KING DAVID ON THE PALACE ROOF NEAR THE TEMPLE MOUNT!

Currently we are in a preaching series entitled, “People and Places of the Bible.” One message I preached was entitled, “King David on His Palace Roof Near the Temple Mount.” One of my favorite people in the Bible is David. What a great man of God. The Bible says he had a heart for God. Just read the Psalms and see how greatly he desired to honor the name of the Lord. See him take on Goliath the Giant because he wanted to defend the great name of God Almighty. Watch him take the city of Jerusalem for the Lord and make it the capital of the Jewish people and see his burning desire to build the Temple of the Lord on Mt. Moriah. In fact, look at the place he built his own palace and the seat of government. Was it not just a short walk to the Temple Mount where Abraham had, centuries before, been willing to offer up his only son Isaac? Was it not just a few minutes from where the Heavenly Father would have His Only Begotten Son offered up on the cross to die for the sins of the world? Yes, David the Man of God and King of Israel loved his Lord sincerely and supremely!
 
Yet from this very place which was just a stone’s throw from this most holy place, he sinned grievously. Within the very sight of the place which pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Having stayed home from the battle, sending others instead, he had set himself up for a fall to become easy prey for the tempter. He walked out on his roof, and instead of facing north, he faced southeast. Instead of looking toward the Lord, he looked toward the way of the woman Bathsheba. For most of us, we know the story that followed and the destruction that was a result – the covering of sin, lies, deceit, murder, shame, loss and the death of a seven-day-old baby boy, and the years of pain that would follow.
 
And all of this happening to a man who LOVED the LORD! Yes, it is possible and very probable that if we make the same mistakes of David, the results will be the same. He failed to set measures of prevention in his life. Each of us, like David, have sinful natures that are drawn away by lusts. But for the born again Christian, we have been quickened and now have a new nature. But our old natures are still present in our lives, and those old natures are still as depraved as the day we were born. They are prone to reject the ways of the Lord and to sin. Romans 6-8 teaches us these principles. But thank the Lord that the New Testament believer has so much more God-given abilities than David had to overcome the temptations of our flesh when the devil comes to tempt.
 
We need to use these abilities to be ready to overcome the temptation to sin against the ONE WE LOVE. We need to set measures of prevention into our lives before the tempter comes to lead our eyes away from the beauty of our Lord unto the beauty of the world.
 
Let me suggest a few lessons we learn from King David’s failure in order to save ourselves the shame and destruction that are the results of sin.
 
1.     Stay in the battle and resist the temptation of staying out of the battle.
2.     Guard your eyes. (Seems like David may have known what he would see if he went out on the roof and looked in that direction.)
3.     Practice the emptying of ourselves instead of overindulgence and seeking of ease.
4.     Spend time praying in the Temple (Today our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.) and less time gazing at the beauties of the world.
5.     Live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and overcome the power of sin. (David did not have such spiritual privilege as the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.)
6.     Stay in the Scriptures. Fill your thoughts with purity.
7.     Remain satisfied with your own husband or wife and seek to please one another for God’s glory.
8.     Study the life of David and remember the cost of unconfessed sin. See how sin grows into deeper and more costly sins.
 
These and many other lessons are learned in 2 Samuel 11-12 and Psalm 51. May I encourage you to study this text this week and ask the Lord to teach you from this passage. Ask the Lord to show you practical ways to avoid such sin that can come into the life of ONE WHO LOVES THE LORD!
 
But above all else, see the grace of God that David found even in his sin. He was sought out by the Lord. He was confronted by Nathan, the Lord’s prophet. David confessed his sins and found gracious forgiveness. The Lord would still use David in spite of the consequences. Yet one day at the Second Coming of our Lord, David will sit on his governmental throne and rule the Jewish redeemed for 1,000 years from the very place David’s sin took place. And Jesus will rule the entire world during His Millennial Kingdom on earth just a short distance from where David will rule. And this very same place is where Jesus paid for the sins of the world giving Him the just right to show grace to all who would receive Him as Lord and Savior.
 
So we must remember it is possible to sin at any moment; thus, we must be prepared to withstand the tempter. We need to remember that when we sin, we should not run from God, but run unto God. Not to cover our sins, but confess them immediately and be cleansed from sin. Always trusting in the GRACE OF GOD and looking forward to the day when we will be set free from the very presence of sin!