Staying Vigilant: Lessons from David's Fall in 2 Samuel 11

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing this morning? Welcome. Glad you're here. I know every single Sunday we have people who are visiting Watermark for the first time ever. If that's you, I'm so glad you made it. I hope this place can feel like home very quickly for you. I want to make sure everyone knows they are invited to come and celebrate the resurrection of King Jesus two weeks from this Sunday.

Easter Sunday here at Watermark is going to be a very amazing and special time, so I hope you'll make plans to join us, honestly, for the whole weekend, starting on Friday at noon. We have a Good Friday service where we're going to remember Christ's sacrifice, his payment for our sin on the cross. Then you need to know, on Saturday, we have services at 3:00 and 5:00. If you're a Watermark member, let me just encourage you.

Jesus has already risen from the dead, so if you celebrate it on Saturday, it still counts. By you choosing to come on Saturday, you're going to make space for our services on Sunday morning where we're seeking to serve the community and where we will have a lot of visitors on that day. So, if you can't make it on Saturday, still come on Sunday, but the space is going to be on Saturday, just so you know. You've been told.

Additionally, let me just encourage you. Easter is such an important time to be asking, "God, who would you have me invite to come to church to celebrate the resurrection of Christ?" Just ask God. Ask him. I promise you he'll show you people. He will give you opportunities over the next two weeks to invite people, and I hope you'll take those opportunities.

Finally, we have about 1,000 spaces for serving over the course of that weekend, and we would love for you to consider worshiping at one and serving at another just to help others facilitate their worship. I was so encouraged that, last week, over 100 people jumped in to serve. If you want to do that, you can hop online and make Easter more accessible for people. I want to invite us now to pray for Easter weekend, and then to pray for our hearts as we transition into studying God's Word.

So, if you will, take a moment and just pray. Say, "God, would you move in a very clear and unmistakable way on Easter weekend?" Would you pray that really quickly? Then, would you pray for yourself and just say, "God, would you speak clearly to me this morning?" Then, would you pray for the people around you and just say, "God, would you speak clearly to them as well?" Then, would you pray for me and ask God to speak through me to you?

Lord, I'm asking that you would come and move in a very clear way this morning. God, this message is very weighty, yet I believe there is joy waiting for some people on the back side of this message, so I want to ask and pray right now… God, would you give us eyes to see you clearly? Would you open up our ears to hear from you through the teaching of your Word?

May our hearts be open and receptive. Holy Spirit, where conviction is needed, would you bring it? God, may your kindness lead us to repentance this morning. I pray, God, for your movement in every person's life in this room and listening online right now. Have your way in our lives, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen.

When I was in college, God blessed me with a small group of friends who I tracked with all through college. The same four of us lived together all four years of college. We really loved each other. I realize that girls show their affection for each other differently than guys do. Girls, you'll write notes to each other and sign them "LYLAS" (love you like a sister). Guys wrestle. You know what I mean? That's the way guys communicate.

I shared this story during the 9:00 a.m. service, and I sat down, and Kat was kind of like, "No. That didn't seem very healthy." So, let me just say I'm acclimating to the fact that we might have been able to show our care for each other in a healthier way in college, but it was a regular thing in our apartment for us to trash talk one another or just spontaneously attack. It was just a normal thing. We could be sitting there, and it was like Pounce! At least then, that's how we communicated care.

There was one guy in the group who was always the instigator. He was the one who would trash talk the most. There was one day where the guy I shared a room with… We were like, "It's time. This is that moment in the day where we are going to turn on him." The way our apartment was situated was that this guy's room was at the end of the hall, there was a bathroom, and then there was my room that I shared with this other guy.

This guy, who's a Watermark member… We decided we were going to get that guy. So, I went and hid in the bathroom. This guy, my roommate, starts taunting this guy from room to room, which draws this guy out and into this room. I step out of the bathroom and into his room without him knowing, and I crawl under his desk and pull his chair in so he can't see me.

I can hear those two wrestling in the other room, and then I hear the guy whose room I'm in… He runs down the hall, slams the door, locks it, and starts taunting my roommate from now inside of a locked room. He's just taunting him. He has so much confidence in his voice, so much arrogance. I'm just sitting there under the desk, like, "Excellent!"

Then he pulls out his chair without realizing I'm under his desk. He sits down and pulls himself forward, and I'm like, "Ow! Gosh." Now I'm kind of regretting the place I chose to be. But he's sitting right in front of me, and this is what I do. I push him out and go "Rah!" He tumbles backward in his chair. I spring up. I go unlock the door and let my roommate in, and we both pounce on him. We actually tied him up, and that's where Kat was like, "That felt like too much." But we tied him up.

It made me think of 1 Peter 5:8, which says, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Do understand in that illustration I'm the Devil. Here's the thing. It's fun and funny when you're talking about roommates who genuinely love each other and this was just the way we interacted for four years together, but it is sobering when you're talking about a real enemy, the Devil, who is scheming to take us down and capitalizes on the moments in which we are least on guard.

This morning, we're going to look at 2 Samuel, chapter 11, which was King David's moment of failure. It's his greatest failure in life. It's a fitting time for us to talk through this passage, because David's greatest failure happened in the springtime. So, by looking at his worst spring ever, my hope is it might save some of us from having our worst spring ever. David found himself in a place where he was least on guard, and it led to his greatest failure.

If you have a Bible, I want to invite you to turn with me to 2 Samuel, chapter 11. This passage has weighed on me this week. I was on a retreat with some staff members, and I woke up way too early and couldn't go back to sleep, because it was just this weight, like, "Man! There is an enemy that is after us."

I think about the fact that I love the place that Kat and I are in right now in our marriage. It has been a really sweet season. Just to know there is someone targeting our marriage… It's like, "God, I don't ever want to get to the place of brokenness in our marriage. God, would you keep us from that? Would you preserve us? Would you protect us?" It's a sobering message. My hope is that God is going to use this message today to prepare some people and to break other people.

That could be the kindest thing God does for anyone in this room, that he prepares some people in this room, that God is kind of waving smelling salts under your nose, like, "Hey! Wake up. Pay attention. Be sober-minded. Be watchful." For others, this is a Sunday where God is going to, in his love for you, break you. He's going to give you eyes to see the sin you're living in. He's going to allow you to see your sin like he sees your sin, and he's going to invite you to repent, and it will be for your joy that he does that.

So, we're looking at 2 Samuel, chapter 11. If you've been on the reading plan with us, I hope you're enjoying it. If you've fallen off or never started, hey, start with us tomorrow morning. We start a new book tomorrow, 1 Kings. This is a great time to be jumping in and reading, so just start with us. Stop trying to catch up. You're caught up. We're all in this together. First Kings, chapter 1, tomorrow. Join us on the reading plan.

Second Samuel is all about the rule of King David. The book can be broken down into three sections. The first section is about David's triumphs, the second section is about David's transgressions, and the third section is about David's troubles. We're looking today at David's transgressions because it's the hinge of the book and the hinge of his life. You read the story of King David, and it's one win after another, faithfulness upon faithfulness. Then you get to 2 Samuel 11, and there's such a pivot in his life. From this point, in some ways, his life will never be what it was.

If you've been tracking with us, then you know that ever since Genesis, chapter 3, we have been looking for a Serpent crusher. We've been looking for one who would come and reverse the effects of the fall and restore what was lost in the garden of Eden. After Genesis 3, we began to look at all of humanity for the Serpent crusher, but then the text in Genesis 12 focused us on Abraham and his family, so we were looking for a Serpent crusher from Abraham.

Then we were looking at the entire nation of Israel as the son who would provide the Serpent crusher, yet, since the book of Judges, our appetite has been cultivated for a king. Then you read the book of Ruth, and it ends with a genealogy that lands us at David. So, we are looking for a king in David. If you've never read the Bible before, if you're just reading along, you might start thinking, "Maybe David is the Serpent crusher."

You read 2 Samuel 8:14-15, and it says, "And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people." If anyone resembled the Serpent crusher, it's David. It's the king who's consistently victorious and administering justice and equity. But you turn the page from 2 Samuel, chapter 10, which was a story about victory, to 2 Samuel, chapter 11, and listen to what you find, starting in verse 1.

"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman.

And one said, 'Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?' So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, 'I am pregnant.' So David sent word to Joab, 'Send me Uriah the Hittite.' And Joab sent Uriah to David."

Now skip down to verse 14. "In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, 'Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.'" Skip down to verse 26. "When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord."

This is David. This is the guy who's considered the man after God's own heart. The one who most resembles a Serpent crusher sleeps with another man's wife and then has her husband killed, covering it up. Even the man after God's own heart falls to the Serpent's schemes. So, here's what I want to do. I just want to look at the text, and I want to ask some questions. I want to provide you with some questions, and I want to encourage you to evaluate your own heart just to make sure your springtime doesn't resemble David's.

1. Is it spring or winter in your relationship with God? The reason I ask that is that 2 Samuel 11:1 says, "In the spring of the year…" This event happens in the spring. If you think about spring, spring is the time of year when there's growth. It's when everything is in bloom. What's winter? Winter is the time when things go dormant. There are no signs of life or things are dying.

So, I'm just asking you to evaluate. Is it spring or is it winter in your relationship with God? The reason I'm asking that from the start is if you were to read chapter 11 and take note of all of the different times God is referenced, do you know how many times you would see God referenced? Once. God is referenced only once in the entire chapter.

Out of 27 verses, God is referenced in the very last verse, which is so different than any other chapter we've seen so far in David's life. Chapter after chapter, we've seen David inquiring of the Lord. There's this back-and-forth, intimate relationship between him and God. Then we hit chapter 11, and you see David operating apart from God. You see what was true of Adam and Eve in the garden is now true in the man after God's own heart.

Adam and Eve began to believe there was goodness to be found outside of God's will, and David begins to do the same. So, I'm just asking you to evaluate. Is it spring? Is there growth? Are there signs of life in your relationship with God or does it feel more dormant? Think about it this way. If someone chronicled each day of your life, like, wrote it down, how many references would there be to God just in your last week or just yesterday?

If your day was chronicled, like David's, how many references would there be to God? Or are you in a season of life right now where you're operating apart from him? You're trying to do things on your own. David was in a place where he was calloused to God's goodness. He was in a place where he was living forgetfully that God was the one who had anointed him king through the hand of Samuel.

God was the one who had provided him the victory over Goliath. God was the one who had sustained him when he was on the run from Saul. God was the one who eventually elevated him to king over all of Israel. God was the one who helped David unify the country by making Jerusalem the capital. God was the one who empowered him to expand the boundaries of the land of Canaan to take more land.

God was the one who empowered him to show kindness to Mephibosheth in chapter 9. God was the one who gave him victory after victory, yet David is now in a moment where none of that is moving the needle for him. So, I'm just asking you: Is that where you're at right now in your life? Does the goodness of God fall flat to you? Is his death, burial, and resurrection just not doing it for you right now? Are you in a place right now where it feels more like winter than spring?

We don't have a sprinkler system in our yard, so I've been looking at our backyard, which has been slow to turn green, because I haven't gotten outside and put the sprinkler out to start watering the grass, but over the last few days, there has been all this rain, and because of all this rain, I look in our backyard, and it has all turned green despite my lack of effort.

The reason I tell you that is what I'm not inviting you to do right now is to go out and try to muscle intimacy with God. What I'm talking about is just realizing, "I am in a season that feels more like winter than spring in my relationship with God. God, would you send your April showers into my heart to turn the dry grass of my heart green?"

I just want to give you a moment right now. If that's you right now, if it feels more like winter than spring, just pray. Everyone close their eyes really quickly and pray. If you're in a good season of life right now, thank God for it. Ask him to prolong it. If you feel dry and disconnected from God, acknowledge that to him. Invite his movement. Ask him to move you toward him and to bring the showers of his goodness into your life.

Lord, I ask and pray that you would renew us and refresh us. Restore the joy of our salvation to us, God. Give us eyes to see you and the ability to taste your goodness. May we behold your beauty and enjoy you more because of it, God, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen.

2. Are you relaxed or ready? Look back at the text. Verse 1 now. Let's start going through it. "In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle…" Spring was the preferred time to carry out military campaigns because of the weather. Listen to how the author is painting the picture. He says, "In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle…" Who was David? He was king. The author is trying to be very obvious. It's the time of year when kings go out to battle.

"…David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel." The author is painting this picture. David sent everyone, and everyone went, yet he stayed. "And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But…" Put a box around the word but. That is a contrasting word. The author is trying to paint a stark contrast between two things. "But David remained at Jerusalem." The author is trying to help us see David was home when he should have been at war.

Verse 2: "It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch…" High school students are like, "The Bible has never made more sense to me than right now." This is the verse you want to memorize. "Late one afternoon, when I arose from the couch…" It's like, "The Word of God gets me." "It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful."

What's interesting is the author is highlighting that David should be at war, and instead he's at home. He should be fighting, and instead he's relaxing. What's true of him physically is actually true of him spiritually. David was relaxing spiritually when he should have been ready to fight against sin. David thought he was staying home from the battle, but at home was just a different battle. When David arose from his couch and went for a walk on the roof, he was actually walking into that battle.

In the war he was supposed to be at, victory was occurring. The text even tells us that they besieged Rabbah, that they ravaged the Ammonites, but while Israel was ravaging the Ammonites, instead, David was about to be ravaged. I read this, and I just want to go back in time and speak the apostle Paul's words from 1 Corinthians 10:12 into David's life.

What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 10:12? Look at the wording. "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." "Let anyone who thinks that he stands…" What are those next two words? I want everyone to say them out loud. "Take heed." Turn to the people around you and say, "Hey, take heed." Say it to me. "TA, take heed." Thank you. Thank you so much. That's good. That's a good word. "Take heed."

I wish I could go tell David, "David, take heed." David didn't wake up that day thinking, "You know what? Today is the day I'm going to ruin my life." When he got off the couch, he had no clue that when he began to take a walk… He didn't realize, "Yeah, I'm going to walk toward ruin. I'm about to make a decision that's going to cause my life to head toward being a dumpster fire." He had no clue. Why? Because he was spiritually relaxed.

It shows us something very important. You have to understand that every day, when you wake up and put your feet on the floor, you are stepping into a battlefield. Every single day, you're stepping into a battlefield with a real enemy who hates you. He hates your relationship with God. He hates your marriage. He hates your desire to be faithful to Jesus while you're single. He hates your integrity in your workplace. He hates your desire to honor God in parenting. He hates it. Just as my roommate and I strategized, we have an enemy who is looking for an opportunity.

So, it's really a question of…Are you relaxed or are you ready? The best thing you can do is take heed. Here's what we learn from David: we need to take heed when life is really good and when life is really bad. When life is really bad, your tendency is going to be to pacify your pain with sin, but when life is really good, your tendency will be to let down your guard. In David's case, there was so much national victory in David's life that personal defeat wasn't even on his radar.

Months ago, when I stepped into my new position, I was hanging out with my brother. It was at a time when pastors were making the news for all of the wrong reasons. My brother, in his love for me, was like, "How are you doing? Like, how are you doing?" I so appreciated him asking. I was like, "Man, I feel like I'm in a good place. I feel like things are going well." This is what he said to me, and I felt so loved and cared for. My brother was like, "Hey, man. You just need to remember that we have an enemy who is very patient." He is very patient.

Just think about what Luke 4:13 says about Jesus. "And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time." So, here's what we have to remember. Don't miss this. If you're too relaxed now in this service, wake up. Don't miss what I'm telling you. It is possible that the Evil One might lay low in your life, like, intentionally withdraw from actively attacking, in order to wait for you to relax, because if your pride can rise, your guard can lower. That's what he's waiting for.

Every day, we're stepping onto a battlefield. We have to be ready. I'll explain it this way. We went on a retreat this week as a staff. There were a few of us on staff who went on a retreat. We were only gone for 24 to 30 hours. When I travel, I pack very heavy. I know; several people are going to judge me right now as I share this, especially the men in the room. You're going to be like, "Come on, dude. We need to have a talk about this." But I pack heavy.

The reason I pack heavy is I prepare for the worst-case scenario every time I go somewhere. I always prepare for the worst-case scenario. So, I brought earplugs and melatonin just in case I was in a room with someone who snored. I personally snore. I'm not worried about myself. I'm worried about them. So, I have the earplugs and the melatonin. Not only that. I bring my own pillow. Who takes their own pillow when they travel? Yeah, of course you do. I don't want to be stuck putting my head on a cinder block. You know what I mean? So, yeah, I take my pillow.

But this is where it's going to ratchet up a little. I also brought a blanket. The reason I brought a blanket is I don't like getting stranded places where the covers are that thin film, like on doctor's office beds. You know what I mean? I don't want to be covering up with that. I want some weight. I don't mind it cold in the room, but I don't want to be cold while I'm sleeping. So I want to prepare for it.

I bring layers in case it's cold outside, because I don't like being cold, but if it turns out to be really hot… I had shorts and short sleeves. I want to be prepared, always, prepared for the worst. Some of y'all walked out today preparing for the best. You showed up in shorts and flip-flops. It's 50 degrees outside! You've got to prepare. You've got to look at the forecast. I'm not even talking about sin right now; I'm just talking about life. Look at that forecast, people. We're in Texas. Back to the text.

You have to prepare for the worst every single day. You have to pack heavy every day. When you wake up, you have to pack not your suitcase; you have to pack your heart with the truth of the gospel. Christ did not come and die so I could sin. Christ came and died and conquered my sin so I could walk in freedom from sin. Jesus Christ has come to make me new. Jesus Christ has come to bring me into God's family.

So, I'm not just a stereotypical man; I'm a child of God. That determines my activity. My identity drives my activity. You have to pack your heart full of the gospel. You have to pack heavy. Spend time in the Word every day. Memorize Scripture. Pray through your day. I didn't just say, "Pray throughout your day." You should totally do that, but I'm saying pray through your day. Invite God in the morning. Just think through your day and invite God into every moment of your day before you even leave the house.

Expose your weaknesses to your Community Group. Completely cut off sources of temptation. See, when we are willing to wake up and skip time with God or to go all day without inviting his help into our lives or we keep our relationships in our Community Groups at surface level, it means we're just preparing for the best every day. We just assume today is going to be a good day. Today is a day where our enemy has taken the day off.

One of the best things you can do is remember you're just one weak moment away from something stupid. Part of taking heed is identifying the current compromise in your life. Do you know what's interesting? David's failure wasn't a jump off the cliff. It was actually a slide down a slope. We saw that he sent all of his men away, so he was living in isolation. He wasn't at war when he should have been, but it started long before that.

In 2 Samuel, chapter 5… The placement is so interesting, because there are so many amazing things happening in David's life. Here's what we find in 2 Samuel 5. "And David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel." That's amazing, but then look. "And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David."

David most likely took more wives because of something cultural. He did it because, when he would make treaties with other nations, that practice would potentially prevent rebellion or war between the two parties so that the two parties wouldn't feel like they were fighting family. But here's what we have to remember. All the way back in Deuteronomy 17, where the law was restated… This was before Israel even had one king. The law established what should be true of Israel's future kings.

Here's what it says in Deuteronomy 17: "And he [the king] shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold." Here's what that tells us. Don't miss this. Just because something is culturally acceptable doesn't mean it should be personally acceptable. Is there anything in your life right now that is culturally acceptable but shouldn't be personally acceptable?

I want to push hard on one thing really quickly. Some of y'all are going to hear this and be like, "You're being legalistic." No, I'm not. Legalism is trying to earn God's favor and approval through good behavior. Holy living is holy living. I am amazed how Christians will casually watch shows with nudity and explicit sex in them.

I'm not trying to shame anyone, but here's what I'm begging you to think about. Think about what you are normalizing in your mind and heart when you casually watch the most popular shows right now that are packed full of nudity and explicit sex scenes and you watch them casually like this isn't a big deal. You are normalizing something in your mind. You're normalizing something in your heart.

I assure you that the Evil One knows that and will manipulate that and will hijack and hand you a distorted understanding of sex. It's compromise. I'm just going to ask you. The next time you're watching one of those shows and just casually letting the sex scene go, ask yourself, "How is it possible for me to glorify Christ through this moment?" Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, do all to the glory of Christ.

Maybe you're going out and having too much to drink on work trips or at happy hour. Maybe you're texting or DM-ing casually with people who aren't your spouse. Maybe you're endlessly scrolling at night. Just because something is culturally acceptable doesn't mean it should be personally acceptable. Where is there compromise? Where are you too relaxed? You need to understand if you're too relaxed, I promise you that Enemy is under your desk, and you've pulled out your chair and sat down, assuming the best.

3. Will you exit or entertain? Those are the two options when temptation comes. Will you exit or entertain? Look back at the text. Verse 2: "It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful."

"So David went and texted his Community Group and told them." Imagine how different his story would be if that's what happened. "And David got on his knees and begged the Lord to help him see clearly in that moment." "And David went for a jog." "And David grabbed a copy of the Law and began to read from it." "David went to the tabernacle to worship." Like, whatever it is. Fill in the blank. But watch. Watch the verbs. The verbs just pile up.

"And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, 'Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?' So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her." Do you see the verbs piling up? David sent, inquired, sent, he took, he lay.

Here's a good rule to live by: the more verbs you allow to be written into the story of your temptation, the lower the chances of you making it out clean. The more verbs that pile up, the lower your chances of you making it out clean. Do you know what 1 Corinthians 10:13 says? Right after it says, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall," here's what it says. I love this verse.

Some of y'all need to know this verse is in the Bible. This is what we have when we are in Christ, when you know Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn't just save us from hell; he saves us into a new reality with new capacities and new things that are available to us. Watch this. First Corinthians 10:13: "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

Isn't that incredible? Here's what that just said. It said that every single time you're tempted, God is like, "Hey, man, let me crack the door. Here you go. That's it right there. Boom. Hit the exit. That's it right there." You're tempted. "Hey, man. Hey, hello! Wake up. Hey, right here. Right through here." Every single time, God in his kindness through Christ offers us a way of escape.

But here's what you need to know. The more verbs that pile up in the midst of temptation, the smaller that door appears, because a fog rolls into your mind, and all you can think about is what feels right instead of what is right. Just watch the verbs pile up. "He sat alone in his apartment. He scrolled. He clicked. He looked. He clicked out. He clicked on. He scrolled some more. He scrolled some more." "He or she felt disrespected. He or she got angry. He or she raised his or her voice. He or she kept interrupting. He or she wouldn't drop it. He or she lost it."

Here's what you need to understand: the more meaningful God's verbs are to you, the more glorifying your verbs will be to him in the midst of temptation. That's why you have to pack your heart full of the gospel, because when you do that, you are packing God's verbs into your life. God loved. God took on flesh in the person of Jesus. Christ lived. Christ died. Christ conquered. Christ asked the Father who sent the Spirit. The Spirit indwells you. God makes you new. Christ makes you his ambassador. He purifies your heart. The more meaningful God's verbs are to you, the more glorifying your verbs will be to him.

I'll just say this. One of the best things I have realized in my own life is to just put an end to the conversation. The longer I engage in conversation around a sin… It's like, "Well, can I do this? Should I do this? I really want to do this, but I know I shouldn't." That's entering into the conversation. One of the most helpful things I've realized in my life, by the power of the Spirit, is just to end the conversation. "That's not even an option right now. That's not even an option." End the conversation. Will you exit or entertain?

4. Will you dignify or dehumanize? What's interesting is the text tells us about who Bathsheba was. Verse 3: "And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, 'Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?'" Who does that tell us Bathsheba is? Well, if you do some research, what it means is Bathsheba was the daughter of one of David's best fighters. It also means Bathsheba was the granddaughter of David's most trusted counselor. It also means Bathsheba was the wife of one of David's inner circle of warriors.

On top of that, she was an image bearer of God. She was created to reflect God on the earth. Meaning, she has incredible value and dignity. Yet, David's actions demonstrate that Bathsheba, her father, her grandfather, and her husband were just details to him. Bathsheba became an object simply to satisfy his sexual desire. In doing so, David stripped Bathsheba and her family of their humanity and their identities. David stripped Bathsheba of her dignity and worth. He ignored her inherent value as a woman and as an image bearer of God and reduced her down to a means to an end.

The reason I'm even bringing this up is that you need to know, when you step into sin, your sin almost always impacts someone else. It will require you, at some point, to dehumanize someone else. You just need to know, when you look at porn, you're stripping that person on the screen of their value and dignity. They're no longer a human made in the image of God. They're no longer someone Jesus died to save. They're just a means to your end.

When you gossip about someone, when you take information someone shared with you that they think they're sharing in private, and you then go share it with other people, and the reason you're sharing it is because you have an insecurity in you that you need to fill… You have a void you want to fill with other people's attention, approval, and affection. When you do that, you are dehumanizing the person you are talking about. You're stripping them of their dignity, and you're using them and their news as a means to your end.

It's Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Let's just be clear. When you push past someone else's "No," whether it's in a one-time moment with someone you just met or in a dating relationship or even in your marriage… When you push past someone's "No," when you insist even when someone resists, in that moment, what you are communicating is "You are lesser than me, and you exist for my needs." It's horrific sin, and it's illegal. Will you dignify or will you dehumanize?

5. Will you confess or will you conceal and control? We've already said it, but in 27 verses, God is only mentioned once, and he's mentioned in the very last verse. If you were to really study the passage closely, you would find out that David's sin is marked or highlighted by the repetition of the word sent. David's sin is highlighted in his sending.

So, verse 3: "And David sent and inquired about the woman." Verse 4: "So David sent messengers and took her…" Verse 6: "So David sent word to Joab, 'Send me Uriah the Hittite.' And Joab sent Uriah to David." Verse 14: "In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah." Verse 27: "And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son."

All throughout the chapter, David is sinning by sending. What the chapter does is it paints this mirage that David is the one in control. He's the one sending. He's the authority. He gets what he wants. What he wants rules, and he's going to get away with it, because he's the king. He's in charge. He's the authority.

But I want you to see the last verse of chapter 11 and the first verse of chapter 12. You have to remember that in the original text, there weren't chapter divisions, so this just reads as one block. Listen to what it says. "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. And the Lord sent Nathan to David." Chapter 11 paints a mirage that David is in control. Chapter 12 showcases the reality that God is the one in control. God has seen. God is going to respond.

Instead of confessing his sin, David conceals his sin. He needs to control, and he controls by concealing. You have to understand concealing your sin will end in you multiplying your sin. By concealing your sin, you will be required to sin that much more. You'll have to lie. You'll have to manipulate. You'll have to deceive. You'll have to pretend. I assure you, confessing today will be a lot less painful than it will be a year from now.

I've spent a lot of time in this story over the years, but there was a detail that struck me more than normal. I feel like I've kind of glanced over it in the past. It's in verse 26. It says, "When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband." In the Hebrew, that word means to wail. She wailed over her husband. She wailed in grief. Why? Because David's sin had multiplied. What started out as adultery ultimately led to murder.

One of the best things you can do when it comes to your sin is to change your vantage point. Look at the back side of your sin. I just wonder. If David could have seen the back side of his sin, do you think adultery would have been as attractive? To see that it would result in murder, which would lead to the death of his son, which would lead to the unraveling of his family, which would lead to all this drama…one of his sons usurping his authority, one of his daughters getting raped, his life ending, in some ways, in a downward spiral.

One of the best things you can do is just change your vantage point. Go look at the back side of your sin. Look at what awaits you on the back side. See, what we have to remember is sin makes us stupid. It leads us to believe there is some version of the story where it all just works out, but we have to remember God loves us way too much to let us get away with it.

God in his kindness will expose us. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. It might be. It might not be this week or next year, but God in his kindness will not let us get away with it. Here's what you need to understand. If you choose to conceal your sin, it's like trying to play hide-and-seek with a 3-year-old. Have you ever played hide-and-seek with a toddler, with a 3-year-old?

First, they're terrible at hiding. They are. They're terrible at hiding. But here's the thing I don't want you to miss: they want to be found. Go play hide-and-seek with a 3-year-old. You'll just hear them. They'll be giggling. They'll be in a corner behind a chair. They've only been there for 30 seconds, but they're like, "Man, I just want to be found." They'll just start laughing. They want you to find them.

The reason that concealing your sin is like playing hide-and-seek with a 3-year-old is, first, you're terrible at hiding because God sees, but secondly, in the end, your soul wants to be found, because your soul wasn't made to be enslaved. Your soul was made for freedom. Something in you enjoys the pleasure of sin, yet your soul knows there is brokenness there. It's not as fulfilling as you thought it would be.

Your soul, in the end, wants to be free. You've been made for Christ. You've been made for the King. Fullness is only found in him. You're settling for what you think is instant pleasure when in Christ is pleasures forevermore. Your soul won't settle for this when this is waiting. Your soul wants to be found.

So, you might dig in your heels. You might hear this message and say, "No, I'm going forward, and it is going to work out for me, and I am going to get away with it." I'm just saying, whenever the time comes, remember this message. Go pull it up online. Listen to it again, and be reminded then God in his kindness is reaching into your life, saying, "I found you. I found you, and I want you. I found you, and I want you."

The great thing is this wasn't the end of David's story. In the end, Christ would turn out to be the Son of David. The Savior of the world would come through David's line…Jesus, the greater David, our High Priest, who's not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. That's what qualified him to come and to die. While David stayed home from the battle, Christ faithfully left heaven, took on flesh, and went out to battle against Satan, sin, and death.

While David sought his own interests, Christ sought our interests. While David's disobedience led to the death of an innocent man, Christ's obedience led to his death and the salvation of sinful men and women. This is the one we put our hope in. This is the one who can bring newness. This is the one who can heal that which is broken. This is the one who can restore the joy of our salvation. Would you repent today? If you're concealing, would you confess…for your joy?

My hope is that this message today is preparation for some. It's God reaching in in his kindness, in the springtime, saying, "Hey, don't let spring fever set in spiritually. Wake up. It's time to let winter go. It's time to let spring come. Wake up." Then, for some in this room, I pray that it's not preparation, it's breaking. It's the Lord in his kindness saying, "I see you, and I love you, and I want you. It's time to come home." Let's pray together.

Lord, I pray that there would be people in this room today who would choose to believe that if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord, I thank you that failure doesn't have to be the end of our story. You're in the business of trading failure for forgiveness.

God, if there's anyone in this room who is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, right now, God, would you cut through the fog of their lives, and may they know it is your love for them that leads you to do that. God, would you move and work in our hearts? We need you and we love you. In Jesus' name, amen.