THe Avalanche of sin
2 samuel 11
Main Idea: We must resist the sin that crouches at the door by humbly clinging to Christ.
I. The Root of Sin (11:1-3)
Even though David has been blessed by the Lord and has successfully been established as the King “after God’s own heart,” the seeds of sin have already been sown. We see this in 2 ways:
David’s taking of many wives and concubines, like the kings of the nations (cf. 2 Sam. 5:13-14, Deut. 17:17)
David’s idleness and inactivity (11:1-2a), from a place of success and comfort
The root of David’s sin was not in seeing Bathsheba; it was in entertaining in his heart something that the Lord had forbidden. Sin was “crouching at the door” (Gen. 4:7), and David welcomed it in his heart.
James 1:14: But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire…
Matthew 5:27-28: You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Mark 7:20-23: And [Jesus] said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
We are to deal drastically with sin. We must not pamper it, flirt with it, enjoy nibbling a little of it around the edges. We are to hate it, crush it, dig it out.
~ D.A. Carson, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount & his Confrontation with the World
II. The Ruin of Sin (11:4-13)
David behaves like Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden; both are paradigmatic stories for how sin works:
He sees (11:2 | Gen. 3:6a)
He desires (11:3 | Gen. 3:6b)
He takes (11:4 | Gen. 3:6c, 1 Samuel 8:10-18)
He covers up (11:6ff | Gen. 3:8)
An idolatrous attachment can lead you to break any promise, rationalize any indiscretion, or betray any other allegiance, in order to hold on to it. It may drive you to violate all good and proper boundaries. To practice idolatry is to be a slave.
~ Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods
As David feeds his sinful desire and attempts to deal with it himself, he becomes increasingly ‘calloused’ (Eph. 4:19, 1 Tim. 4:2), ‘dulled’ to the impacts of his sin on himself and others. Uriah is ironically presented as the faithful one to the Lord at every turn in this horrible account.
III. The Results of Sin (11:14-27)
James 1:14-15: 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.
Romans 6:23a: For the wages of sin is death…
We are all four steps from murder… Sin can take you down paths you would never have dreamed of walking. Nobody decides one day to have an affair. Nobody decides one day to steal from their company. But if you neglect your duty, if you gratify your eyes, if you indulge your fantasies, if you fail to flee temptation—then that may be where you end up. “I would never do that,” you may be thinking. But please don’t think you’re better than David… David didn’t think of himself as a potential murderer. He didn’t wake up at the beginning of 2 Samuel 11 with murder on his mind. It was a thousand miles from his thoughts. Yet murder is where he ended up. He didn’t get there in one step. But it only took four steps.
~ Tim Chester, 2 Samuel For You
The way the narrative is written, then, tells us that the silence of God does not indicate the absence of God… Yahweh may be silent but he is not sightless. David may have Bathsheba’s flesh and Uriah’s blood, but he will have to face Yahweh’s eyes.
~ Dale Ralph Davis, 2 Samuel: Out of Every Adversity
IV. The Remedy for Sin (12:1a)
The only hope for sinners is to run to the true and better King who does not abuse his power, who is faithful to his covenant promises to his bride, who was tempted in every way, yet without sin, and who is sent to die for sinners. King Jesus is the only one who can set us free from the consequences and power of sin in our life.
Romans 5:6-8: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
