Sermon Tone Analysis

*Following the Wrong Path: 2 Samuel 11:1-26*

* *

*Introduction*

 

Ill:  Hiking down the wrong path and trying to stay in control

 

            I had lost my way and that was a really uneasy feeling, it is often much easier to stay in control.

The danger is that control when in the context of sin can destroy our relationships with people and God.

 

-Life is a journey, a journey designed to take us down a path towards a close relationship with God.

-We are often drawn away from God’s path to the path that leads to sin.

-Sin began that one day in the Garden and has been a destructive force ever since, it has been our greatest enemy, twisting truth and breaking hearts wherever it lives.

-We are not fooled that we all sin, to tell you that you and I sin would be stating the obvious but often we need a reminder of the paths we take towards rebellion against God.

-I do not come as one having arrived, in fact I often resonate with Paul when he says that he is the greatest sinner of them all.

I come as one in the midst of the struggle, being faced with my own infallibility but wanting more…wanting to know Christ in such a way that is not hindered by my own sin.

-Today we are going to look at a familiar episode in the life of David.

He has become king and has great power, influence and wealth, but for all his strength he is as weak as a new born child, he is a sinful man, who’s story is contained in the Word to teach us a lesson about the path to destruction.

-Today we will look at three sections on the path in David’s spiral into sin.

1.

The path of Temptation, 2. The Path of Sin and 3. the path of Rebellion.

-please open your bibles to 2 Samuel 11:1-26,  PRAY

\\ *The Path of Temptation (vs.

1-3)*

* *

*11:1* In the spring of the year, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, David sent out Joab with his officers and the entire Israelite army.

They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.

But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

*11:2* One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace.

From the roof he saw a woman bathing.

Now this woman was very attractive.

*11:3* So David sent someone to inquire about the woman.

The messenger said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

 

/a.

//Step One: Being in a position of compromise.

(v.1)/

 

-Because of the limited window for war, spring was the time of campaigns.

David was supposed to be at war, it is not explained why he does not go to war but he stays back in Jerusalem.

It seems that he was idle in his time, did not attend to his responsibilities which can lead to openness to distraction.

-There are places and situations for all of us where we are susceptible to compromise: out of sight of authorities (Employer or Parent), In a bar, with the wrong friends, Traveling alone on a business trip, home alone with the internet, in the midst of a depression, when we are given open authority, when we here the latest rumor, when we are stressed, when we are having trouble in our marriages, when we anticipate that we can avoid consequences.

-  our goal should be to recognize our weak points and avoid those circumstances.

Stay away from those places, confide in another person for accountability, be open and honest to God, trust your temptations with your spouse, place safeguards for responsible use.

/b.

//Step Two: Opening up to be enticed.

(v.

2)/

 

-There is nothing wrong with David being on his roof-a roof was often a place where people went in the evening to enjoy the coolness of the day.

It housed gardens, almost like our modern patio.

He did not go on his roof thinking he was going to seek out a woman bathing-he was not the first peeping tom.

It was even okay to acknowledge what he saw and admit the woman’s beauty.

It is what happens between verse 2 and verse 3; he is open to explore the possibilities.

-It is closely tied to verse 1, what factors taking place in our lives or areas of weakness cause us to be open to enticement?

Maybe it is as simple as boredom, which may have been David’s case.

-It is that moment where you may rationalize why this act may be alright.

This can almost be to the point where you are willing to change your life to have it.

-It is that moment when the battle between doing right and wrong may be the strongest but the stage has already been set because you already placed yourself into a position where compromise was possible.

/c.

//Step Three: Engaging in exploration of the temptation.

(v.

3)/

 

-David has begun to slide towards sin, he has begun to explore the outside conditions for his intended act.

It is as if he is saying, “If I do this what do I need to be aware of, what are the factors that I do not know about?”

Where is Uriah?

Oh, he is off at war, that eliminates one problem.

-He is exploring the gravity of what he may do.

He wants to know who she is connected and her marital status.

How can I get what I want without feeling guilty and rationalize my behavior?

If you are interested in losing weight, I present to you the incredible new “Loser’s Diet.”

Just follow this diet and you are sure to lose.

*Diet Tips:*

·                     If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.

·                     If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, they cancel each other out.

·                     When eating with someone else, calories don’t count if you both eat.

·                     Food used for medical purposes never counts, such as: hot chocolate, toast, and Sara Lee cheesecake.

·                     If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.

·         Movie-related foods don’t count because they are simply part of the entire entertainment experience and not a part of one’s personal fuel.

·                     Cookie pieces contain no calories.

The process of breakage causes calorie leakage.

-Do you ever do this?

Do you place yourself in a position you know your weak?

Do you ever open that door to enticement allowing yourself to rationalize?

Do you ever explore the details of an action, determining how to get what you want without guilt or consequences?

-Cars: step 1-keeping up with models and visiting a dealership, not being satisfied with what I have.

Step 2-looking close at the car, seeing new options that would be good to have, sitting inside and test driving.

Step 3-sitting down with the sales person, getting options working out a payment plan, exploring a means to pay for it.

-Sometimes the very steps that lead to sin are the same steps that lead to making good, biblical endorsed and proper decisions.

This is sometimes why it is so easy to do and so easy to rationalize.

\\  

*2.

**The Path of Sin (vs.

4-25)*

* *

*11:4* David sent some messengers to get her.

She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.)

Then she returned to her home.

*11:5* The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, “I’m pregnant.”

*11:6* So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.”

So Joab sent Uriah to David.

*11:7* When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going.

*11:8* Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.”

When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him.

*11:9* But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all the servants of his lord.

He did not go down to his house.

*11:10* So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.”

So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?

Why haven’t you gone down to your house?” *11:11* Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field.

Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations with my wife?

As surely as you are alive, I will not do this thing!”

*11:12* So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day.

Tomorrow I will send you back.”

So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one.

*11:13* Then David summoned him.

He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk.

But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.