“How Did I Get Here?”
2 Samuel 11: 1-5
April 14, 2013
Intro: There’s a very popular series on TV called “Breaking Bad.” The premise behind the show is absolutely crazy. It’s the story of a high school science teacher who’s probably in his late 40s or early 50s. He has a 15 year old son who has cerebral palsy and his wife unexpectedly gets pregnant. Then, to top everything off, he gets diagnosed w/lung cancer.
-The treatments for his cancer are outrageously expensive so he wants to do whatever he can in order to financially take care of his family before he dies. And this is where it all gets weird. Thru a series of events he uses his chemistry background to become a meth cook. I don’t want y’all to leave here thinking I’m advocating meth!
-But at the beginning, everything seems to fall into place. He makes a WAD of $ and is able to start putting money away for his family and at the same time pay for his treatments. But what happens as the show progresses, is the main character drifts farther and farther away from his basic values system and before long he’s mired deep into the criminal world. At some point he made a decision that altered the course of his life.
-Obviously this is only a TV show. But I think the basic idea of the show is a poignant picture of what happens to so many of us. We start out life w/all these great designs. We’re going to be successful in our work. We’re going to have a great family. We’re going to be honorable in how we live. And then long the way we make a couple of choices that change the course of our lives and we’re on a path we never dreamed we’d be on.
-And we look at our lives and think, “How in the world did I get here? At what point did my life take this turn to where I’ve ended up here?” Today we’re beginning a new series of messages called “Breaking Bad.” And we’re going to look at examples of people in Scripture who didn’t intend on ending up where they did w/the hope of learning from their mistakes so that we can be prepared to avoid falling into their pitfalls.
Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture we’re going to examine a critical turning point in the life of Israel’s greatest king, David. Now when you think of David, what’s one of the first stories you think of? You think of David and Goliath. It’s a story that we all LOVE b/c it’s the ultimate story of the underdog!
-When a smaller team is facing a powerful one we still call it a “David and Goliath contest.” And everyone’s rooting for David. We love it when David beats the giant, but today we’re going to see the story of when a GIANT beat David! And it’s a giant that has taken plenty of us to the woodshed as well.
-So how in the world did David, a giant killer, get beat by a giant? Well, let’s look at our text.
TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 11: 1-5
Bckgrd: Some scholars believe David was around 50 years old at the time of this story. This means he’d been king for close to 2 decades. David was an incredibly gifted man. He was a gifted musician. King Saul would have him come play his harp to help soothe him. He was a gifted warrior. We’re all familiar w/the story of him fighting and defeating the giant Goliath w/some stones and a sling.
-He was brave. He had a heart for God. He was a king who had everything anyone could ever want. But one day, he looked down from his house and saw a woman named Bathsheba bathing. And instead of turning away and running from this temptation, he dove head first into it and it destroyed him.
-So how did David, a man that had everything, end up where he did? Let’s look at 3 things from our text that show how David ended up being someone he never wanted to be.
-First, David ended up where he was b/c of:
1: COMPLACENCY (v. 1)
Exp: It’s spring time in our text. And in ancient days, spring time was a time for war. The reason why is rather simple. The weather’s better. Winter in Israel is usually the wet season. And it’s hard to move chariots and horses thru the mud when it’s wet. So armies would wait to fight when it was easier to transport troops and supplies. But a very important part of this story is found right after we’re told it’s spring time. We’re told that when the army would go off to fight, the king would lead his men into battle.
A.This makes sense to me. When the king is accompanying the troops, it’s a rallying point for the men. It let the other soldiers know that the king was invested w/them and if he was invested w/them then it showed them that what they were fighting for was important.
1.Israel was going to war w/the Ammonites. The Ammonites land was east of the Jordan River (where the country Jordan is today). In the previous chapter, the Ammonite king had died and his son took his place and David sent some ambassadors to Ammon to show respect to the fallen king. But the new king accused the men of being spies and threw them out of the country.
a.The result is a battle broke out and the Israelites beat back the Ammonites to their capital city, Rabbah. But then the weather changed and the men had to come home. They waited for spring, better weather, to go back and destroy the capital city. But when they went back to fight we’re told that David did not go.
b.Why didn’t he go? We’re not told but I think it’s a pretty safe assumption to say David had become complacent. His men had already pushed them back in the first battle and he very well could’ve thought he didn’t need to go b/c he was confident his men could win w/o him risking his own life. In other words, David, after having years and years of success, became complacent.
2.Success is a strange thing. We all desire to have it, but when you achieve it you can get so used to it that you begin to take it for granted. You begin to think, “I don’t want to work as hard so I’ll just rely on my past success to carry me forward. I’ve put in my time. It’s time for a break.” That’d be like me saying, “I’ve trained and run marathons for a # of years. I think on this next one I’m not going to train at all b/c it takes up so much of my time, I’ll just wait until the race and then run.”
a.How well do you think I’m going to do? Not very! Why? B/c when I lay off the training my body begins to atrophy and I’m not going to be as strong in competing as I was in the past. In recent years, I’ve witnessed this happen numerous times. I’ve seen good people who’ve faithfully followed God decide they’re going to take a break. And their focus moves from serving God to serving themselves.
b.And it doesn’t take long before they’re faced w/a challenge in life or a temptation that they hadn’t struggled w/before, and the challenge or the temptation comes before them, and b/c they haven’t kept themselves in spiritual shape, they’re overwhelmed and defeated by the temptation. They end up settling for things they never would’ve considered before b/c they’re no longer in good spiritual shape.
ILLUS: Ronald Meredith, in his book Hurryin’ Big for Little Reasons, describes one quiet night in early spring: He ran out of his house as he saw a huge flock of geese flying across the sky as they were migrating. He looked over at his pond where he had some mallards he’d brought in on his property.
-The geese were honking and flying by, and he said he looked at the ducks on his pond and saw them look up. He said some of them flapped their wings and responded to all the noise. But none of them got up and began to fly and join the migration.
-He said their urge to fly, to take their place in the sky for which God had made them, wasn’t enough to get them up to fly. The matter for them had been settled a long time ago. The corn of the barnyard was too tempting. Their desire to fly was now uncomfortable. They’d rather stay right where they were.
-He said he learned a lesson that night. Temptation is always enjoyed at the price of losing the capacity for flight.
B.When we become complacent, when we lose our passion for the leadership of God in our lives, we lose our ability to fly. And we find ourselves grounded by temptation.
1.How can we avoid complacency? Start training yourself spiritually! VillageChurch offers opportunities for you to do that thru our VGroup ministry where we gather together in homes and fellowship w/other believers and look into Scripture to see principles God desires for us to live by. Our nature is to live contrary to the leadership of God so it’s always wise for us to be reminded constantly what God says, not what I WANT to do.
a.Let me give you an example. I’d still rather eat donuts for dinner than eat something healthy. But over the long term what happens if I choose to do that? I get out of shape. My body won’t function properly and I won’t feel good! So I choose to eat in a way that will benefit my body.
b.Complacency has long term BAD effects. And David’s complacency led him onto a path that would change the course of his life.
Reit: How did David get where he was? It started w/complacency. 2nd, David ended up where he was b/c of:
2: CARELESSNESS (vv. 2-3)
Exp: Where should David have been? He should’ve been on the battle field w/his men! He should’ve been applying his energies towards leading his men to victory. Instead he stayed home. And it’s not like he stayed home so he could accomplish something else. He stayed home and was idle! He was just lazing around.
A.How do I know that? Well, where was David at the beginning of v. 2? He was in bed! There’s nothing wrong w/getting a good night’s rest. But David wasn’t lying in bed for a night of rest. He was piddling around doing nothing. There’s a lot of truth in the old saying, “An idle mind is the workshop of the devil.”
1.B/c David was careless in his work, b/c his mind was idle, he found himself in a position he should’ve never been in. He got up to walk around on his patio. The king’s palace overlooked the surrounding city. And as he looked down from his patio he saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of his best soldiers, bathing.
a.So typical in what the devil does. When he sees us being complacent in our walk w/God he tries to get us to take his bait so he can ensnare us. What should David’s response have been? He should’ve turned away from what he saw and went back inside his house. He should’ve packed his stuff up and said, “Man, I need to get back to the battle.”
b.An example of this is in the OT when Joseph was working as Potiphar’s slave, Potiphar’s wife came on to Joseph and begged him to sleep w/her. I’m sure for a slave that had to be a tempting offer! But what did Joseph do? He RAN AWAY FROM HER! He didn’t say, “Hang on, let me pray @ this.” He already knew what God wanted him to do. So he just got out of there.
2.You know, when we don’t immerse ourselves in God’s Word, when we don’t take time to pray and have fellowship w/God and w/His people in worship, we tend to get careless. And when that happens, then mistakes are made. In our context, sins are committed.
ILLUS: Steve Green, a Xian singer, tells about getting to know some of the work crews in the large auditoriums where their concerts were held. These guys were hanging speakers and spotlights often times a hundred feet above a concrete floor. B/c the work is so dangerous, these guys are well paid.
-Green asked the guys if working so high in the air bothered them. They told him they weren’t bothered by looking down a hundred feet. But what did bother them was working in buildings that had false ceilings--acoustical tile slung just a couple of feet below the rafters.
-The reason they didn’t like the false tiles is b/c they were still high in the air, and if they slipped, their weight would smash right through the flimsy tile. But their minds seemed to play tricks on them, lulling them into carelessness.
-Satan’s business is not so much in scaring us to death as persuading us that the danger of a spiritual fall is minimal. No wonder 1 Peter 5: 9 advised us to “resist him, standing firm in the faith.”
a.David had false tiles hanging below him. After years of success, he had the false sense that he couldn’t fall; that he wouldn’t be susceptible to sin, or that if he did fall, it wouldn’t be too damaging. I think that’s why we see in v. 3 David flirting w/sin. He doesn’t go all the way yet. He simply inquires @ who’s the lady who lives below him.
b.This can seem kind of innocent. I mean, he just wanted to know who the lady was! It’s not like he’d done anything wrong. But David was playing w/fire. He’d seen this woman bathing and he allowed that scene to play in his mind. So now he’s asking @ her. This is a perfect description of James 1: 14-15. It says, “But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.”
B.When we move away from where God wants us to be, we get careless and become less vigilant in keeping our focus. This is part of the reason I don’t buy it when people tell me, “I don’t need the church to worship. I don’t need to read my Bible to know how to live! I can figure that stuff out on my own.”
1.When we don’t have the things of God serving as anchors in our lives, before long our natural tendency is to drift. And that’s when we end up a long ways from where we ever wanted to be.
Reit: David ended up where he was b/c of complacency. He ended up where he was b/c of carelessness. And finally, David ended up where he was b/c of:
3: COMPROMISE (vv. 4-5)
Exp: David had his servants go to Bathsheba’s house and bring her to him. After she arrived, he took her to his bed and committed adultery. How did David, a man after God’s own heart, find himself in this place? This is the guy who said in Ps. 119: 11, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” What’s in God’s Word concerning taking another man’s wife?
A.The 7th commandment tells us, “Thou shalt NOT commit adultery.” David KNEW this! So how did he break the commandment? Compromise. Somehow, in his mind, he had to justify his actions. He had to be able to convince himself that he was above this law, that what he was doing was okay. He’s the king, he deserves this! He’s always been so good, one little dalliance isn’t going to make or break me!
1.No one has to know what’s going on! I see this all the time. I’ve talked to numerous people who’ve compromised their values in their marriages and in their lifestyles. And they’ll tell me, “It’s really not that big of a deal. I mean, God wants me to be happy.”
a.Or I’ll hear, “In the long run, this is for the best.” Man, let me tell you something. First, God’s #1 desire for our lives is NOT happiness. He’s called us to be obedient to Him! And we demonstrate our love to Him by being obedient. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
b.Now you might be thinking, “Hey, it’s my life! I can do what I want!” If you’re a follower of Jesus, it’s not your life. 1 Cor. 6: 19-20, “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
ILLUS: In May 1996 Miss Venezuela won the Miss Universe title after weeks of watching everything she ate and making sure she stayed fit. Well, after she won the title she wanted so badly, she decided it was time for a break. As a matter of fact it was reported she had said after the competition she was going to “eat, eat, eat and sleep!”
-She was able to justify her new routine b/c she’d won the title. She felt she was owed a break! What was the result? W/in a matter of months she gained over 40 lbs. Pageant officials were mad b/c she had swimsuit contracts that she couldn’t keep b/c she didn’t look very good in them.
B.David felt like he deserved a break. So he laid aside his role as leader, he laid aside his role as a follower of God, and followed his desires and committed adultery. David didn’t stop there. He tried to cover up his sin w/Bathsheba by having her husband killed so he could take her as his wife.
1.What was the result of this? A devastated relationship w/God, a loss of respect from his followers, and a broken home. After all of this, David looked back and surveyed the damage, wondering, “How did I get here? At what point did I go wrong?”
a.It happened b/c of complacency, carelessness, and compromise.
Conclusion: Some of you may be in a place where you’re wondering like David, “How did I get where I am?” It could be some of you are bound by addiction to drugs or alcohol. Others of you are enslaved by pornography. Or it may be something else. But you see that it has a strong grip on your life.
-And you’re ready for freedom from it. What needs to happen for freedom? You come to God in prayer asking for His forgiveness. You turn away from the sin. You ask God to rescue you and then begin placing yourself in places of spiritual support...like the church, like a VGroup; you remove yourself from bad influences and situations that can draw you away from God’s leadership.
-If that’s you, then pray this prayer like David did in Psalm 51: “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit w/in me. Do not banish me from your presence or take your HS from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit.”
