2 Samuel 11:1-5

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. ² And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. ³ And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? ⁴ And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

Richard Phillips once wrote, “We often say that all good things come to an end. The engrossing novel wraps up its plot. Golden summers of youth give way to new school years. When we add in man’s sin, we find that close friendships turn sour, well-meant government programs go bad, and a marriage vow not to be parted until death is parted that very way. Under the sun of this sin-cursed world, all good things come to an end.” Only what is done by the Lord and in the Lord can last forever. Sin always brings death (James 1:15). So it is with the great period of  David life in 2 Samuel 5-10. After all of the success, victories, and good things that occurred in this time period, most of us, if we were writing the story, would have David ride off into the sunset as a successful king and hero for all time. But that is not what happened. The Bible never white-washes the heroes of the faith. Just as God created a perfect creation and gave Adam and Eve dominion over it, so he had given David rule over His people in Israel. But just as Adam and Eve sinned in the paradise of the Garden of Eden by taking and eating forbidden fruit and bringing a curse upon the creation, so would David bring about destruction in his own family and kingdom for years to come by taking another kind of “forbidden fruit.” If 2 Samuel 5-10 mark the high point of David’s reign, 2 Samuel 11-12 mark valley when he has his fall into sin and receives the consequences for that sin. In the passage before us, 2 Samuel 11:1-5, we see how this fall occurred and we learn four lessons that help us avoid “The Snare of Sin.”

The first thing we learn is to not avoid what we shouldn’t. The first detail of the text are ones that we may be more prone to dismiss as mere historical setting, but they actually form the basis for which everything else in the passage occurs. The first of the year marked the opportune time of weather, etc., for kingdoms at war to engage in their warfare. Typically, kings would be the ones who led their armies into battle and this was seen as one of the king’s primary responsibilities (1 Samuel 8:20).  David and Israel were still at war with the Ammonites and instead of going out and filling his role as king, David stayed at home. It was his neglect of his duty that sets the stage for David’s entire ordeal of sin with Bathsheba. Perhaps David stayed at home because he had successfully defeated the Arameans that had aided the Ammonites and he knew that it was just a matter of time before Joab and the rest of the army took the Ammonite city of Rabbah. You’ve perhaps heard it said, “Idleness is the devil’s playground.” The Bible gives us precedent for such a concept (2 Thessalonians 3:10-13). It is in periods of prosperity, success, idleness, or neglect that God’s servants are most prone to fall into sin. Warren Wiersbe points out that “idleness is also activity to no purpose.” David stayed home and did something, but it wasn’t the thing God had called him to. Instead of being the king like he was called to, he stayed home and walked around on his roof. There is a word here for parents (especially dads), pastors, and any servant of God. We must continually be diligent about our calling(s). Parents are to be with their children and about the business of raising them in godly homes. Pastors, those that teach, and those that serve in the church are to be faithful in what God has called them to (1 Timothy 4:13-16; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Romans 12:11). We cannot serve God as parents if we neglect our parental duties for other things. Often, we do things that count as “serving God” but in doing so, we neglect the first priorities that God has given us. When we neglect the clear roles God has given us, we set ourselves up for a fall. It is the same in our personal lives when it comes to our relationship with Christ. If we neglect our communion with Him through prayer, Scripture, and assembly in the church, we can rest assured that we are setting ourselves up for disaster no matter how “good” the other things we are doing are.

Next, we learn to not observe what we shouldn’t. It was at home while alone on his roof one evening that David noticed something. He saw Bathsheba bathing herself from his rooftop. Much has been made about this, but it is likely that Bathsheba did this to avoid exactly what happened. Bathing on the roof would hide her from anyone else being able to observe her (except the king in his palace). The real issue here is that David’s lust for women had been building throughout his life and came to a culmination. He had been in the habit of taking many wives for himself, a practice forbidden for God’s kings (Deuteronomy 17:17). He had a problem lusting after more and more women. Erwin Lutzer wrote, “Fighting Goliath was easier for David than fighting lustful desires. David dodged many a spear thrown by Saul; but this one, ignited by his own sexual desires, went right to his heart.” David had made a habit of looking at what he shouldn’t. In the New Testament, believers are instructed, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). We should follow in the example of Job who said, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1). Sin begins with a desire that arises from a look. We live in a culture and time where we are bombarded with images of sin that continually present to us opportunities and temptations for sexual sin. As believers today, we must be committed to heed Paul instructions to Timothy to, “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness” (2 Timothy 2:22).

Third, we learn to not pursue what we shouldn’t. David did not stop with a look; he pursued what he looked at. David’s position of power as king put him in a position to get virtually anything he wanted, including Bathsheba. He took his power and resources that had been given him as good gifts from God and used them to go and find out who Bathsheba was so that he could take her for himself. He received the report that she was the wife of Uriah, one of David’s most loyal and valiant men. This news should have deterred any sensible person from going any farther. How could he not only commit adultery, but with the wife of one of his most loyal men? It was as if the Lord Himself were putting an obstacle in front of David against pursuing his sin with this news. Surely, he would end his pursuit there. But he didn’t. David broke the tenth commandment which said specifically, “thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife” (Exodus 20:17). Sin really does make us foolish. It leads us to do the most unthinkable things because a sinful desire governing us will lead us to override all rational thinking. A cherished sinful desire will lead us to believe “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Proverbs 9:17). Instead, we should be warned where our pursuit leads. Proverbs 9:18 says, “But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”

Lastly, we learn not to take what we shouldn’t. David “took her.” Those are the appropriate words for Bathsheba did not belong to him. She did not belong to him because she was his neighbor’s wife (Exodus 20:14-15, 17). By using his power and authority as king, he got what he wanted. It bears thinking for a moment. What do we use the positions of service that God has given to us for? A person can fall into this same trap by using their God ordained position for self-glory, for pushing their own agenda, or for getting things done their way. It doesn’t have to be to take another man’s wife to be a sinful use of position. It could simply mean that we do what we do to be seen by others a certain way (Matthew 6:1-4). Notice that the hypocrisy with David when Bathsheba waits the remainder of the day to avoid defiling her home (Leviticus 15:18). He was willing to keep the ceremony of the law, but violate the law by committing adultery. Sin leads to such hypocrisy. You cannot live in willful sin and exercise spiritual discernment at the same time. Our thinking and other actions will all be corrupted. Here, David’s sin also brought immediate consequences. Bathsheba became pregnant (v. 5). Many times, sin does not find us out immediately, but there are times when the issues that come from it come immediately. At this point in his life, David had two options. He could have either confessed what he had done and accepted the consequences or tried to hide the sin in some way. Don’t take what is not yours or you may have to “own it.” The consequences may be yours. Consider that when we sin by taking something God does not desire for us to have, that above all, we are expressing to Him that what He has given us is not enough. When we do this, we are expressing that He is not sufficient for us. Our sin is always known and ultimately against Him.

F. B. Meyer rightly assessed, “One brief spell of passionate indulgence, and then—his character blasted irretrievably; his peace vanished; the foundations of his kingdom imperiled; the Lord displeased; and great occasion given to his enemies to blaspheme!” David’s life would never be the same. That is how it is with the snare of sin. It blinds us to avoid what we shouldn’t, look at what we shouldn’t, pursue what we shouldn’t, and take what we shouldn’t. Before we know it, we are caught in its snare and must reap the destruction that it brings. There is either the painful pride-destroying way of repentance in which we must confess and turn from what we have done or the more painful way of trying to cover our sin ourselves. It is to that matter that we turn next week. Let us avoid the snare of sin with all diligence and find our satisfaction in Christ alone.