# The slippery slope of sin

Category: Repentance & Restoration
Key Passage: 2 Samuel 11
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 7, 2024

Second Samuel, chapter number 11. We’re at a sad point in David’s life. It is usually called David’s great sin. Just a sad, sad point we’re at in David’s life. So sad how everything kind of turns here and so much problems afterwards. Second Samuel chapter 11. We’re going to start in verse number five. That’s where we left off last week.

And 2 Samuel 11, if you’re in verse number 5, would you say amen? Amen. Good deal. Here we go.

And the woman—now this is a woman that David committed adultery with—and the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, “I’m with child.” Every sin has a child. Every single one.

And David sent to Joab, he’s the general of his army, and David sent to Joab saying, “Send me Uriah,” that’s the husband of the lady, “send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.

When Uriah was come unto him—remember, David stayed back in Jerusalem; he’s home, the capital, in the palace, taking it easy while they’re out there fighting the battle—he said, “Send me that fellow, the husband home.” When Uriah was coming to him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.

Really, David’s just trying to—he’s trying to be deceiving. He’s acting like, “Well, I wanted you to come home because I needed a report to find out how the battle’s doing.” My honest truth was it had nothing to do with that. He’s already being very deceiving, even more so now.

Verse 8: David said, “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. A little humorous note, I’m not sure. I think there’s a little more to it. But it makes you think, did that fellow have some stinky feet or what? David says, “Wash your feet, man,” you know. I mean, I think there’s a little more to it than that.

But verse number nine: “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.”

When they had told David, saying, “Uriah went not down into his house,” David said unto Uriah, “Comest thou not from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?”

And Uriah said unto David, “But thou—excuse me—the ark, that’s interesting, he mentions the ark first. That’s the spiritual part of you, the Lord, church, if you will. The ark may show a little sign about your eye. 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 I live, as I so live, I will not do this thing.”

Can you imagine how convicted David must have been at this point? David should have been out. There’s a time the kings go to bathe; David’s at home with this fellow’s wife, and he calls the fellow in. The fellow said, “I can’t go eat and drink and all that.” Did my mind? We’re out there fighting. David said, “I’m out there with you.”

And the conviction David must have felt when Uriah said all that! We’re in verse number 12, I believe.

And David said, “You’re right. Tarry here today also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart.” So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day and on the morrow.

When David had called him, he did eat and drink before him, and he made him drunk. He tried to get him drunk so he was thinking, maybe go down and be with his wife. What he was trying to do is deceiving. And then Uriah went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his Lord, but went not down into his house.

And it came to pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab. Such a sad thing right here. And sent it by the hand of Uriah. You realize Uriah didn’t know it, but he’s carrying his own death warrant because David is deceiving everybody.

Verse number 15: “And he wrote in the letter saying, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die.’”

And it came to pass when Joab observed the city that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew the valiant men were. When the men of the city went out and fought with Joab, there fell some of the people of the servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite died also.

Now jump down, if you will, to verse number 26. Verse number 26.

“And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house. She became his wife, and bare a son.”

It sounded like he got by with that, didn’t it? That last little phrase there was amazing, that last sentence. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

That sin is very much like that. It’s a slippery slope. Boy, once you get over that edge—and David saw her—once you just kind of get your tips, your schemes over that edge…

It’s amazing how far David fell. Such a sad thing. What a great man David was, but there’s such a low, sad point in his life.

This is a good quote. Many of you know it and probably you’ve heard it sung before, but someone said this: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go. It’ll keep you longer than you want to stay, and it’ll cost you more than you want to pay.”

It would be something good for young people writing on the flyleaf of your Bible: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go. It’ll keep you longer than you want to stay, and it’ll cost you more than you want to pay.”

Man, look at David. David’s the one that killed Goliath. Mighty David, that warrior. How many little fellow, teenage woman with a slingshot, and man, eastland and thud right in that guy’s forehead? How many? David!

And look at him now: lying, deceiving, murdering. Murdering one of his loyal friends—Uriah was one of his mighty men—and he’s having him murdered. David’s the one twice the Bible says, “A man after God’s own heart,” such a mighty man. And look at him now, just wallowing in filth.

Remember, David had such a good conscience before God. Paul had said that. He had a good conscience toward God, but your conscience can get weak and defiled and actually get seared eventually.

And David, remember, he just cut a little bit of Saul’s robe off, and he said, “Paul!” And Saul was trying to kill David, and David said, “I’m not going to lift my hands against God’s anointed,” and just cut a little bit. And David said, “My heart smote me.” That’s how tender he was towards God. Look at him now: committed adultery, deceiving, basically lying, murdering. How has the mighty fallen?

Such a sad chapter of David’s life. Someone said, “A sword couldn’t get him. He’s a mighty warrior. A sword couldn’t get him, but a smile could.” What a sad commentary of David’s life. The sweet psalmist of David wrote about half of the Psalms. David is wallowing in such a sad thing. Just look at him.

You know the Bible says, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” David used to be so bold. He said, “Hey, man, is there not a cause? Somebody needs to go get that giant.” I don’t know, but I imagine if there was a battle to be fought right now, David would be scared after this.

Imagine David going to the court, maybe having to conduct business. By the way, this took some time. All these things, we’ll kind of study out the next couple weeks. Can you imagine going to court to take—and there’s court, a lot of people there. Ahithophel was with his counselors, was probably often there. And Ahithophel was Bathsheba, the lady’s grandfather. Can you imagine David probably didn’t want to look at him in the eye?

Joab the general knew what was going on. He’s the one that got the letter: “Send Uriah out in the hottest part of the battle, and then retire, let him get killed.” Wonder how bold David was with Joab? Joab needed a strong leader, by the way. He’s one of those fellows that needed that. Imagine David wasn’t a very good leader in Joab. He couldn’t stand up to him at that time.

The servants—remember this, he sent the servants to go down and take back… see, remember that last week we read that? And those servants know about it. Can you imagine David when he saw those servants? Every time maybe he saw that servant go by, he got convicted. Imagine David trying to sleep at night time.

And such a tender-hearted man seeking the Lord, and yet he’s fallen to such a low. Sin always, always weakens and steals. Satan’s all about that: steal, kill, and destroy. That’s his three agendas right there.

Here’s the sad thing from this point on, really. Someone said it this way: His life changed from triumphs—man, they’re having victories everywhere, they’re enlarging their coasts, nobody can stand in front of them, David just seemed like everything is just wonderful—someone said his life changed from triumphs to troubles.

All the way to his deathbed, he has troubles, that many of them stem from this moment here. I mean, it just changes the whole topography of David’s life; it’s just downhill from here.

There are a couple of things about this, the sin, how sad it is for David. Can I just say this? All of us are susceptible. All of us can fall. “The thing I would never do that”? No, you wouldn’t do it at the beginning at the top of the mount, but you start sliding down. That’s a slippery slope.

Look over—you’ll know the verse—but look over. I want you just say, look over in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, if you would. First Corinthians chapter 10, and look in verse number 12. You’ve heard, and probably have read, you may know it by heart, but now I want you just see it. First Corinthians 10, and look at verse number 12, if you would. First Corinthians 10, and look at verse number 12. He says there in verse number 12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall.”

That’s interesting how God words it: “him that thinketh he standeth,” because when we just get, “Hey, I’m standing,” there’s a little pride involved in that. That’s why I think God says, “thinketh he standeth,” because pride can go before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. So, man, you’re up. Man, I’m doing good. I’m standing. I got it together. God says, “You think you’re standing.” But you better take heed. You better get humble and realize you’re susceptible like everybody else is. “Take heed lest he fall.”

How has the mighty fallen? Why, this great Christian David is such a little—can I say this?—it doesn’t matter your age. Remember last week we put the chart up? Had the chart up there, and we think he was in his 40s, some even say early 50s, along this point in his life. It’s such a sad thing. I think of a preacher, a pastor who preached for years and years, and in the last stage of his life, he messed up horribly.

That’s not that uncommon. It doesn’t matter our age, younger or old, we’re all susceptible to sin. Can I say this? Stay away from the edge. Don’t get close to the edge. Don’t even, when you get off the chair, don’t even go to the right; just avoid it. You might say, “Well, they’ll think of them and not.” Let them think what they want. Just stay away from it.

Now here’s the thing: once we sin, the next temptation after you have sinned, it’s always the next temptation is to cover up the original. That’s always—that’s just part of the… all right, you’re down over the cliff, and that’s just part of the downward. The next temptation will be, and here Satan loves that, man. Satan, here’s what Satan does: he makes you feel like you’re trapped. You’ve got no other choice but to…

What about Achan? We talked about Achan last week. Achan, what if Achan, once he saw that and coveted it and took that Babylonian’s garment and the gold and silver, what if Achan would have got convicted and just said, “Hey, let me go confess to General Joshua and tell him, what are we in the end of it?” But old Satan, his next plot is to make you think you’ve got no other choice but to hide your sin. That’s the worst thing you can do.

Look over, if you will, in Proverbs. Proverbs, God tells us what to do. Here we have another option. Proverbs 28. God really deals with this exact situation so good in this one verse. Proverbs 28. When you sit—the next thing you do—Proverbs 28:13 is such a great verse. God tells you, “Hey, don’t believe Satan. You don’t have to be a better way to handle it now that you’ve already messed up. You don’t have to go down to the bottom of the hill crashing the whole way down.”

In Proverbs 28, look at Proverbs 28, look at verse number 13. Are you all there tonight? Amen? Good deal. Verse number 13. He says, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.” That’s the promise from God. Shall not prosper.

Now let’s just stop for a second here. You’ll know it. Most of you know it. We’ll discuss it in the coming weeks. But eventually God reveals the sin through Nathan, the prophet, the preacher, whatever. And it reveals the sin and brings it out in the open and deals with it. But just think if God—by the way, it was the mercy of God that did that—but just think if God would have never made David face the sin. What if David could avoid that sin for years and years? Imagine how many men would have died in battle because you’re not going to prosper when you’re covering sin. Imagine how the kingdom may have just kind of imploded if God didn’t reveal the sin, because he that covereth his sins shall not prosper. He’s just not. I wonder how many churches have just never really grown, never gone anywhere because the preacher, somebody in the church, just keeps covering sin.

“He that covereth sins shall”—that’s the promise from God—“shall not prosper.” Pretty clear. That’s what Satan—it’s this next move always—tries to get you covered. You’re saying, “But look, here’s God’s way out.” Here it is, right? It’s amazing. It’s a wonderful promise, a wonderful promise right here.

Next part of the verse: “But whoso confesseth and forsaketh.” Notice the order: confesseth. You’re probably going to have a real hard time forsaking unless you confess. Yes, to the Lord, and yes, many times, to a person.

I was telling my wife, I was going to apologize to somebody about something. I can’t remember what it is. And she said, “Oh, you probably need to do that.” I said, “No, but it sure will make it harder for me to do it next time before I do it.” There’s no big deal, but I said, “If I confess it to them and say, ‘I’m sorry for saying that’—I can’t remember what it was—I said, ‘Well, I won’t want to say anything again like that because I don’t like going back and saying I’m sorry.’”

Here’s the thing: Whoso confesseth and forsaketh. Here’s a wonderful promise part of it. Here it is: “shall”—promise from God—“shall have mercy.” Achan could have had mercy. David, if he had just confessed on his own, he could have more mercy. Now, praise the Lord, once a preacher pointed it out to him, he did own up to it; he did better than Saul. When the prophet came to him, he never went on up to it, but at least David did. By the way, David did have mercy. But always the next step, Satan wants to cover it. God said, “No, no, no, no, hey, go ahead and confess, forsake,” and the promise is just… wow, a holy, righteous, just God says, “I promise you shall have mercy.” What a promise! What a merciful God!

I wonder—I thought about this—but I wonder how many people have dealt with their sin properly and they have confessed it to the Lord, yes, the first thing, and then sometimes if God leads them. I think about people in our church over the years that have tried to make things right. And I would never, and I will not, I’ll never reveal them to anybody, but the people in our church never know about it. I’m glad they’re not going to know about it from me. And I’m not the one; God’s the one, but sometimes God wants the preacher to get involved. But I think about it and how God showed mercy on them. It’s been wonderful to watch. That’s God’s promise. He that confesseth and forsaketh…

Young people, young people, don’t avoid your parents when you’re falling into sin. Yes, to the Lord, and your parents are the best friend you’ve got. You’re probably not going to win over that sin unless you confess. “Whoso confesseth and forsaketh, shall have mercy.” What a wonderful thing.

Now, let’s look at the last part. We’re going to be done here. Look at verse number 27. Verse 27. By the way, David thought he got by with it. Uriah’s dead. And nobody’s going to stand up against the king, or nobody did at this point. And so David goes against Bathsheba, and she comes to him, and they get married. “I’m going to raise the boy.” Everything looks like it’s going to be all great. By the way, Satan wants you just going like nothing ever happened. That’s what Satan’s about: cover it up. You won’t prosper.

I want you to look at verse number 27: “When the morning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, she became his wife, and bare a son.”

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. Everybody in the world, everybody in the whole world can say, “Oh, you’re all right, nothing wrong with that.” Yet, if you’ve not done what God told you to do and getting that thing right, you’re not going to be happy. You have to sleep with yourself. You have to look at yourself. You say, or brush teeth, whatever, that Holy Spirit inside of you—you’re not going to be happy because peace doesn’t come; it comes here.

And David just seemed like, well, let’s just move on. You know, sometimes us Christians are good at sweeping things under the rug. I’m not talking about hanging your dirty laundry on the line, but I’m thinking we need to deal with sin. And sometimes we’re just so quick to sweep it all under the rug and never deal with issues and problems and get things thoroughly right.

And you can make it all right. Everybody looks and thinks you’re hunky-dory. You can change the crowd of people you hang around where that crowd, the new crowd, thinks, “Oh, you’re wonderful.” But in your heart-to-heart, you’re going to know the truth. And you’re going to know what really matters is what God thinks. You can have all the world trying to promote you and bless you and lift you higher, but if God’s not in it, promotion doesn’t come from the south or the east or the west; that comes from the Lord. He’s the one that holds all the cards in his hands. And they’re saying, “Displeased the Lord.”

What a sad thing. You know the verse, I think we mentioned last week: “Be not deceived. God is not mocked.” We mock everybody in the world. We can look like all that to everybody in the world. We can deceive them, but God’s not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. It’s always true. Always, always true.

“Be sure your sin will always find you out. Be not deceived. God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Original File: The slippery slope of sin - Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday PM 31021