Governed by Lesser Passions, Part 2

Soon cards from us the potential consequences, and it just gives us the commercial one author put it this way. Satan never tips his hand in temptation shows you the beauty of the ecstasy you know this is the adventure. That's the commercial.

It never slipped back into the dorm and shows you the hangover never shows you all woman dissolved in tears of grief never shows you a broken site passions that govern our lives.

Stephen baby is in a series on the life of King David.

Today he's looking at the account of David's adultery with Bathsheba. Adultery doesn't just happen in a moment it's born from a lustful mind that's allowed to go unchecked. Over time, stay with us because while the temptations you face might be different. We all need to better understand our own hearts, to this point in David's biography. He has suffered many obstacles and difficulties. In fact, he's been at his best as he one author writes it this way. Look at him now. He's had a humble beginning. He's he's been a giant killer. Two decades now of leadership choice man in the right places. A military force every photo respected enlarged boundaries that now reached 60,000 mi.². No defeats on the battlefield exports imports financial health. A beautiful new home plans for the temple of the Lord. So what if he married a few more wives and privately created a harem who would complain.

By the way there's another lesson there at the outset that I want to record David is about to pursue yet another woman when he has a harem and a multitude of wives is the lesson. Sexual desire is never satisfied outside God's creative design. It only increases and digresses and destroys for lost is like someone dying of thirst while begging for salt. David's lust and polygamy and sexual compromises have eroded his integrity.

You didn't read about it. I mean you saw verse hereto, and you scratch your head, but the hammer done fall. I guess everything's all right there wasn't any hammer. There was an issue dropping in the honeymoon of wife number six or concubine number 12, but it is now beginning to fall. It's now beginning to fall. He's about to take a step, he would never himself been able to imagine you could entitle the first half of David's life. The triumphs of David. This chapter is the hinge in his biography and you can entitle the second half the tragedies of David, the kingdom will never quite be the same effect.

The failure of the average Bible student Christian to understand that this chapter spells the end of his triumphs in the beginning of his tragedies will most likely fail to connect the dots of his coming. Loss of family relationships. The coming political firestorm intrigue and crime that will include murder and rape, jealousy and abandonment and treason and disloyalty, and multiple murders to come will never connect the dots and as you understand this chapter in its context, and by the way, you'll also miss that of his genuine confession and repentance and the amazing grace of God, lets you understand this correctly.

Numbers one.

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go to battle a throwaway line, though that's a hint.

David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the ammonites. That means that creamed seizures rub, but David remained in Jerusalem. It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his bed couch was walking on the roof of the Kings houses pause there for a moment. The authors hinted at several things we ought to take note of.

First of all, David was not in battle.

He was in bed.

Had he been where he belonged. Perhaps this episode with Bathsheba might never have occurred and isn't it true that sometimes our greatest battles with temptation, when things are going so well, not a future date is commander will convince him that not going to battle because the enemy is targeting David to kill him is not happening here. David is is most vulnerable to the bait of Satan's board with the mundane chores of a predictable days. There's more leisure than necessary. He's luxuriating in his new palace.

His army is is mopping up one more victory hello believe need to pray about it is resting comfortably, physically and metaphorically on his past rock accomplishments. Life couldn't be easier, and the writer doesn't want us to miss this. He's lounging in bed in the late afternoon is nothing wrong with an afternoon nap. Excavations have revealed that eastern monarchs frequently built palaces on top of palaces. The garden's beautiful garden. Some of them have been drawn out for contemporary audiences to see hard to imagine what they would do. They would build open sided column supported dining rooms and bedrooms where they could enjoy from their flat roofs of their palaces. The cool evening breezes in the evening at King would be able to walk around his rooftop garden in some privacy above the noisy streets below. He's protected but from which he can see his kingdom scrolling around, that's exactly where David is at this moment and it happened first to late one afternoon when David arose from his bed couch was walking on the roof of the king's house that he saw from the roof. A woman bathing in the woman was very beautiful. The biblical record. By the way isn't going to write a Hollywood script but it it doesn't exaggerate when it says that she was beautiful. It means it. In fact, were told that she was very beautiful but one Old Testament linguist pointed out the fact that the Bible rarely uses the word translated very and I checked it out myself went to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament and and discovered that that word very easily translated exceedingly only appears about 12 times in the New Testament the Bible doesn't exaggerate. So when it says that she was exceedingly beautiful she is a perfect storm.

She is perfect for this last degree by the way with others that she bears some responsibility in his wonderful commentary on the life of David, which I've enjoyed reading Chuck Swindoll writes on this text here. Bathsheba was careless and foolish from her own home. She would often have looked out to the Royal Palace nearby. She would have known that she could be seen whether she knew it or not, will never know. And it probably wouldn't matter.

David did see her and when he should have turned away.

He he looked again in his looking turned into lusting she lust is never satisfied anyway. It always craves more verse three and David sent, and inquired about the woman. In other words, can add my hair and one said the messenger said is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of a lie am the wife of Uriah the Hittite this messenger. By the way, deserves a medal's answer is loaded with with warnings earliest form of notice and just give her name, the form of a question that translated into English means one of the world are you thinking what you say is this Bathsheba the daughter. Although I am Bathsheba. The name Woodley translated know much about her but it means daughter of seven, more than likely means the seventh daughter a lie. Am his wife had seven daughters.

She's one of them. She's somebody's daughter she's somebody's daughter she's the daughter of a lion's where it gets interesting to me, lie am was the son of ahimsa fell his SL was the trusted counselor King David working out working to meet him again in this biography. It's interesting to me that this chief counsel artifact it explained to me this week.

I finally got it explained to me why the fellow will later abandoned David switch sides side with Absalom and give Absalom the correct advice. Had he followed it he would've gotten thrown. He said here's how you need to kill your dad, Absalom ignores is advised that there will even take his life. Why does he end a life of such a respectable career and then leave David for Absalom. Why because he's been seething for years because of what David did with his granddaughter ripping his family apart messenger is unfinished not typical in elections in the Middle East will begin with the name. Perhaps the father at the grandfather, the spouse is rarely included. He saved that for last. Verse three she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

In other words, that beautiful lady down there is married, that you stopped him cold, but his heart and culture is so much like ours where a wedding band is nothing but a minor obstacle in the way.

Not only is she married, though, get this. She's married to Uriah David you know him well.

He's one of your mighty men is one of the 37 that track all the way back to those days of hiding out from Saul running for his life. These are faithful men, who gave everything the David David you she's his wife. Fact is a converted Hittite fascinating man we know little of. But his name more than likely was changed at his conversion to Uriah. It means Yahweh is my light. David your God is my God.

They been fighting together on the same side they've watched each other's back for years. David what you thinking she's the wife of Uriah. He knows with David's thinking, which is why he comes back and effectively says David you can do this. She's the granddaughter of your trusted counselor. She's the wife of one of your faithful friends as if to say you cannot be serious.

David is undeterred. His mind now governed by lost this lesser passion. He has set reason and logic aside in faith and worship and fellowship as Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote in his book entitled temptation rights insightfully listen to these words, he says in our members. There is a slumbering inclination toward desire, which is both sudden and fierce. When a secret, smoldering fires kindled. It makes a difference whether it is sexual desire or ambition or vanity or revenge or love of fame or power or greed for money this matter. At that moment, when the fires kindled.

This God loses all reality.

Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God and the powers of clear discrimination decision taken from us there on that rooftop. You need to understand. David doesn't hate God is choosing to forget God in his judgment and clear thinking become the casualties is only one verse of the text informs us of their encounter can be hard to write a script for a movie out of this one. When I told anything really. When I told her she was surprised by his advances or if she resisted. When I told the David charmed her or threatened or not one word is recorded between the effect in the Hebrew language. It's little doubt that God is willing down to reach verbs that way.

Verse four David sent messengers took her. She came to him.

He lay with her. She returned. No connection, no conversation. Just cold, heartless, selfish, uncaring, lust but do want to point out one thing that the author Scripture wants us to get in my text. It's in the parenthesis which I skipped to go back to it. It's in the middle of verse four simply says that she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness not getting that correct will determine our our application.

Some translations imply that she remained in David's house until she ceremonially purified herself from sexual intimacy.

According to the law delivered in Leviticus chapter 50 that would lead me to obviously make application for the fact that the even of the sin they put on a religious show as if they cared about the law of God, that they cared about God which people in sin often do I have had individuals involved in immorality say I have never been closer to God in my life and right now we pray together we read the Bible together. Amazing the absolute loss discretion and discernment that would be an application not from this text because of what this writer is actually stating this parenthetical statement is what Hebrew language, circumstantial clause describing Bathsheba's condition at the time she came to David's bedchamber in English it would be in the perfect tense and that leads to a different observation entirely.

The author here gives us this parenthetical clause because he wants us to know that Bathsheba has commented. David, having just been purified ceremonially from her menstrual cycle. He wants us to know how undeniably David and Bathsheba are going to be cornered.

She knew having just finished this cycle that David has to be the husband is no way around it is no guessing there's no doubt that the child she carries is not her husband's had to be David's now in these first five verses David is doing all the talking and this messenger and now it ends with a note that Bathsheba sends to David and it's only two words in the Hebrew language. The content of that note that she scribbles offers no name, no explanation there is no demand as a threat is no apology. Just two words three words in the English language.

I am pregnant. In other words, what are we going to do now. It's true isn't it that sin hides from us the potential consequences, and it just gives us the commercial one author put it this way. Satan never tips his hand in temptation.

He shows you the beauty of the ecstasy, the excitement you know this is the adventure. That's the commercial and never slipped back into the dorm room and shows you the hangover and never shows you woman dissolved in tears of grief and never shows you a broken home does the excitement listen to some statistics from a survey of men who were involved in adultery and left their spouses. These men willingly allow themselves to be tracked over the last 10 years. 10 years after the breakup of their marriage will be read you. What follows the commercial 33% of these men admitted to being intensely angry with life hated life.

50% of them ended up divorced again. Most of them from the woman, a believer, the answer to all the problems. 80% experience the same or a loss of financial strength 50% under the age of 50, said they were unhappily remarried 66% over the age of 50, said they were unhappily married, remarried 80% would remarry their former lives and regain what they lost. If they only had the chance to our culture, where sexual encounters are right of passage.

Nothing serious is between friends, no strings attached, the great destroyer and deceiver never tips his hand I think of the generation coming.

The media centers of our culture are virtually silent on just simply the physical dangers and diseases. Don't let on that every day 4000 teenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease in this country.

Don't let on that even though the world is in a bent on providing quote unquote safe sex one Institute of Public health reports.

There are now 21 sexually transmitted diseases which cannot be prevented by contraceptive. Don't publish the news that 30% of college aged young women are or will be by the time they graduate infected with herpes, a disease that will affect them for the rest of their lives but don't don't let Aldo put in the newspaper anywhere, about 300,000 people in 2014.

You're going to contract hepatitis B, causing permanent liver damage resulting in the death of at least 13 people every day. If there was a virus in America were 13 people were dying every day you think we hear, don't publish anything that could Landon someone's hands, but the question moral behavior is off-limits. Just play the commercial, the United States public health services. Centers for Disease Control publish this. It's tucked in the back of some book somewhere certainly is in textbook and I quote a new sexually transmitted infection is diagnosed every 45 seconds in America and in its wake are pain, blindness, arthritis, infertility, brain damage, heart disease and death.

In spite of half a century of penicillin and drugs. Millions of people are contracting new generations of sexually transmitted diseases, including incurable strains now linked to cervical cancer, which can be passed on to newborn babies and all doing is giving you a few facts you will read the newspaper and is dealing with the physical dimension spiritual issues repercussions character issues of trust emotional pain and damage and despair but just play the commercials. Listen to your friends.

It's all good signs were passionate people were passionate person you are passionate person you heard this really is an alpha male was. I mean is that like a dog that means the justification of living like a dog. I have back home unconverted you get, desires, and they gotta be satisfied because really you are just the man and people reach for another glass of saltwater. The tragedy is the statistics of those who claim Christ are very similar to those in reaching for their own glass of saltwater David Heger pastor in California writes in his book the obedience option of an interesting conversation he was having with a man who was admitting his immoral lifestyle in the church but he claimed that he just couldn't stop this pattern of sleeping with his girlfriend or anyone for that was available.

They told us pastor that his lust was inevitable.

Therefore, it wasn't his fault, especially since God created him with such strong desires. He couldn't stop it is lost was an irresistible force. They would hang very interestingly interrupted this man and said will look. Suppose I came to your room and caught you and your girlfriend as you were starting this irresistible process.

Suppose I took out 10 crisp $100 bills and told you that if you stopped. I give you this $1000. The women laughed until I take the cash.

David responded what happened to that irresistible force of lost for the first time he realized take wrote a very simple truth, one passion may seem irresistible until a greater passion comes along. The only way to overcome a passion, a lesser passion for sin is to develop a greater passion for holiness for the believer, the temptation to sin is nothing less than the temptation to be governed by some lesser passion a greater passion is Christ who belongs our loyalty.

Greater passion is his word that we with the greatest safety obey a greater passion is toward his church, which we love and with whom we serve a greater passion is for the lost who are reaching for that glass there. We reach foreign to the apostle Paul would encourage the church living in the kind of culture that we are becoming more like in Ephesus given over to sensuality. He said that that world is greedy to practice every kind of impurity. Imagine that description greedy to practice every kind of impurity. They live for it. Paul writes this is not the way you learn Christ assuming you were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus is what your to do, put off your old self to those lesser passions. But don't just stand there, having put those off shivering in the cold that all you do, put on be renewed in the spirit of your minds and put on the new self, greater passions, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness that is pursue greater passions as you resist lesser passions which will govern you and destroy, as odd as it may sound we need to pray that God will give us a greater passion for greater passions that he will give us a longing to long for that which we should long that English and it isn't saltwater is the refreshing stream of life-giving water that originates the way. Truth life you've been listening to Stephen Davies here in wisdom for the heart. Today's message is part of our current series on the life of King David called the singer I hope you'll take a moment to interact with us.

We have a special offer this month that I hope you'll take advantage of. If you haven't already, a little later in the accounts of King David. He will suffer the death of a baby. Stephen wrote a booklet based on that account called do babies really go to heaven when they die. This booklet gives a biblical answer to that question. It's designed to bring hope and comfort to parents and grandparents, and anyone who suffered the loss of a baby this month.

That e-book is free for you to download from our online store. When you get to our website wisdom online.org you'll find a link on the homepage that'll take you directly to this offer, visit wisdom, online.and then join us back here next time.

For more list for the heart