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This evening, we're going to be in the

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Old Testament, in 2 Samuel chapter 11.

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You may turn in your Bibles there now.

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To review the book of 2 Samuel, it

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begins with a report of Saul's death and

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David anointed king of Judah in chapter 2.

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And in chapter 5, David becomes king over

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all Israel.

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As we study 2 Samuel, we see several

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instances where David is found inquiring of the

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Lord.

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Chapter 2, verse 1.

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Chapter 5, verses 19 and 23.

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He demonstrates his love for God through his

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actions, obedience, worship, and prayer.

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God acknowledges David's faithfulness and makes a covenant

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with him in chapter 7.

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We continue to notice the words throughout the

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beginning chapters.

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So the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

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David proves to be a sound administrator, a

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strong leader, a courageous general, a generous ruler.

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Had David's life ended in chapter 10, he

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would only be remembered for the aforementioned.

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However, chapter 11 is the saddest chapter in

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the book of 2 Samuel, and the saddest

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chapter in King David's life.

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Oh, sin's misery.

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Chapter 11 is the account of David's adultery

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with Bathsheba.

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And we see a man who previously was

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a man after God's heart, now break the

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very heart of God.

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Listen friends, a second Samuel should be a

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warning to each of us here tonight, that

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if a man like David, who walked so

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closely with the Almighty, who penned such beautiful

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Psalms, who was so highly honored by God

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by being a lad taken from the sheep

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coat and made king, if that man David

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can fall into gross sin, how easy it

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is for each of us here to go

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and do likewise.

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A second Samuel is a warning.

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I recall Vance Havner saying that there was

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a certain evangelist whom Havner admired greatly, and

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this man was a great source of encouragement

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to him.

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But this evangelist fell into adultery and drunkenness,

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and it ruined his public ministry.

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Vance Havner said, he who was my biggest

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inspiration, became my biggest warning.

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A second Samuel is a warning to each

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of us here.

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Listen friend, if you're flirting with someone other

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than your spouse, that harmless flirt can turn

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into the devil's opportunity to ruin your marriage

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and your testimony for God.

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I remember Adrian Rogers saying he believed a

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married person should never take a member of

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the opposite sex out to lunch because the

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temptations were just too great.

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It was a good rule to follow.

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My message this evening is entitled David and

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Bathsheba, and we will look at David's tragic

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fall this evening and learn from it.

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For all scripture is an example to us.

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Chapter 11 in the business world represents financial

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bankruptcy, and chapter 11 in 2 Samuel represents

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spiritual bankruptcy in the life of David.

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David eventually repents at the parable which Nathan

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the prophet relates about the two men, one

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rich and one poor, where the rich man

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took the poor man's lamb and slaughtered it

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for dinner.

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David's anger is aroused and he cries out

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to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man

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who has done this shall surely die.

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Nathan points his bony finger of conviction at

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him and says, You are the man.

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David's heart is broken over his sin, but

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soon his family begins to break and fall

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apart as a consequence of David's sin.

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Bathsheba bears him a son and it dies.

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Amnon rapes Tamar.

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Absalom then murders Amnon because he defiled his

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sister.

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Absalom defies David and seeks to dethrone him.

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Absalom dies when his hair becomes entangled in

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a tree and he hangs.

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David's heart is broken over the death of

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Absalom, his son.

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We read in chapter 18 regarding David receiving

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the news of Absalom's death, then the king

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was deeply moved and went up to the

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chamber over the gate and wept.

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And as he went, he said thus, Oh,

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my son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom.

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If only I had died in your place.

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Oh, Absalom, my son, my son.

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I'm telling you, friends, sin has its heartaches.

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The devil will place sin on a silver

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platter and tempt you with its delicacies.

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And he knows how to push every hot

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button of yours and prey on your weaknesses

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to get you to indulge that sin.

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The devil will wrap it with a pretty

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bow and make it glitter in its attractiveness

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to you.

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But when sin is conceived, we see how

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ugly it really was all the time.

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And sin has its sad and bitter consequences.

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I knew a happy Christian family with a

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wonderful testimony for Christ and active service for

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advancing the kingdom of God.

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The husband of this family began a secret

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affair with his secretary and soon it became

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public.

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And it not only ruined his testimony for

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Christ, it ruined his family.

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For divorce soon followed, as well as rebellion

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in one of his children, whose own life

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became a train wreck.

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Oh, friends, how careful we must be on

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guard to guard ourselves and guard our families

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against dividing it through reckless sin.

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There are three aspects I want us to

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see in our study of David and Bathsheba.

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Number one, David became self-reliant.

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Number two, David became self-indulgent.

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Number three, David became self-deceived.

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If you will turn in your Bibles to

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the book of 2 Samuel, we will begin

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in chapter 11 and verse 1.

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And it came to pass, after the year

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was expired, at the time when kings go

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forth to battle, that David sent Joab and

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his servants with him and all Israel, and

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they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged

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Rabbah.

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But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

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And it came to pass, in an evening

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tide, that David arose from off his bed

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and walked upon the roof of the king's

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house.

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And from the roof he saw a woman

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washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful

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to look upon.

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I want to pause there, friends.

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Our text says it was a season when

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kings go forth to battle.

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This tells us that David should have been

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leading the strategic battle.

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But rather, we find him resting on his

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victories, reclining on his bed, and resisting the

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Spirit of God.

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Here is King David, with leisure time on

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his hands.

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He's not busily occupied for God right now,

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for he's decided not to fight the battles

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of the Lord, but to relax and enjoy

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himself for a season.

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So he's in a place he should never

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have been, up on his roof, for he

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should have been up on his horse in

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the heat of the battle.

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But instead, he's in the heat of his

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lusts as he tarries there and stares at

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the naked beauty of the gorgeous Bathsheba, who

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is another man's wife.

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The tenth commandment is, Do not covet thy

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neighbor's wife.

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The seventh commandment is, Do not commit adultery.

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And the sixth commandment is, Do not commit

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murder.

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David is a spiritual leader.

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He is king.

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He is well familiar with the law of

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God, for he's taught it to his people.

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And a spiritual leader is a number one

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target for the devil.

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He loves to take down spiritual leaders if

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he can, and hurt the cause of God

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in the world.

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So here is David, out on his roof,

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and he's on slippery ground, for he would

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have been safer in the heat of the

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battlefield, fighting the battles of the Lord.

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But instead, he's stepping into a bog of

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miry sin, which has a deep descent attached

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to it, for sin always takes you further

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than you want to go.

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And it isn't long that the man whose

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heart was after God soon breaks the heart

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of God by recklessly breaking three of the

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ten commandments.

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Oh, friends, the dangers of presumptuous sin that

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tramples the blood of Christ.

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Well, let us continue with our passage in

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verse three.

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And David sent and inquired after the woman,

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and one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the

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daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the

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Hittite?

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And David sent messengers and took her, and

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she came in unto him, and he lay

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with her, for she was purified from her

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uncleanness, and she returned unto her house.

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And the woman conceived, and sent and told

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David, and said, I am with child.

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Let us pause here, friends.

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David's lust for Bathsheba becomes an act carried

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out, and it has far-reaching implications.

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David was told she was a married woman,

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but that did not stop him in his

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quest for her.

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He decided he wanted to have her, and

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nothing was going to stand in his way.

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Was he not king, and cannot a king

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do as he pleases?

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The first aspect of David's downfall is that

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David had become a self-reliant man.

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If we go back to chapter 2 in

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2 Samuel, we see how God-centered David

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was, how dependent upon God David was.

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He would not make a move without asking

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God first.

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Look at chapter 2 and verse 1.

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And it came to pass, after this, that

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David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I

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go up into any of the cities of

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Judah?

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And the Lord said unto him, Go up.

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And David said, Whither shall I go up?

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And he said, Unto Hebron.

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Again, when we examine the character of David,

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we see a remarkable man who sought God

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continually.

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In 2 Samuel chapter 5 and verse 19

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we read, So David inquired of the Lord,

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saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines?

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Who will ye deliver them into my hand?

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And the Lord said to David, Go up.

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For I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into

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your hand.

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David just won't make a move without first

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consulting God to be sure that God was

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with him.

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God honored David because of his reliance upon

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God.

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So David went on and became great, and

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the Lord God of hosts was with him.

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David's reliance was totally upon God.

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But, friends, in chapter 11 of 2 Samuel,

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we see David no longer inquires of the

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Lord.

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David is now running the show.

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David has become a self-reliant man.

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Oh, friends, what danger there is in being

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a self-reliant person, whether you be a

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king or peasant.

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Self-reliance is certain spiritual failure.

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Now, notice our second aspect of this passage.

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David becomes a self-indulgent man.

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He lies on his bed when he should

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be out fighting battles.

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He's now middle-aged, over the age of

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50, and enjoying the fruits of his labors

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and victories.

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How dangerous middle-age can be for the

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Christian.

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How indulgent we can become at this particular

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season in life.

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We cater to our comforts, indulge our passions,

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and sin against God.

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So David is now accustomed to a life

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of self-indulgence.

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He's become lax in his walk with God.

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And this is demonstrated in the fact that

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he chooses to sin rather than obey.

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This aspect of David's self-indulgent life goes

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back much further than this episode with Bathsheba.

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For we sing in 2 Samuel 5 where

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it states, David took him more concubines and

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wives out of Jerusalem after he was come

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from Hebron.

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This was a violation of God's command for

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God had placed specific laws for one who

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would be king over his people.

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And one of these laws is found in

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Deuteronomy 17, verse 17, which states, Neither shall

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he multiply wives to himself that his heart

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turn not away.

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This tells us, dear friends, that the pathway

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to sin, the road to backsliding, is paved

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with consecutive breakdowns in our walk with God.

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We may get lazy in a daily quiet

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time with God and no longer walk closely

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with Him in a life of surrender.

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Or perhaps we indulge ourselves in little pleasures.

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And these become habits that allow us to

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fall into greater sinful indulgences.

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This certainly happened with King David.

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There was a breach in his walk with

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God way before the incident with Bathsheba.

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His heart had become hardened through his self

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-reliance.

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And he's out of fellowship with God.

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So it's easy for him to indulge himself

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through the stages of sin.

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A glance becomes a lingering stare.

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A lingering stare becomes a burning lust.

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A burning lust becomes an act of presumptuous

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sin.

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David knew better than to lie with Bathsheba.

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He knew it was a grievous sin against

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God.

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But his own self-gratification takes precedence over

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God's commands.

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Sin is going our way when we know

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it isn't God's way.

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Lastly, I want us to see the final

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aspect of David's failure.

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David became self-deceived.

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That's what sin does.

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It casts a thick blanket over our reason.

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We deceive ourselves into thinking the sin we

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are doing is excused or accepted for reasons

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of our own concoction.

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All sin is against God.

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David, when he comes under conviction from the

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prophet Nathan, sadly laments, I have sinned against

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the Lord.

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David's self-deception plays out in his desire

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to cover his sin with Bathsheba by having

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her husband, Uriah, killed in the field of

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battle.

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David's moral decline is staggering.

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First covet, then adultery, then murder.

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Then he aggravates the sin by trying to

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cover it.

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In Proverbs 28, 13, we read, He that

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covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso

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confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

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David covered his sin, and he still carried

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out the duties of being the spiritual leader

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of Israel as king.

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But during that time period of his backsliding,

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for at least 12 months, he did not

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spiritually prosper.

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A spiritual leader has higher standards than most

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and a greater degree of accountability before God.

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David only deceived himself by covering his sin.

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And the saddest verse in the saddest chapter

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of David's life found in 2 Samuel is

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verse 11, 27, which is the very last

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verse in that chapter, and it reads, But

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the thing that David had done displeased the

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Lord.

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I believe that when David composed Psalm 51,

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what broke his heart the most in regard

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to his sins was the fact that he

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had displeased the Lord.

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What we have seen is how David became

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self-reliant, how David became self-indulgent, how

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David became self-deceived, and this should be

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a great warning to each of us here.

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I want to end this message by reading

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Psalm 51 from verses 113 to you because

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it demonstrates how David became self-abased and

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truly repented of his great transgression against the

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Almighty.

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Oh dear friends, how careful we must be,

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how watchful we must be against the enemy

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of our souls who desires to trip us

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up at every turn.

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Hear now the words of a truly broken

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and repentant heart.

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And as I read them to us, it

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is my prayer that if there is one

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here within the sound of my voice who

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has strayed from God and needs to turn

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back to God in true repentance, that these

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words from Psalm 51 will be arrows to

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your heart and conviction and a bomb of

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grace to bring you back to the shepherd

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of your soul.

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Have mercy upon me, O God, according to

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Thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of Thy

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tender mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me

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throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from

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my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions, and

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my sin is ever before me.

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Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and

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done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou

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mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be

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clear when Thou judgest.

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Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in

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sin did my mother conceive me.

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Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts,

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and in the hidden part Thou shalt make

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me to know wisdom.

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Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be

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clean.

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Wash me, and I shall be whiter than

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snow.

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Make me to hear joy and gladness, that

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the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.

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Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot

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out all my iniquities.

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Create in me a clean heart, O God,

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and renew a right spirit within me.

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Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,

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and uphold me with Thy free spirit.

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Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and

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sinners shall be converted unto Thee.

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David and Bathsheba, may it be a lesson

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to each of our hearts.