I have been reflecting on the nature of sin and how it enters into our lives. And I have been greatly struck by this text John 8:44: “Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what he wants. He has always been a murderer and a liar. There is nothing truthful about him. He speaks on his own, and everything he says is a lie. Not only is he a liar himself, but he is also the father of all lies.” (Contemporary English Version)
We are also told by Peter (1 Pet 5:8) that the adversary goes about like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. And it is that ‘like’ which I believe is of key importance here, as the adversary is not a roaring lion, but much more subtle.
Out of God’s will
The adversary cannot make us sin. However, the minute we remove ourselves from our safety in the Lord, the adversary is there with lies, offering honeyed words that will offer an alternative way, will appeal to the flesh and will lead us off God’s narrow way and onto the highway to hell.
One of my favourite – and in saying favourite, I mean insightful – narratives in the Bible is that of King David and Bathsheba (or, as I prefer, Batsheva). In a rather languid style, the writer tells us that David was not where he should have been, or rather he was where he shouldn’t be.
It was now spring, the time when kings go to war, and David sent out the whole Israelite army under the command of Joab and his officers. They destroyed the Ammonite army and surrounded the capital city of Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1).
Essentially, in the spring, kings go to war – but David stayed at home. He removed himself from the place God had for him, and very quickly those lying words started to work their ways in his life.
Honeyed words
David sees a beautiful woman – and that is not an epithet thrown around lightly in the Bible – bathing naked. Temptation has been placed out like a goat staked out to tempt the predator. David took the bait, sending courtiers to fetch Bathsheba for him. The adversary knew his weakness, knew which buttons to push. So, once he is out of the place God has for him, then David’s buttons are being pushed. And it began with the lie that said to David: ‘No-one will know, go on’.
He went on, he went from temptation to adultery in a step so small, so simple he probably didn’t even notice it in his passion. Whether it is a single event or an extended period, who knows? But within a short time, news came that Bathsheba was pregnant. The temptation has turned into a snare. Can you imagine the impact on morale within the army if it became known that the king was frolicking with soldiers’ wives? David must have been horrified.
But the honeyed words come again: ‘Call the husband back from the frontline. He won’t be able to resist the allure of his wife, it will all be sorted.’ Another lie has dropped off the conveyor belt. So Uriah is called back from the front; he gives David his report and is offered a golden opportunity to enjoy his home comforts for a night. It will be fine. However, Uriah is made of sterner stuff that the lies being woven around David. In solidarity with his colleagues in the field in unpleasant conditions, he refuses home comforts. The escape route is cut.
But there is another lie waiting. ‘Keep him another day, ply him with wine, he will not be able to resist’. And that is what David does. But once again Uriah is made of sterner stuff. He resists again. David must have been aghast. But the thing is that once you start listening to those honeyed words, they keep coming, and as his head is reeling, another lie lays out another temptation. ‘There is a way out, we can fix it’. In his desperation, David will clutch at any straw. Even when that straw takes him from adultery to murder. ‘Its easy,’ says the lie. ‘Just tell your nephew, the commander of your army, to leave him exposed right in the frontline, then suddenly withdraw and the enemy will take care of your problem.’ David keeps taking the bait.
A fall from grace
The deed is done. The husband is killed by the enemy, the grieving widow comforted by the caring king, comfort leads to marriage, marriage to pregnancy and no-one is any the wiser. Yes, there might be a few rumours, a few whispers but it is done. But, as 2 Samuel 11:27 pithily puts it, “The Lord was displeased”.
To sin is indeed human, but to cover up that sin in the vain idea that God will not see it is not only foolish, it is evil. In a short period of time, a few easy lies and a handful of actions, David has gone from locked into the heart of God to outright evil. His heart is being consumed and he doesn’t even know it.
The remarkable thing is that God did not leave David there to be consumed. He sends Nathan the court prophet to David. In many ways, this parallels the manner in which God used Samuel with Saul. The prophet goes to the king and reveals the way in which the king has gotten out of step with God. In this case, Nathan uses a parable, one which enrages David so much that he demands the man responsible be put to death. I imagine that you could have heard a pin drop when Nathan responded with, ‘David, you’re the man’. Right here, right now, David has finally been exposed to truth, just like Saul was exposed to truth by Samuel. Saul met that truth with excuses and evasion. He was willing to blame anyone, even the prophet for his failings.
A broken heart
In stark contrast, David was broken. Curiously, something happens in the original text which appears to highlight this. The oldest manuscripts of the original Hebrew text comprised one continuous, and unbroken, letter string for each book of the Bible. No gaps between words, no punctuation or speech marks – just letters. The only point where that flow of letters was broken is right here in this story. There are many explanations for this, but the one I like is that David was so bereft that he cried like a baby with those big bawling cries that make you wonder if they will ever stop for breath. The prophet simply had to stop in the face of David’s grief. And this I believe is the key to receiving God’s grace.
A heart for God is quite literally heartbroken when brought face to face with its sin. The adversary’s objective is to sow so many lies that our hearts do not know truth when it is presented to us.
God’s gift of repentance literally sits in our hearts.
Are we contrite and heartbroken when confronted with our sins? Or have the adversary’s lies made us so complacent that we seek to pass the buck?
Let us seek to be in the place God has called us to be, doing what he has called us to do, so that we are less vulnerable to the lies of the adversary. And even more, let us set our hearts upon the Lord, ready to respond wholeheartedly should he need to correct us.
