9 Facing Temptation

In Lake Wobegon Days Garrison Keillor describes a priest named Father Emil, who presides over Our lady of Perpetual Responsibility Catholic Church. Every year Father Emil faithfully delivers a sermon on the evils of birth control. He entitles it "If You Didn't Want to Go to Minneapolis, Why Did You Get on the Train?" His point, of course, is that if we want to avoid certain consequences, we must avoid certain actions.

The story of David and Bathsheba reveals how a series of smaller sins can build to tragic and devastating results. We also discover what forces can lead "a man after God's own heart" to commit adultery and murder.

1. How do you respond when you hear that a respected Christian leader has committed a serious sin?

2. Read 2 Samuel 11. Sin often begins with a series of temptations, each one leading to the next. What steps led to David's sin with Bathsheba (vv. 1-5)?

3. At each stage of his temptation, what might David have done to keep from taking the next step? (Be specific.)

4. Why do you think Satan often entices us with a series of temptations rather than offering us one "big" temptation?

5. At what point does a temptation become sin?

6. What plan does David devise to cover up his sin (vv. 6-13)?

How does Uriah thwart David's plan-at least initially?

7. Why are we tempted to cover up our sins rather than to confess them?

8. When deceit fails to work, how does David's plan become vicious (vv. 14 15)?

9. What other people does David draw into the wake of his sin?

10. As you look back over this chapter, how would you explain what led "a man after God's own heart" to commit adultery and murder?

11. In what specific ways can David's experience be a warning to us?