1. While his armies were engaged in battle, King David stayed behind at Jerusalem. One evening, he saw a beautiful woman bathing.
2. He made inquiries: he found out her name and the fact she was already married.
3. David sent messengers to her and had her brought to him; he committed adultery with her.
4. Not long afterwards, she had a message for David: she was pregnant by him.
5. David set out to cover his tracks: he summoned her husband, Uriah, home from battle to "visit" his wife so everyone would think the child was his.
6. Due to his high sense of honor towards his fellow warriors and the king, Uriah wouldn't go to his wife. He slept at the door of the king's house.
7. David tried again: he got Uriah drunk, but still Uriah would not go to his wife.
8. David sent a letter by Uriah's own hand, telling Joab, "Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce. Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead."
9. Uriah was killed.
10. As soon as her "time of mourning" was past, Bathsheba became David's wife and had their baby.

Now I want you to notice, in particular, the second sentence of the very last verse of the 11th chapter: But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. The Bible teaches us: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. I Corinthians 10:13. Just as it is still true in this day and age, it was also true in David's day. Let's look at just two of the opportunities David had to ESCAPE temptation:

1. When King David took that walk upon his roof and first saw Bathsheba bathing, he COULD HAVE turned away. At that point in time, no sin had been committed. His first "way to escape". Did he take it? No.
2. David made inquiries: he found out her name and the fact she was already married. His second "way to escape". Did he take it? No.

Temptation led to sin. That is, SIN got a grip in David's mind and heart when he refused to turn AWAY FROM temptation. And let me make this VERY clear to you: SIN, if left unchecked, WILL MULTIPLY! Lust of the eyes led to lust of the flesh which led to lies which led to murder which led to drawing others into the dirty work. And saddest of all, David thought nobody knew. Can you see how sin wreaks havoc in a person's life? BUT THE THING THAT DAVID HAD DONE DISPLEASED THE LORD. There weren't any immediate repercussions--no sudden lightning bolts from the sky to strike him down. He, like we do today, thought he had "gotten away" with something.


Just about time King David thought he had all his bases covered, the prophet Nathan showed up with a hypothetical situation for the king's consideration. Sure enough, it had the desired effect. The Greek for verse 5 tells us that King David's face glowed with anger as he vowed, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. II Samuel 12:5,6. Oh yes, King David was outraged that any man in his kingdom would act in such a manner towards another. He himself had been unjustly pursued and persecuted by King Saul. He knew exactly what it was like.

We, like King David, can easily see the injustice of the rich man's selfishness. Why it takes only seconds for us to "size somebody [else] up", doesn't it? Just like folks today, it was very easy for David to easily see another's wrongdoing. It took no time at all for King David to come up with a "real solution" for Nathan's "hypothetical situation". It was simple, really: the man who had done it would pay DEARLY. Well, folks, just as it was for King David, so it is for us:

Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. II Samuel 12:7-12, 14.

The Bible warns, For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14. As David himself recorded, Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Psalm 44:21. Numbers 32:23 tells us, ...BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT. It always does. And King David was right: the man who had done it WOULD pay DEARLY!!

The truth of the matter is, many times it is NOT a matter of us forgetting about the all-seeing eyes of God. We simply DON'T CARE!! We want what we want and never mind the consequences. At least until they arrive, then it's a whole different story, isn't it?


However, this is what set King David apart from "the masses": when presented with an accounting of his sins, David IMMEDIATELY CONFESSED, "I have sinned against the Lord." He didn't begin to try to justify his actions: "I was only trying to console a lonely lady. It's not MY fault!" He didn't blame it on his mother or his father, Bathsheba or Joab. He didn't try to defend himself with, "You have invaded my privacy ! How dare you spy on me!!" David knew he had no defense--he HAD done wrong. He said simply, "I have sinned against the Lord."


Folks today are on a Grace Kick: "I am under Grace. NOTHING I do is sin." WRONG! Many will tell you, "That was back in the Old Testament. Sin is treated differently in the New Testament." Oh yeah?

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:12, 13, 15, 16.

Look at those last two verses again: What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?


Folks, we need to QUIT viewing the teachings in the Bible as mere "hypothesis". It is pure, unadulterated FACT: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? We need to QUIT serving God hypothetically. Here's another FACT for you: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9:27,28.

Sadly, many many many are going to "wake up" when it's too late. The easy bliss of "hypothesis" is going to be ripped away and the stark reality will be, ...I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. Luke 13:27,28.


We had better do like King David did, when he asked the Lord to forgive him of his wrong doings:

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me...Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow...Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Psalm 51:1-12.

Most of the time, when folks today are "caught up with", the only sorrow they show is sorrow they were caught. Sorrow that they weren't more crafty or cunning. Sorrow that their plans went awry. It won't wash with God, my friends. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, For GODLY SORROW worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. II Corinthians 7:10. It is ONLY genuine sorrow of repentance that works with God. Not justification of sin, not excuses or trying to place blame, but genuine, Godly sorrow of repentance--sorrow that we sinned against God--that brings about forgiveness and victory over sin.


If ever there was anything we need to GET REAL about, it is the way we are living, folks. You can think all you want to that it's not a "big deal" or that it's "just your business", but look here: Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. II Samuel 12:14. We need to CLEAN UP OUR ACT and quit giving the world occasion to blaspheme God! Never before in the history of mankind have there been so many hypocrites!

Our lives are to be lived as witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the changes that salvation through Him makes in us! You think the seriousness of hypocrisy has changed? Think again: But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Matthew 18:6,7. The NIV puts those two verses this way: "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!" (Matthew 18:6,7; NIV)

Folks, God is real. Heaven is real. The devil is real. Hell is real. Sin is real. When the Bible says to us, For the wages of sin is death... (Romans 6:23), it's REAL. It's not mere hypothesis. Let's GET REAL with God and live our lives so that we are TRUE witnesses of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.