And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
-Second Samuel 11:5-15 (King James Version)
We started talking about sin, and it's downward spiraling effects yesterday. We looked at the story of David and Bathsheba, and talked about step one of the downward spiral of sin, which is falling into sin. David saw a woman taking a bath, while he was walking around the rooftop of the palace. Lust entered his heart, and he knew he had to have her. And he fell into the desire for sin. Today, we are going to look at step 2, which is what happens after you have fallen for sin. Like I said yesterday, we're looking specifically at adultery in this story, but the same downward spiral happens with all other sins as well.
We saw, in verse number 4, that David called for the woman, she came, David lay with her and she went home. That's the point where David allowed his lust to control his actions. Then, in verse 5 we read, "And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child." David may have panicked, I'm sure the news overwhelmed him. He didn't plan on this happening, it was just a "one night stand." But it did, and now his sin would be seen in public. Unless.....
You see, when we're confronted with our sin, we will try and cover it up, act like it never happened. That is what David planned to do. We read, in verses 6-10, that David sent for the husband of this woman he committed adultery with, Uriah the Hittite. He was a soldier in the army of Israel and fighting in a war (where David should have been). David thought, "I'll bring him home, let him have time with his wife, and everyone will think that the baby is his." It would work, it had to. The problem is, Uriah had integrity. He knew where he was supposed to be, what he was supposed to be doing. He says, in verse 11, "The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing."
Uriah didn't go along with the plans of David. David had one more option-have Uriah killed, take Bathsheba to be his wife, and the sin would be covered up. That's what he did. Verse 15 tells us that David wrote to the commander of the army to have Uriah put in the midst of the toughest fighting, and then leave him alone, so that he would die. Plan B had to work.
It is estimated that between 1/3 and 2/3 of the married population will engage in adultery at some point in their lives. 2-3 percent of all children are the result of adultery, and adultery is most common in those under 30 years old.* Those are pretty surprising statistics. But here is something even more staggering. Among Christians, 45% have indicated having done something sexually inappropriate, 23% having extramarital intercourse.** Wow! This shows that those in the church are the same as those outside the church. Did Jesus die for our sins so that we can go on living how we want, allowing things like lust to control our thoughts and actions?
The downward spiral of sin has effects on our lives. We'll look at that tomorrow. For now, though, is there sin that you are "covering up" so others don't see? Confess it today! Think About It.
*http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/cheating-and-infidelity/stats-about-infidelity.html
**http://www.kellybonewell.com/psychology/adultery-just-the-statistics/
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