“Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
I Corinthians 10:12 (NASB)

Whether you have just begun to allow God to transform you into who you were born to be and walk in obedience, or you’ve been walking in obedience for a long time, we must have a way to make sure that we stay focused on God! We can’t get so focused on tasks or ourselves that we forget about the one who gave us our tasks to do. We can’t walk around, fat, dumb, and happy thinking to ourselves, “Oh, I’m walking in obedience. I’m doing what the God wants me to do and besides that, I’m preparing for (or I’m walking in) my “calling - I’m right were I’m supposed to be!”

Someone one can, “OOPS” really quick. You must keep your eyes off the water around you, lest you begin to sink. We can’t let our guard down. As the scripture for this lesson reads.

“Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
I Corinthians 10:12 (NASB)

Wedged between the words “stand” and “fall” are the words “take heed”! We need to “take heed” on a regular basis in order that we do not “fall”. How do we do that? We are going to discuss that.

Reader before you go any further, I want to make sure that you understand what I’m talking about so that nothing gets misinterpreted. I mentioned the word calling. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this subject, but I feel that something needs to be said. Your calling is a package deal! Let me put it this way. When the word calling is mentioned in the church environment, it is used in reference to a ministry.

That’s only part of it. Our first calling is to glorify God! I’ll use myself for an example. However, first I want to insert a point to be remembered: if God has told you to do something that is a calling! I’m called to be a wife, mother, stepmother, teacher, and counselor. I have a mail ministry and a phone counsel ministry to people in town as well as out of town. I’m called to live in Florida at this time. I’m called to be a friend to my friends. My calling is a multiplicity of areas that make up one big area. My calling, those things that God has called me to do, is a package deal. There’s too much emphasis put on, “What is your calling?” The answer to that should be, “Well, there are a lot of them. Which one are you talking about?” My calling is multifaceted, as is anyone else’s. If one facet is off, it can taint the rest. Example: If my marriage was not doing good and there were problems, it would have had an effect all other areas that God has called me to do. This leads us to the heart of this teaching.

Each person’s calling is a “package deal”! Their choices, their values and the intentions of their hearts should be applied into every area of their calling. Their calling should be pure because of their choices, their values, and the intentions of their hearts, it is a two-way street!

Choices are decisions you make. Your choices reflect your values. What are values? Values are a measure of importance. What is your priority? Priorities reflect the intentions of your heart. Intentions of the heart are what you feel inside and why. What are your trying to achieve. What is your - ultimate goal?

If you know your calling, and you are focusing on GOD and on your calling as your goal, and you are walking in obedience, pressing on toward that calling, the intention of your heart should reflect the overall calling. The values should reflect God’s perspective in areas relating to the calling in your life. Your choices should simply be a direction, taking into consideration our values, our intentions of the heart and our goal, our calling, everything! In other words, when you make a decision, when you make a choice, it should bring in to play everything, your priorities, your values, your heart intentions, God’s perspective and whatever He has told you. Your calling, your goal, it should all fit.

If you’ve been walking in obedience for a while, you know your calling, and you know you’re consistently getting God’s perspective in the areas of your life, it’s a package deal. There is no room for confusion because you have it all right there.

The word calling means: action of one that calls, one’s occupation, profession, or trade; and inner urging toward some profession or activity or vocation.

If I knew my calling, and something cropped up, and I started to get a wrong heart intention (that could happen if I didn’t catch myself right away), that would affect my values, and it would affect my choices. It would ultimately affect my calling and how successfully God was able to work in all the areas of my life.

We’re going to look at some examples in the life of David from the written Bible. Before we do, I want to clarify something. The people in the Bible were no different than we are! A sin, is a sin, is a sin. There are none bigger or smaller than the other. Sin is sin. There are no degrees to it. If you sin, you sin, and sin is disobedience. If you disobey God, it is a sin. If you are a child, and you disobey your parents, it is sin. The point is this, if we shake our head in shame at what any of the people in the Bible did, we have completely missed the warning: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Their flesh and our flesh are equally weak. Unless we “take heed” our flesh will lead us into a similar sinful excursion and our consequences and grief could be as bitter as anyone of them.

The Bible never flatters its heroes. All the men and women of the Bible had feet of clay. The realism is right there, and it isn’t ignored in any way. It cannot be denied or overlooked.

Personally, David was the most fascinating to me, He appeared to be a most sensitive man and a very compassionate man. I know that he loved the Lord. I love the part of the story where he danced before the Lord. What an inspiring moment that must have been, to see him totally abandon himself to the Father and dance before Him! In fact, he boldly stood up to his wife (Michal) who was rebuking him about it, and he spoke. “David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel -- I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor." (NIV) 2 Samuel 6:21-22

No sin, aside from the sin of Adam and Eve, has received more press than the sin of David with Bathsheba. Movie makers have totally exploited the passage of their story. He sinned, but his sin was no greater than your sin or mine. Our sins simply haven’t been recorded for all to read. His sin was intensified because of who he was and because of how it got out of hand. David has had more written about him in the Bible than any other biblical character. There are about sixty-six chapters in the Old Testament plus fifty-nine references to him in the New Testament. It is sad that out of all the wonderful things he did, this time in his life is the most brought up. Such it is still now. People remember the “bad” more than the good, but David stood tall, and God said of him, “He was a man after God’s own heart.”

“And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.” (KJV) Acts 13:22

"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command." (NIV) 1 Samuel 13:13-14

David was a mighty man of God and Yeshua was referred to as “the son of David” many times in the Bible.

“A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." (NIV) Matthew 15:22

“All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" (NIV) Matthew 12:23

After much prayer and study, this is what God has shown me about David and how Satan got in and trapped him. Once again, David’s “season of sin” is looked at, as we look at David’s life. Let us take heed, lest WE fall.

David became king at 30 years old, so at this time, he was about fifty. David did not fall suddenly. Inroads had been laid years before. Satan was just waiting. Here are some of the areas that opened the inroads for Satan:

And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel. (NASB) 2 Samuel 5:12

David knew the hand of God was on him and he realized that the Lord’s blessing was abundant. He had gotten “comfortable” with where he was in his life and his walk with God. Let’s look at the other areas that he neglected.

“Meanwhile David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David. (NASB) 2 Samuel 5:13

This was in direct contradiction to God’s commandment, because there were clear requirements for the king of Israel.

"When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,' you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way.' "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.” (NASB) Deuteronomy 17:14-17

David was faithful in two out of three of the rules. The simple fact is that the passion of sex is not satisfied by a full harem of women, it is increased. Having many women doesn’t reduce a man’s desire, it excites it, it stimulates it. One of the lies of our secular society is that if you just satisfy that drive, then it’ll be abated. Not true! This made David vulnerable. Here he was King of Israel, and that kingdom was about 60,000 square miles! He was a giant killer and he had twenty years of doing things almost perfect. The army had never lost a battle, he was at the peak of public admiration, he had ample money and a beautiful home. He had incredible power and unquestioned authority. He was riding high!

Had David become lackadaisical? Was David walking around fat, dumb and happy? Had his personal time with God become nonexistent? Had he become too focused on the tasks? Had he become so focused on himself? Why was he not focusing on God? Why did no one speak up and remind him of what God had said in the written Word? When was the last time that he had taken time to look at the intention of his heart? Where was his copy of the written law that he was supposed to have, “written for himself”, and was supposed to, “be with him”, and he was supposed to be reading, “all the days of his life”? Where was his personal copy of those laws?

"Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left; in order that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel. (NASB) Deuteronomy 17:18-20

God shared with me that David neglected his duties as a father and the Bible backs that up. As we see throughout the Bible, the fathers took great interest in their children, especially the male children. Abraham took great interest in Isaac and likewise did Jacob with his sons. When the troubles began in David’s family, the children that got into trouble were not small children. We’re talking about young people in their late teens. This is a time when young men should be with their father and observing what he is doing and having time with him. The male children were to be learning from their fathers. They should have had work to do, e.g., spending time with their father on the battlefield. Just as he had gotten to the point of indulging himself, David indulged his children, and they did basically what they wanted. There was too much idle time, too much time for leisure. Idle time gives us too much time on our hands. I personally don’t see it mentioned in the Bible that we are supposed to take a lot of time off. Nor does it mention retirement. With idleness comes restlessness. In the Bible God laid down guidelines for us and from everything I can find, we are to be busy for six days and the seventh is for the Lord.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (NIV) Exodus 20:8-11

Did God change His mind? I don’t think so. The point here is this, too much emphasis is placed on resting. God is not a slave driver, but He has things for us to do. In the Biblle it says nothing about only adults working. Young children should have chores and responsibilities. If we are doing what God wants us to do and walking in obedience, He will make sure that we are rested, and our bodies are taken care of. That is the kind of God He is, caring and loving. We just need to be listening. Yeshua said in Luke 10:2 in the Bible that, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”. Our Lord set the example for us to follow, and nowhere does it say that He was concerned about taking time off, resting or playing. That is not to say that He didn’t rest, or play. What it says is this. He was about the Father’s business; He was allowing the Father to direct his time and how much better does it get then that? Does not the creator of our bodies know when we need rest and time for play?

David lost touch domestically. He had undisciplined children.

“Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run before him. And his father had never crossed him at any time by asking, "Why have you done so?" And he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom. (NASB) 1 Kings 1:5-6

What does this mean? Never once did David “interfere”, never once did he “cross” his son. Literally, he had never challenged anything that he did. He had not disciplined him, he had never said, “Why have you done this?” He never said, “You cannot do this!” He had no control over him, just as he had failed to control Absalom. He lost control of his family.

David had to many wives and to many children. By David’s disobedience to the command of God regarding the kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:14-17, “Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away...”, he threw open the door for Satan to get into his life and the life of his family. And boy, did he ever get in!

David’s life began to spiral down! And he was going to take others with him! Choices in our lives must be considered carefully, no matter how big or small!

The Spiral Begins

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. (NIV) 2 Samuel 11:1-4

David was not where he was supposed to be, he was supposed to be with his army. This was a disobedient act. By this choice alone he showed that his values were off as well as the intentions of his heart. If he had been where he was supposed to be, there would not have been a Bathsheba incident. Satan had set a trap for David, and he had an inroad to do it. He obviously couldn’t sleep, he was restless. Why was he restless? Why was he out walking around instead of spending time with God to find out why he was restless and could not sleep? If we can’t sleep, we need to be asking God what is wrong and what He wants us to do. There were two obvious choices made here by David, let’s look at them both.

Choice #1:
To not go with the army. His choice reflected his values. David’s value system was out of whack. He was in charge, and he was doing what he wanted to do. He was taking time off, time off that was not supposed to be. His priority was to indulge himself. The intention of his heart was pleasure!

What was David trying to achieve here? What was his ultimate goal? Pleasure! Self-indulgence!

Choice #2:
To inquire regarding the women, he saw bathing and have her sent to him. His choice reflected his values, values being a measure of importance. What was important here? Once again it was David and his own desires. His priority was satisfying his desires and that once again reflected the intentions of his heart. Pleasure! Self-indulgence!

David had become pleasure oriented.

Desire can be a powerful emotion and it is not always associated with the sexual. It comes into play in ambition, vanity, revenge, love of fame, or greed for money. Sometimes when desire for something hits someone, they can totally loose site of God. Desire can quickly become lust and we can lust after anything!

With in the Bible, I don’t know of anywhere else that describes any woman as, “very beautiful in appearance”, (2 Samuel 11:2). I don’t believe that the Bible exaggerates, so Bathsheba must have been one fabulous looking woman.

Let’s think about this lady for a moment. First, Bathsheba was not where she was supposed to be either. Hebrew women were usually very modest. Obviously, she was lacking in modesty. For her to be bathing in a place where she could be observed, she had to be outside. Why? What were the intentions of her heart at this point? Having lived where she lived, she knew she could be seen, and she knew that the royal palace was right there. Whether it was for David or whomever, she was allowing herself to be a stumbling block. If David had gone to war, he would not have seen Bathsheba that night. If she had thought seriously about her action, she would not have put temptation in his path. I’m not trying to cast blame; we just need to look at the facts.

Some have said that we should “flee” from the Devil, I don’t know about that. I hear people say all too often, just run from Satan. Run from the sin. Just flee! Where are you going to go to run from Satan, except to the arms of God and He spoke.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (NIV) James 4:7

“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (NIV) 1 Peter 5:9

I don’t see flee here. If Satan is putting in your mind, to commit a sin, where do you run from your mind? Are we supposed to stand there and keep looking at whatever has been in front of our eyes to tempt us? No! But we can turn our eyes up to God, plant our feet, rebuke Satan, and then turn around and walk away. Then sit-down ASAP and ask God to help you get to the root of the issue of why this is a weakness for you. If it weren’t a weakness Satan wouldn’t be taking the time to put it in front of you. He obviously thinks he can take you down with it, but to just keep fleeing from it and not take a stand would be stupid! Since when does a soldier run from a battle? So why would a “Christian soldier” run from Satan? Do people think Satan is going to say, “Oh wow! They are running from me; I’d better stop doing that.” Come on! Is he going to give up that easy? If that were the case, he would have given up a long time ago, because he knows he is going to be put into the pit of hell. It is not exactly a secret. The point here is this, fleeing something or excuse my vernacular, tucking tail and running, is choosing to ignore. To run away is defeat, not victory and that is not what we are told to do, we are told to resist! That means to fight back. If fleeing and ignoring Satan worked, then why aren’t there more victorious Christians? The battle is for the mind. We have studied that several times recently. So where do you run from your mind? Therefore, we must get cleaned up, stay cleaned up and shut down the inroads for Satan to get in. It is a must if we are to be victorious! Resist, stop running, running is retreating. That is contrary to the character and nature of God! Plant your feet, rebuke Satan, walk away and get with God regarding the root of the weakness and let God deal with it. That is resisting. That is God’s way, that is VICTORY. God gets the Glory and that is why we are here!

All right, we have established that David was in bed, not in battle. Had he been where he belonged, with his troops, there would never have been the Bathsheba episode. Keep in mind here, one’s greatest battles can come when we’ve got time on our hands and when we are bored. We can make some fateful decisions. That can come back to haunt us. That is where David was, indulging himself, beyond the boundaries of what God wanted for Him.

The Spiral Continues!

The choice was made, and it was followed through upon. Then it happened. They were caught. There was a child on the way. When David got the news, he had another choice to make. He could go before God, call for the prophet Nathan and ask God for direction. You know what? Knowing the Lord God Jehovah, the way I do, He would have shown him the way out with the lesser number of problems. I know He would, because even in our sin God is merciful! Do I think that God wouldn’t have dealt with the sin? Of course, He would have. But it would not have been so painful and the degree of havoc that followed, would not have been so great. Because “what Satan means for evil, God will turn to good”!

Unfortunately, David made the other choice. He attempted the “great cover up”. I’m so sorry that David chose this because it is a fact that, “your sins will find you out”. When we get into a panic, we make mistakes, that is why God told us last week that He doesn’t put us into painful decisions that have to be made immediately. We need time for prayer and supplication. Boy, did David need that? Ever been there?

The Spiral Grows!

Rather than falling on his face before God, he continues to try to keep control of an already dangerous situation.

“So, David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet. So, Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house. When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?" Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!" Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home. (NIV) 2 Samuel 11:6-13

David was trying to manipulate Uriah into going home and spending the night with his wife. Then David would have been off the hook. But nothing worked! In verse 11, Uriah was rebuking David, he was showing some integrity, he was committed to the nation and to the God of the nation. So, David had to come up with something else, he felt time was running out for him. He was panicking.

The Spiral Escalates!

“In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." (NIV) 2 Samuel 11:14-15

David must have really trusted Uriah, because he sent him off with his own death warrant in his hand! He took that message to Joab. Don’t you think that Joab knew what was going on? He and half the palace knew by now what had happened.

“So, while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died. Joab sent David a full account of the battle. He instructed the messenger: "When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, the king's anger may flare up, and he may ask you, `Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?' If he asks you this, then say to him, `Also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'" The messenger set out, and when he arrived, he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance to the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead." David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: `Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab." (NIV) 2 Samuel 11:16-25

Uriah was dead, and David went on with his plan.

“When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.” (NIV) 2 Samuel 11:26-27

All the time that David was trying to cover up, everything was right out there in front of everyone’s eyes! As soon as Uriah was dead, he brings Bathsheba to the palace and marries her. Hello! Can’t people count to nine? Yes, they sure can, and this is something that we can’t forget even now. Do we think that people can’t see what we do? People watch other people. This is what we were talking about last week. We are on stage, all the time. David was really on stage, being the King. People really watched him. They were constantly watching and to boot he was responsible for setting the example. He was King and Judge over Israel. His life was to reflect the Lord God Jehovah. Those around David knew, they knew. It was right out there for all to see, even his children. David like us, got himself in to this mess by willfully choosing to do what he did. We make our own choices. We can’t blame them on anyone else. That is the bottom line. We choose and if we choose not to choose, we have made a choice.

At the end of this time frame there is a scripture that reads.

“But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.” (NIV) 2 Samuel 11:27b

Let’s take an inventory. We have seen lust, adultery, hypocrisy, and murder, all from choices! How could a man after God’s own heart fall like this? If we are honest and look at ourselves, it’s not hard to understand. David is now trapped in a spiral of misery, and it is not over yet. Read Psalm 32:3-4, and Psalm 51, he has sleepless nights, physical illness, fever, haunted memories, loss of weight, he was in total misery. God waited to settle this when He felt it was the right moment. He doesn’t necessarily settle things when we think they should be. In fact, I have seen Him wait and wait and wait to settle something with someone. In this case, Old Testament scholars say it was about twelve months. But be sure that God will settle, just like we talked about last week.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (NIV) Galatians 6:7

God had given David enough time to come to Him. He had chosen again to try to get through it by himself. David was about to have a visitor; it was time to settle up!

Confrontation!

“The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him. David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity. Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!” (NIV) 2 Samuel 12:1-7a

David’s mouth had to have dropped open at this point. He had to have been totally stunned. But the prophet did not stop here where I have stopped, he kept on going. David got it all at once, the exposure of the sin and the consequences!

“Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own. This is what the LORD says: `Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'" (NIV) 2 Samuel 12:7-12

David repented.

“Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD. Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” (NIV) 2 Samuel 12:13

What the prophet said, came to pass. The price for David’s sin was high. The child with Bathsheba died, David’s daughter Tamar was raped by her half-brother Amnon.

During the two years after the rape, Amnon and Absalom did not speak and the hatred between them grew. Lust led to rape, rape led to hatred and hatred leads to the next step, murder. Sound familiar?

Where is David when all of this is going on? After what he had gone through, why didn’t he do something? Why wasn’t he getting with God and dealing with this situation? The Bible says that when he found out about the rape, he was angry. So, why didn’t he deal with this? The situation festered and Absalom plotted. In 2 Samuel 13:24-30, Absalom plays David for a fool. There is no other way to say it. He goes to David and invites him and the family to his house. David refuses, and Absalom begins to plead for Amnon to go. Now, once again, can’t David see what is going on here? They hadn’t spoken in two years! The written Word says he “urged” his Father. Webster’s defines the word “urged” as, to drive forward or onward forcefully: impel. To entreat strongly and repeatedly, exhort. So, what we’re talking here is manipulation. So, David agreed, and Absalom has his servants kill his half-brother. As the prophet Nathan said, “the sword will never depart out of your household”.

After this, another two years go past, and Absalom doesn’t see David face to face.

“Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king's face.” (NIV) 2 Samuel 14:28

Once again, Absalom is up to something. He is putting a conspiracy, against his father, into motion. He was saying bad things about his father, he wanted the throne. He wanted revenge. Absalom’s life ends tragically. Joab, the head of David’s army, kills Absalom. Once again, “the sword had not departed from David’s house”.

What I call the “backwash of sin” can be painful. I have seen it and I have felt it. It can be scathing! It is the reaping of what has been sown. David reaped every iota of what he had done. During the “backwash”, David had another son with Bathsheba and that son became the next king! He was known for his wisdom and his wealth, but in his life were some of the same problems that his father David struggled with. The main problem being wives and concubines. But that’s another story.

Choice after choice after choice, that David made, showed where his values were. Those choices showed what the intentions of his heart were. Last week we talked about not allowing our emotions to rule us. David’s emotions ruled him! He allowed other people’s emotions to rule him. This effected his calling in many areas. When Absalom “urged’ him to allow Amnon to go to his home, he allowed his emotions to come in to play. Once again, he paid the price. Do we pay a price for uncontrolled emotions? Yes, we do.

What were the ramifications of David’s season of sin? When he was in that downward spiral, who did he take down with him? David was placed on the throne as King of Israel to be the example that God wanted him to be. He was to exude the attributes of Jehovah. God dealt very sternly with David, he had to. He was the highest authority in Israel and with his position came great responsibility!

"However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die." (NASB) 2 Samuel 12:14

When David went into that downward spiral, he took everything with him, himself, Bathsheba, his other wives, his children, and the people of Israel. David was called to first glorify God. He was a husband, a Father, and a King, in that order. He was also the judge over Israel. People came to him to solve their disputes and for guidance and this is only the part I know about. That was his “package deal”. That was his calling. His personal life got out of whack, it affected everything else. When he was spiraling down and brought people with him. Where his hands stained with other people’s blood because of his choices?

“When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (NIV) Isaiah 1:15-17

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. (NIV) Isaiah 59:1-3

Remember the account of Pilate washing his hands, declaring that Yeshua’s blood was not on his hands? No way! The blood was there because he was in charge. He could have stopped it. He was just too worried about Pilate and his reputation. He was afraid of the people and what they would think of him. Even after his wife had warned him, he chose to be a wimp.

We have looked at David, and there’s no denying that he made wrong choices, but so have we. We can make wrong choices at any given moment if we’re not careful. Now, let’s talk about us.

What is your purpose on this Earth beyond glorifying God? In other words what has God asked you to do? What are all the areas? Is there a specific way that you are to carry out God’s work on this Earth? What are those areas, do you know? Let’s list them. Take a piece of paper (attached) and sit quietly for a moment. Make your list. Are you a husband, a wife mother, are you employed? What are your hobbies? If God told you to have a certain hobby. there is a purpose for it, and it is a calling. Think about it.

I don’t believe that there is anyone here tonight that doesn’t want to be exactly where God wants them to be. To do that, we are going to have to be asking God what He wants us doing each day. To do that, you are going to have to ask Him.

God has directed me to challenge you. Basically, this is a homework assignment. God wants you to give Him at least ten minutes each night before you go to bed. That time is to be spent asking Him what He wants you to do tomorrow. Have a piece of paper and a pencil in your hand. Do a cleansing of your mind and yield yourself to God completely and ask Him. Then just sit there and listen, give Him that ten minutes. God wants you to report back next week what happened. God wants the opportunity for you to start getting direction for your days, so that you will stay on course with Him. He wants to, “direct your path”

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (NIV) Proverbs 3:5-8

We need to do “heart checkups” each day. If things are rough on any given day, maybe you should be doing a “heart checkup” several times a day.

Heart Check Up!

A choice is a decision that I make. If my choice reflects my values, what are my values in this decision? If values are a measure of importance, what is my priority? If my priorities reflect the intentions of my heart. What is the intention of my heart in this decision that I’m making? (Remember, intentions of the heart are what you feel inside and why.) What am I trying to achieve? What is my goal?

(sw-h)

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