Now, before I read this chapter,
and I'd like to read the entire chapter, I want us to remember
that this man we're reading about in this event in his life is
the man that God called a man after mine own heart. God said
regarding this man, his heart beats with mine. Now, let's see
what took place with regard to this man. 2 Samuel chapter 11. And it came to pass after the
year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle,
that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel,
and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eventide
that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof
of the king's house. And from the roof, he saw a woman
washing herself. And the woman was very beautiful
to look upon. And David sent and inquired after
the woman. And one said, it's not this Bathsheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. And David
sent messengers and took her. We ran across this word in chapter
nine, where he went and fetched Mephibosheth. He came and took
her. And she came in unto him and
he lay with her. For she was purified from her
uncleanness. She'd gone through the ceremonial
washings to be purified from her time of what they did in
the Old Testament for that. And she returned into her house.
And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am
with child. And David sent to Joab saying,
send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was coming to
him, David demanded of him how Joab did and how the people did
and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, go down
to thy house and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the
king's house and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the
servants of his Lord and went on down to his house. And when
they had told David saying, Uriah went not down into his house,
David said unto Uriah, camest thou not from thy journey? Why
then didst thou not go down into thine house? And Uriah said unto
David, the ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents. And my
Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open
fields. Shall I then go into my house
to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As thou livest
and as thy soul liveth, I'll not do this thing. And David
said to Uriah, tarry here today also, and tomorrow I'll let thee
depart. So Uriah bode in Jerusalem that
day and the morrow. And when David had called him,
he did eat and drink before him, and he made him drunk. And at
even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his
Lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in
the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it
by the hand of Uriah. Now you want to talk about cold-blooded.
Cold-blooded. And he wrote in the letter saying,
set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire
ye from him that he may be smitten and die. And it came to pass
when Joab observed the city that he assigned Uriah unto a place
where he knew that valiant men were And the men of the city
went out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of the people
of the servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite died also. Then Joab sent and told David
all the things concerning the war, and he charged the messenger,
saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matter of
the war unto the king, and if so be that the king's wrath arise,
and he say unto thee, Wherefore approach ye so nigh unto the
city when you did fight? Know ye not that they would shoot
from the wall? Who smote Abimelech the son of
Jerubbeth? Did not a woman cast a piece
of millstone about him for the wall that he died in Thebes? Why went he nigh to the wall?
Then say thou, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went and came
and showed David all that Joab had sent for. And the messenger
said to David, surely the men prevailed against us and came
out into us in the field and we were upon them even under
the entering of the gate. And the shooter shot from off
the wall upon thy servants and some of the king's servants be
dead. And thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David
said unto the messenger, and these words just drip with hypocrisy. Thus shalt thou say unto Joab,
let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth
one as well as another. Make thy battle more strong against
the city, and overthrow it, and encourage thou him. It's almost
like he was saying to himself, that wasn't murder. He just died
in the battle like anybody else would. We can't take this too
far. Verse 26, and when the wife of
Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her
husband. And when the morning was past,
David sent and fetched her to his house. And she became his
wife and bear him a son. But the thing that David had
done displeased the Lord. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, we ask that you would
speak to us from your word. And reveal yourself to us. And
Lord, we ask that you would take your word. And cause us. To look to thy son only. Lord, we confess our sins. We confess the things that we
have done. that have displeased thee. And
Lord, we ask for forgiveness and cleansing for Christ's sake. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. And Lord, we pray for our country. We pray for our leaders that
you would direct and guide them that we might lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. We ask that you'd
give us grace to love you more, to love one another more. Lord, we ask that you would be
pleased to make yourself known to someone who's never seen you
according to your will. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now David at this time was in
a position of power. He was the most powerful man
in all the earth. The scripture says that the fear
of David came upon every nation. That's the place he was in at
this time. You know, a good test of character
is power. Give a man some power and let's
see what he does. And we see this with David. Now,
we read in verse 1, And it came to pass after the year was expired,
at the time when kings go forth to battle, David didn't do it. David sent Joab and his servants
with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of
Ammon and besieged Rabbah, but David tarried still at Jerusalem."
Now, David was failing to do what he should be doing at this
time, wasn't he? He should have been out in battle,
but he wasn't. He tarried behind in Jerusalem. And one wonders what he was doing
at evening, at eventide, it says he got up out of bed. What was
he doing at this time? I don't know, but he was not
doing what he should be doing. And this is what led to this
horrible, horrible fall and a very dark time in David's life that
had consequences for the rest of his life. too. And it came to pass during the
evening that David rose from off his bed. Had he been in bed
all day? I don't know. But he walked upon
the roof of the king's house. And from the roof, he saw a woman
washing herself. And the woman was very beautiful. And a beautiful woman catches
any man's attention. That's what he saw, this very
beautiful woman washing herself. And I think that this has something
to do with the ceremonial cleansing. She had been through the menstrual
cycle and she had to do certain things according to the law to
wash herself. And this was a ceremonial washing.
I don't think she was just giving herself a bath, but she was giving
herself a ceremonial washing. So she had some fear of the Lord.
She saw what the scripture said and she was seeking to do that.
And David, up from his roof, saw her. Verse 3, and David sent
and inquired after the woman, and one said, is not this Bathsheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David
sent messages and took her, seized her. I mean, she wasn't given
a choice in this thing. Come, the king wants you right
now. And she came. You see, the king had the power
to do whatever he wanted to do. So he sent his messengers, you
will get that woman and bring her to me. This is when he should
have been out fighting the battles. Here he was at home doing this. And David sent messengers and
took her and she came in unto him and he lay with her, for
she was purified from her uncleanness. And she returned unto her house
and the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am
with child. Now in this life, there is consequences
to our sin. You cannot sin without consequence
in this life. And David is facing the consequences
of his sin at this time. This woman conceived and was
with child and he goes into some kind of coverup mode at this
time. He saw this as an emergency and
he goes into a panic mode. He tries to cover up and the
coverup ends up being worse than the crime that he committed.
Let's go on reading. And David said to Joab, saying,
send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
And when Uriah was coming to him, I'm sure Uriah was thinking,
what's going on? What's he want me for? I've been
pulled off the battle. And I'm sure he was confused
as to what was taking place. As you go on reading, Uriah was
a very honorable man. I mean, he's very admirable.
As a matter of fact, we're going to see next week, Lord willing,
how he's a type of Christ. But right now we're just looking
at this story and Uriah is wondering, what's going on? Why are you
sending for me? When Uriah was coming to him,
David demanded of him how Joab did and how the people did and
how the war prospered. I mean, this is pure hypocrisy.
He's trying to cover up everything. Can a believer act like that? We ought not ever ask a question
like that. We really shouldn't. If you know yourself, you know
a believer can act like that. If you know yourself. If you
know yourself, you know how hypocritical and conniving and manipulative
you can be in order to get your way. And that's what's going
on here. This is David, the man after God's own heart. And I
don't look at David during this event and say, well, how could
David be this way? Because I know I could be this way. I've heard
people say that. How could David do that? Well, you don't know
yourself. If that's your response, you don't know yourself, because
you and I can act just as David did in this hypocritical, scheming,
manipulative way, trying to manipulate all these circumstances. We see
this in David, and it's so contrary to truth and to the gospel, but
yet here he is, David, the man after God's own heart, trying
this cover-up. Verse 8, and David said to Uriah,
go down to thy house and wash thy feet. Now he wanted him to
go and be with his wife so all this would be covered up and
he wouldn't have to be responsible for it. And Uriah departed out
of the king's house and there followed him a mess of meat from
the king. But Uriah, what an honorable man he was. He was
thinking of all of his buddies and friends being out in battle,
and here he was in luxury, and he didn't want to be different
from them, so he wouldn't go back to his house. But Uriah
slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of
the Lord, and went not down to his house. And when they had
told David, saying, Uriah went not down into his house, David
said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? And why
then did thou not go down to thine house? And Uriah said unto
David, the ark. This man understood something
about the gospel. He was talking about the ark,
the ark of the covenant, the great representative of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The ark and Israel and Judah
abide in tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are
encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go into my house
to eat and drink and to lie with my wife? As thou livest and as
thy soul liveth, I'll not do this thing." I mean, this is
such an honorable man. We see from his actions and his
conduct. And David said to Uriah, Terry,
here today also and tomorrow I'll let thee depart. So Uriah
bowed in Jerusalem that day in the morrow. And when David had
called him, He did eat and drink before him and made him drunk.
Here was his next effort to get him to go into his wife. He thought,
if I can get him to become intoxicated, he won't think about, he'll forget
all his buddies and he'll go into his wife. And that even he went out to
lie on his bed with the servants of his Lord, but went not down
to his house. And it came to pass in the morning. And this is one of the most cold-blooded
things you see in the scriptures anywhere. This is David. This is the man after God's own
heart. This is the sweet psalmist of Israel. What did he do? And it came to
pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent
it by the hand of Uriah. Now he had such trust and confidence
in this man that he knew he wouldn't open the letter. This is what
a man Uriah was. He wasn't going to do anything
wrong. He was going to obey the proper protocol. He was going
to deliver the letter to Joab without ever opening it. How
would you, you know, I would be, I'd wanna see what it said,
you know, but not Uriah. I mean, he's a very honorable
man. And he delivers this letter to
Joab. And how cold-blooded on David's
part. He's going to have this man murdered,
premeditated, cold-blooded murder in order to cover up his own
sin. That's pretty severe, isn't it?
This is David. A man after God's own heart.
I repeat, don't ever say, can a Christian
do something like this? Yes, a Christian can do something
like this. And David is the great example
of this. And he wrote in the letter, verse
15, set ye your eye in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire
ye from him that he may be smitten and die. And it came to pass
when Joab observed the city. You know, you had to do what
the king said to do. Joab is going to obey the king. It came
to pass when Joab observed the city that he assigned Uriah into
a place where he knew that valiant men were, and the men of the
city went out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of
the people of the servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite
died also. Now, Joab, I can feel the cynicism
drip from this. Joab knew exactly what David
had done. Then Joab sent and told David
all the things concerning the war. And he charged the messenger,
saying, when thou hast made an end of telling the matters of
the war unto the king, and if it be so that the king's wrath
arise, and he say unto thee, wherefore approach ye so nigh
unto the city when you did fight? Knew ye not that they should
shoot from the wall? And he talks about something
that happened in the book of Judges. They had the scriptures in them.
They read the scriptures, and they studied the scriptures.
And he talked about this event that happened in Judges when
that woman threw the millstone from the wall and killed that
man. Verse 22, so the messenger went and came and showed David
all that Joab had sent for him. And the messenger said unto David,
surely the men prevailed against us and came out unto us into
the field. And we were upon them even unto
the entering of the gate. And the shooter shot from the
wall upon thy servants, and some of the king's servants be dead,
and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then said David
unto the messenger, thou shalt say unto Joab, let not this thing
displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another. David takes this murder and lessens
it. He lies to himself and he convinces
himself that this is really not that bad. I mean, people die
in war, you know, that happens. David lies to himself and makes
himself believe the lie. He lessens what he did. He makes it to where it's not
so severe. And when the wife of Uriah heard
that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she mourned for her husband.
And when the morning was past, David sent and fetched her to
his house, and she became his wife and bare him a son. So before
Nathan came, she went through the entire nine months. It might
have been a year, a year and a half. Who knows how long David
was in this hardened state after he committed this terrible sin
and then tried to create this terrible cover-up. Now, at this
time, David acts like a very evil man. Doesn't he? You say, how could someone with
the Spirit of God act this way? Well, David did. David did. And you and I will also, apart
from the grace of God. But understand this. This thing
that David did displeased the Lord. Sin is never okay, and sin in
a believer is worse than sin in an unbeliever. Sinning against
more light, sinning against more love, the thing David did displeased
the Lord. Now, with David, if you go on
into Chapter 12, this thing that David did displeased the Lord.
This sin had devastating consequences in David's life for the rest
of his life. The Lord told him the sword shall
never depart out of your house. And indeed, David had a very
difficult life from this time forward. The sword did not depart
from his house." Now, he was told, the Lord hath put away
thy sin. He was told that very clearly. And the Lord did put
away thy sin. When he said, I've sinned against
the Lord, Nathan said, the Lord hath put away thy sin. It's gone.
It's no more. This sin was put away. And in
eternity, he would never suffered the consequences of this sin.
Christ suffered the consequences of this sin. Uriah suffered the
consequences of this sin, as we're going to see him as a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what is interesting about
David, look in chapter 12. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David. And this is over a year after it took place because the
child was already born. So David had been in this hardened
state for quite some time. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David, and he came unto him, and said unto him, There were
two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The
rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had
nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished
up, and it grew up together with him and with his children. It
did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay
in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came
a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his
own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man
that was coming to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and
dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David's anger
was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, As
the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die. And he shall restore the Lamb
fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, thou
art the man. Now, what this tells me more
than anything else is we can see sin so clearly in others
when we're so blind to it in ourselves. Thou art the man. David said, such a man needs
to die. That man doesn't deserve to live.
He's so wicked and evil. Thou art the man. Now, a couple of thoughts about
this. The Lord could have prevented
this. You know what? The Lord could have prevented this. He
could have kept this from happening. You remember the story of Ahimelech
when Abraham Had Sarah... He said, you tell him that you're
my sister. And he took her into his harem
because he didn't know she was Abraham's wife. And the Lord
plagued the place. And him like, I asked the Lord,
why'd you do this? Seeing, you know, I didn't sin
against you. I didn't go in to her. And he
said, I know you didn't do it because I kept you from it. That's
the only reason you didn't do it. I kept you from it. Well,
the Lord could have kept David from this sin, but he didn't. He didn't. Now here's why. You say, well, how can you tell
why? Well, I'm giving a general principle that's taught in the
scripture. I'm not giving my personal thoughts on this. I'm
giving a general principle from the scriptures. Here is why the
Lord did this. The glorious thing about the
Lord is that he brings good out of evil. only he brings good
out of evil. He always brings good out of
evil because he is God. Now what David did was horrible,
evil, and had devastating consequences to him for the rest of his life.
But what good came out of this? Remember how Joseph said to his
brethren, You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, to
save much life. Well, you know what came out
of this relationship with Bathsheba? Solomon. Do you know whose name
is mentioned in the genealogy of Christ? Bathsheba. The Christ, God's Christ, came
through Solomon. God brought good out of evil. You know what Psalms came out
of this event? The 51st Psalm. How precious is that psalm to
you? How many times have you read that psalm? Have mercy upon
me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgression. Wash
me throughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For
I acknowledge my transgressions, my sin as ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be cleared when you speak and justify. We got Psalm 51 out
of this. David's great Psalm of repentance. We're given Psalm 32 out of this.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. We're given the book of Proverbs. We're given the book of Ecclesiastes. We're given the Song of Solomon. Just all the blessings that came
out of this horrible, evil thing. Now here's the last thought I
want to leave you with. Question. How dependent was David on free
grace? What percentage, I don't know
how else to say this, what percentage of David's salvation was by grace? One hundred percent. Now the only way David or me
or you will be saved is if salvation really is one hundred percent
the free grace of God. The only way David could be saved
is if salvation is by grace. And the only way you and I can
be saved is if salvation really is by grace. Now this is sad that we can fall this way. You know, when I look at David,
I don't say, how could he be that way? I see me. And I see what I will be if the
Lord does not prevent it. And I am so thankful that salvation
really is all of grace. Amen.