2Samuel 11:1-5
That Dirty Rotten Sin
If I were to ask you what the dirty rotten sin was, what would you say? I would
think, just by the reference, you might say, "Adultery." You’d be right. I call
adultery that dirty rotten sin not because it is the most common sin or because it
has the most destructive consequences, but because I think it is probably the
most common sin that we commit with such destructive consequences.
No doubt there is more lying that adultery, but the consequences are not as high.
Murder has greater consequences but it is not as common. However, adultery is
the most common sin with the highest destructive consequence.
I experience a full range of emotions as we come to this section of David’s life.
1. I feel remorse. David is one of my Bible heroes. It is always
disheartening when you a hero falls. In our study thus far, we have seen
David make many wrong turns. He wasn’t perfect. No human is perfect.
However, let’s not make any excuses. We do expect better than this from
anyone who claims to have a walk with God. It is heart breaking to see
a godly servant fall.
2. I feel fear. David was a better man than I. He withstood more tests than
I have faced. He knew more of God’s presence and power. Yet, he fell
into wicked, carnal sin. I find it amazing that plain old sexual lust
can so wrap itself into the human heart. If someone like David could
fall, there appears to be no sure inoculation for it.
3. I feel some comfort. It is a sad comfort but when I see that even the
strongest Christians who were used in the mightiest fashions were just
human beings, capable of messing up, capable of sinning, capable of
failing God, I take some comfort that at least I am not the only one who
does those things. I suppose it’s true, "Misery loves company."
Although I have already alluded to it, it should be pointed out that adultery is
not the only sin David committed. It is, however, the root cause of some of the
sins that David will commit. Out of his adultery, the sins of betrayal, murder,
and conspiracy will grow.
As high a walk as David had with the Lord, that is how low he sank in his sin.
Let’s spend some time to see if we can learn something that will help us.
I. \\#2Sam 11:1\\ David was out of place.
A. The events of the last chapter have relevance on this chapter.
1. In the last chapter, Ammon shamed David’s ambassadors then hired a
army of mercenaries to fight against Israel.
2. Ammon and Israel had bad blood for centuries, but of late, things
had been good between them.
3. When these things happened, David dispatched Joab to fight Ammon,
2Samuel 10:7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of
the mighty men.
B. We did not notice it so much in the last chapter, but the wording
brings it out clearly in this chapter.
2Sam 11:1 …at the time when KINGS go forth to battle… But David tarried still at
Jerusalem.
1. David did not go!
2. Perhaps David did not go to battle in the last chapter because
that was an unplanned battle.
3. However, it is obvious that at certain times of the year, times no
doubt dictated by weather, if a nation needed to fight, their
king was to lead them.
C. David’s first indication that he was headed for trouble was that he
wasn’t where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there.
1. I don’t want to make too big a deal out of this because all of us
have gotten tired, weary, or just plain lazy in our duties from
time to time.
2. Just because we did, that doesn’t mean we are headed for adultery
or murder!
3. However, we need to note that no one starts by committing the big
sins. We always start small and work our way up.
a. A little bit of laziness,
b. a little lie,
c. a little looking at the wrong things,
d. a little thinking wrong things…
e. These are the seeds that grow into a major sinful meltdown.
Song of Solomon 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines:
for our vines have tender grapes.
D. \\#2\\ Tells us that in the evening (probably a hot evening), David
went out on to the roof of his palace home.
1. What David was doing was not uncommon.
2. It was hot and the homes in Israel were designed so that you could
go on the roof to cool.
3. We remember from \\#2Sam 5:6-9\\, that David built his palace on
Mount Zion, which, at the time, was higher than the city of
Jerusalem, so his roof literally had a view of all the city.
4. While was out there, David saw something that stirred him.
II. \\#2Sam 11:2\\ Bathsheba’s sin
A. In no way do I want to excuse men in general or David in particular;
however, one must note that David is not the only one sinning here.
1. A roof was a perfectly normal place for people to go to cool off,
but it was not an acceptable place for people to go to bathe.
2. Ladies, you have no idea what is stirred up in a man by a little
show of the flesh.
1Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel,
with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or
costly array;
10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
Titus 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands,
to love their children,
5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands,
that the word of God be not blasphemed.
a. Ladies, you keep your beauty and body for your husband when you
are alone, even if he doesn’t appreciate it.
b. Men, you stay away from a woman who doesn’t know she needs to
do that.
B. While we are talking about Bathsheba, let’s notice she was a woman
with an unfaithful heart.
1. First, I mentioned her immodesty by bathing on the roof.
2. \\#3-4\\ Then, I can’t help but to wonder why this woman went to
the king’s house without an escort?
a. The king might have commanded her appearance. He had that kind
of authority.
b. But there are differences in the behavior of a woman being
forced to go some place and wanting to go.
c. This woman seemed willing to go.
3. \\#4\\ That belief is further fostered by the fact that Bathsheba
didn’t tell anyone what had happened.
a. We know that Uriah, her husband, was one of David’s mighty men.
(1) This woman would have known people in the king’s court.
(2) She would have been able to reach her husband if she had a
mind to do so. (Jesse was able to reach his sons when he
wanted to do so.)
(3) \\#3\\ In fact, her grandfather was one of David’s
trusted advisors, Ahithophel. \\#2Sam 15:12\\ If she
couldn’t reach Uriah, she could have reached her own
family.
(4) But it appears that she told no one of the incident.
b. This woman was—most likely—neither unlearned or helpless in
the political events of Jerusalem.
(1) I believe that even if she had been raped by the king
himself, she would have been able to make a fuss about
it to someone.
(2) She did not.
(3) This doesn’t look like a forced event but a welcomed
tryst.
4. \\#5\\ I note it was David she confided in when she discovered
that she was pregnant and not her husband, her father, or her
grandfather.
a. I accept that a woman who has been attacked and assaulted may
not tell anyone.
(1) Perhaps she would be afraid of what others might think.
(2) Perhaps she would be afraid that the attacker will return.
(3) Perhaps she is feeling guilt and shame.
b. However, I cannot accept the fact that a woman who is attacked
would return to her attacker to fix her pregnancy!
c. I also notice that she had a way to get a sensitive, secret
message to the king!
d. This is either a woman who knew the political system of
Jerusalem very well or else she and David put a plan into
effect for some communications and probably for some return
visits.
5. \\#2Sam 11:14-18 27\\ I notice that this woman allowed her husband
to be killed and then married the man who killed him.
a. Perhaps it is possible that Bathsheba did not know what David
planned to do to her husband.
b. However, after it was done, it would have taken a pretty dumb
woman not to have wondered about it.
(1) Could I suggest to you that Bathsheba and David were not
strangers but had met before? Uriah was one of his
chief men and Ahithophel was his chief counselor.
(2) Could I go further and suggest that one or both of these
had flirted with the other before?
(3) Why else would the king of Israel have felt he could send
for another man’s wife, the wife of one of his most loyal
and devoted soldiers and the granddaughter of his trusted
advisor, and not have her scream to the highest heaven?!
(4) It is even possible that Bathsheba was purposely bathing
on that roof top for David and that one of the reasons
David stayed home was because he was already thinking
about having an affair with Bathsheba.
III. A few thoughts:
A. I do not mean to impugn a pure woman’s reputation.
1. Perhaps Bathsheba was dumb—maybe she was the dumbest woman
that has ever walked on God’s green earth—but I don’t think so.
2. I think she had her eye on David and perhaps David had his eye on
her.
3. I think she was one of the woman that David will later warn his
son to avoid.
Proverbs 2:16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which
flattereth with her words;
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of
life.
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the
righteous.
4. Ladies, do not become that kind of woman.
(a) Not for any man.
(b) Not for any passion.
(c) Not to fit in.
(d) Not because everyone else is doing it.
B. Regardless of what kind of woman Bathsheba was, David should have
resisted.
1. I said at the beginning that nothing Bathsheba might have done
could excuse David.
(a) David knew God and David knew better.
(b) A man of God and a man of character must be strong enough to
withstand no matter what kind of woman comes across his path.
2. Gentlemen, my recommendation is that we put up walls between us
and every other woman in the world but our wives.
(a) If you don’t allow yourself any opportunities to be tested,
you will not fail.
(b) There are places faithful and moral men should not be,
things we should not see,
thoughts we should not think,
and situations we should not be in.
(c) Make the walls of purity long, and wide, and high so that you
are not able to scale them.
C. Even saying all of that, let me point out that the Scriptures record
only one time in the lives of David and Bathsheba that they turned
themselves over to this sin.
1. I do not say that to praise them but to make a point.
2. We sometimes think that people who commit this sin, or any kind of
sin, must have some kind of defect in their character.
(a) Someone might say that David was a power-driven womanizer or
that Bathsheba was a slut.
(b) The Scriptures do not bear these accusations out.
(c) In the scope of their lives, they were far more faithful than
frivolous in character.
(d) Yet, they fell so far!!
3. That is the nature of this sexual lust.
(a) It can make monsters out of otherwise good and godly people.
(b) We know that David was a good and godly man and since David
married and cared for Bathsheba the rest of their lives, we
may assume she was not a woman for hire, but what awfulness
came out of them.
4. There is a warning here.
(a) Do not let your lust do this to you!
(b) I like westerns. A few months ago, I came across a series
with Steve McQueen that I had never heard of, entitled,
"Wanted: Dead or Alive." The series aired when I was between
1 and 4, which is why I never watched it. But I had never
really known much about Steve McQueen either so I took the
opportunity to study his life. It was a life that started out
hard.
(1) His father abandoned the family when Steve was 6 months
old.
(2) His mother, an alcoholic, couldn’t provide for him so she
gave him to a family member.
(3) Things happened and he ended up a kid in the big city
running a street gang. His run-ins with the law ended
him up in a correctional home for boys.
(4) He eventually landed up in the Marines, straightened up
some, and used the VA bill to get into acting.
(5) He always lived like a lost man but he had what he and
everyone else said was a good relationship with a his
wife, yet he got the lust bug after more than 14 years
and lost his family.
(6) Here was a man who had riches and fame, in his mid-30’s
he was the most known actor in the world, but as I read
about his life, I felt sorry for him!
(7) Steve McQueen died at 50 of cancer and was with his third
wife.
(8) I was reading secular sources but some made it sound like
ol’ Steve might have gotten saved. He went back to
some of those in his life he had hurt and tried to make
things right before he died. It was obvious by those
who recorded his life that he had many regrets.
(c) Don’t let the lust bug fill your life with regret for a moment
of pleasure.
(d) Make it your life’s goal not to fall into this sin.
There is more to discuss about David’s sins in this matter, but the reason the sin
of David’s adultery is usually considered by most to be David’s only sin is
because of how far down it pulled him and because it was for his adultery that
he committed so many other sins. Men and women alike, we must fight the
temptation of sexual lusts.
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