2 Samuel 11
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
There's something about us that enjoys scandal, that enjoys getting to see some. Some drama, some chaos. We're working our way through the book of Second Samuel, and we've made it to chapter 11. And some of you maybe knew this story was coming. I know there are new believers and new Christians in our church family, and maybe this is the first time you've ever even walked, read any of two Samuel. But we're going to look today at the story of David and Bathsheba. And we're in danger of reading this story, which is filled with scandals, filled with sin, in a. The same way that we would watch, you know, Dateline or I guess one of those true housewife shows or whatever, where we're just at an arm's distance from it, we're looking down on it, we're shaking our heads, we're sucking our teeth at it, we're, you know, shame. And then we just move on. And we can miss that. In this story, we see such a clear descent into sin that. That King David is going to so seamlessly, alarmingly walk into terrible sin. And there's a way for us to just watch that and go, wow, that's awful, and not see that we have the same potential. So my hope this morning is that God, in his grace and in his mercy, helps us see that we have the same potential and kindly cuts us short from continuing to follow in David's footsteps. So let's pray to that end, and then we'll read chapter 11 together.
Lord, we ask for your grace and your mercy that we would not read the scriptures like Pharisees who can see other sins clearly but can't see our own. We ask that your. Your spirit would pierce through our armor that we put up to keep you away from us, so that we might walk in repentance and we might walk in new life. We ask for your grace. We ask for your mercy. We ask for you to be active at this time in Jesus name. Amen.
All right, so we're going to walk through this story together. If you'll remember, we did 8 and 10 at the same time a couple of weeks ago. That was before Easter. And then we did chapter nine last week. So chapter 10 is talking about this war that is happening, and it says this in chapter 11.
> In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, that David arose from his couch and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" And David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (2 Samuel 11:1–4, ESV)
The way that's written makes it sound like David is the only male still in Jerusalem. It's written in such a way to try to highlight he's not where he should be now. There are times he's the king, where he could stay back. There are men that stay back. He could there. There are times and ways that he should be governing, that he gets older and they tell him they don't want him to go to battle with him anymore. But the way this is written is intentionally trying to help us see, he's already kind of in an odd place. It'd be normative for him to be gone. That's not what he's doing. So that's how this starts. And it says, and it happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch. Which couch is couch or bed? Worked the same kind of way. And in this time frame and in places where it's hot, it's not uncommon to get up with the sun. Get a lot done till about lunchtime, till the sun's high in the sky, eat, and then have kind of some downtime where you get in the shade for a little while on the hottest part of the day. Not everybody has that luxury. There's a parable. Jesus tells. And he says that the workers said, we worked through the heat of the day, meaning they were at work during that time. They didn't get to have a break. But it's not uncommon to have a break. But it says it's late afternoon, meaning that he's kind of already gone past that. If it was, they were going to give him credit for, like, you're allowed to kind of have a siesta, given the way that the sun works here. It's like, no, this is late afternoon. And he gets up off his couch. So it's written in this kind of. David's just kind of lounging around listless, doesn't really have. He's not really doing anything. Normally he should be at war. He's not doing that. And late afternoon, he just gets up off his couch. It says, and he was walking on the roof of the king's house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing. And the woman was very beautiful. And that word for beauty there is just a physical word. She's just physically attractive. So he's on his roof, walking around looking, and he sees a woman bathing. He should go back inside and mind his own business. But he doesn't. He sees that she's beautiful and he is interested. We don't know exactly what vantage point he has. He's on the roof. It doesn't tell us that she's on a roof. So just from his vantage point, he's able to see wherever she is bathing. It wouldn't be uncommon to bathe outside if it's hot. But he's in a vantage point from where he's at on the roof of his larger house to be able to see where she is. And David sent and inquired about the woman. So not only does he watch her, but now he's like, I want to find out who this is. And one said, so he sends somebody to go find out. Or he asks, hey, who's this? And one says, is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And we don't know this yet, but later in Second Samuel, we learn that Uriah is one of David's mighty men. He's one of the 30, which means that he has done quite well in battle. Would have been known to David at this point, and is off at war, where David seems like he should be. So it says, that's uriah's wife, verse 4. So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. David Caesar thinks she's attractive, finds out who she is. It doesn't even seem like that step was necessary. Who did they have to say it was for him to. Not just he, I don't know. But they tell him, and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. He goes, okay, go get her. Maybe he was making sure her husband was out of town, I don't know. Brings her to him, he sleeps with her. Now, she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness. That is ritual purity in reference to menstruation. What it's telling you is that she had recently menstruated. That was over. That's why she was bathing. That's very pertinent to the next part. Then she returned to her house and the woman conceived, very clearly not Uriah's child. And she sent and told David, I am pregnant. Now, that's the only thing Bathsheba says in this entire story. She's going to do some things Later. But in this recounting of this interaction, that's the only thing she says. And the text is not written in any sort of way where the light really ever shines on Bathsheba. We don't know her intentions, her motives, we don't know. It is written to where David is sinful. It's written where the light shines on David. He uses his position of power to take advantage of this entire situation. But from the text to say that she owns some guilt, you don't really have the ability to do that in the text. And from the text to say that she didn't sin at all, you don't really have the ability to do that in the text. It doesn't give us anything. It does clearly tell us David is wrong. And he does use his position of power to create a lot of victims in this scenario. And that's where it keeps just following along. So she sends to David, I'm pregnant. He gets that information from her somehow.
So David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite. Is he going to confess what, what's his plan here? And Joab sent Uriah to David when Uriah came to him. And he would have sent. It's about 40 miles off where they are. So Uriah gets word while he's out on the military campaign. And he's one of the 30, he's important and good at this. They say, hey, David needs you back at the capitol. Okay, so he goes, When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing, how the people were doing and how the war was going. And I suspect Uriah thought anyone other than me could have told you this information. We got like 16 year old guys who barely know how to swing a sword. They can run and say sentences like, Joab is good, war is bad, but we're doing okay. Like, I mean, you know, could answer these questions. David just kind of. It almost feels chit chatty. But he just is like, all right, give me a report, tell me how things are going. And then David said to Uriah, go down to your house and wash your feet. Which wash your feet there is like an idiom, it means relax, rest. In some ways he's King David giving him a, a leave, military leave, a little bit of go enjoy yourself, take a little break. And Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him a present from the king. So he sends with him some kind of gift. Take this to your house, have a little, have a little time off. All Right. Y' all pick up on David's plan. Go to your house. He'll sleep with his wife. He'll go back to war. He'll come back from war. She'll be pregnant. Yay. That's his plan.
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. Not uncommon for people to sleep outside, especially at this season where it's warming up and the raining has stopped. So servants just kind of find places to sleep. Uriah goes outside. He says, go to your house, which is apparently close to David's house. And Uriah doesn't. He hangs out with the servants. He sleeps there. When they told David, Uriah did not go down to his house. That's an interesting. It just the servants seem to be kind of aware of what's going on here. It's possible David asked them, hey, did you write? Like, maybe he was fishing? But it seems a little more like the servants at this point know that somebody knows. He asked, who's that lady? Somebody knows that he sent for her. Somebody knows. Now that her husband has shown up, somebody knows. Now they were supposed to take gifts with him, but he didn't. He was like, no, take them down to her. But I'm not like, whatever somebody goes to, David just says, hey, just so you know, Uriah slept by the door just giving you that information. David said to Uriah, So he calls him, have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go to your house? So David calls him back up and is like, hey, they told me you slept outside. Why didn't you go home? I gave you, like, you know, time off. What are you doing?
Uriah said to David,
> As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not do this thing. (2 Samuel 11:11, ESV)
the Ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. So if you didn't like Uriah, you should now. He says, that's crazy. I'm not going to do that. And honestly, y', all, I think he learned this from David. He's a Hittite. He would have been brought in with David. He's learned how to do some of this stuff. And he's like, the Ark is in a tent. We're at war. Everybody I just left is sleeping on the ground. I'm not going home. I can't do that. Like I wouldn't feel that's wrong. And if he doesn't mean to chastise David, he does successfully chastise David. How dare I lounge around on a couch and sleep with my wife? He says, I won't do that. So David, now his plan isn't working. Then David said to Uriah, remain here today also, and tomorrow I'll send you back. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him and he ate in his presence and drank so that he made him drunk. So David says, okay, we'll just stay tonight and we'll send you back tomorrow. And then he says, hey, come eat at my table. Intentionally gets him drunk. New game plan. Once he's drunk, he won't be so high and mighty about where the ark is and he'll go back to his house. And in the evening, he went out to lie on his couch, which, just so you all know the text, does this stuff on purpose. You go his couch with the servants of the Lord. But he did not go down to his house. So he goes back out and just camps where he'd been camping. David's plan is completely failed. His desire to cover his sin, his ability to get himself out of this, doesn't seem like it's working.
In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him that he may be struck down and die. So David says, thanks for coming, Uriah. It was good seeing you hand this to Joab when you get back over there. And Uriah delivers his own execution order faithfully. And Joab was besieging the city. They've surrounded Rabba, just waiting them out. And he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew where there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab and some of the servants of David. Among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite died also, or also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger,
> When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then if the king's anger rises and if he says to you, "Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?" and if the king says to you, "Why did you go so near the wall?" then you shall say, "Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also." (2 Samuel 11:21–24, ESV)
Which gives us a little, little view into Joab has fought with David for a long time, knows David, it's his uncle. And he's like, I kind of know how David responds when you make stupid military decisions. He's taught us this stuff. He was referencing a story that's in the Old Testament. He says, so when you tell him, hey, Joab did something stupid, which was run up next to the wall of a city that we have surrounded. And he says, why is Joab stupid? Doesn't he know that that's where you get shot? Can't someone just drop something on your head? What are you doing? Then you'll say, uriah's dead. So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, the men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archer shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So messenger doesn't wait for David. He just says, this is what happened. David said to the messenger, thus shall you say to Joab, do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and then another, now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it and encourage you. So if you're the messenger, you might be inclined to think David saying, hey, don't feel bad about this military mistake you made. But Joab would understand that David is saying, hey, don't feel bad about this murder I made you complicit in. People die in war. Sword was going to get somebody sometime. Don't think a lot about Uriah or the other guys that died because you had to kill Uriah. Go encourage him.
> When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. (2 Samuel 11:26–27, ESV)
It is possible that even him taking her to be his wife is a. Is a way for him to seem like he's just being kind to a widow of a Hittite who was in his army. He's going to make sure she's taken care of. If you're David, you've done it. Took a while, but you got yourself out of this fix. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, which is a rare statement in first and Second Samuel. It's pretty rare in all of Scripture for it to be that clear. There are times in 1st and 2nd Samuel where a man of God has come and given some kind of declaration. There's times in 1st and 2nd Samuel where God spoke directly to Samuel. There's been a whole lot of stuff in first and Second Samuel where we read it and just went, what's God think about that? And it did not tell us this. It very clear. God is displeased with this. Which, yeah, none of us are surprised by that, but we are surprised by what David has done.
Do you not feel kind of sick reading that story? That's the slimiest thing. I mean, it's like every turn. You ever been four books into a book series and they start changing the character. You're seven seasons into a show and this character just starts doing stuff, and you're like yelling at your tv, they wouldn't do that. That's what this feels like. David. David wouldn't do that. David, he wouldn't do that, would he? When David's introduced to us, Samuel says to Saul, this is in 1st Samuel 21. Nope, it's not. This is in 1st Samuel 13. He says to Saul, this is Samuel says to Saul,
> But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people... (1 Samuel 13:14, ESV)
Because you haven't kept what the Lord commanded. There's another place where he says he's gone to get a man who's better than you. And what we want so deeply is for there to just be good people who do good things and don't do this. David's hand picked to be the one who's after God's own heart. And he goes and does this. And y', all, he does it so easily. It just boom, boom, boom, boom. My. My older son, when he was 4, I always tell people it was like having a feral cat living in my house. He was certain if he just used enough effort, he could be in charge of our entire household. And there would be times where we would just. Something would happen and then boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. We would just be decision descendants, decision. And my wife would say, you need to learn how to de escalate. And I'm like, I don't de escalate. That's his job. I will end up at the top of this thing. But there would be times where we'd. I'd have him and I would say to him, he'd be sitting on his. I'd get him to his room. We're finally at sorting things out. We've gotten past some of the stuff where we just burst through. Every. Every little mark I put on the ground said, don't cross it. And I would say, do you want to know how we got here? Can we stop? Can we go back and see how we got here? And I feel like we have to do that with David right now. We have to say, how did. How did we get. How did we get here? Well, it started with David not really doing what he was supposed to be doing. That's where it started. And is he wrong? That's hard to say. I mean, would it be better? Sure. Should he have gone? Yeah, you could probably make that argument. But it starts off in this real squishy area where that if you showed up and you were like, how dare you? On your couch. He's like, first of all, I'm the king. I've been at war forever. Joab's great. I'm in a season right now where I just need some rest. Like, I've just had so much going on. And there are some legitimate times where those things are kind of true, right? That. That happens. But. But it's like it's cloud cover for I not really doing what I'm supposed to be doing. There are sins. We often we think about sin. We think of sins that we commit. You go do a thing. But, you know, there are sins of things that you omit, good things that you ought to do that you just don't do. But those are harder to get pinned down on. You got to really run a pattern of those. Someone's like, you weren't generous. Then you're like, I mean, you know, you got all this. It's like, all right, well, we're going to watch you for six months. We're going to watch you for two years. We're going to see if that can. Like, that's the zone he's in where it's like. It's hard to immediately show up and say you're not doing the things you ought to do. And sometimes that's clear and sometimes it's not. And that's where he starts. And so often that's where we start. It's hard. It's hard to go from doing exactly what you're supposed to do. Walking in obedience with the Lord, and let's commit murder that's just. This is a hard jump. Premeditated murder. Like, let's just. Premeditated murder that you had a lot of time to think about. But he's still got to get out there. It's got to happen. Like, he just hanging out, waiting to see, how'd my murder go. That's a hard jump. What we go to first usually is just kind of not doing the things we're supposed to be doing. So it's like, well, I'm not really reading the Bible, but I've had a lot going on. I'm not. I hadn't been around group. I'm a little bit out of the loop, but, like, I'm trying. And usually when our group meets, I stay at home and feel a little bit bad about it. So that counts. And it's like, you're not really. You know, I should be trying to pursue my spouse. I should be kind of doing this, But I'm not. I don't. You know, I just have. And it's. That's where it's. It's just easier to begin there. And sometimes legitimately, we begin with some amount of. It's hard to get things going, but that's where we start.
Then he moves to an internal sin. He looks at her, sees that she's beautiful.
> You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. (Exodus 20:17, ESV)
It ends with. Or anything that is your neighbors. You can't look at somebody else's stuff and want it. That's really interesting to be in the Ten Commandments. And it stands out in the Ten Commandments because the other ones are like, don't steal, don't murder. This one says, don't do this thing inside of your heart. That's easier to do, though, and it's easier to justify. Have you ever said, well, I hadn't really done anything. Just thinking about it. I hadn't really done the thing. That's not me. This is where we start. We often start with things, this covetousness. But it's this. This. I shouldn't have to put up with this. You should be really on guard when you start telling yourself there are things that you shouldn't have to do. I shouldn't have to do this. I shouldn't have to put up with this. Other people's wives, they don't do this. If I was just married to her, if I was just married to him, if I just had that job, if I just had this house, it's easier for everybody else. I'm in this spot. This is specific. And you start craving. You start doing stuff inside. That's where it starts. And then that's harder to catch, too. It's easier for you to excuse because I'm still obeying. I'm behaving. Even though you're not. You're do. This is one of the Ten Commandments. But it's harder for people to say to you, hey, I think you're off here. Hadn't shown up yet. Jesus says in Matthew 5,
> But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28, ESV)
that we begin. Sins begin internally so often before they. They ever show up externally. Which means that when you have external sin, it's not enough to just go, hey, let's. Let's stop the thing. You have to start saying, but what's going on in my heart that I was even willing to get there. It's not just about curbing your behavior. It's about also looking and saying, what's going on with me that I wanted that so badly that I was willing to sin to get it. So that's where he goes. He goes from not really doing what he's supposed to do in a very kind of gray, squishy kind of area, even though it's written in a way to be like, hey, he should have been doing this other stuff. Then he's obviously sinning internally. Then he acts on it. He commits adultery, uses his position of power, uses a position of authority. Whether she was afraid of that or drawn to that, we don't know. We just know he used it. He commits adultery. Then it just starts going, he's committed adultery. Now he's. So he's brought her in on this. And then he's got to bring in his. His servants in on it. Then he's got to bring in. Uriah's got to get here, and Uriah's not going to do anything. So he's got to get Uriah drunk. So that brings him in on a little bit. And then he's got to bring in Joab to make him complicit in murder. And then he's got to tell Joab, hey, don't worry about that. He's got to commit a murder, he's got to kill other people, other sons and brothers didn't come home because Uriah had to die. It's just. And Uriah also the important one we were trying to kill. And it doesn't ever even seem like he stops and thinks about it. He just goes, that's terrifying. Paul refers to this as searing your conscience, which is where you make it to where you won't listen to your conscience for unbelievers or to the Holy Spirit for believers who's trying to get you to stop. You get really good at moment by moment. And it starts back here. It doesn't just start over here, it starts back here where you get to where you just that still quiet voice, that nagging annoyance that says, you shouldn't do this, you should do something else. You just get to where you tune it out, you become numb to it and you just take every little step in that direction because you don't just jump from one to the other, you go every step along the way and you get to where you can't hear the spirit. If you had chronic foot pain and you were seeing doctor about it and then you went to the doctor and he said, how are your feet doing? And you said, great, they're doing great. I can't feel anything from my hips down. No pain whatsoever. Y' all laughed because you know the doctor would say, that's not better, that's worse. This is progressing, it's not getting worse. And y' all, as a pastor, far too often have I sat with someone and I've said, hey, this says this is sin. And they said, I don't feel bad about it, I prayed about it. And the Lord didn't tell me to stop. He already told you, he already told you to stop. Yeah, but like when I asked him, I didn't hear anything, I didn't feel anything. That's worse. The disease has progressed further. That's not better, that's terrifying. Because we're on our way towards being able to commit heinous sin, high handed, rebellious sin, and not notice and not feel it. That's worse. We've reached a later stage in the disease. And it started off with too much time on your phone, which is hard to nail down and accuse you of. But then it gets worse and we go every step of the way in searing our conscience so that we can't hear the voice of the Lord anymore. And so that when people in our church, family around us saying, hey, this is off, you're wrong, this we don't hear them.
James 1:14 and 15 puts it this way:
> But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. (James 1:14–15, ESV)
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. That's where we start. Starts internal. We're lured and enticed by our own desire. Now, if you're inclined to think, I can't do that because I'm not like that. Can you not see David? Are you not surprised that he did this? This is David. This is David who was unwilling to raise his hand against Saul. This is David who we watched with extreme patience, who was anointed to just wait for the Lord. This is David who we just read and celebrated how kind and good he was to Mephibosheth. This is David who wrote half the Psalms. But you can't. I can't. You ever hear someone come out and they say, I'm sorry that I did that. It was outside of my character. I acted outside of my character. Every time I hear that, I think, they didn't. This is perfectly inside of our character. You say, I don't know why. I don't know why I said that. That's not me. Yeah, it is. It's perfectly inside of who you are. That's what's terrifying. And the confidence level to say, I can't sin because of who I am, first of all, is purely insane, given the way the text talks about it. But it's also just. It doesn't work like that. So we're lured and enticed by our own desires. And then it says this, then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. So before Bathsheba conceived, sin was conceived by desire. In David's heart, desire conceived and has given birth to sin.
This is why the Bible constantly says things like, keep a close watch on your steps, keep a close watch on your feet, keep a close watch on your heart, keep a close watch on your words, guard your path, keep a close watch on your life and doctrine. Don't let your feet wander. Because it. This is why Jesus says, daily we pray,
> And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:13, ESV)
because any of us can start this walk. Sin, when it's fully grown, brings forth death. It's just what sin does. It's just how it works. The wages of sin is death. It is destructive, it will kill you, and it will lead you to eternal death. Siegfried and Roy had a magic show for years in Las Vegas. One of their main things was they had big cats. And Roy was famous for light. He would, like, sleep in the bed with his tigers and stuff. And then in 2002, one of the tigers bit him in the neck and dragged him off stage during a show, causing severe injuries, including a severed spine, partial paralysis, and a stroke. And everyone who heard that story said, yeah, it was a tiger. He's like, no, I raised it from a baby. Yeah, it was a tiger that you raised from a baby. We were friends. You were friends with a tiger? He did a tiger thing that tigers do, like a tiger. He didn't stop being a tiger because you slept in a bed with it. We're surprised it took this long. Most of the other people who do this are already dead. That's what this says about sin. And some of you right now are saying, no, this sin is cute and under my control. No, I've known this sin for a long time. No, this sin can't get me. It's sin and it brings forth death, and that's all it ever does. It doesn't bring joy. It doesn't bring life. It doesn't bring hope. It brings death, and that's all it ever does because it's sin. And that's all it can do. It doesn't bring joy. It doesn't bring life. It doesn't bring hope. It brings death, and that's all it ever does because it's sin. And to tell yourself, this one's my pet. This one is fine. Jesus, you can mess with the other things, but not this. I hope God in his grace knocks your whole house down to take that away from you, because if it gets full grown, it kills you. That's all it ever does. Now, the question for us this morning is where am I on this walk? Where have I begun to drift? Where have I begun to make compromises? Where. Where are you? Are you just right now not really doing some of the things that you ought to be doing? Not really pursuing, not really fighting, not really praying, not really. Where. Where are you at? Is it just in your heart? I'm just thinking about it. I didn't say that to him. I just thought about it. I'm just daydreaming. Doesn't hurt to look. You can order and still read the menu. Whatever kind of nonsense phrases we have. Have you already started texting them? You already started eating your lunches with them? Have you been telling yourself, this place doesn't really pay me enough? So you've. Is that all you're saying right now? Or have you already started taking things? Well, it's just time right now. Okay? But we're on the walk. We're just friends right now. Okay, but we're on the walk. It's just porn. It's not hurting anybody, but it's years of it. And it gives birth to death. And if God will help you see your sin, and you say, well, what do I do with it? Because most of our plans look like David's hide. Obscure. Put it on somebody else. Make sure I don't have to pay for it. Figure out my way out of it. I can't say this to people. You'll tell yourself that I can't tell anybody this. Can I tell you right now that it is better to confess than to die? Lord help you if you keep your sin until you meet Jesus. Take it to him now. That's the answer. What do I do with this sin? What do I do while I'm up to my neck in it? What do I do if I'm drowning in it? What if I do if I've already walked the whole line?
Romans 5 says this about Jesus:
> For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6, ESV)
Who did he die for? Who did he die for? The ungodly. So if you say I'm too far gone, I'm too far in it, that's exactly who he died for. Murderers, adulterers, thieves. That's who he died for. The ungodly. Those who do not deserve it, Those who have gone too far in. We have a story here where a king commits sin and then makes sure that someone who's innocent pays for it. But the story that we get invited into is a king who never committed sin who's willing to pay for ours. That's the hope of the gospel. So I don't know where you are on the line. And I'll tell you that it doesn't matter. You can go to Christ and you can repent and you can be forgiven and you can be given life. I can't guarantee you you'll keep your marriage. I can't guarantee you that you'll keep your job. I can't guarantee you won't go to jail. I can't guarantee you you'll keep those friends. I can't. But I can guarantee you that Jesus is better and that the trade is worth it and that sin leads to death. I can guarantee all of those things. And I can guarantee that taking your sin to Christ is your best chance for those things being restored and redeemed and worked out. But I can also tell you that we had someone walk over here this morning and stand right here and say, I was in the middle of nothing in a desert, choosing sin, and I've chosen Jesus and it's better. And even if her life didn't get better, it's eternally better.
George is going to come back up and we're going to take a moment to just try to listen, because some of you have worked really hard to stop listening. And we can get really good at it. There was a time when David listened. We just read this whole story. He's not listening. You're not going to listen. We want to take a moment where you ask the spirit, where, where am I? And if you're right now going, I think I'm doing pretty good, then ask, have I started anything? Do I have any habits that are going to grow? Am I 2 degrees off? Let's pray.
Lord, I ask you would open us up, that you'd help us see our sin, Lord, where we've gotten good at hiding. Let us run to you, Lord, where we've hardened our hearts and our ears to not hear you. Breakthrough, Lord, for the person that you're speaking to right now and you've been telling them you've been pressing on it, you've been, don't let them run. We ask this in Jesus name. Wherever you are, ask the Lord and then act on it. If you need to confess to someone in your group, if you need to confess to your spouse, if you need to grab somebody and pray, if you need help, respond. Don't harden your heart, don't turn away, don't take further steps and getting to where you don't listen to Jesus.