphing into something that wants to control you. Because that's what sin does. So we find that David stayed home when it was the season when all of the kings went out to battle. There actually was a war season at that point in time.

And again, it started in the spring. They didn't fight much in the wintertime. Even though wintertime in the Mediterranean culture that they lived in looked a little bit different than ours. Wintertime was the rainy season. Wintertime, it would get pretty cold at night because it's desert. So even though it might get nice during the day, it gets pretty chilly at night.

It's kind of hard to camp out at night when it gets that cold. And so everybody kind of decided, hey, let's just put the swords away for the wintertime. And when it becomes spring again, we'll break out the battle gear and we'll have a war. And that's what they did. And usually David would go out with them. He may not be on the front lines with them, but he was at least the mastermind behind it

and he would at least be in the battle. But this time he wasn't in the battle. Where was he? He stayed at Jerusalem. And so this is what happens in verse two. Now, when evening came, David arose from his bed and he walked around on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof, he saw a woman bathing. And the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman.

And one said, is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and he told them, he took her and when she came to him, he lay with her. And when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house and the woman conceived. And she sent and told David and said, I am pregnant. So David should have been in battle.

He should have been about the Lord's business. He should have been doing what he was supposed to do, but instead he stayed home. And when he stayed home, there's four things that took place. Did you take note of the words that took place? There's four verbs that are used. Number one, it says he saw. Now, David went up on his rooftop. There's some conjecture amongst Bible scholars

as to whether or not David knew what he was doing. Did he know that there was the potential there that he was gonna see Bathsheba? Did he know that that potential was there? I can't answer that question because I'm not smart enough to answer that question. The fact of the matter is he goes up on his roof and that's not an uncommon thing at that point in time.

Be weird in our culture, right? Like if you're up on your roof, everybody knows you're doing something sketchy. But in that culture, there was actually like parapet walls around there and walking around on the roof in the spring was not an uncommon thing to do. And so there he was. He looks out on the roof and the first thing he did is he saw her. Now, there's another question that needs to be answered here.

Did Bathsheba know what she was doing? Sidebar, when I was a kid, I always thought she was named Bathsheba because of this story. Like it's because she was taking a bath. I think that's just a happy accident, right, in the story. Maybe a sad accident. But he looks and he sees her. Did he know that there was a person in Bathsheba? Did he know that there was a person in Bathsheba?

Did he know that there was a person in Bathsheba? Did she know what she was doing? Was it a common thing to take baths on the roof? No, it was not. That was not a common thing at that point in time. So did she know what she was doing? Is there some sort of blame that Bathsheba should have? I don't know. I'll say this. The Bible tells us that we all need to beware

that we not stumble someone else. I think that perhaps there should have been some thought put into it. Hey, if I take a bath on the roof, the potential is there that someone's going to see me and maybe that would be a bad idea. But you know what the Bible never does? The Bible never condemns Bathsheba. It only deals with David. Why? Because even though perhaps Bathsheba

should have used some wisdom and let her inward beauty be greater than her outward beauty, David should have been a man and walked away. So the first thing that he did is he saw her. Now we need to remember something. And that's that the first look is not sin. Temptation is not sin. It just happens. Sometimes you can't help that. The second look, that's sin.

Because it says he saw her. But then do you notice the second thing that it says? It says he inquired about her. You see, he saw her over there and he was like, dang girl, right? And then the second thing he said is, who is that? Now, if you know anything about Eliam or Uriah the Hittite, his next, statement should have been, then don't go see her. Because Eliam was one of his warriors.

He was actually, and Uriah was the son of Ahithophel, who was one of his advisors. But Uriah also was one of his mighty men. I always tell people, it's like he cheated on Jason Bourne's wife, right? Or John Wick's wife. I mean, this is a really bad idea, right? Like this is one of his mighty men. And he says, well, that's, and I think his servants knew what they were doing

when they said this. That's Eliam's daughter. That's Uriah the Hittite's wife. In other words, this is a bad idea. This is one of your men. This is one of your men's wives. You should leave her alone. But first he saw her. Second, he inquired about her. Then do you notice the third thing he did? He sent for her. There was still, there was still a chance. Was the second look sin?

Yes. Was it sin for him to inquire about her? Yes. But at that point in time, he goes, okay, this is bad. I can't do this. I've got to walk away from this. I should just go for a run now. I should just go kill an animal now. I should do something besides. Whatever it is I'm about to do. And instead, he sent for her. And I always wonder, those servants that went to go get her,

if they were like, what is he doing? This is a bad idea. Because here's the thing about sin. Somebody always knows. Right? So, he sent for her. And then the fourth thing it says is, he took her. He took her. Do you notice the downward spiral of sin that took place there? He looked. He inquired. He sent. He took. And that spiral is the way every sin, goes down.

Starts with a look, maybe a thought. And then you inquire. You think about it a little bit more. And then you go to take. And then pretty soon, there you are, caught up in sin. And that's what he finds himself doing. Now, again, there was some problems behind this. Number one, the main problem is that he stayed at home when he should have been at war. He stayed at home

when he should have been at war. If he had been about the business he was supposed to be about, he would have never faced this temptation. I want to remind you of another story from the Old Testament. His name is Joseph. Do you remember what Joseph was doing constantly and probably facing even greater temptation than David did? Joseph was working in the house of Potiphar.

He was a slave in the house of Potiphar. And Joseph, we're told, was always about his master's business. And every day, Potiphar's wife would come to him and say, hey, big boy, want to, want to come hang out with me up in the bedroom? Come on now. And he would say, no, I've got work to do. I can't sin against my master and I can't sin against God and I can't sin against you.

And he stayed about his master's business. If there's one thing that God has told me is that if I want to avoid sin, I need to always be about my master's business because it's hard to fall into sin when I'm serving God with all of my heart. And brothers and sisters, it's a wonderful thing to take a day off, but don't take a day off from your faith. It's a wonderful thing to have rest, but don't leave your faith behind.

Always be about your master's business because that's what he was not. The second thing that's true is that he'd been feeding a sinful habit. He'd been feeding this sinful habit for a long time and justifying it. And maybe in the rest of the world's eyes, it was an okay thing for him to do. But because he'd been feeding this sinful habit for so long, he had no resolve against it.

And we need to know that. Temptation is not something that we, we face in a vacuum. It usually builds up over time with one small decision at a time, with one small stumbling at a time. It's the way that you boil a toad, right? The way you boil a toad when it's alive is you start in a cold pot of water and you turn up the heat slowly. And that's the way sin is in our lives,

is if it's a slow fade, then you don't notice it. That's why even the small decisions that we make, are important. Those decisions that you make to go back to bed instead of spending time with Jesus. Those decisions that you make to ignore your prayer life. Those decisions that you make to watch that show that you're maybe not supposed to watch. Go hang out with those friends

you're not supposed to hang out with. Go to that bar. And all of a sudden now, there you find yourself in this place where you're absolutely blowing it worse than you could have ever imagined. And you think back and you go, I saw how that started and it's like I couldn't stop it. Because it started with small decisions. And he'd been feeding a sinful habit.

And then the third thing, is that he gave himself the opportunity. Gave himself the opportunity. Did you notice that? He walked up on the roof. Did he know? I don't know. But the moment you see a bathtub you think, I'm gonna go back inside now and not give myself the opportunity. You can't give yourself an opportunity to sin. I know not everybody likes this guy,

but there's a guy that I used to listen to on the radio all the time. His name is Rush Limbaugh. And Rush Limbaugh was an incredibly wise, human being and he had some very wise things to say. And I will never forget when he was talking about the same sex marriage issue. And he said, once it became an option, the battle was over. Once it became an option, the battle was over.

And I have found that to be the truest statement of any sin that I've ever fallen into. Once it became an option, the battle was done. Sin can't be an option for us. It can't be a well, I'll try really hard. But if I can't, then there's always grace, right? It can't be that option. So he ends up getting Bathsheba pregnant and he doesn't know what to do now because he's like, well, this is bad.

This is gonna look bad in the kingdom. You're right, it's probably gonna kill me. This is a bad situation all the way around. I know what I'll do. I'll cover it up. And so the next thing that we see is the coverup. And as we all know, the coverup is usually worse than the sin. It says, then David said to Joab saying, verse six, send me Uriah the Hittite. So Joab sent Uriah to David.

And when Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people, the state of the war. David said to Uriah, go to your house, wash your feet. Uriah went to the king's house and a present from the king was sent out after him. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his Lord and did not go down to his house.

And when they told David saying Uriah didn't go down to his house, David said to Uriah, have you not come from a journey? Why don't you go down to your house? And Uriah said to David, the ark and Israel, Judah are staying in temporary shelters. And my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, eat and drink

and lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing. Oh, can you imagine? How much do you have to push down conviction at this point in time, right? How much do you have to push this down because Uriah is acting so righteously in this moment. You know who Uriah is acting like right now? He's acting like David did when David was running from Saul.

That's who he was acting like. He was acting like the David who was not comfortable and was constantly dependent upon the Lord who said I cannot touch the Lord's anointed because that's God's battle, not mine. That's not my own. Uriah said I can't do that to my men. I can't do that to my leader and I can't do that to you.

And Uriah acted righteously. See, David had this plan. If I can get Uriah to go and to hang out with his wife in that sort of friendly sort of way, then nobody will know the difference. It'll just be Uriah's kid and nobody will ever know and I'll get away with this scot-free. He did not count on Uriah being his right hand man. He did not count on Uriah being his right hand man.

He did not count on Uriah being his right hand man. He did not count on Uriah being as righteous as he was. Well, so he had to try a little harder. Verse 12. David said to Uriah, stay here today. Maybe tomorrow I'll let you go. So he remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. In verse 13 it says, and David called and he ate and he drank before him and he made him get drunk.

And in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his Lord's servants, but he didn't go to his house. It's not working. His plan. It seems so innocent. It seems so easy. It's not working. So instead what he had to do is he had to go scorched earth because there was no other way. Says now in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab. And if you're an underliner, you might underline.

And he sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he had written in the letter saying, place Uriah in front of the line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him. So that he may be struck down and die. And so it was as Joab kept watch on the city that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men and the men of the city went out. They fought against Joab and some of the people

among David's servants fell. And Uriah the Hittite also died. I don't know if you've ever thought about the gravity of that but he hands Uriah a note and inside of that note, are the instructions for the murder of Uriah. And he trusts him so much. He is such a righteous man that he knows he can hand him a note and say, only Joab can read this. And Uriah never would.

How hard does your heart have to be? How calloused does your heart have to be at this point in time to be willing to do that? See brothers and sisters, this is what we were talking about Sunday morning. This is what sin does. See at first it leaves a little blister on your hand and that blister kind of hurts. That's probably what happened after he sinned. I bet he felt really bad.

I bet he was like, ooh, that was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. Then he finds out she's pregnant and he's like, oh, that was really bad. I really shouldn't have done that. But you see, rather than just confessing his sin, rather than just dealing with it right then and there, he continues and pretty soon that pain that was caused by the blister has now turned into a callous.

A callous that has become so hard that he no longer feels the conviction of one of his good friends and the righteous way that he was acting and the conviction of the Lord that was obviously upon him. We know the conviction of the Lord was heavy upon him because of some of the other Psalms that we read when he says that he was sick because of the conviction that he felt from the Lord. But you see, when we don't deal with sin, it causes those callouses that keep us from feeling. And so Joab did exactly what David wanted him to do and Uriah the Hittite died.

It says in verse 18, then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war. He charged the messenger saying, when you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, and if it happens that the king's wrath rises, then he says to you, why did you go so near to this city to fight? Don't you know that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck down Abimelech, the son of Jerubasheth?

Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died? Why did you go so near? You shall say, Uriah the Hittite is dead also. And so the messenger departed and he came and reported to David all that Joab had sent to tell him. The messenger said to David, the men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate.

Moreover, the archers shot at your servants from the wall. So some of the king's servants are dead. Your servant, Uriah the Hittite, is also dead. And David said to the messenger, thus you shall say to Joab, do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as the other. Make your battle against the city stronger and overthrow it, and so encourage him.

When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she mourned. When the time of mourning was over, David sent, he brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and she bore him. She bore him a son. But the unfortunate thing right now is for all intents and purposes, it looked like his plans worked. It looks like he was able to cover his sin.

Even though he was having to continue to push down that conviction, he found himself saying, you know what, it's gonna be okay, because nobody found out. But there's only one problem. That one problem comes at the end of this verse, verse 27. But the thing that David had done, David had done. But the thing that David had done, David had done. But the thing that David had done, David had done.

Was evil in the sight of the Lord. I actually prefer the New King James translation on this one. It says, but the thing that David had done had displeased the Lord. In other words, and we need to know this, God saw, and God was not happy. He hid it from everybody else in the world, but God saw. God saw what was going on there. And you know, there's a long line of unintended consequences

that David's gonna have to deal with. And I wanna read these handful of things that I started writing down. What are the consequences that David went through that he did not expect, that he did not intend? Well, the first unintended consequence is that he sacrificed not only his own purity, but he sacrificed the purity of Bathsheba. And that's something that we have to realize with sin.

Sin is not innocent, it sacrifices our purity. It sacrifices a little bit of our conscience, a little bit of who we are. And oftentimes, if we bring other people into it, it does that too. It sacrifices theirs as well. And so it sacrificed the, or the unintended consequence, first of all, was David and Bathsheba's purity. The second unintended consequence that he never thought about the moment that he looked,

and he inquired, and he sent, and he took, is that Uriah died. And that's an unintended consequence. I bet that never went through his mind when he saw her bathing there and thought, man, she's hot. That probably never entered his mind, because those consequences don't do it at that point in time in our life. The third thing is that it's ultimately gonna end

in the death of his child. That's gonna be part of the consequence that he has to deal with. This son that was just born to him, he's gonna lose that son. The fourth unintended consequence is that he has now sacrificed the trust and the respect of his most trusted general, Joab. As a matter of fact, you will see Joab's heart turn in a different way after this chapter,

because he now knows that this mandate, this commandment, that David, that he respected, he just lost a little bit of respect for him. Of course, the fifth unintended consequence is that it sacrificed his relationship with the Lord. We need to know this about sin. Sin always has unintended consequences. Sin always has things that we weren't counting on, because sin always keeps you longer than you wanna stay,

takes you farther than you wanna go, and costs you more than you want to go. It takes you farther than you wanna go, It takes you farther than you wanna go, and costs you more than you wanna pay. That's what sin does to us. Now, we're not gonna get to the confession part tonight, because there's way too much to cover in chapter 12, but I wanna end this with a little bit of hope.

God is greater than all of our sin, and I want us to know that tonight. If you are someone who has fallen deeply into sin, and you're still dealing with the unintended consequences of that, I want you to know God's not done with you yet. God's not done writing your story yet, because that's what God's grace is for. God's grace takes chapter 11 and turns it into the New Testament.

Because if we understand correctly, and you should, David is still going to be the one through whom the Messiah will come. And do you know who is also in the line of the Messiah? A lady by the name of Bathsheba. Because that's what God's grace does. Because that's what God's grace does. Because that's what God's grace does. It takes broken situations that feel like they're ruined by sin,

and God does something amazing with it. Because that's what his grace does for us. And we have to know that. Do you know what we never read about one time in the New Testament? This story. You know why? Because the New Testament is full of grace. And we only read about the fact that David and Bathsheba are in the line of the Messiah. Not that they came together in the most untoward,

untoward circumstances possible. And so if that's you tonight, maybe you're in the midst of this and it's time for you to repent. Maybe you need to get rid of some sin and it's time for you to confess, especially to the Lord. If you need somebody to confess it to, you can come talk to me, but I'm not your priest. Confess it to Jesus. He's the one that can forgive you of your sin.

But it's time to get it out. It's time to lay it out before Jesus and let him deal with it. And if you have failed, and you've failed, and you've failed, and you've confessed, stop confessing and just believe that you're forgiven. And just believe that God's grace is greater than all of our sin. There's a wonderful verse in the book of Romans that says that God's grace is able to save to the uttermost.

And there's a wonderful quote from an ancient writer who says God's grace is able to save to the guttermost. Because that's what he's able to do. And God's gonna take this story, there's gonna be consequences, but there's also gonna be forgiveness. There's gonna be forgiveness and grace. Don't let sin be the end of your story. Amen? Father, we come before you,

and Lord, these are hard things to read sometimes, but I praise you that you have seen fit to allow these things to be written in scripture so that we know we are not alone. We are not the only ones who babble with sin, and we are not the only ones who have blown it. We're not the only ones who have found ourselves falling into sin. Some of the greatest men and women that you've used in all time, have some of the worst stories, but God.

And so Father, continue to use your grace in our lives, to draw us near to you, and to take these stories of ours, and make them not stories of failure, but stories of victory through your grace. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.