Sermon Summary

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the life of David with a powerful word on the trouble of temptation. In the story of David’s temptation with Bathsheba, we see David progressively hardening his heart against the ways of God. David abandoned his ultimate purpose as God’s chosen king to pursue his earthly desires, and his sin snowballed into adultery, treachery, and murder. Victory over temptation will come when we actively guard our minds and learn to flee away from sin and to Christ.

James 1:13–15 (ESV)

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

1. David abandoned his purpose and focused on his own desires.

2 Samuel 11:1-2 (ESV)

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. 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.

“Many conquerors have been ruined by their carelessness after a victory, and many have been spiritually wounded after great successes against sin.” A.W. Pink

2. David investigated the temptation instead of turning away.

2 Samuel 11:3 (ESV)

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?”

1 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV)

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

Flee Temptation

  • Win the War of the Mind
  • Pray
  • Recite Scripture
  • Get Accountability

3. David deliberately sinned.

2 Samuel 11:4 (ESV)

4 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.

2 Samuel 16:23 (ESV)

23 Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom.

4. David tried to cover his sin through deception.

2 Samuel 11:5–9 (ESV)

5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.

2 Samuel 11:10–13 (ESV)

10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

2 Samuel 11:14–15 (ESV)

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 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.”

5. David murdered to cover his sin.

2 Samuel 11:16–17 (ESV)

16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.

2 Samuel 11:25–27 (ESV)

25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” 26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 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. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

15 Takeaways

  1. Sin is often cultivated over long years.
  2. Stay engaged in the fight of the kingdom.
  3. Temptation follows success.
  4. Tend to your eyes.
  5. Beware of the assertion of an entitlement. (At its core, sin often plays off as the assertion of a right)
  6. Sin snowballs. (Sin begets sin; the compounding nature of sin is treacherous)
  7. Confession is freedom, resistance is bondage.
  8. Sin inevitably impacts many people.
  9. Sin will find you out.
  10. The grace of God brings freedom.
  11. Our vulnerability can often come from a lack of accountability.
  12. Sorry you sinned or sorry you got caught?
  13. You can’t be justified by God if you are still trying to justify your sin.
  14. God’s grace will break the consistently wandering heart.
  15. True profession of faith leads to true progression of faith.

1 John 2:15–16 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

James 1:14–15 (ESV)

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Discussion Questions

1. Pastor Chris said that David abandoned his purpose to focus on his desires. What was David’s purpose? What is yours?

2. Has the enemy ever tempted you after you experienced spiritual victory? Share your experience.

3. What are some areas the enemy can tempt us other than sexual sin? Do you struggle with any of these?

4. Pastor Chris said, “we are the gatekeepers of our minds.” What did he mean by this?

5. As David’s temptation led to sin, his heart became hardened against the Lord. Have you ever experienced this?

Application Questions

1. Pastor Chris said we will win the victory if we “flee from the sin and flee to Jesus.” Are you struggling to flee from temptation? Share your struggle with a mentor this week.

2. Do you need to learn to “tend to your eyes”? Determine this week to find an accountability partner and share your struggle with them.