Giants of Past Mistakes and Disobedient Decisions: Part 2 (1 Samuel 17:1-3) by Dr. Rod Mattoon

Scripture

• 1 Samuel 17:1–3

About this sermon

In PART TWO of this message, we take a look at the life of David and his battle with the giant of past mistakes and disobedient decisions. David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the scheme to have Uriah killed haunted him for the rest of his life. Sinful choices can do that to you. They have a way of scarring our lives. Sin snowballs like a careless child rolling a small flake of mischief into a towering avalanche of regret. It is unstoppable and overwhelming as it cascades down the mountainside of morality. Sin is a shadowy specter lurking in the corners of our conscience, whispering sweet temptations while cloaked in the darkness of regret. Oh beloved, the beginning of sin should be dreaded. For who knows where it will end? Who would ever dream that David would stoop so low? Where is the man whose heart smote him because he cut Saul's skirt? Sin not only hardens the heart, it sears the conscience and robs one of clear thinking. David was not thinking straight at all. His mind was crooked like a bent wand of a willow tree or like a lock of hair in a windstorm. It was as crooked as the letter “Z”. His sinfulness was like a twisted vine, ensnaring his mind in a labyrinth of shadows, where clarity is lost and truth is but a distant echo. David’s lust was like a blinding fog, obscuring his path to truth, leaving him lost in a haze of desire. With a clouded mind, blinded by his lust, he prepares his life for future battles with formidable giants. After Uriah’s death, David married Bathsheba, but what he had done displeased the Lord. They do not live happily ever after. There was sorrow, suffering, and pain. God looked upon David's sin as you would look on a rattlesnake if you found it coiled in your baby's bed. He hates our sin. The cost of the cover-up scars David's life forever. Guilt was working on David. It hovered over him like circling vultures or like smoke after a fire. Guilt clung to him like a shadow at dusk, darkening every joy and whispering reminders of his sin in the fading light. His guilt became a huge giant in his life. He wrote about his broken fellowship with God. He was trapped in a whirlpool of woe and in the muck of misery. Bad health loomed over him like a thunderous giant, casting shadows on every dream and aspiration he dared to chase. His health became a giant in his life that he had to battle because of his past mistakes and sinful choices. * Psalm 32:3, 4a—When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me... * Psalm 51:3—For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Sleepless nights, physical illness, fever, haunting memories, loss of weight, feeling alone... these are some of the price tags for sinful living. Understand that living in sin is like shopping in a store with invisible price tags; the cost is hidden until you reach the checkout of consequences. If you choose David's sinful path, don't be surprised at the outcome. The cataracts of lust ruined his vision and robbed him of his joy. His passion blinded his thinking. He was like a day that is blinded by fog. He was a much better teenager than he was a man. Life is a canvas, and if only we could paint over our mistakes with brighter colors, we could create a masterpiece instead of a muddled mess. David made a mess of his life. If only he could go back and redo his life and not make the same mistakes. How many have wished this about their past choices and failures? Unfortunately, we do not have that luxury. We can learn from David. We can learn the cost of the cover-up of our sins. If we don’t nip our sins in the bud now, we will have an appointment with the giant of past mistakes and disobedient decisions. This message was preached on Sunday night, July 20, 2025, at Lincoln Land Baptist Church.

Topics

• Obedience