May 26- Bathing in Sin

May 26, 2011

2 Samuel 9:1-11:27; John 15:1-27;
Psalm 119:49-64; Proverbs 16:1-3

I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. 
God knows I will do this and forgives me. 
~Jimmy Carter

2 Samuel 9:1-11:27

I recently read the autobiography of Jenny Sanford.  She was the wife of Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina.  Her book was the story of young love, ambition, marriage, children and eventually, adultery and betrayal.  Same ole story that we have all heard before.  While on a trip to South America, Mark meets and is attracted to a beautiful woman.  Unable to resist temptation, he develops an adulterous relationship with the woman and eventually causes his political and personal downfall.  This would be sad is it wasn't so predictable. Today, David goes from getting a covenant of blessing from God to plotting the murder of the man whose wife David has violated and impregnated.

It is a sordid tale one might find in the national newspapers today or on a gossip blog.  As we can see from prior readings, God is not shy about revealing the imperfections and downright sinfulness of even our greatest heroes of the faith. It is still somewhat surprising that God would detail such sin and depravity from the man who would bring us the Messiah, but He does.  While the other warriors are doing what they do each Spring, which is take advantage of the good weather and go to war, David has decided to stay home.  One day he sees a beautiful woman taking a bath on the roof of an adjacent home.  Being the king means that David can have whatever he wants, and he wants this gal.  Her name is Bathsheba and she is the wife of one of David's warriors named Uriah.  David sends his men to get Bathsheba and bring her to the palace. When she arrives, David sleeps with her.  This reminds me of the behavior of modern day rock stars and athletes.  They sleep with whomever they please.  Anyway, David gets Bathsheba pregnant. 

When Bathsheba sends word to David that she is pregnant, David begins to plot how to cover up his sin.  First, he tries to get Uriah to come back from the battlefield to sleep with his wife.  This will make it look like the child is Uriah's child.  Much to David's consternation, Uriah is so noble that he refuses to enjoy the pleasures of his wife while other men are dying on the battlefield.  Note the contrast between David's selfish sin and Uriah's noble self sacrifice.  David looks like a cad because he IS a cad.

Next, David tries to get Uriah drunk in hopes that he can wear down Uriah's self discipline with alcohol.  It doesn't work.  Even in a drunken state, Uriah is more noble than David at this point in his life.  Finally, David does his most dastardly deed.  He tells Joab, his top commander of the army, to put Uriah at the front of the battle lines of the fiercest battle and then pull back away from Uriah, leaving him with no protection so that he will be killed.  David plots this noble person's death in order to cover his own sin of adultery. Poor Uriah. Joab obeys David and Uriah is killed in battle. 

Bathsheba mourns the death of her good husband and after the period of mourning, David calls Bathsheba to come and be his wife.  This is the second woman in his harem who has lost her husband because of David's power and position.  The other woman was Michal, who lost Palti.  David has gone from being a humble man of trials who was chased and persecuted by Saul, to being a man of power and position who is prideful and selfish.  All people on earth can be corrupted by power.  We are all susceptible to the temptation of believing that we are above the law and worthy of getting whatever we are able to get with our power and position.  David is human, my friends.  Humans are sinful. That is the point of the story.

What can we learn from this story?  The Bible states that the Lord was very displeased with David's sin.  David was bathing in sin at this point in his life.  The power, position, and possessions were affecting his spiritual life.  He gave into temptation, and one sin multiplied into many sins.


What do you do each day to resist temptation?  Think of ways that you can avoid evil.  As we read the psalms, look at David's cry for forgiveness and remember this story.  Use the words of David's psalms in your own life to cry out for forgiveness.

John 15:1-27

One problem with ice storms is that beautiful branches often break off of gorgeous, old trees.  One year an ice storm decimated the trees that lined a beautiful parkway in a city in which we lived.  It was so sad to see all of those broken and detached branches.  Today, Jesus explains our relationship to him as a vine with branches.  He is the vine (like a grape vine) and we are the branches on the vine that produce fruit.  If we get broken off of the vine, we will be like the branches that fell off of the large oak trees in the ice storm.  Once separated from the source of life (the Holy Spirit) that is found only in the vine, the branch is useless to produce fruit. 

Jesus is saying that any person (branch) that is not connected to him will be gathered eventually and burned because it was a useless branch. This is a picture of how it is vitally important to be connected to Christ, spiritually.  Your productivity and viability for eternity are based on your relationship wth Jesus.  Jesus says that his true disciples produce much fruit.  Here are some ways that Jesus says that you can tell that you are connected to the Vine:

• Obeying Jesus shows that you are remaining in his love. Vs. 10
• You will have joy that overflows in your life. Vs. 11
• Loving one another shows that you are his. Vs. 12
• The greatest love is when you lay down your life for your friends. Vs 13
• Jesus is now your friend, not your master, because he has told you everything, just like a friend would tell you the truth. Vs. 14-15
• You didn't choose Jesus, he chose you.  He is commanding you to produce fruit. Vs. 16
• He commands you to love each other. Vs. 17
• If the world hates him, it is gonna hate you. Vs. 18
• Since the world is going to persecute him, then they are going to persecute you. Vs. 19-20
• The world is guilty because he came and spoke the Truth to the world, and now there is no excuse for sin. Vs. 22
• The world is guilty because he did miracles for them. Vs. 24
• Their hatred of him and the Father fulfills the Scriptures that say, "They hated me without cause." Psalm 35:19, 69:4   Vs. 25
• He is sending the Holy Spirit, who is the Counselor, to tell the world about Jesus.  Vs. 26
• You must then go tell others about Jesus. Vs. 27

Jesus lays out a clear picture that the future ministry of his followers will be a reliance on the Holy Spirit to counsel and teach the world who Jesus Christ is to all people on earth.

Do you rely on the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read God's Word?  Do you share what you are learning in the Word with others?  This is how you show that you are connected to the Vine.

Psalm 119:49-64

This psalm cries out for the Lord to teach the psalmist His ways.  Today, we see that Jesus was faithful to teach the disciples his ways and to teach us his ways through his Word.  Jesus says that because he has taught us, we are his friends.  What a privilege!

Proverbs 16:1-3

"We can gather our thoughts, but the Lord gives the right answer."  This confirms our New Testament teaching today.

What did you notice in our lesson?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton
© 2011