Sermon on 2 Samuel 11 & 12, the Anatomy of Sin

The Anatomy of Sin in the Believer’s Life – 2 Samuel 11,12

• We justify stepping out of our responsibilities
• We entertain the possibility of sin in our lives
• We linger over temptation
• We devalue God’s good gifts for our lives
• We pursue the temptation
• We overlook the consequences of sin
• We sin and seek to minimize the consequences
• We sin more in order to cover up the previous sin
• We pursue the sin all the more if successful at covering it up
• We are exposed
• We justify ourselves or we confess and repent

Recently a rather well-known Christian author and educator showed up at an event with a woman other than his wife.  When confronted about it he said that he and his wife were getting a divorce and he was now dating this woman.  He did not seem to recognize that what he was doing was an offense against his wife, the Christian community, and this new girl, not to mention God.  How do Christians get themselves into such situations?  How do we find ourselves deliberately disobeying the Lord Jesus who bought us?

We would like to think it just happened,  but it was really the result of several smaller conscious choices to sin that moved us into major disobedience.  And that is what I want to talk to you about today.  What is the anatomy of sin in our lives?  How does it start and how does it progress until we are not only acting sinfully but even irrationally?  To do this I want to examine a segment of the life of David found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.

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. (2 Samuel 11:1)

We justify stepping out of our responsibilities

The author tips us off that David is not doing something it would be proper for him to be doing. Sin often begins its development when we justify the neglect of our responsibilities. We might be feeling lazy, bored or even angry about carrying out our responsibilities.  But if we decide we don’t have to fulfill our responsibilities we are on a downward slope towards sin. We have determined that we are somehow exempt from fulfilling our duties.  We would not appreciate others if they neglected their duties. But we tell ourselves that we are different. We deserve something others don’t.  Keeping our responsibilities isn’t rewarding us as it should so we shouldn’t be required to keep them. In essence, we are saying we don’t like the way God has ordered our lives and we want a say so in the matter. We think we have the right to determine what is beneficial or needed for us. A desire for self rule is always the first step away from God and toward sin.

We entertain the possibility of sin in our lives

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?” (11:2,3)

When we are looking for something, we are more likely to find it, and when our hearts are not in sympathy with the Lord’s heart, we are more likely to find a reason to pursue our own hearts. David made several choices when he happened to see Bathsheba bathing on the roof.  He began entertaining the possibility of sin in his life.  This led to several poor decisions.

We linger over temptation

David chose to linger over the temptation. Instead of averting his eyes and allowing the privacy that the woman expected, he continued to watch.

We devalue God’s good gifts for our lives

He chose to devalue God’s gifts for his needs. He had many wives and concubines he could have valued as God’s provision for him, but instead determined he needed something else God did not provide.

We pursue the temptation

He chose to pursue further the temptation.

We overlook the consequences of sin

He chose to overlook the consequences. Knowing who Bathsheba was should have put a stop to David’s foolishness.   Bathsheba was a daughter of Eliam, one of David’s “thirty” special guards; Eliam was the son of Ahitophel, one of David’s chief advisors, and thus Bathsheba was the granddaughter of one of David’s closest advisors.  Uriah was also one of David’s elite guards and had been loyal to him for many years.  The consequences were too great to risk. David could lose his position as king, could lose the respect of his wives and children, not to mention that of his leadership. The players involved were too important to hurt. But he payed no attention.

David needed to play the “What If” game.  You and I do, also.  We should ask ourselves, “What if I engage in this sin?  What will happen?  Will I hurt the heart of God by not trusting Him that His commands are good and right?  Will I damage my own conscience and sense of integrity?  Will I hurt those close to me? Will I give my children reasons to no longer listen to me?  Will my fellow believers be hurt and discouraged?  Will I lose my job, my spouse, my family, the respect of my compatriots?  Is it worth it?

David didn’t play the “What If” game.  He chose to sin.  We might think that now we have seen all the parts of sin, but we would be wrong.  The anatomy of sin is not complete.  Note what happens next in David’s sin.

We sin and seek to minimize the consequences

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. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” (11:4,5)

David sinned. He followed through on what his heart was tempted to do and the consequences were immediate. Bathsheba had been purifying herself from her monthly menstruation and her husband was away on the battlefield,  so it was obvious when she realized she was pregnant that the father was David. Sin is never without consequences. Suddenly, David must make some radical decisions.

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 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. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. 10 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?” 11 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!” 12 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. 13 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. (11:6-13)

We sin more in order to cover up the previous sin

Once the consequences of David’s sin became apparent he had the choice of facing the consequences with integrity or yielding to more sin. He chose the latter. He attempted to hide what he had done. If anyone found out what had happened he would pay dearly, possibly with his life. When Uriah wouldn’t play along and provide David with a cover for his sin, David had to sin more in order to hide his transgression.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 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.” 16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 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. 18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 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? 21 Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Beshethb ? 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.’ ” 22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 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. 24 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.” 25 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.” (11:14-25)

David had to take extreme measures (more extreme than before) in order to cover up his sin. In so doing he chose an even more heinous sin, murder, as the means to hide the lesser sin.

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD. (11:26,27)

We pursue the sin all the more if successful at covering it up

Once David feels his sin is hidden he seeks to continue it in a more respectable form.  If we believed God we would know that to pursue a sin is to hurt ourselves as well as others.  God gave us his command for our own good.  He knows what is best for us. He knows what will make us thrive and what will destroy us.

We are exposed

I will not read the text, but we know from the next chapter in 2 Samuel 12 that David was confronted by Nathan the prophet.  God revealed to him what David had done.  God is not willing to play along with our deceptions and He cares for us too much to let our sin remain unexposed.  We are terrified of being exposed, but it is the best thing for us. But then we are faced with another choice.  This marks the last aspect of the anatomy of sin.

When exposed we either choose to justify ourselves or we confess and repent

What do we do when our sin is exposed?  David made the right choice.  He confessed and faced up to the Lord and everyone else. I hope that you and I will never walk down the road David did to our own ruin.  But if we do choose to sin we will be exposed.  Then we must make the choice we should have made before we sinned.  We must acknowledge to God what our hearts are contemplating or what we have actually done.