1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,280 If you’d open your Bible at second Samuel and chapter 11, 2 00:00:04,280 –> 00:00:08,140 we’re returning to the story of the life of David, 3 00:00:08,140 –> 00:00:12,060 which is really a story in three chapters, 4 00:00:12,060 –> 00:00:14,860 beginning with David’s trials, 5 00:00:14,860 –> 00:00:17,760 his early years when he was persecuted, 6 00:00:17,760 –> 00:00:19,860 hunted by King Saul. 7 00:00:19,860 –> 00:00:22,000 Then in the fall of last year, 8 00:00:22,000 –> 00:00:24,160 we looked at the second chapter of David’s life, 9 00:00:24,160 –> 00:00:27,260 which I think could be appropriately called his triumphs. 10 00:00:27,260 –> 00:00:29,700 The great victories of David, 11 00:00:29,840 –> 00:00:32,660 the great achievements that we consider together 12 00:00:32,660 –> 00:00:36,040 and from today we’re beginning the third chapter 13 00:00:36,040 –> 00:00:37,599 of David’s life, 14 00:00:37,599 –> 00:00:41,240 which I think can be reasonably described as his troubles 15 00:00:41,240 –> 00:00:44,200 That his troubles that came to him at root 16 00:00:44,200 –> 00:00:46,080 through his own sin 17 00:00:46,080 –> 00:00:48,880 and through his own folly. 18 00:00:48,880 –> 00:00:50,759 Now, just to remind us of the context, 19 00:00:50,759 –> 00:00:53,759 we did look last year at David’s triumphs. 20 00:00:53,759 –> 00:00:55,919 His remarkable achievement, of course, 21 00:00:55,919 –> 00:00:59,200 was to bring together the 12 tribes of Israel 22 00:00:59,299 –> 00:01:03,860 and unite them as one people under his rule. 23 00:01:03,860 –> 00:01:07,260 And we live at a time where we desperately need 24 00:01:07,260 –> 00:01:09,160 in every sphere of life, 25 00:01:09,160 –> 00:01:11,839 leaders who can bring people together. 26 00:01:11,839 –> 00:01:13,419 And David was given the wisdom 27 00:01:13,419 –> 00:01:14,699 and the courage and the skill 28 00:01:14,699 –> 00:01:17,879 to overcome old wounds and old grievances 29 00:01:17,879 –> 00:01:20,180 and to bring people together as one. 30 00:01:20,180 –> 00:01:22,680 It was a remarkable achievement. 31 00:01:22,680 –> 00:01:24,379 Not only that, 32 00:01:24,419 –> 00:01:28,940 but David also was used by God 33 00:01:28,940 –> 00:01:32,959 to subdue the enemies of God’s people. 34 00:01:32,959 –> 00:01:34,300 The enemies of God’s people 35 00:01:34,300 –> 00:01:38,540 had actually remained embedded in the promised land 36 00:01:38,540 –> 00:01:43,019 from the time of Joshua onwards for hundreds of years. 37 00:01:43,019 –> 00:01:44,059 And the result of that, 38 00:01:44,059 –> 00:01:47,800 you see this during the period of the judges and beyond, 39 00:01:47,800 –> 00:01:50,540 was that the enemies who remained embedded 40 00:01:50,540 –> 00:01:52,199 in the promised land really were able 41 00:01:52,239 –> 00:01:55,339 to rise up at will and oppress the people of God. 42 00:01:55,339 –> 00:01:58,500 The conquest in the time of Joshua was only ever partial. 43 00:01:58,500 –> 00:02:00,300 It was never complete. 44 00:02:00,300 –> 00:02:02,120 Not until the time of David 45 00:02:02,120 –> 00:02:05,419 were the enemies who remained embedded in the promised land 46 00:02:05,419 –> 00:02:09,300 finally cleared out and security and peace 47 00:02:09,300 –> 00:02:12,240 was established for God’s people. 48 00:02:12,240 –> 00:02:13,940 So these were remarkable achievements 49 00:02:13,940 –> 00:02:17,059 to unite God’s people as one, to subdue their enemies. 50 00:02:17,059 –> 00:02:19,820 And then, of course, we noticed in the fall of last year 51 00:02:19,820 –> 00:02:24,020 that David was supremely a king of grace. 52 00:02:24,020 –> 00:02:26,479 In all of this he points forward wonderfully 53 00:02:26,479 –> 00:02:28,339 to the Lord Jesus Christ. 54 00:02:28,339 –> 00:02:30,979 Remember the very first thing that he did 55 00:02:30,979 –> 00:02:32,899 was that he reached out to the people 56 00:02:32,899 –> 00:02:35,839 least likely to receive him, 57 00:02:35,839 –> 00:02:39,899 people of Jabesh Gilad, loyalists to Saul. 58 00:02:39,899 –> 00:02:41,300 But in showing kindness 59 00:02:41,300 –> 00:02:43,539 and in seeking the interests of others, 60 00:02:43,539 –> 00:02:45,960 David was given that remarkable gift 61 00:02:45,960 –> 00:02:50,960 of winning old enemies so that they became his new friends. 62 00:02:51,679 –> 00:02:53,360 Now, if you just look back in your Bible, 63 00:02:53,360 –> 00:02:55,679 I hope you now have it open in front of you 64 00:02:55,679 –> 00:02:58,199 over the chapters of Second Samuel, 65 00:02:58,199 –> 00:03:00,380 if you look back to chapter two, 66 00:03:00,380 –> 00:03:02,360 you will see at the beginning of Second Samuel. 67 00:03:02,360 –> 00:03:06,539 Chapter two, that there was only one tribe 68 00:03:06,539 –> 00:03:07,960 that was at that point 69 00:03:07,960 –> 00:03:10,639 ready to welcome David as their king. 70 00:03:10,639 –> 00:03:13,339 Only one tribe, and that was his own tribe. 71 00:03:13,339 –> 00:03:15,720 By the time you get to chapter five, 72 00:03:15,720 –> 00:03:16,940 the beginning of the chapter, 73 00:03:16,940 –> 00:03:19,899 all the tribes of Israel come to David 74 00:03:19,899 –> 00:03:22,380 and they’re united as one. 75 00:03:22,380 –> 00:03:24,619 Chapter six is that remarkable story 76 00:03:24,619 –> 00:03:28,339 that we looked at in which David brings the ark, 77 00:03:28,339 –> 00:03:31,339 the place of God’s presence, to Jerusalem, 78 00:03:31,339 –> 00:03:32,940 the center of national life. 79 00:03:32,940 –> 00:03:34,440 Think of the significance of that. 80 00:03:34,440 –> 00:03:37,940 David saying, I want the presence of God 81 00:03:37,940 –> 00:03:41,539 to be at the very center of national life. 82 00:03:41,539 –> 00:03:43,860 So you’ve got God’s people united, 83 00:03:43,860 –> 00:03:45,380 you’ve got the presence of God 84 00:03:45,380 –> 00:03:48,080 at the very center of national life. 85 00:03:48,080 –> 00:03:49,919 On to chapter seven and you’ve got 86 00:03:49,919 –> 00:03:52,559 these remarkable covenant promises 87 00:03:52,559 –> 00:03:56,320 that God gives to David about future blessing. 88 00:03:56,320 –> 00:03:58,259 You look at chapter eight and ten 89 00:03:58,259 –> 00:04:01,039 and they’re all about David’s further victories, 90 00:04:01,039 –> 00:04:03,639 securing the people of God 91 00:04:03,639 –> 00:04:06,880 and pushing the enemies who had oppressed them back. 92 00:04:06,880 –> 00:04:09,080 And then in chapter nine we have 93 00:04:09,080 –> 00:04:13,100 that beautiful story of David’s kindness 94 00:04:13,100 –> 00:04:16,459 to a crippled boy by the name of Mephibosheth. 95 00:04:17,320 –> 00:04:19,119 His life would have been wiped out 96 00:04:19,119 –> 00:04:23,359 by any other king in the ancient Near East. 97 00:04:23,359 –> 00:04:25,160 But David is a king of grace 98 00:04:25,160 –> 00:04:29,200 and he takes this crippled boy into his own house 99 00:04:29,200 –> 00:04:31,239 and has him eat at his own table. 100 00:04:31,239 –> 00:04:33,720 You must read that story, if you’ve never read it before. 101 00:04:33,720 –> 00:04:35,579 It’s just beautiful. 102 00:04:35,579 –> 00:04:37,619 And it’s from that that we sing sometimes 103 00:04:37,619 –> 00:04:40,160 that beautiful song to our Lord. 104 00:04:40,160 –> 00:04:45,160 ♪ Once your enemy, now seated at your table, Jesus, thank you. 105 00:04:48,799 –> 00:04:52,019 So that quick review just to say this. 106 00:04:52,019 –> 00:04:55,179 By the time you get to 2 Samuel chapter 10, 107 00:04:55,179 –> 00:04:58,380 you are at the very height of David’s triumph. 108 00:04:59,519 –> 00:05:01,179 Think of it. 109 00:05:01,179 –> 00:05:03,359 God’s people united. 110 00:05:04,220 –> 00:05:06,700 Enemies subdued and pushed back. 111 00:05:06,700 –> 00:05:08,739 Grace triumphant. 112 00:05:09,739 –> 00:05:11,000 What more could you ask? 113 00:05:11,000 –> 00:05:13,839 Unity, security and strength. 114 00:05:16,040 –> 00:05:18,739 And you almost wish that 2 Samuel would end there. 115 00:05:18,739 –> 00:05:19,679 But it doesn’t. 116 00:05:21,459 –> 00:05:22,820 Because David’s a great king. 117 00:05:22,820 –> 00:05:24,579 He isn’t the king. 118 00:05:25,959 –> 00:05:30,959 So we come to the third chapter of David’s life. 119 00:05:31,359 –> 00:05:33,119 That we’re going to see over these weeks 120 00:05:33,119 –> 00:05:36,480 is dominated by troubles from chapter 11 121 00:05:36,679 –> 00:05:39,500 through to the end of his days. 122 00:05:39,500 –> 00:05:41,540 Troubles that he brought on himself 123 00:05:41,540 –> 00:05:46,480 by his own sin and by his own folly. 124 00:05:47,380 –> 00:05:50,160 Now it begins here with a very well known story 125 00:05:50,160 –> 00:05:52,320 of David and Bathsheba. 126 00:05:52,320 –> 00:05:54,799 I will describe this story briefly 127 00:05:54,799 –> 00:05:57,859 and will seek to do it discreetly. 128 00:05:57,859 –> 00:05:59,459 Many of you know this story well 129 00:05:59,459 –> 00:06:01,399 that David committed adultery 130 00:06:01,399 –> 00:06:05,140 with a married woman called Bathsheba. 131 00:06:05,140 –> 00:06:08,500 She became pregnant and when David discovered this 132 00:06:08,500 –> 00:06:10,739 he called for her husband Uriah 133 00:06:10,739 –> 00:06:14,339 who was serving at the time in the king’s army. 134 00:06:14,339 –> 00:06:17,640 When Uriah arrived back from the battlefield 135 00:06:17,640 –> 00:06:19,920 David sent him home 136 00:06:19,920 –> 00:06:21,480 with the obvious intent 137 00:06:21,480 –> 00:06:24,480 that when the child in due course would be born 138 00:06:24,480 –> 00:06:26,220 Uriah and everyone else 139 00:06:26,220 –> 00:06:30,739 would simply assume that this child was his own. 140 00:06:30,739 –> 00:06:32,980 But Uriah was a man of honor. 141 00:06:33,179 –> 00:06:35,660 He would not enjoy the comforts of home 142 00:06:35,660 –> 00:06:37,380 while the men with whom he served 143 00:06:37,380 –> 00:06:39,420 were still risking their lives 144 00:06:39,420 –> 00:06:41,299 on the field of battle. 145 00:06:41,299 –> 00:06:43,619 And so he declined to go home 146 00:06:43,619 –> 00:06:47,720 and slept outside of David’s palace instead. 147 00:06:48,660 –> 00:06:51,339 So David sent Uriah back 148 00:06:51,339 –> 00:06:53,579 to the field of battle. 149 00:06:53,579 –> 00:06:57,619 He wrote a letter to the military commander Joab 150 00:06:57,619 –> 00:06:59,920 telling him verse 15 151 00:06:59,920 –> 00:07:04,920 set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting 152 00:07:05,399 –> 00:07:08,140 and then draw back from him 153 00:07:08,140 –> 00:07:12,380 that he may be struck down and die.” 154 00:07:12,380 –> 00:07:14,559 Now you imagine David writing this letter 155 00:07:15,600 –> 00:07:16,959 and he seals the letter 156 00:07:17,839 –> 00:07:19,040 and he gives it to Uriah 157 00:07:19,040 –> 00:07:20,519 and he says, now, you take this 158 00:07:20,519 –> 00:07:21,920 when you go back to the battlefield 159 00:07:21,920 –> 00:07:23,839 you take this to your commander Joab. 160 00:07:23,839 –> 00:07:25,359 And so here’s Uriah, 161 00:07:25,359 –> 00:07:27,959 this loyal soldier of King David 162 00:07:27,959 –> 00:07:29,640 and he’s carrying this letter 163 00:07:30,399 –> 00:07:32,859 that he’s commissioned to relay to the commander. 164 00:07:32,859 –> 00:07:35,600 He’s actually carrying his own death warrant 165 00:07:37,519 –> 00:07:40,239 signed by the King that he serves. 166 00:07:41,700 –> 00:07:44,720 And Joab carried out David’s instruction 167 00:07:44,720 –> 00:07:46,619 he assigned to Uriah 168 00:07:46,619 –> 00:07:51,059 a place where the enemy was strongest in the battle. 169 00:07:51,059 –> 00:07:52,779 And then we read verse 17 170 00:07:52,779 –> 00:07:54,339 The men of the city came out 171 00:07:54,339 –> 00:07:56,200 and fought with Joab 172 00:07:56,200 –> 00:07:58,140 and some of the servants of David 173 00:07:58,160 –> 00:08:01,200 among the people fell, 174 00:08:01,200 –> 00:08:05,720 Uriah the Hittite also died. 175 00:08:07,899 –> 00:08:10,059 The sad news of her husband’s death 176 00:08:10,059 –> 00:08:12,019 was then reported to Bathsheba 177 00:08:12,980 –> 00:08:15,619 and after an appropriate period of mourning 178 00:08:15,619 –> 00:08:16,899 David sent for her 179 00:08:16,899 –> 00:08:19,179 she became David’s wife 180 00:08:19,179 –> 00:08:22,359 and in due time of course the child was born. 181 00:08:23,339 –> 00:08:25,839 The cover up, now that’s what it was, 182 00:08:25,839 –> 00:08:27,179 was complete. 183 00:08:28,239 –> 00:08:30,220 Except for one thing in the very last 184 00:08:30,220 –> 00:08:32,179 verse of the chapter, verse 27. 185 00:08:32,179 –> 00:08:33,380 Do you see it there? 186 00:08:33,380 –> 00:08:37,900 The thing that David had done 187 00:08:37,900 –> 00:08:41,419 displeased the Lord. 188 00:08:44,559 –> 00:08:47,700 Now, friends, it is surely hard to imagine 189 00:08:47,700 –> 00:08:51,840 a story that is more obviously relevant 190 00:08:52,679 –> 00:08:56,539 to this moment in time in which we find ourselves today. 191 00:08:58,299 –> 00:09:01,419 Our culture is gripped, and not only are culture 192 00:09:01,419 –> 00:09:03,219 more widely around the world. 193 00:09:03,219 –> 00:09:06,280 The same story is working itself out, 194 00:09:06,280 –> 00:09:10,659 gripped by one story after another 195 00:09:10,659 –> 00:09:13,900 of what secularists, who won’t use the word sin, 196 00:09:13,900 –> 00:09:17,580 like to call sexual misconduct. 197 00:09:19,340 –> 00:09:20,179 What’s it about? 198 00:09:20,179 –> 00:09:24,219 Men in positions of power, abusing women. 199 00:09:25,219 –> 00:09:30,219 And cover-ups, so that the truth will not be known. 200 00:09:31,619 –> 00:09:34,099 All of that is here in the story 201 00:09:34,099 –> 00:09:37,260 that is before us in the word of God today. 202 00:09:39,260 –> 00:09:41,419 Now, my prayer for us today is two-fold. 203 00:09:41,419 –> 00:09:43,080 First that God would give to us, 204 00:09:43,080 –> 00:09:46,780 through his word, a heightened horror of sin. 205 00:09:48,260 –> 00:09:50,760 Lord, give us that in our lives today, 206 00:09:50,760 –> 00:09:53,080 a heightened horror of sin. 207 00:09:53,840 –> 00:09:58,840 And second, a deepened appreciation of our Savior. 208 00:10:00,099 –> 00:10:00,940 Now, to that end, 209 00:10:00,940 –> 00:10:03,940 I want simply to make three observations from this story. 210 00:10:03,940 –> 00:10:06,219 The first is the power of temptation. 211 00:10:07,179 –> 00:10:10,059 And I want you to take in with me for a few moments 212 00:10:10,059 –> 00:10:15,059 who it was that committed these heinous sins 213 00:10:15,380 –> 00:10:16,979 that are recorded here. 214 00:10:17,940 –> 00:10:22,059 Yes, it was David, but I want you to think about this. 215 00:10:23,039 –> 00:10:27,260 It was David in his mature years. 216 00:10:28,260 –> 00:10:31,280 He is not a young man at this point in the story. 217 00:10:32,520 –> 00:10:36,400 We’re told in chapter five that David was 30 years old 218 00:10:36,400 –> 00:10:41,400 when he became king, and that he reigned for 40 years. 219 00:10:41,520 –> 00:10:45,059 So that means that David died at around the age of 70. 220 00:10:46,679 –> 00:10:49,900 David would have been in his fifties 221 00:10:49,900 –> 00:10:52,320 at the point of the story that is recorded 222 00:10:52,320 –> 00:10:54,900 for us in Second Samuel in chapter 11. 223 00:10:54,900 –> 00:10:56,460 He was a married man. 224 00:10:57,320 –> 00:11:02,320 He had adult children, as we will see later from the story. 225 00:11:04,219 –> 00:11:06,700 He was in, think about it, died at 70. 226 00:11:06,700 –> 00:11:09,679 He was in the last 20 years of his life. 227 00:11:09,679 –> 00:11:11,679 Not the first 20 years of his life. 228 00:11:12,700 –> 00:11:16,559 The last 20 years of his life. 229 00:11:17,520 –> 00:11:19,479 The Bible speaks often 230 00:11:19,479 –> 00:11:21,799 about the dangers of the sins of youth. 231 00:11:21,799 –> 00:11:25,440 Here’s a story that says it’s no less dangerous 232 00:11:25,440 –> 00:11:26,840 in your mature years. 233 00:11:27,799 –> 00:11:30,679 Let him or her who thinks that he or she stands 234 00:11:30,679 –> 00:11:34,219 take heed lest you fall. 235 00:11:35,520 –> 00:11:37,599 Third, David was very successful. 236 00:11:37,599 –> 00:11:42,000 I mean, this is not some novice who’s setting out on life 237 00:11:42,000 –> 00:11:43,659 and has not yet found his way. 238 00:11:43,659 –> 00:11:46,239 All of his great achievements as we’ve just seen 239 00:11:46,239 –> 00:11:47,580 were already behind him. 240 00:11:47,580 –> 00:11:49,580 He’s accomplished great things! 241 00:11:49,580 –> 00:11:51,719 And of course therein lies the problem. 242 00:11:51,719 –> 00:11:55,539 When God grants you success and you achieve great things, 243 00:11:55,539 –> 00:11:59,179 it is possible to get the idea that you walk on water 244 00:12:00,380 –> 00:12:02,880 and that somehow you are above the things 245 00:12:02,880 –> 00:12:05,299 that afflict other women and other men. 246 00:12:07,299 –> 00:12:09,900 More than that, David had walked with God. 247 00:12:09,900 –> 00:12:10,719 Think about this. 248 00:12:10,719 –> 00:12:13,539 For many years, he was a man after God’s own heart. 249 00:12:13,539 –> 00:12:15,140 Without question, this is a man 250 00:12:15,159 –> 00:12:18,140 who has walked with God, a man who loves God. 251 00:12:18,140 –> 00:12:19,159 Think about this. 252 00:12:19,159 –> 00:12:21,760 During these years of his life, 253 00:12:21,760 –> 00:12:24,659 David has known repeatedly what it was 254 00:12:24,659 –> 00:12:28,359 for the very spirit of God to breathe out the Word of God 255 00:12:28,359 –> 00:12:30,000 in him and through him, 256 00:12:30,000 –> 00:12:33,200 which he wrote, then, in the Scripture of the Psalms. 257 00:12:33,200 –> 00:12:34,679 Many of which would have been written 258 00:12:34,679 –> 00:12:37,340 before he came to the age of 50. 259 00:12:39,200 –> 00:12:43,760 So you can’t have higher spiritual experience than that. 260 00:12:45,520 –> 00:12:49,780 There is no spiritual experience that will protect you 261 00:12:49,780 –> 00:12:52,400 from the power of sin and of temptation. 262 00:12:52,400 –> 00:12:53,239 You can never say, 263 00:12:53,239 –> 00:12:55,520 now I’ve been walking with the Lord for a long time, 264 00:12:55,520 –> 00:12:58,440 so I’m in a different position now. 265 00:12:59,940 –> 00:13:02,059 Let him who thinks that he stands, 266 00:13:02,059 –> 00:13:04,179 take heed, lest he fall. 267 00:13:04,179 –> 00:13:06,940 This is the man, this mature married man, 268 00:13:06,940 –> 00:13:08,780 in the last 20 years of his life, 269 00:13:08,780 –> 00:13:12,280 who has been walking with God for decades. 270 00:13:12,320 –> 00:13:15,580 This is the man who blows his testimony 271 00:13:16,719 –> 00:13:19,140 and commits such heinous sins. 272 00:13:24,460 –> 00:13:26,460 When you hear on the news 273 00:13:28,260 –> 00:13:31,840 of some great sin and crime being reported, 274 00:13:34,000 –> 00:13:37,460 instead of looking down your nose in moral superiority, 275 00:13:37,460 –> 00:13:40,200 which we’re all tempted to do, 276 00:13:40,200 –> 00:13:41,700 learn to say this. 277 00:13:43,059 –> 00:13:45,299 The root of what led to that 278 00:13:47,780 –> 00:13:49,119 also lies in me. 279 00:13:51,020 –> 00:13:53,359 The root of what led to that 280 00:13:56,099 –> 00:13:57,440 also lies in me. 281 00:14:01,299 –> 00:14:04,479 A.W. Pink says this so very well. 282 00:14:04,479 –> 00:14:07,280 The flesh, he says in The Believer, 283 00:14:07,280 –> 00:14:09,719 is no different and no better 284 00:14:09,859 –> 00:14:13,700 and no better than the flesh in an unbeliever. 285 00:14:15,299 –> 00:14:18,080 See, that which is flesh is flesh, isn’t it? 286 00:14:18,080 –> 00:14:21,280 That’s why we need to be filled with the spirit of God, 287 00:14:21,280 –> 00:14:23,159 and if the spirit of God were taken 288 00:14:23,159 –> 00:14:25,320 from any of us in this congregation, 289 00:14:25,320 –> 00:14:26,960 however long you’ve been a Christian, 290 00:14:26,960 –> 00:14:31,780 if the spirit of God were taken from you this year, 291 00:14:31,780 –> 00:14:33,219 who knows what you’d be doing 292 00:14:33,219 –> 00:14:36,479 and where you’d be by the end of it. 293 00:14:36,479 –> 00:14:37,960 We live on the grace of God 294 00:14:38,000 –> 00:14:39,799 and we depend upon his strength. 295 00:14:39,799 –> 00:14:42,039 Do you believe this what E.W. Pink says here? 296 00:14:42,039 –> 00:14:46,059 The flesh in you is no different 297 00:14:46,059 –> 00:14:49,500 and no better than the flesh in an unbeliever. 298 00:14:49,500 –> 00:14:51,239 It is flesh. 299 00:14:51,239 –> 00:14:53,280 That’s why every person is tempted. 300 00:14:53,280 –> 00:14:55,640 That’s where it gains its power. 301 00:14:56,840 –> 00:14:58,059 Therefore, when you hear 302 00:14:58,059 –> 00:15:00,580 of some great said or crime being reported, 303 00:15:00,580 –> 00:15:04,260 learn to say the root of what led to that 304 00:15:04,320 –> 00:15:08,559 is this also lies in me. 305 00:15:08,559 –> 00:15:10,200 I live by faith in the Son of God, 306 00:15:10,200 –> 00:15:12,440 but I also live this life in the flesh. 307 00:15:13,960 –> 00:15:15,659 Now the very first affect then 308 00:15:15,659 –> 00:15:17,679 of this story as we come to it 309 00:15:17,679 –> 00:15:20,900 and as we take it seriously as the word of God to us, 310 00:15:20,900 –> 00:15:23,340 the very first affect of this story on us 311 00:15:23,340 –> 00:15:26,619 should be that it absolutely shakes us to the core. 312 00:15:26,619 –> 00:15:28,039 If you’re not shaken by this story, 313 00:15:28,039 –> 00:15:29,760 you’re not listening to it. 314 00:15:30,580 –> 00:15:31,840 This is David 315 00:15:32,539 –> 00:15:34,979 in his mature years 316 00:15:36,000 –> 00:15:37,919 who’s been walking with God 317 00:15:40,500 –> 00:15:42,280 and it should lead everyone of us 318 00:15:42,280 –> 00:15:43,539 at the beginning of a new year 319 00:15:43,539 –> 00:15:46,020 to ask this very important question. 320 00:15:46,020 –> 00:15:49,960 Am I realistic about the nature of my own flesh? 321 00:15:52,239 –> 00:15:56,000 Robert Warwick McShane one of my spiritual heroes 322 00:15:56,000 –> 00:15:58,419 who you know I’ve quoted often. 323 00:15:59,280 –> 00:16:00,859 He was a pastor known 324 00:16:00,859 –> 00:16:04,280 for his passionate pursuit of a godly life 325 00:16:06,000 –> 00:16:10,599 and he wrote a piece called Personal Reformation. 326 00:16:10,599 –> 00:16:13,119 It was a kind of journaling of his own heart 327 00:16:13,119 –> 00:16:16,380 and what he saw in his own heart 328 00:16:16,380 –> 00:16:18,460 and he wrote this in his 20s. 329 00:16:18,460 –> 00:16:20,380 He died when he was 29 330 00:16:20,380 –> 00:16:21,659 and I say that because I’ve referred 331 00:16:21,659 –> 00:16:24,580 to the particular temptations of more mature years 332 00:16:24,580 –> 00:16:26,080 that we see in this story. 333 00:16:26,080 –> 00:16:29,500 So now let me quote from a man in his 20s 334 00:16:31,400 –> 00:16:35,559 a godly man in his 20s, a committed man in his 20s 335 00:16:36,440 –> 00:16:38,799 and this is what Makshian wrote. 336 00:16:38,799 –> 00:16:40,760 I am tempted to think 337 00:16:42,320 –> 00:16:45,200 that now I am an established Christian 338 00:16:46,679 –> 00:16:51,479 I may venture very near to temptation 339 00:16:51,479 –> 00:16:55,000 nearer than other men. 340 00:16:56,460 –> 00:16:57,700 You see what he’s saying? 341 00:16:58,520 –> 00:17:02,599 I’m tempted with this thought. 342 00:17:02,599 –> 00:17:04,979 I’ve been a Christian for a while now 343 00:17:06,119 –> 00:17:08,319 and I’ve maintained a testimony 344 00:17:09,619 –> 00:17:12,579 and I don’t think therefore that I’m quite as vulnerable 345 00:17:12,579 –> 00:17:15,479 as other people might be to one temptation or another. 346 00:17:15,479 –> 00:17:18,020 I think I’m actually in a safer position 347 00:17:18,020 –> 00:17:20,219 because I’m an established Christian now. 348 00:17:20,219 –> 00:17:23,520 I’ve been at this for a few years. 349 00:17:24,500 –> 00:17:26,199 Then he says this, 350 00:17:26,199 –> 00:17:29,839 This is a lie of Satan. 351 00:17:31,719 –> 00:17:33,099 You believe that? 352 00:17:33,099 –> 00:17:34,760 This is a lie of Satan. 353 00:17:37,119 –> 00:17:38,160 He says, I might as well, 354 00:17:38,160 –> 00:17:39,319 and I love this analogy, 355 00:17:39,319 –> 00:17:42,800 I might as well speak of gun powder getting by habit 356 00:17:42,800 –> 00:17:47,400 a power of resisting fire so as not to catch the spark. 357 00:17:48,760 –> 00:17:49,579 See what he’s saying? 358 00:17:49,579 –> 00:17:52,880 The flesh always remains the flesh 359 00:17:52,880 –> 00:17:54,800 and it’s inflammable material. 360 00:17:56,500 –> 00:17:57,520 And so he says this, 361 00:17:57,520 –> 00:18:00,880 The seeds of all sins are in my heart 362 00:18:00,880 –> 00:18:03,680 and perhaps all the more dangerously 363 00:18:03,680 –> 00:18:07,280 because I do not see them. 364 00:18:09,660 –> 00:18:11,699 Now there’s a man who is being honest 365 00:18:11,699 –> 00:18:13,719 about the nature of his own flesh 366 00:18:13,719 –> 00:18:15,920 and therefore being prepared for 367 00:18:15,920 –> 00:18:18,400 what it means to pursue a holy life. 368 00:18:19,339 –> 00:18:21,420 Never imagine 369 00:18:22,839 –> 00:18:25,520 that you’re beyond any particular temptation. 370 00:18:28,160 –> 00:18:28,979 Now, 371 00:18:30,199 –> 00:18:31,239 the story 372 00:18:32,400 –> 00:18:36,719 behind David’s sin with Bathsheba 373 00:18:36,719 –> 00:18:39,300 I think is very significant. 374 00:18:40,400 –> 00:18:44,560 And whenever you hear of a moral calamity, 375 00:18:45,619 –> 00:18:48,020 there is always a back story, 376 00:18:49,359 –> 00:18:51,760 these things don’t just happen random, 377 00:18:51,760 –> 00:18:53,699 as it were, out of the blue. 378 00:18:55,040 –> 00:18:58,040 And the back story of David’s life, 379 00:18:58,040 –> 00:18:59,959 I think we can pick up from 380 00:18:59,959 –> 00:19:03,099 Second Samuel chapter five and verse 13, 381 00:19:03,099 –> 00:19:04,400 where we read this, 382 00:19:04,400 –> 00:19:06,400 this is 20 years earlier, 383 00:19:07,780 –> 00:19:12,640 David took more concubines and wives 384 00:19:12,640 –> 00:19:14,520 from Jerusalem 385 00:19:14,520 –> 00:19:16,939 after he came 386 00:19:16,939 –> 00:19:18,000 from Hebron. 387 00:19:18,119 –> 00:19:21,199 He already had wives, plural, and concubines, 388 00:19:21,199 –> 00:19:24,500 and when he moved from Hebron to Jerusalem, 389 00:19:24,500 –> 00:19:27,560 he took even more. 390 00:19:28,760 –> 00:19:30,599 Now of course, that was what kings 391 00:19:30,599 –> 00:19:34,119 commonly did in those days. 392 00:19:34,119 –> 00:19:37,420 But understand, it was a direct violation 393 00:19:37,420 –> 00:19:39,719 of the clearest command of God 394 00:19:39,719 –> 00:19:43,319 given in Deuteronomy chapter 17 and verse 17. 395 00:19:44,439 –> 00:19:45,880 Back through the mouth of Moses 396 00:19:45,979 –> 00:19:46,979 in the book of Deuteronomy, 397 00:19:46,979 –> 00:19:48,800 God had given clear instructions 398 00:19:48,800 –> 00:19:51,719 that at the time where Israel had a king, 399 00:19:51,719 –> 00:19:53,420 the king amongst God’s people 400 00:19:53,420 –> 00:19:55,640 was to be different from the kings 401 00:19:55,640 –> 00:19:58,300 of the nations of the earth. 402 00:19:58,300 –> 00:19:59,819 And the king amongst God’s people 403 00:19:59,819 –> 00:20:02,880 was to be distinct in certain defined matters 404 00:20:02,880 –> 00:20:05,079 that were spoken from the very mouth of God 405 00:20:05,079 –> 00:20:06,880 and one of them was this. 406 00:20:07,760 –> 00:20:09,439 The king amongst God’s people 407 00:20:09,439 –> 00:20:13,520 is not to acquire many wives for himself 408 00:20:13,520 –> 00:20:15,119 lest his heart turn away. 409 00:20:16,640 –> 00:20:19,319 Now that command, Deuteronomy 17 verse 17, 410 00:20:19,319 –> 00:20:21,199 given through Moses, known to David, 411 00:20:21,199 –> 00:20:23,300 could not have been clearer. 412 00:20:24,780 –> 00:20:26,300 And here’s what that means. 413 00:20:28,239 –> 00:20:30,459 For all David’s service to God, 414 00:20:31,920 –> 00:20:34,199 he had over the years carved out 415 00:20:35,459 –> 00:20:38,400 an area of compromise in his own life 416 00:20:38,400 –> 00:20:41,219 that was never submitted to the Lord. 417 00:20:42,219 –> 00:20:45,060 And it was that area of compromise 418 00:20:45,060 –> 00:20:48,939 that was the root of his great sin and disaster. 419 00:20:51,060 –> 00:20:54,199 David had an issue with lust. 420 00:20:55,300 –> 00:20:58,099 And the more he gave way to it, 421 00:20:58,099 –> 00:21:00,819 and surely that is seen in what we’ve just referred to 422 00:21:00,819 –> 00:21:03,560 in his acquiring of this great harem, 423 00:21:04,979 –> 00:21:09,579 the more he gave way to it, the more it controlled him. 424 00:21:11,619 –> 00:21:15,920 The sin that he accommodated in his life, it grew. 425 00:21:17,420 –> 00:21:19,979 And then one day, it’s power just overwhelmed him. 426 00:21:21,319 –> 00:21:23,260 And that’s where we are in this story. 427 00:21:24,459 –> 00:21:26,119 The New Testament is very clear 428 00:21:26,119 –> 00:21:29,380 about this being the way in which sin works. 429 00:21:29,380 –> 00:21:34,160 Temptation gains power as it is given room over time. 430 00:21:35,619 –> 00:21:37,359 James chapter one and verse 15, 431 00:21:37,859 –> 00:21:41,640 But then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. 432 00:21:41,640 –> 00:21:45,420 And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. 433 00:21:46,819 –> 00:21:49,180 In other words, the more room you give 434 00:21:49,180 –> 00:21:52,160 to any evil desire in your life, 435 00:21:52,160 –> 00:21:54,479 the more powerful it will become. 436 00:21:56,719 –> 00:21:59,979 A writer by the name of W.G. Blakey puts it this way. 437 00:21:59,979 –> 00:22:04,040 When an evil desire has scope for its exercise, 438 00:22:04,040 –> 00:22:06,520 Instead of being satisfied, 439 00:22:06,520 –> 00:22:10,680 it becomes more greedy and more lawless. 440 00:22:10,680 –> 00:22:14,280 And you see, here’s what Satan puts into your mind. 441 00:22:14,280 –> 00:22:15,439 He says, well now look, 442 00:22:15,439 –> 00:22:18,000 if you just give this a little room in your life, 443 00:22:18,000 –> 00:22:20,739 just give it a little space, 444 00:22:20,739 –> 00:22:22,699 then you can contain it. 445 00:22:24,359 –> 00:22:27,680 And what happens is when you give it a little space, 446 00:22:27,680 –> 00:22:29,040 it becomes greedy. 447 00:22:29,040 –> 00:22:32,839 It’s never satisfied and it takes more space and more space 448 00:22:32,839 –> 00:22:37,199 and eventually, what you have allowed room 449 00:22:37,199 –> 00:22:39,900 by way of a compromise that has been carved out, 450 00:22:39,900 –> 00:22:42,079 never submitted to the law of God 451 00:22:43,500 –> 00:22:46,719 ends up gaining power and taking control in your life. 452 00:22:46,719 –> 00:22:50,339 That’s what we see in the story of David. 453 00:22:52,380 –> 00:22:54,280 So, guard your heart 454 00:22:56,479 –> 00:23:01,000 because where you allow any sin to capture your imagination, 455 00:23:01,000 –> 00:23:04,040 it will not be long before it controls your life. 456 00:23:05,479 –> 00:23:08,339 The roots of every kind of sin lie 457 00:23:08,339 –> 00:23:10,939 in the flesh of even the most godly believer. 458 00:23:12,859 –> 00:23:15,839 So, are you today realistic about what you’re up against 459 00:23:15,839 –> 00:23:17,280 at every stage of life? 460 00:23:18,560 –> 00:23:19,900 Not only when you’re young. 461 00:23:22,040 –> 00:23:23,819 Do you think that you can live this year 462 00:23:23,819 –> 00:23:26,760 without dependence upon God’s Word, His grace, 463 00:23:26,760 –> 00:23:28,800 and without seeking His face in prayer? 464 00:23:28,800 –> 00:23:30,959 Do you think that you can live with integrity this year? 465 00:23:30,959 –> 00:23:32,260 That, when you just drift through it 466 00:23:32,260 –> 00:23:34,500 because you’ve been a Christian a long time? 467 00:23:36,079 –> 00:23:38,719 Do you really think that you can keep some area 468 00:23:38,719 –> 00:23:39,920 of your life carved out, 469 00:23:39,920 –> 00:23:42,119 unsubmitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, 470 00:23:42,119 –> 00:23:43,839 and not have it get you in the end? 471 00:23:46,739 –> 00:23:49,079 Let him who thinks that he stands, 472 00:23:49,079 –> 00:23:53,280 the Bible says take heed lest he fall. 473 00:23:55,160 –> 00:23:57,479 Why is this in the Bible if it’s not to shake us 474 00:23:57,640 –> 00:24:01,819 and to waken us up as to the power of temptation. 475 00:24:03,319 –> 00:24:07,479 Second observation, the pain of sin. 476 00:24:09,140 –> 00:24:10,479 This third chapter, 477 00:24:10,479 –> 00:24:11,859 remember David’s trials, 478 00:24:11,859 –> 00:24:13,599 his triumphs and now his troubles, 479 00:24:13,599 –> 00:24:15,920 this third chapter in David’s life 480 00:24:15,920 –> 00:24:18,359 illustrates a very important principle. 481 00:24:18,359 –> 00:24:20,520 Let me put it in a sentence for you. 482 00:24:20,520 –> 00:24:22,520 It’s gonna run right through this series 483 00:24:22,520 –> 00:24:24,319 but here it is. 484 00:24:24,339 –> 00:24:28,280 The way of the sinner is hard. 485 00:24:29,719 –> 00:24:31,339 The way of the sinner is hard. 486 00:24:32,280 –> 00:24:36,479 And that is repeatedly the drumbeat theme 487 00:24:36,479 –> 00:24:40,800 that we get from the third chapter of David’s life, 488 00:24:40,800 –> 00:24:43,520 the way of the sinner is hard. 489 00:24:43,520 –> 00:24:45,500 Let me just give you a little anticipation, 490 00:24:45,500 –> 00:24:48,520 an overview of what lies ahead in these chapters 491 00:24:48,520 –> 00:24:49,839 for these coming weeks. 492 00:24:49,839 –> 00:24:53,719 In 2 Samuel 13, if you just glance over there 493 00:24:53,719 –> 00:24:56,739 you have the horrific story 494 00:24:58,160 –> 00:25:01,540 of the abuse of David’s daughter Tamar 495 00:25:01,540 –> 00:25:05,859 at the hands of her step brother, her half brother Amnon. 496 00:25:07,119 –> 00:25:08,420 Now, what’s happening here? 497 00:25:09,880 –> 00:25:13,640 David’s own lust is being reproduced by his own son 498 00:25:15,219 –> 00:25:18,319 and there is nothing harder in all the world for a father 499 00:25:18,319 –> 00:25:21,479 than to see his sins being reproduced in his own son. 500 00:25:21,880 –> 00:25:25,199 And the agony of that for David, 501 00:25:26,760 –> 00:25:29,479 not to mention for Tamar. 502 00:25:31,280 –> 00:25:33,239 Later in the same chapter, what do you get, 503 00:25:33,239 –> 00:25:35,280 you get the murder of Amnon 504 00:25:36,800 –> 00:25:39,160 by Absalom, the full brother of Tamar, 505 00:25:39,160 –> 00:25:41,920 taking revenge for this outrageous act. 506 00:25:43,520 –> 00:25:44,780 Back to Cain and Abel 507 00:25:44,780 –> 00:25:47,719 and one of David’s sons murders another. 508 00:25:48,479 –> 00:25:52,280 You move on to 2 Samuel chapter 15 509 00:25:52,280 –> 00:25:54,680 and you have Absalom’s rebellion, 510 00:25:55,920 –> 00:25:59,079 the son, Absalom, who ended up hating his father 511 00:25:59,079 –> 00:26:00,040 who loved him. 512 00:26:02,359 –> 00:26:05,680 And then you move on to 2 Samuel and chapter 18 513 00:26:05,680 –> 00:26:08,119 and the tragic story of the death of Absalom 514 00:26:08,119 –> 00:26:11,500 and David’s inconsolable grief over the life 515 00:26:11,500 –> 00:26:13,560 and the death of his rebel son. 516 00:26:13,560 –> 00:26:15,319 Here’s the heart of a father 517 00:26:15,319 –> 00:26:16,780 that is broken 518 00:26:18,280 –> 00:26:21,719 and it’s broken over the pain of his daughter 519 00:26:21,719 –> 00:26:25,359 and it is broken over the rebellion of his son 520 00:26:25,359 –> 00:26:27,400 and the roots of it all go back 521 00:26:27,400 –> 00:26:29,459 to second Samuel and chapter 11. 522 00:26:31,739 –> 00:26:33,839 Now here’s what we should take from that. 523 00:26:35,339 –> 00:26:38,359 If David could have seen all that would flow 524 00:26:38,359 –> 00:26:40,540 from his sin with Bathsheba, 525 00:26:41,800 –> 00:26:45,319 if he could have for one moment glimpsed the script 526 00:26:45,319 –> 00:26:46,859 of the rest of 2 Samuel, 527 00:26:46,880 –> 00:26:50,079 if he could have one moment seen the pain 528 00:26:50,079 –> 00:26:52,920 that this would bring for himself, for his family 529 00:26:52,920 –> 00:26:57,099 and ultimately for the savior who would die for these sins, 530 00:26:58,280 –> 00:27:01,020 he would have looked away from Bathsheba in a moment 531 00:27:02,640 –> 00:27:05,199 and he would have said there is no fleeting pleasure 532 00:27:05,199 –> 00:27:07,560 in this world that is worth that amount of pain. 533 00:27:09,780 –> 00:27:11,319 You know I suspect actually 534 00:27:11,319 –> 00:27:13,520 that there are some public figures 535 00:27:14,520 –> 00:27:16,880 who having been shamed by the exposure 536 00:27:16,880 –> 00:27:20,020 of their actions in recent weeks, would also say 537 00:27:21,680 –> 00:27:23,900 if I had known the pain that would come, 538 00:27:25,579 –> 00:27:28,380 the cost for me and for my loved ones, 539 00:27:29,900 –> 00:27:32,160 I would never have done what I did. 540 00:27:34,400 –> 00:27:36,959 And here is a way 541 00:27:36,959 –> 00:27:39,599 to strengthen yourself against temptation. 542 00:27:39,599 –> 00:27:41,160 Why does Jesus say, by the way, 543 00:27:41,160 –> 00:27:44,119 what is done in secret will be shouted from the rooftops. 544 00:27:45,979 –> 00:27:48,099 That’s to be a restraint for us against sin, 545 00:27:48,099 –> 00:27:51,699 that’s to be an incentive for us 546 00:27:51,699 –> 00:27:55,339 in our resistance of temptation when it comes. 547 00:27:55,339 –> 00:27:56,939 Learn to say this to yourself 548 00:27:56,939 –> 00:27:59,079 when you are tempted to a particular sin. 549 00:27:59,079 –> 00:28:01,939 How would it be if I did this 550 00:28:01,939 –> 00:28:03,800 and one day the whole world knew? 551 00:28:05,479 –> 00:28:06,979 Learn to say that to yourself. 552 00:28:08,520 –> 00:28:10,760 And then learn to say this to yourself. 553 00:28:11,579 –> 00:28:13,640 How would it be with me if I did this 554 00:28:13,640 –> 00:28:16,939 and then one day it was laid to my charge 555 00:28:16,939 –> 00:28:18,819 in the presence of Almighty God? 556 00:28:21,000 –> 00:2:22,180 Count the cost. 557 00:28:24,040 –> 00:28:25,959 The way of the sinner is hard, 558 00:28:25,959 –> 00:28:28,339 count the cost to yourself, to those you love. 559 00:28:28,339 –> 00:28:33,300 Supremely to Jesus Christ, He died for sin 560 00:28:33,300 –> 00:28:36,619 and those who love Him cannot continue in it any longer. 561 00:28:38,520 –> 00:28:40,640 And of course, David is the proof of that. 562 00:28:41,560 –> 00:28:44,199 He sinned so terribly 563 00:28:44,199 –> 00:28:47,420 and he covered up for a long period of time, 564 00:28:47,420 –> 00:28:50,040 but in the end he could not live 565 00:28:50,040 –> 00:28:52,079 at a distance from the Lord he loved 566 00:28:52,079 –> 00:28:54,660 and that’s why he comes back in repentance. 567 00:28:57,000 –> 00:28:59,599 There’s something else that I want us to see here 568 00:28:59,599 –> 00:29:03,199 that again is part of the scripture waking us, 569 00:29:03,199 –> 00:29:05,040 shaking us, sobering us, 570 00:29:05,040 –> 00:29:07,239 and therefore arming us for the fight 571 00:29:07,239 –> 00:29:09,880 because we have a heightened horror of sin 572 00:29:09,900 –> 00:29:13,619 and a deepened appreciation of the Saviour. 573 00:29:14,979 –> 00:29:17,359 You see, besides the great pain 574 00:29:17,359 –> 00:29:20,560 that came to David and his loved ones, 575 00:29:21,900 –> 00:29:24,359 there was also as a result of David’s sin 576 00:29:24,359 –> 00:29:28,540 a tremendous loss that came to the people of God 577 00:29:28,540 –> 00:29:30,939 and there is no escaping this in the story. 578 00:29:32,560 –> 00:29:34,099 What was David’s great achievement? 579 00:29:34,099 –> 00:29:38,359 It was to bring these 12 tribes of Israel together 580 00:29:38,699 –> 00:29:41,520 and unite them as one people under his rule 581 00:29:41,520 –> 00:29:44,339 but to give a little anticipation of where the story goes, 582 00:29:44,339 –> 00:29:46,979 when we get to 2 Samuel 19, 583 00:29:46,979 –> 00:29:48,619 after the rebellion of Absalom 584 00:29:48,619 –> 00:29:51,140 and when David is restored, guess what? 585 00:29:52,739 –> 00:29:56,719 All the old divisions 586 00:29:56,719 –> 00:29:59,839 between the tribes erupt again 587 00:30:01,479 –> 00:30:03,780 and they’re separated and they’re scattered 588 00:30:03,780 –> 00:30:06,060 and they are divided as they had been 589 00:30:06,079 –> 00:30:08,359 before David began his rule. 590 00:30:09,979 –> 00:30:13,300 The great achievement of David was unraveled 591 00:30:14,780 –> 00:30:17,900 and all the work that he’d done over 20 years 592 00:30:17,900 –> 00:30:20,560 needed to be done all over again, 593 00:30:22,140 –> 00:30:23,880 read that and weep. 594 00:30:25,359 –> 00:30:27,599 It was a tragedy, not only for David 595 00:30:27,599 –> 00:30:29,380 but for the people of God. 596 00:30:30,699 –> 00:30:33,219 There’s been a verse running very strongly in my mind 597 00:30:33,219 –> 00:30:35,739 as I’ve been meditating on this part of the scripture 598 00:30:36,500 –> 00:30:38,140 and it’s this, from the book of Revelation. 599 00:30:38,140 –> 00:30:41,180 Here’s the risen Lord Jesus Christ speaking 600 00:30:41,180 –> 00:30:45,300 and he says this, I am coming soon. 601 00:30:45,300 –> 00:30:47,979 By the way isn’t that a great promise for a new year? 602 00:30:47,979 –> 00:30:52,000 The Lord Jesus says I am coming soon, 603 00:30:52,000 –> 00:30:53,660 Lord Jesus come quickly. 604 00:30:54,599 –> 00:30:57,140 But notice what he says next. 605 00:30:57,140 –> 00:30:58,800 So hold fast to what you have 606 00:30:58,800 –> 00:31:00,839 so that no one may seize your crown. 607 00:31:03,260 –> 00:31:05,719 He’s not talking about a Christian losing salvation, 608 00:31:05,719 –> 00:31:07,400 that’s not what’s being spoken here. 609 00:31:07,400 –> 00:31:09,339 He’s saying look you’re giving yourself 610 00:31:09,339 –> 00:31:11,000 to the service of the Lord. 611 00:31:11,000 –> 00:31:12,660 You don’t wanna blow that? 612 00:31:14,800 –> 00:31:17,079 You don’t wanna serve the Lord for decades 613 00:31:17,079 –> 00:31:20,180 and then to lose all the value of what you have done 614 00:31:20,180 –> 00:31:22,479 because of some indulgence and some folly 615 00:31:22,479 –> 00:31:23,560 in your own life? 616 00:31:26,640 –> 00:31:31,160 David’s sobering life story tells us this. 617 00:31:32,760 –> 00:31:34,920 It is possible to serve the Lord 618 00:31:35,160 –> 00:31:37,800 with great distinction for decades 619 00:31:39,239 –> 00:31:43,060 and to undo much of the good that you have accomplished 620 00:31:44,459 –> 00:31:46,859 through your own sin and through your own folly. 621 00:31:48,359 –> 00:31:49,599 That should shake us. 622 00:31:50,819 –> 00:31:53,060 That should go deep into the heart 623 00:31:53,060 –> 00:31:55,839 and say oh Lord may such never be true for me. 624 00:31:57,780 –> 00:32:00,199 For 20 years he led the people of God 625 00:32:00,199 –> 00:32:03,040 into the best days they had ever known 626 00:32:05,160 –> 00:32:07,000 and in the later years of his life 627 00:32:07,000 –> 00:32:09,400 they were in one trouble after another 628 00:32:09,400 –> 00:32:12,180 and the root of it all was the king’s own sin. 629 00:32:14,040 –> 00:32:15,579 Sin is painful. 630 00:32:17,459 –> 00:32:20,339 It brings incalculable loss. 631 00:32:21,979 –> 00:32:25,540 Nothing good ever comes from it. 632 00:32:27,520 –> 00:32:30,339 And here’s the burden of my heart on this point. 633 00:32:30,339 –> 00:32:34,900 If the only thing we ever say from the scripture about sin 634 00:32:34,939 –> 00:32:37,420 is that, Jesus wonderfully forgives it. 635 00:32:38,500 –> 00:32:41,160 Our defenses against temptation will be very weak 636 00:32:41,160 –> 00:32:42,699 and Satan will put into our minds, 637 00:32:42,699 –> 00:32:44,739 It’s okay, you can do this, you’ll be forgiven 638 00:32:44,739 –> 00:32:46,680 and it’ll all be all right in the end. 639 00:32:48,619 –> 00:32:50,739 And what I want us to see from the story 640 00:32:50,739 –> 00:32:54,420 and why it’s in the Bible for us surely is 641 00:32:55,420 –> 00:32:57,479 that we will have a horror of sin 642 00:32:57,479 –> 00:33:00,459 because we have the feel of the incalculable pain 643 00:33:00,459 –> 00:33:02,719 and loss that it actually brings in this life. 644 00:33:05,040 –> 00:33:06,780 Sin destroys 645 00:33:08,260 –> 00:33:13,260 and the pain that it brings is incalculable. 646 00:33:14,979 –> 00:33:17,540 And if you want to see how incalculable it is, 647 00:33:17,540 –> 00:33:20,859 you need to look at spikes in the hands of Jesus 648 00:33:20,859 –> 00:33:25,339 and in the feet of Jesus as he bears sin on the cross, 649 00:33:25,339 –> 00:33:27,479 that’s the pain that it brings. 650 00:33:29,079 –> 00:33:30,780 That’s the pain that it brings. 651 00:33:32,660 –> 00:33:33,979 Now friends, one more thing here, 652 00:33:33,979 –> 00:33:37,619 the power of temptation, the pain of sin, 653 00:33:37,619 –> 00:33:39,979 to heighten our horror of sin 654 00:33:39,979 –> 00:33:43,699 and to deepen our appreciation of Christ. 655 00:33:43,699 –> 00:33:44,540 Let’s go here, 656 00:33:44,540 –> 00:33:49,380 the perfection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 657 00:33:49,380 –> 00:33:51,380 David of course, is often presented 658 00:33:51,380 –> 00:33:53,500 and we think of him in this way 659 00:33:53,500 –> 00:33:56,239 as someone who points forward to the Lord Jesus, 660 00:33:56,239 –> 00:33:58,900 the great champion who overcomes Goliath, 661 00:33:58,900 –> 00:34:01,579 who subdues the enemies of God’s people, 662 00:34:01,579 –> 00:34:02,959 who shows wonderful grace, 663 00:34:03,000 –> 00:34:05,280 who brings people from all these tribes together 664 00:34:05,280 –> 00:34:06,439 and makes them one. 665 00:34:06,439 –> 00:34:08,100 In all of these wonderful things, 666 00:34:08,100 –> 00:34:11,360 David foreshadows our Lord Jesus Christ. 667 00:34:11,360 –> 00:34:13,840 But in this last chapter of David’s life, 668 00:34:13,840 –> 00:34:15,560 what we’re going to see repeatedly 669 00:34:15,560 –> 00:34:18,360 is not that he points forward to the Savior, 670 00:34:18,360 –> 00:34:22,399 but that he stands as someone who is in need of a savior, 671 00:34:22,399 –> 00:34:23,919 like every one of us. 672 00:34:25,639 –> 00:34:26,739 He was the great king. 673 00:34:26,739 –> 00:34:28,840 Yeah, no, he was a great king. 674 00:34:28,840 –> 00:34:30,300 He is not the great king. 675 00:34:31,239 –> 00:34:34,899 He stands, whatever his likeness to Christ, 676 00:34:34,899 –> 00:34:37,000 in some ways in his life, 677 00:34:37,000 –> 00:34:38,979 and whatever your likeness to Christ, 678 00:34:38,979 –> 00:34:40,360 in some ways in your life. 679 00:34:40,360 –> 00:34:42,739 We stand together, brothers and sisters, 680 00:34:42,739 –> 00:34:46,340 as those who are dependent upon the one 681 00:34:46,340 –> 00:34:48,800 who is the great king, Jesus Christ, 682 00:34:48,800 –> 00:34:50,260 our Savior and our Lord. 683 00:34:50,260 –> 00:34:53,659 We called the series last time on David’s triumph, 684 00:34:53,659 –> 00:34:56,060 I just gave it the title, A Leader You Can Follow, 685 00:34:56,060 –> 00:34:59,439 because in so many ways in the triumph phase 686 00:34:59,439 –> 00:35:03,060 of David’s life, you have him being a wonderful example. 687 00:35:03,060 –> 00:35:04,780 There’s no way in the world that you could 688 00:35:04,780 –> 00:35:07,679 use the title, A Leader You Can Follow, here. 689 00:35:09,419 –> 00:35:11,580 Now what we’re going to learn here, 690 00:35:11,580 –> 00:35:14,500 as we see David alongside the Lord, Jesus Christ, 691 00:35:14,500 –> 00:35:17,040 is not a comparison or a continuity 692 00:35:17,040 –> 00:35:19,679 but a radical contrast. 693 00:35:20,780 –> 00:35:24,580 In David, we have the king who accomplishes great things 694 00:35:24,580 –> 00:35:27,419 but is overwhelmed by the power of temptation. 695 00:35:28,379 –> 00:35:31,600 In Jesus Christ, we have the king 696 00:35:31,600 –> 00:35:34,399 who stands against all of temptation. 697 00:35:34,399 –> 00:35:38,600 He was tempted in every way as we are, 698 00:35:38,600 –> 00:35:41,899 yet he was without sin, and that’s why 699 00:35:41,899 –> 00:35:44,919 he accomplishes great things that last. 700 00:35:47,199 –> 00:35:49,399 In David, think about this contrast. 701 00:35:49,399 –> 00:35:53,760 You have the king ordering Uriah, his faithful servant, 702 00:35:53,760 –> 00:35:57,320 into the thick of battle and not only Uriah 703 00:35:57,320 –> 00:36:01,120 but the lives of many others of David’s loyal soldiers 704 00:36:01,120 –> 00:36:03,560 are put in harm’s way and are lost. 705 00:36:03,560 –> 00:36:04,919 Think about that. 706 00:36:06,159 –> 00:36:10,199 Here is a king who gives up the lives of his people 707 00:36:10,199 –> 00:36:12,060 in order to save his own. 708 00:36:14,320 –> 00:36:18,020 And in Jesus, we have the king who gives up himself 709 00:36:18,020 –> 00:36:20,600 in order to save the lives of his people. 710 00:36:22,360 –> 00:36:25,080 No question as to which king we’d rather serve, right? 711 00:36:27,379 –> 00:36:29,899 But I want, just in these last moments, to end here 712 00:36:30,800 –> 00:36:32,439 and to point out something very wonderful. 713 00:36:32,439 –> 00:36:33,699 I wonder if you’ve noticed this 714 00:36:33,699 –> 00:36:35,639 at the beginning of the New Testament. 715 00:36:37,399 –> 00:36:39,120 Matthew begins his gospel 716 00:36:39,120 –> 00:36:41,600 by recording the line of descent 717 00:36:41,600 –> 00:36:45,260 into which our Lord Jesus Christ was born. 718 00:36:46,620 –> 00:36:48,879 And if you look at Matthew 1, in verse six 719 00:36:48,879 –> 00:36:52,159 in that genealogy, you will see this. 720 00:36:52,159 –> 00:36:57,159 We’re told that Jesse was the father of David the king, 721 00:36:58,159 –> 00:37:00,479 and David was the father of Solomon. 722 00:37:00,479 –> 00:37:03,780 This is the line into which Jesus Christ will be born. 723 00:37:03,780 –> 00:37:08,780 David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. 724 00:37:12,360 –> 00:37:14,040 Do you see the significance of that? 725 00:37:14,040 –> 00:37:18,679 It’s into this messed up line. 726 00:37:20,360 –> 00:37:23,959 It’s into this dysfunctional family 727 00:37:24,719 –> 00:37:28,439 that Jesus Christ, the saver of the world, comes. 728 00:37:28,439 –> 00:37:30,379 It’s into this line that he’s born. 729 00:37:32,040 –> 00:37:37,139 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 730 00:37:37,139 –> 00:37:42,139 Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 731 00:37:46,360 –> 00:37:51,360 and when we see, and sometimes when we live with our sin 732 00:37:51,419 –> 00:37:56,419 at its most costly, this is where we need to look, isn’t it? 733 00:37:58,800 –> 00:38:01,939 That Jesus Christ came into the world precisely 734 00:38:01,939 –> 00:38:06,040 for this and precisely for me. 735 00:38:08,879 –> 00:38:13,879 I said a moment ago, nothing good ever comes from sin, 736 00:38:15,300 –> 00:38:16,300 and I meant it. 737 00:38:17,239 –> 00:38:22,060 Nothing good ever comes from sin, 738 00:38:23,260 –> 00:38:26,120 but great good can come from God’s redeemeing grace. 739 00:38:28,979 –> 00:38:31,179 Thank God the last chapter of David’s life 740 00:38:31,179 –> 00:38:32,959 isn’t the last chapter of the Bible. 741 00:38:34,939 –> 00:38:36,679 Jesus Christ came into the world 742 00:38:36,679 –> 00:38:40,419 so that however devastating the effects of David’s sin, 743 00:38:40,419 –> 00:38:42,139 whatever the degree of pain that it brought 744 00:38:42,139 –> 00:38:43,739 for the rest of his life, 745 00:38:44,580 –> 00:38:49,239 sin would not have the final word on David’s life. 746 00:38:49,239 –> 00:38:52,020 Jesus Christ has the final word on David’s life. 747 00:38:53,840 –> 00:38:55,639 And Jesus Christ came into the world 748 00:38:55,639 –> 00:38:57,159 so that sin should not have the final word 749 00:38:57,159 –> 00:38:58,739 in your life either. 750 00:39:00,280 –> 00:39:02,739 The way of the sinner is hard, 751 00:39:04,500 –> 00:39:08,879 but David walked the way of a repentant sinner, 752 00:39:08,879 –> 00:39:11,840 as we will see in this story. 753 00:39:11,840 –> 00:39:15,800 And that meant that however hard the road he walked, 754 00:39:15,800 –> 00:39:18,219 and it was hard indeed, 755 00:39:18,219 –> 00:39:21,639 it was a road that the Savior walked with him. 756 00:39:23,060 –> 00:39:25,699 And friends, any road, however hard, 757 00:39:25,699 –> 00:39:27,139 that has walked with the Savior 758 00:39:27,139 –> 00:39:30,780 is better by far than the easiest road 759 00:39:30,780 –> 00:39:34,939 you could ever imagine if it were walked without him. 760 00:39:36,300 –> 00:39:37,340 Let’s pray together. 761 00:39:42,800 –> 00:39:44,340 The Apostle John says, 762 00:39:44,340 –> 00:39:45,459 my little children, 763 00:39:45,459 –> 00:39:48,600 I am writing these things to you 764 00:39:50,340 –> 00:39:53,659 that you may not sin. 765 00:39:56,340 –> 00:39:58,580 Lord, heighten our horror of sin 766 00:39:58,580 –> 00:40:03,239 that we may guard our hearts and our lives, 767 00:40:04,939 –> 00:40:08,459 that we may be delivered from pride and from presumption, 768 00:40:08,459 –> 00:40:10,239 that we may never be in the place 769 00:40:10,340 –> 00:40:14,000 of the one who thinks that he or she cannot fall. 770 00:40:15,580 –> 00:40:18,000 Grandfather, that as we begin this new year, 771 00:40:18,000 –> 00:40:21,020 it may be a year of the passionate pursuit of holiness 772 00:40:21,020 –> 00:40:22,280 in which you guard us, 773 00:40:22,280 –> 00:40:23,959 and we guard our own hearts 774 00:40:25,260 –> 00:40:28,379 against the great power of temptation. 775 00:40:29,939 –> 00:40:32,639 I am writing you, my little children, 776 00:40:32,639 –> 00:40:35,600 these things so that you may not sin, 777 00:40:37,439 –> 00:40:39,199 but if anyone does sin, 778 00:40:40,620 –> 00:40:43,719 we have an advocate with the Father, 779 00:40:43,719 –> 00:40:46,360 Jesus Christ the righteous. 780 00:40:47,280 –> 00:40:51,719 He is the propitiation for our sins, 781 00:40:52,820 –> 00:40:54,040 and not for ours only, 782 00:40:54,040 –> 00:40:57,139 but also for the sins of the whole world. 783 00:40:59,060 –> 00:41:00,600 Oh God, thank you 784 00:41:02,239 –> 00:41:05,100 that the Bible does not end with the failure of David, 785 00:41:07,239 –> 00:41:09,479 but with the triumph of Jesus Christ, 786 00:41:09,600 –> 00:41:11,139 our Saviour and our Lord, 787 00:41:12,600 –> 00:41:15,120 and as we now in these moments come around his table, 788 00:41:15,120 –> 00:41:17,639 we want to look up to him, 789 00:41:17,639 –> 00:41:20,659 our Saviour, our Protector, our Guardian, 790 00:41:21,780 –> 00:41:25,179 thank you that sin does not have the final word 791 00:41:26,800 –> 00:41:30,439 in the lives of those who belong to Jesus, 792 00:41:30,439 –> 00:41:34,020 for this, we give you our thanks and our praise, 793 00:41:34,020 –> 00:41:35,719 in the Saviour’s name, amen.