The Slippery Slope of Sin

Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant" . . . Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He had written in the letter, saying, "Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die" . . . The men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David's servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died . . . But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
~2 Samuel 11:1-27

For the past couple of weeks I have been pondering the words of the Casting Crowns' song, "Slow Fade." One thing I greatly appreciate about the ministry of this group is their convicting songs rooted in God's Word. I mean just listen to the words of "Can Anybody Hear Her?" and "If We are the Body." The message of this song is no different. Here is a sampling of the words:

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

The point of the song is so true to life. We don't necessarily jump into sin but slowly drift into it. We start out thinking that nothing is wrong to realize that we have already veered off course. In fact, the pride of thinking that we are above falling into a certain sin, makes us all the more vulnerable to it. It is taking our guard down that places us more prone to Satan's attacks. Paul told the Corinthians to learn from the examples of the wilderness generation God had brought out of Egyptian captivity to Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall (I Corinthians 10:12). If the Israelites whom the Lord delivered out of Egypt were susceptible to temptation, what makes us think that we are above them? After all, it only takes one look, one dip, one smoke, and one drink for a sinful addiction to start while we are under the impression that "once is not going to hurt me." King David is a prime example of how one can "slowly fade" into sin.

The author of I Samuel describes David as a man after God's own heart (I Samuel 13:14). In fact, his name in Hebrew means "beloved". This man after God's own heart was not invincible to sin as this text shows. David's problems began when he did not do what he was supposed to. The chapter opens up with the description of the usual practice of the kings going to war every spring. The author appears to make a contrast with the fact that David was not among this group. He states: But David stayed at Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). David should have went with the group as was his usual practice. Had David not strayed from what he was supposed to do, he may have never fell into such grievous sins as followed. While the author does not provide the reason for David's decision to stay home, I am sure that he did not think that it would result in him committing two high handed sins (Numbers 15:30). Likewise, we get ourselves in trouble when we are not where we are supposed to be or place ourselves where temptation lies. In so doing we open ourselves up to the greater possibility of being carried away by our lusts and falling into sin. This is what happened to David.

David's fade continued as he walked on the roof and caught sight of the beautiful Bathsheba. The next thing we know is that the lustful thoughts have turned into action as David has Bathsheba brought to him for his pleasure. David should have stopped after the first glance. Instead, he inquires about who the woman is and inspite of the fact that he was told that the woman belonged to Uriah, had messengers deliver her to him. This is a good example of James' teaching concerning the progression of sin. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death (James 1:14-15). David's lust had given way to one sin which actually led to another just as horrendous. It is true that there is a snowball effect of sin. One lie we tell leads to others to cover up the first and another bad decision is justified by another. Sin has consequences and the worst thing we can do instead of dealing with the consequences and confessing our sin, is attempt to cover up the sin.

The consequences of David's sin was a pregnant Bathsheba. Instead of coming clean with his sin, David attempts to cover it up by having Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, called home in hopes that he would sleep with his wife and David's deed would remain hidden. However, Uriah is too noble to enjoy his wife while his fellow troops are out in the battlefield. When all of David's attempts to convince Uriah to go home fail, he winds up being guilty of murder as he arranges for Uriah to get killed in battle. The author makes sure to point out that David had done evil in the sight of the LORD.

Thus David went from being where he was not supposed to be to being an adulterer and a murderer. While these events probably took longer to unfold then the brief summary of the events portray, it does convey how easy one wrong decision can result in sin. As the Casting Crowns' song points out: The journey from your mind to your hands is shorter than you're thinking. May we learn from David's example to be aware of what may seem like little sins in our lives and our attempts to hide them. May we not seek to hide our sin resulting in further sins. Make sure that you are where God wants you to be and be aware of the slippery slope of sin.

In Christ,
Lee
Soli Deo Gloria