The Anatomy of Sin

I was reading 2 Samuel 11 this morning in my daily readings and was struck again by how clearly the passage lays out David's sin.

Stage 1 - Inactivity
v1 begins by setting the scene when the kings go to war David is at home. He is not with his men, but his is unoccupied.

Stage 2 - Glimpsing
David sees a lady taking a bath, if David had at that moment left the rooftop and gone back to his room this whole incident would have been avoided seeing her is not the sin. He has the opportunity to leave and look no more but passes it up, instead he dwells in what he sees.

Stage 3 - Sin is temptation made attractive
What does David see? "The woman was very beautiful" One imagines that if she wasn't there wouldn't have been any temptation. Sin is temptation made attractive. Again David could and should have stopped even here.

Stage 4 - Sin is temptation made attractive and acted upon
Having seen and watched and thought about her David sends men to find out more (v3). When the report back is made it is clear that she is married; "The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Again David could have stopped here - she is another mans wife!

Stage 5 - Giving in to wrong appetites
Despite her being married to one of his generals David cannot get her beauty out of his mind and she he sends for her and sleeps with her.

Stage 6 - Covering up the consequences
One of the striking things throughout this passage is that David never has an attack of conscience, at no point are we told he feels guilt or considers God or the law. Even when the news come that she is pregnant David's only thought is to cover up their sin - a cover up that will involved murder and implicate others.

But the chapter ends with a warning that whilst David doesn't feel any guilt, whilst he thinks everything is fine, "the thing David had done displeased the LORD."

It is striking as you read how many opportunities there are for David to come to his senses, on first seeing, on enquiring about her, when she comes to him. Yet he does not. What is also striking is that he has no trouble with his conscience even as he covers up his sin.

The chapter highlights again the deceitfulness of sin and its hold on our hearts, it reminds us again that our consciences are valuable but not infallible and they need training with the word of God.