(2 Sam 11:3,4 NLT) He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home.
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” We are at the point in the story of David and Bathsheba when David had to make a decision. All his Soldiers were out in battle, he had just awakened from a mid-afternoon nap, and he ‘just so happened’ to walk out onto his roof at the same that Bathsheba was taking a bath. David looked down, he saw this woman of “unusual beauty,” and instead of looking the other way and leaving the issue alone, David decided to pursue it further. David already had several wives and he if had sexual desires he could have been satisfied by either of them, but no, David, like a spoiled kid who wants everything he sees, wanted the woman in the bathtub.
David called for one of his servants, he told them to find out who the woman was, and the answer should have stopped David in his tracks. The servant told David that the woman’s name was Bathsheba and that she was the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah. As soon as the word “wife” came out of the servant’s mouth, David should have left his urges in his pants. His position as King did not give him the right to take another man’s wife. Even pagan kings had more respect than that. If you think back to Genesis and the situation when a Pharaoh (a King) had taken Abraham’s wife Sarah as his own, only to find out later that she was actually the wife of Abraham, the Pharaoh was furious because he did not want to take another man’s wife. The Pharaoh wound up giving Sarah back to Abraham. You would think that David, a King of Israel who had been called, appointed and anointed by God Himself, would no better than to touch another man’s wife. But David was not thinking clearly. All David was thinking about was sex. So David sent for her, she came to the palace, he slept with her, and he sent her home. James said, “When lust has conceived, it brings forth sin” (1:15).
Sexual sin has been the downfall of many powerful men. People have forfeited fortunes and legacies for a few seconds of pleasure. The few moments David enjoyed with Bathsheba almost cost him everything. Although we are teaching on Grace, I want to be clear that Grace is not a license to sin. In the New Testament Paul, who clearly understood the Grace of God and wrote eloquently about it, also wrote this about sexual sin: “God’s plan is to make you holy, and that entails first of all a clean cut with sexual immorality. Every one of you should learn to control his body, keeping it pure and treating it with respect, and never regarding it as an instrument for self-gratification, as do pagans with no knowledge of God. You cannot break this rule without in some way cheating your fellow-men. And you must remember that God will punish all who do offend in this matter, and we have warned you how we have seen this work out in our experience of life. The calling of God is not to impurity but to the most thorough purity, and anyone who makes light of the matter is not making light of man’s ruling but of God’s command. It is not for nothing that the Spirit God gives us is called the Holy Spirit” (1 Thes 4:3-8 Phillips).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. Grace is not a license to sin. Later on in this series I will teach on the power of grace vs. the power of sin and the Bible is clear that sin cannot overtake grace. The Grace of God is more powerful than the power of sin. Wherever sin increases, grace increases even more. But while teaching on this point Paul asked the following question, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?” Paul answers his own question by saying, “Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” If you think grace is a license to sin, then you clearly don’t understand grace and you don’t have an intimate relationship with God.
2. Sexual sin has consequences on many levels. Not only does sexual sin have spiritual consequences with God, breaking the intimacy you have with the Father, but it also has natural consequences in this world, opening yourself up to pregnancy, STDs, soul-ties, and etc.
3. It does not take long to wreck your life. The decision David made to sleep with Bathsheba happened just a few minutes after awakening from a mid-afternoon nap and the entire incident only took a few hours. David had spent decades building his life and legacy and he almost lost it all for a few moments of fleeting pleasure.
4. If you give the devil your attention for five seconds, he will have your mind for five minutes. When David saw Bathsheba’s naked body he should have looked away immediately. Once he entertained the thought, then he was hooked. You can’t give your attention to satan or your own lusts, because once you do, it is only a matter of time before those lusts give birth to sin.
Closing Confession: Father, You are a Holy God who loves purity and abhors sin. You have put Your Holy Spirit down inside of me, to equip, enable and empower me to live a life that is pleasing in Your sight. I have Your Word as my guide and Your Spirit as my helper. Therefore, I declare by faith that I abstain from even the appearance of evil. I walk in purity and righteousness every day of my life. I make every attempt to live in the holiness wherewith I have been called. By faith I declare what You have already decreed, and that is that I am dead to sin. I was joined with Christ’s death in baptism, when I went down into the water. I was also joined with Christ’s glorious resurrection power when I came up out of the water. I am no longer a slave to sin. Sin has no power over me. I am holy, because You have made me holy. I am righteous, because You have made me righteous. If I make a mistake and sin, I am quick to repent, to receive forgiveness, to forgive myself, and to move on. I know I am under Grace, but I don’t see Grace as a license to sin. I see Grace as an empowerment to live free from the power of sin. I am alive, free, whole, and blessed. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
