“When Satan Attacks Our Families” – 2 Samuel 12:1-13

I love a good action movie. Don’t you? They are hard to find anymore but they used to make a lot of them. I think about movies that starred John Wayne or Audie Murphy or Jimmy Stewart. Yea, I know that makes me sound old, but I don’t care. Those were good watching for the whole family, most of the time.

But the really good ones always had the good guy going by himself behind enemy lines or charging up a hill all alone into the enemy fire and coming out alive. Audie Murphy acted it out after he did it in real life. That’s pretty cool. But the reason that we like shows like that are because the odds are so against it happening. We all like to see the underdog win, especially when the good guy is the underdog.

I think we like for the underdog to win because that’s not normally what happens and we like to see something different than what usually happens in real life. Because in real life, when somebody is alone and they face an enemy that outnumbers them or outpowers them, what happens? In real life, they usually get killed.

So, who is our enemy? Is it Russia? China? North Korea? The Democrats? The crazy neighbor down the street? Is the enemy sitting here today amongst us? Absolutely not. Satan and his band of demons are our only enemies and they know how this game is played. Satan knows that if he can get you alone that his odds of dragging you down just went up. It’s just smart warfare.

The problem for Satan is that God has designed us to work better in groups and God blesses those groups with power and wisdom that an individual doesn’t have. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Do you know what that sounds like? It sounds like a family. But what is a family? Does a family have to be blood-related or marriage-related? Of course not.

We all know groups of people who are not legally related who call themselves a family. I’m talking to one of those groups right now. We are like-minded. We have a lot in common. We care for each other deeply. It’s not that we don’t care about others outside of our church, but the members of the church are special. Paul said in Galations 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

That’s the way it should be for all families. I don’t expect the old boy down the street to bring me chicken soup when I have a cold. I don’t expect him to visit me in the hospital or bail me out of jail. That’s not his responsibility. He might actually do some of that if I asked, but I wouldn’t ask because he’s not family. I expect y’all to do that, though, and I know you would because that’s what family does. We care for each other and protect each other.  We lift each other up in prayer. We hold each other accountable. We give support and comfort when it is needed and sometimes we do all that just to show our love to each other. That’s powerful and, as you can imagine, that’s a problem for Satan.

That’s why the family is target number one for him. He knows that an individual by himself is a much easier target, so he attacks the family hard every day. And while it seems that Satan’s efforts to attack the family have revved up in the past few years, the family has always been his number one target.

Thousands of years ago there was a man after God’s own heart. He was an humble and wise warrior and king. He could relate to the little person - the poor person - since he started as a mere shepherd himself. He was passionate for God and wrote dozens, maybe hundreds, of poems, songs and hymns. He was sensitive to what God wanted and was a man of great faith and courage. On top of all that, the guy could use a slingshot like nobody’s business. And all of that made him Satan’s most wanted.

Turn, please, to 2 Samuel chapter 12 to a familiar passage and a passage that I hate to preach on. I have preached on it before and, Lord willing, I probably will again because there is a lot to learn from it. But every time I do, I feel like I need to apologize to my friend. I’ve told you before that I grew up reading about David growing up and I have always felt like we were friends. He’s my favorite biblical character and I look forward to the day when I can apologize for bringing this story up to my family when it makes him and his family look so bad. I have an idea he would like to apologize as well.

It goes Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel and then 1 and 2 Kings in the Old Testament and this will conclude our thirteen-month sermon series on how to handle it when Satan attacks. I’m going to read verses 1-13 that talk of the aftermath of David’s sin with Bathsheba. You know that story.

One evening when David was alone and didn’t have anything else to do, he went up on the roof of his palace to get a little air. He looked around at Jerusalem, the city God had blessed him with. But as he looked, David saw a woman on her roof taking a bath. It was a common thing back then. So, David immediately bounced his eyes off of the woman and thanked God for all he had been blessed with. Right? Nope.

He checked her out for a while and then sent a servant to go and bring her to him. One thing, as it always does, led to another and this woman, named Bathsheba, wound up pregnant. Since the woman was married to one of David’s finest soldiers, David – in all his wisdom – decided to have the man killed. He’s the king. What could possibly happen?

Almost a year later, we pick up the story in chapter 12 with the prophet Nathan being sent by God to David with a story. Let’s read 2 Samuel 12:1-13.

The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.  2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle,  3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.  4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”  5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die!  6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”  7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.  9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’  11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.  12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

 Let’s stop there. That’s painful to read, isn’t it? What David did thousands of years ago and what he was just certain he had gotten away with is still causing pain even today. Sin always causes pain. God told David, the man after God’s own heart, the king of God’s chosen people that I am going to bring calamity on you.  Do you see that in verse 11?

To those of you who think God only “allows” bad things but never causes them, how do you explain this verse?  This is why I often say that God scares me. It’s not that I cower in fear of Him all the time but it is more than just respect.  He scares me because I see what He is capable of and I don’t ever want to displease Him because of that, if nothing else.

There are three things I want us to see this morning from this passage. The first thing is that Satan will often attack subtly. Don’t you wish Satan would fight fair and announce what he was going to do and tell you the consequences and what your options are. I wish he was more like a good waiter at a restaurant.

“Hi. I’m Satan. I’ll be your tempter today. Our special today is lust and murder with a side of lying but I have to warn you it is a bit spicy and will result in death. Can I get you started with some gluttony or maybe some gossip today?”

But it’s never that easy to see what is going on. All David was doing was getting some night air up on the roof of the palace and he happens to look over and he sees splish splash taking a bath Bathsheba. Now, was it a sin for David to see her? Obviously, he couldn’t help but notice her. The problem came – the sin came – when he continued to look and then sent for her. He lusted after her.

I went to Las Vegas one time probably 10-15 years ago. I don’t recommend it. But hear me out. I didn’t go to gamble or anything like that. I went with my pastor at the time and our church’s chairman of deacons. We had a church member go there to visit her daughter who lived there and she had a massive stroke while she was there and we went to visit her in the hospital.

I remember waiting to cross the road one day as we left our hotel. We were standing on the corner and just before the light turned so we could walk, a truck drove by pulling a trailer with a billboard-sized picture of a naked woman on it. It’s literally ten feet in front of us and turning the corner slowly. That was uncomfortable. But was it a sin? No. That wasn’t a sin to just see the picture and it wasn’t a sin for David to see Bathsheba. The sin came with what happened next. Just sending someone to ask about her and then to get her. For him, that was sin because he already had in his mind what he wanted to do.

But rarely does Satan use billboard-sized temptation. Romans 13:14 says to make no provision for the flesh (KJV). That means we are to always be prepared for temptation by not doing anything that would put us in the position to be tempted. I tell the guys in the jail all the time if you are an alcoholic, don’t work where alcohol is served.  In fact, don’t even drive past the liquor store.  Go 4 blocks out of the way if you have to but don’t make any provision for it.  If porn is your problem, don’t get on the internet - for anything.  Stay away.  Maybe you need to stay away from certain people or places or even songs or smells.  I don’t know what triggers you, but you do, so don’t play with it.  Get rid of it.

David was just taking a little break, being a little lazy that day and took a little walk on the flat roof of his palace.  It wasn’t his fault that he saw Bathsheba a few doors down on her roof taking a bath.  He couldn’t control that but he shouldn’t have been there in the first place and when he saw her, he should have done like Joseph did in Genesis and just run away. 

But it all starts in the mind so take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5) and be the master of your thoughts. Don’t let them master you because that subtle thought is how Satan attacks you.

Another way Satan loves to attack us is by perverting what we already have. It happens all the time and we need to be aware of it. He tries to replace the God-blessed things in our lives by perverting them with something new and different. At this point, I believe David has eight wives and who knows how many concubines. And yet, he sees Bathsheba and wants her too.  Look again at verses 7 and 8.  God said, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.”

We talked last week about how God loves to give and He wants to give good gifts. James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father...” Ecclesiastes 5:19 says, “Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil--this is a gift of God.” God gives good and perfect gifts and He wants you to enjoy them.  

He especially wants you to enjoy your family. He wants you to enjoy your spouse. Do you realize that sex is God’s idea? He wants you to enjoy it. In Proverbs 5, God says to enjoy the wife of your youth. You ought to go home and read that passage as a couple. It gets a little racy there in places so be careful. You might wind up in the Song of Solomon and things will get really crazy.

But here is where Satan attacks. He says, “You don’t have to actually marry her. That’s just a piece of paper. Why waste money on a wedding? The law says all we have to do is shack up and say we are married and that’s good enough. Besides, what if it doesn’t work out?”

Do you see how Satan has perverted marriage? He took what God started and God blessed and twisted it. Nowadays the law also says that same-sex couples can be married. So, just because it is legal doesn’t mean it is moral or God-blessed.

Let me give you an illustration about weddings. I love the story of when Abraham sent Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. Do you remember the wedding ceremony they had when Eliezer came back with Rebekah? The ceremony consisted of the two of them walking into a tent. That was the wedding. But that’s what they did in that culture. Our culture is different. So, how could it make any difference before God? Why doesn’t God bless common law marriages?

Well, let me ask you this. Why do we get baptized when we ask Jesus to be Lord of our lives? We do it because Jesus said to do it and we do it to show that we are followers of Him. We want the whole world to know that by this symbolic act of being dunked under water that we are followers of Jesus. Does it save us? Is that how you get to Heaven? No! That is just an outward sign in front of Heaven and earth that we have made an inward choice.

It’s the same with a wedding. We stand before God and family and friends and, according to our custom, we tell everyone that this person is our choice for life. And when we do that, Satan screams! And he will attack it but when we make God look good in our marriage, God blesses it.

Satan wants to counterfeit every good thing we have. He wants to pervert what God has said is good, like finding a wife or a husband and perverting marriage or by making you think that what you have is not as good is what somebody else has. He wants you to think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. But God hasn’t blessed that grass for you.

Okay, I’m running out of time so it looks like we will have plenty to talk about tonight. Let me get to the last point I want to make and that is that, as a rule, as the man goes, so goes the family. God is all about order. The universe has order. There is order in the plants, the ocean, the trees and there is order in the family. That is how God designed it.

1 Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” Think about what sins David had committed in his affair with Bathsheba. He lusted, raped, lied, murdered, fornicated and deceived and who knows what all else. Now, if you were to continue reading in the next several chapters, do you know what you would find David’s sons doing? Lusting, raping, lying, murdering and fornicating and who knows what all else.

Where do you think they learned all that? He was not a good father and his sons learned to not be good fathers either. Now, ladies, this doesn’t let you off the hook at all. In fact, your family will learn from you as well. Do you know who the best example is of surrendering to Jesus? A wife who surrenders to her husband.

The church is the bride of Christ and, as such, we have a wonderful relationship with our Savior. We walk and talk with Him and communicate with Him and when He has plans, we surrender our plans. We surrender our will to His. We know His will and His way is perfect and we trust Him.

In the Christian home, the man is the head of the house and while his will and way may not be perfect, there will be loving communication and, in the end, there will be surrender by the wife. That’s not me being sexist. That’s not my idea. That is God’s plan and it has been since the beginning and it works best since the man is under Jesus and loves his wife more than himself.

Years ago, I went with this girl I was dating to her family Thanksgiving family reunion. The whole family was there: mom, dad, sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles and aunts and, of course, MawMaw and PawPaw. We had a big meal and then went into the living room and everybody was happy and full and having a good time and one of the grandkids asked PawPaw a question.

“PawPaw, if you had it to do all over again, would you?”

“No.” PawPaw said without a smile.

There was an uncomfortable silence and the grandkid tried to explain. “You know what I mean, PawPaw. Would you meet MawMaw and have kids and grandkids all over again?”

Again, PawPaw just answered, “No.”

“Well, why not???”

“Too hard.”

He’s right. Raising a family is hard. Doing it right is hard. It’s almost as hard as trying to get through this life without a family, which is right where Satan wants you to be. You don’t have to have a blood family. If nothing else, you have this family and this family loves you and will protect and provide for you. If you doubt it, just ask some members of this family.

Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion trying to kill you dead (1 Peter 5:8). You need help. You can’t face him alone. When you join the Kingdom of God and join this family of believers, you will continue to be attacked by Satan but now you have backup. You have brothers and sisters who love you and will help you as we all submit to Jesus as a family.

Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior today. Ask Him to forgive you of your sin and then repent, turn away from that sin. Then allow Him to come into your life and change you from the inside out. Do that right now as the music plays.