If our lives were viewed as chapters in a book, I’m sure we’d all have a few that are worse than others. There are points in our lives looking back, where if given the choice, we’d like to change the contents of the page to a new day, a new scenario. All it takes is a wrong choice here and a bad decision there to quickly taint a life that is seeking to please God. Sometimes that one bad decision is followed by more bad decisions, and the marks left are indelible. That’s exactly what happened in David’s life. The eleventh chapter of Second Samuel records for us the worst chapter in King David’s life.
And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” Acts 13:22 (NKJV)
David is described as a “man after God’s own heart.” That description gives us insight into the heart of a man who loves God, serves Him, and has completely dedicated his life to living for and pleasing God. But sometime around age 50, David makes a series of decisions that have far reaching implications for his family. It’s the worst chapter of his life. He commits adultery with a woman named Bathsheba. Then he conspires to have her husband Uriah killed, and he does just that. After Uriah’s murder, David marries the widow who, rather than doing the right thing and exposing the sin, sees the money and prestige as something more valuable than her own integrity. David lives thinking he has gotten away with his sin for months.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God;” for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. James 1:13-16 (NKJV)
How can a man after God’s own heart sin so desperately in such a wicked way? Unfortunately, it’s far too easy for us to find ourselves deep in sin. For David, it started out so simple. He made a decision – a small one. When kings usually went to war, David stayed home. He got lazy. Then his eyes wandered. He began to lust. He used his power to draw a woman to his room. Greed coupled with lustful, evil thoughts led to the sexual sin of adultery. The adultery led to a pregnancy which stirred King David to plot, plan, and carry out the murder of her husband.
That’s how it works. Sin leads to more sin, leading to more sin, until there is true, humble repentance. Before you know it, you are so deep into the sin that you reason yourself out of doing the right thing because you don’t want to deal with the consequences of getting out. Actually, the truth is you haven’t wanted to deal with the consequences all along. However, since it’s so bad now, you throw up your hands and basically give up. That’s a dangerous place to be for the follower of Jesus.
Remember this, sin will always do at least three things in your life:
#1 – Sin will take you farther than you really want to go!
#2 – Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay!
#3 – Sin will cost you more than you ever want to pay!
That’s why it’s so vital to train yourself to say “NO” to the temptation, to walk away, to turn back to the Lord.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 (NKJV)
When you choose to step into sin, ever so little, you don’t control the situation. You are yielding control of your life to evil. You are entering into the sin process. It will capture you. It will hurt you. It will harm you. Ultimately, it will destroy you. It will make you someone who, when it’s done and over, will look back and say, “I don’t know what happened. That’s not me.” You cannot control your destiny once you allow yourself to engage in sin. Warren Wiersbe writes, “David once killed giants. Now this giant is killing him!”
Learn from David’s life and sinful mistakes!
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4 (NKJV)
The Pitiful Plot of a Godly Man from Calvary Church Colorado on Vimeo.
