2 Samuel 11 “The Fall of a King”
Review
 In our last study, we saw David standing on the promises of God
 God had promised Abraham a vast territory of land which Israel hadn’t ever possessed
 In fact, they had lost territory
 David, with his army, launched out to claim the land that God had promised – very successful
 David also fulfilled his promise to both Saul and especially Jonathan
 David had promised to deal kindly, deal well with their family
 He finds that Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth is still alive and he sends for him
 He restores all of his grandfather’s property to him
 David also ‘adopts’ him into his family by allowing him to eat at the king’s table continually
 At this point, all is well in the kingdom under David
Introduction
 “The greatest peril of failure comes on the heels of success”
 It is when all things are going well that we are most vulnerable to fail
 We tend to let our guards down, we become a bit complacent, we lose our edge
 All is well and thus we feel we needn’t be too concerned
 However, when we face difficulties, we are more focused and alert
 We are careful and circumspect in our actions and attitudes
 We become acutely cognizant to the situations around us
 We live with a sense that at any moment, things may take a turn for the worse and we must be ready
 For believers, this should drive us to deeper fellowship with and dependence upon the Lord
 We never pray as much as when we are going through difficulties
 1 Cor 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has
overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be
tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you
may be able to bear it.”
 Here is a sober warning not to get too comfortable, not to think you have it all together
 This verse is both comforting and discomforting at the same time
 First, we can trust that God enables us to endure or escape all temptations we may encounter
 Second, when we do fail, when we do succumb to temptation, we have no one but ourselves to
blame
 David has been enjoying great success here in 2 Samuel
 He is the king – first over the tribe of Judah then over the entire nation
 He is living in the lap of luxury in his paneled house
 The ark, the resting place of God’s glory is among the people
 He is logistically safe in the city of Jerusalem
 He has been extremely successful in his military campaigns
 All is going well, maybe a little too well
 David starts to get a little to comfortable with his life, lets his guard down, and pays the price
 I’m glad that the bible shows it’s hero’s as they truly are – flawed humans with the same
susceptibility to failure like us
 In this way, we can relate to them
 Chapter 11 deals with David’s sins
 Sins plural – David commits many here
 He begins with adultery, moves to deception, to cover up and ultimately to murder
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David and Bathsheba (11:1-5)
 The writer begins by telling us that it was springtime
 It was the time when the kings go out to battle
 There was a war season, a time that was most conducive to mount attacks
 In the winter months it was too cold and too wet - the chariots would get stuck in the mud
 In the summer it was too hot – the men would get easily exhausted and dehydrated
 In the fall, the days are shorter – thus they would have less daylight to complete an attack
 The best time for war was in the spring
 David’s first mistake was that he was at home
 He sent Joab and the army to fight, but he stayed back in his paneled house
 He found that he had too much idle time on his hands
 “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”
 David was a man of war, most at home when in the midst of a battle
 Relaxing at home, with nothing really to do, caused him to become too complacent
 Here are 2 great lessons for us
 First, it is very dangerous for us to start to slack off from what we are supposed to be doing
 Being content to have others do what we should do will have a dulling effect
 In our Christian lives, if we are not pushing forward, moving deeper in our relationship with God
– then in actuality we are going backwards
 We can’t deceive ourselves into thinking that we can slack off in our devotions, our time in the
word, our prayer life or our fellowship with other believers
 The moment we do, we are in effect already starting a backwards slide
 Second, it is just as dangerous for us to be in places where we have no business being
 This world, the enemy and our flesh are always looking to bring us down
 We shouldn’t help them by being somewhere where they have the advantage
 Out in nightclubs or bars can lead us to drink and drop our guards
 Watching suggestive movies, going to the thong clad beaches can begin to get our minds
running
 Be careful where you go – as Paul says walk circumspectly, with your guards up at all times
 If we find ourselves in places that promote sinful behavior, it won’t be too long before we find
ourselves partaking in that behavior
 In his boredom, David ventures out on his rooftop
 In Israel, the roof are made flat and the double as a patio where you can get a nice breeze
 Since Jerusalem sits on the top of a mountain with hills all around, the house are built so that they
terrace up the hillside
 Being king, David’s house would be on the top of the hill thus giving him a view of the entire city
 As he’s out there he looks and sees a woman bathing
 I want you to notice 2 words in verse 2 – saw and behold
 The word ‘saw’ speaks of a glance, a momentary look
 The word ‘behold’ speaks of a prolonged, intense gaze, a stare
 It’s not the first look that was wrong, it was the second look that got David into trouble
 Job 31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young
woman?”
 As David stared at Bathsheba, his lust and his fantasies began to rise within him
 He was a very passionate man and the sight of this beautiful woman caused his thought life to
begin to fantasize
 Men are visual by nature that is why pornography is such a lure for them
 Our thought life is very powerful – David’s fantasy lead him down the path to action
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 Prov 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
 2 Cor 10:5 “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
 Guys, guard your thought lives
 I want to be clear that the bible fixes no blame or responsibility on Bathsheba
 It places it all squarely on David’s shoulders – rightly so
 But I think this is a lesson on modesty for women
 Because men are so visually driven, women tend to play on that
 Some of the fashions that women wear, or almost wear, today are designs to garner looks from
men
 We see this in advertising – sex sells
 Ladies you can help us out by dressing a bit more modestly
 Show more discretion and less flesh when you venture out
 In your homes, for your husbands, dress as sexy and provocative as you want – I believe that that
is a good thing, your husband should be aroused by seeing you
 Outside the house is a different story – you should feel uncomfortable if other men ogle you
 Prov 11:22 “As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.”
David’s next mistake is that he inquires about the woman – his thoughts are turning into actions
 I’m sure that David’s conscience was telling him to stop but his lust was speaking louder
 When we are headed towards sin, both our consciences and the conviction of the Holy Spirit will tell
us to run in the other direction
 Sometimes, our fleshly sinful nature is too strong, especially if we haven’t been strengthening our
spiritual natures
 I am thankful that if we do choose to ignore the internal warnings, God can also give us external
warnings
 David hears 2 things about Bathsheba
 First, she is Eliam’s daughter
 All women or someone’s daughter or sister
 This should have caused David to stop and consider how he would want his daughter or sister
treated
 Second, she is Uriah’s wife
 Here is the huge blinking neon red flag
 David, she belongs to someone else – translation ‘hand’s off’
 Hindsight is always 20/20
 When I look at the times I have failed, I can always see the warning signs
 I pray we would start to see them before we go too far
David sends for Bathsheba had has sexual relations with her
 Again, there is no blame on her, how would she refuse the king?
 He has sexual relations with her since she was cleansed from her impurity
 Here is a bit of hypocrisy
 The law forbade sexual relations when a women was menstruating and for a brief time of cleansing
afterwards
 David things he has the all clear because she was cleansed while ignoring that fact that she was
married
 The result of their tryst was that she became pregnant
 Sin is fun and exciting until the consequences begin to mount
 A moment of passing pleasure can lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering
 Now David has to figure out a way to cover his tracks
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The Cover-Up (11:6-13)
 David is in a pickle, actually it is Bathsheba whose life is in danger
 It is hard to explain away a pregnancy while your husband is away at battle
 According to the law, the penalty for her and David’s infidelity is death by stoning
 David proceeds to launch a massive cover-up that even Washington would be impressed with
 He sends word granting Uriah leave from the battle
 His hope is that when Uriah comes home, he will have relations with his wife and thus the
pregnancy could be attributed to him
 I don’t know how he planned to explain the curly red hair of the baby
 One thing that David didn’t consider was that Uriah was a far nobler man than he was
 David’s first attempt ends in failure
 Uriah comes home under the guise of bringing an update of the battle
 I’m sure David acted extremely interested in Uriah’s report
 As a type of reward for faithful service, David tells Uriah to go home and enjoy the pleasures of his wife
 Wash your feet was a euphemism for sleeping with his wife
 You would wash your feet before you went to bed
 To seal the deal David sends a food basket to complete their romantic evening
 Uriah chose instead to sleep outside the kings door with the servants
 When questioned, Uriah’s character and integrity shone through
 He felt it would be wrong to enjoy pleasures while the men of Israel were out battling in the fields
 Too bad David didn’t have the same conviction – he was content to be at home
 David’s second attempt also failed
 This time he got Uriah drunk, hoping that he would allow his convictions to fall under the influence and
thus give in and enjoy his wife
 Once again, Uriah held true to his convictions and slept with the servants
 David realized that his plan wasn’t going to work
 He also knew the pregnancy wasn’t going away and he had to do something before the truth was
exposed
 Drastic times call for drastic measures
 David, the chosen king of Israel, the one who had enjoyed God’s blessings, promises and protection, the
man after God’s own heart falls so low that he stoops to 1st degree murder in order to cover his sin
The Murder of Uriah (11:14-21)
 David drafts and order to Joab which essentially orders him to put Uriah in a place when he would be killed
 Anyway you slice it, it was an order to have Uriah murdered
 The worst part, was that Uriah hand delivered his own death warrant
 No doubt he thought they were orders from the king for the battle
 I never crossed his mind that it was his execution orders
 Joab did as instructed and Uriah was killed
 Notice that verse 16 says Uriah was placed with the valiant men, men of courage, convictions and
honor
 David was anything but valiant in his actions
 Notice that in verse 17, other servants were killed – not just Uriah
 David has much innocent blood on his hands
 Joab then sends a messenger to tell David the news
 Joab is smart as he anticipates the king’s reaction
 He knew David would be upset with such a poor battle plan
 How could Joab allow the people to get so close to the wall so that the archers could shoot them?
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Verse 21 refers to a story in Judges 9 where Abimelech comes too close to a tower he is attacking
when a women drops a millstone on his head and kills him
Joab says if the king questions the battle, tell him that Uriah is dead
 I believe that Joab is washing his hands of the whole matter
 He’s saying I did what you told me
 The covering up of his sin had cost innocent lives
 Joab is making sure David understands that the death of Uriah and the others men rests squarely
on his shoulders
David Gets the News (11:22-27)
 Notice David’s response
 He takes it all matter-of-fact-ly, Oh well, these things happen
 He dismisses the report as a normal course of war
 This is the same man who wouldn’t dare raise a hand against Saul
 Now he casually dismisses murder
 Inside I believe David was elated
 He has succeeded in covering his sin – so he thinks
 When Bathsheba hears the news she mourns
 I believe that she really did care for her husband
 She is grieving for her loss
 Once the official grieving period ended, David moves in and marries her
 After all, it would raise questions if she gave birth only a couple of months after marrying the king
 David was on a strict time table – no time to lose if he wanted to avoid suspicion
 David thinks he’s in the clear
 Notice the last sentence
 In man’s eyes he may be free and clear but not in God’s eyes
 We forget that there is a silent witness to all we say, do, think or feel
 God sees, there is no escaping that
 God gives him room to repent, a whole year
 When he doesn’t, God confronts him
 Remember we may think we get away with our sins, but never fully
 Heb 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Conclusion
 My how far the king has fallen
 In this 1 act and the subsequent cover up David broke 7 commandments
 He coveted his neighbor’s wife - #10
 Next he committed adultery - #7
 He then lied to cover it up - #9
 He then had Uriah murdered - #6
 Ultimately he stole Uriah’s wife - #8
 Finally he brought a reproach upon his parents and the name of the Lord - #5 & 3
 7 out of 10 in one fell swoop
 This story encourages us not to get too comfortable, to complacent in our walks
 We must always be alert, sensitive and in close communion with the Lord
 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour”
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