The Giant That Slew David
Introduction
2 Samuel 11:1-27
We have been looking at this series called, “Facing Giants,” for nearly three months now. In that time, we have seen David do and experience many incredible things. He has seen many giants come and go in his life and the Lord has given him victory over every single one of them. Today, however, we are going to be taking a look at the giant that finally slew David.
When we talk about King David, there are usually two episodes that stick in out in people’s minds. There is one of David’s greatest victories in facing Goliath, and there is perhaps his greatest defeat in committing adultery with Bathsheba. Giants in life come in many different shapes and sizes. Some of them last for very long periods of time while others last for only a brief moment. Typically, however, when we talk about giants in our lives we are focused on those giants that are external. Things like, financial difficulty, sickness, sorrow, pain, death, or anything else that you can possibly think of are things that we typically associate with being giants. Those giants, however, are not going to be the greatest trouble in our lives. Those giants actually do not even come close to comparing to the difficulty of the giants that we carry with us in our own hearts each and every day.
Today, we are going to take a look at the giant that slew David. I love how the Bible never glosses over anything. If there is an ugly truth about someone and their walk with the Lord, it does not leave that detail out. The truth is that we are all susceptible to the giants that dwell within our hearts. It does not matter how close to God we are or how close we think that we are, we are all susceptible to our flesh. We are all susceptible to sin. I want us to take a look at perhaps David’s greatest failure today, not to gloat over him or to compare ourselves to him, but to see how he fell into this trap and how we can avoid falling into that same trap.
Look with me at 2 Samuel 11 as we take a look at the three truths concerning David’s giant.
I. The Makings of a Giant 11:1
Notice the phrasing of verse one. It says that it is the spring time when kings go off to war. It follows this up by saying but David remained in Jerusalem. It gives the idea that David was not really supposed to have remained in Israel. He should have been leading his army into battle as a good leader.
There has been a change in David since the last chapter. Chapter 10 describes in detail David’s battle with the Syrians and the Ammonites. Israel has an incredible victory over the Syrians to the point that the Syrians never go to the aid of the Ammonites again. David led his men into battle on that day. Now, for some reason David has seemingly grown complacent in his position. He sends out Joab, his trusted general, and all of his forces to go to war, but David stays at home.
The potential for sin is growing in David. He is not focusing on a task or a service for the Lord at this time. He is simply remaining in Jerusalem while others fight the battles and while others serve the Lord. That is not like David at all. It was never David’s style to stay behind and let others go fight for him. On the contrary, there are multiple instances where David takes the initiative and steps out in faith to lead a seemingly impossible charge against his enemies. By staying behind in Jerusalem, David is setting himself up for a fall.
David is now living in Jerusalem while there is a military campaign going on outside of the borders of Israel. He has much more free time on his hands and he is doing nothing to occupy that time. David has enjoyed great success since becoming king. He has seen God give victory after victory. This has probably led to a feeling of pride and even arrogance in David. David always went out to battle with his men because he wanted to be where God was moving, and he wanted to be leading his men in service to the Lord. David seems to be taking for granted the success that he has had as king and is now simply expecting it because God’s hand has been on him in the past. This is why success, while nice and exciting and encouraging, is also dangerous.
When we are facing giants on a daily basis it becomes easier to rely on God because you cannot do it yourself. When we experience success against our giants, however, it can lead to a feeling of invincibility. David seems to be at that place now. He assumes that God will simply give the victory to Israel, and he assumes that he can just sit back and wait to hear the news of yet another victory. All of this to say that David allowed this giant to grow in his heart. He allowed the opportunity to manifest and to fester so that when he was presented with the opportunity to sin he was ready and willing to give in to it.
II. The Power of the Giant 11:2-4
The stage has been set for David to fall into sin and to be defeated by a giant of his own creation, and then it happened. David gets up from an afternoon nap and goes for a walk on his roof where he then sees a beautiful woman bathing. This probably does not mean that this woman was bathing in the middle of the street in order to receive attention. Most homes at that time had courtyards in the middle of the house which was the most private area that could be constructed. It was in this courtyard that many people did their washing and bathing. Since David is in his home on the highest point of the city he can see into the courtyards of people below him. He looks out over the city and he notices this woman and she is bathing. The text says after this that she is beautiful.
David has already lost the battle against his giant in his mind. The mind is the first barrier or the first line of defense that we have against sin. If that defense falls then the rest will quickly follow. The battle against the giant of sin is won and lost in the mind. David took one look at Bathsheba and rather than turning away to protect his heart and his mind he saw that she was beautiful. He wanted her. He inquired about her and is told that she is the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. So, she is the daughter of one of David’s best fighters and the granddaughter of one of his most trusted counselors and the wife of one of his inner circles of most honored soldiers. Under normal circumstances this should have been enough to dissuade David from pursuing any sort of relationship with Bathsheba. Unfortunately, however, that is what sin does to the mind. It does not allow us to think rationally or logically.
David has already determined in his mind and in his heart that he was going to commit adultery with this woman. It did not matter that she was married or that her husband was a close friend. David was going to have what he wanted. It does not even say that this was a hard decision for David. He learns who she is and who she is related to and he immediately sends messengers to bring her to him.
David has gone from using his position as king to bring honor and glory to the Lord to using his position to satisfy his own sinful desires. In fact, honoring the Lord is not something that David is concerned with at all at this point. He is only concerned with himself. David is a practical atheist at this point. He has allowed his giant that he has allowed to grow in his heart to lead him into behaving and living as if God does not even exist. That is what is so scary about this entire ordeal. David, the man who is described as being a man after God’s own heart, is living as if God does not even exist. The giant of lust is so great in David’s heart that it has eclipsed the face of God.
When we allow our giants to remain in our hearts and we allow them to grow in strength and power then the only thing that we care about and the thing that we become consumed by is the desire to satisfy our fleshly desires. That is why it is so vitally important that we slay the giants in our hearts before they have the time or opportunity to gain any power over our minds.
David lays with Bathsheba and the author is preparing us for what is coming next. The time that David commits adultery with Bathsheba comes at the time that she is most likely to become pregnant. This leads to the effects of David’s giant on his life which will really be felt and experienced for years to come.
III. The Effects of the Giant 11:5-27
A. Deception 11:5-13:
When David learns that Bathsheba is pregnant he immediately begins to devise a way to cover up his deed. He thinks that he has come up with a really good solution to his problem. He will have Uriah sent back to Jerusalem and hopefully he will spend the night with his wife and then no one, not even the messengers who brought Bathsheba to David in the first place would be able to prove that David was the father of the baby. David did not count, however, on Uriah being a noble man who would not indulge in the comforts of home while his brothers were fighting for their lives against the Ammonites. David tries getting Uriah drunk to get him to unwittingly go down and sleep with Bathsheba but that does not work either.
When we sin, we are willing to do just about anything in order to keep it from getting out that we have done anything wrong. Sin is only comfortable as long as no one knows about it. If there is ever a chance of it being found out, then we panic and try to cover it up. David is panicking right now. He cannot allow anyone to know what he has done with Bathsheba and so he is doing everything in his power to cover it up. He is being as deceptive as he possibly can be, yet it is not working. This leads to David becoming a murderer.
Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. "First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. "Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night. So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!"
B. Murder 11:14-25
David writes a letter to Joab and has Uriah personally deliver it to Joab. David makes Uriah carry his own death sentence. The plan was now for Israel to attack the walls of Rabbah and have Uriah in the middle of the fiercest fighting. When Joab gets these orders from David he probably would have been very confused by them. Israel is in a state of besieging the city of Rabbah. There is no need to attack the city walls because all that they have to do is wait them out. Eventually the city would run out of food and water and they would be forced to either surrender or die of malnutrition and thirst. It makes no real sense to risk the lives of their soldiers when all they have to do is wait. Having been ordered by the king, however, Joab was obligated to order the attack.
Uriah is killed during the fighting along with several other men. David has now officially gone from adulterer, to manipulator, to murderer. David’s desire to cover up his first sin has led to the committing of even more sin. He did not even just have Uriah killed but many men died needlessly just so David could cover up his adultery. This is how sin works church! It is never satisfied until it has seen our complete and total destruction. Sin does not play games or poke fun at us. It seeks our total destruction. It seeks our complete separation from the Lord
David is getting further and further away from the Lord in this passage. The giant in his heart has grown to the point that David is not only capable of adultery but of murdering one of his best and most loyal soldiers. That is to say nothing of how David’s giant has affected his conscience.
C. Devastation 11:26-27
David shows no remorse for his actions. He shows no remorse for having slept with Bathsheba and he shows no remorse for having had Uriah killed in battle. David simply allows Bathsheba to go through her mourning period and then brings her to his home to be his wife.
Verse 27 is looms over this entire passage. David has not pleased the Lord. Sin sears the conscience. It makes it easier and easier to continue doing it and living in it because we no longer view it as something that is dangerous and must be avoided. It becomes a part of our lives. It becomes something that we want and that we have been deceived into believing is okay.
Satan never tells us the truth about sin. He does not show us the worm in the apple. He does not tell the drug users about the coming addiction and health issues that will plague the rest of their lives. He does not tell the adulterers about the disease and tragedy they will experience. Satan does not tell the truth about sin, but God does. God tells us exactly what to expect from sin.
Conclusion
A man purchased a white mouse to use as food for his pet snake. He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake's glass cage, where the snake was sleeping in a bed of sawdust. The tiny mouse had a serious problem on his hands. At any moment he could be swallowed alive. Obviously, the mouse needed to come up with a brilliant plan. What did the terrified creature do? He quickly set up work covering the snake with sawdust chips until it was completely buried. With that, the mouse apparently thought he had solved his problem. The solution, however, came from outside. The man took pity on the silly little mouse and removed him from the cage. No matter how hard we try to cover or deny our sinful nature, it's fool's work. Sin will eventually awake from sleep and shake off its cover. Were it not for the saving grace of the Master's hand, sin would eat us alive.
Do not let the giant that dwells in your heart destroy and devastate your life. Put a stop to it before it gains any power or control in your life. If you are here today and you are struggling with a sin that you can’t seem to find victory over then stop trying to beat it yourself. Once that giant gets enough strength and power it is nearly impossible for us to defeat it on our own. Give it to God and see how His power destroys the power that your giant has in your life.
Maybe you are here today, and sin does not seem like such a bad thing because you have never come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Please do not leave here today without seeking redemption from your sins through Jesus Christ. Make today the day that you finally stand up to the giant in your heart and say yes to Jesus.