Description:

We will challenge each man to face his need for morality, rather than face the consequences of immoral decisions that can hurt today and haunt tomorrow.

Message from Marsh: “Blessings on each man who will seriously consider his moral standing and the cracks in his armor.”

Marsh

Founder/President

Thank you for coming to: mensgroup.org

CRITICAL ISSUES for Men

Lesson 3 – Morality

(www.mensgroup.org – “Original Study”)

PRAY: A suggested opening prayer for small group members or individuals to invite God to connect as we seek Him in his Word. Feel free to add your own words, “in prayer.”

Lord, we know this is a somewhat foggy area for men as they sort through their morality related to God, family, friends, and business. We know that many feel like a ship in a storm-tossed sea when dealing with moral choices. Help us all as we consider morality that is in keeping with your Word.

OPENING QUESTIONS:

1. What are some of the moral issues you face as a man?

2. What are most often the consequences of moral failure?

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE:

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, she is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, I am pregnant.

So David sent this word to Joab: Send me Uriah the Hittite.…When Uriah came to him, David asked him how…the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and wash your feet.…But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants.

David was told, Uriah did not go home. So he asked Uriah, Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home? Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!

Then David said to him, Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back. At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah...So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were…some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

Joab sent David a full account of the battle…through a messenger. When he finished…David told the messenger, Say this to Joab: Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD (2 Samuel 11:2-27).

LESSON:

This well-known story gives us the backdrop as well as the acts orchestrated by David. It is a story of lust, deceit, and bad decisions that tainted the moral life of David.

In order to discuss it, we must establish an understanding of morality. Man’s view of morality is that it can change over time, based on the culture, community, and other variables. But the view of morality from God’s perspective is that it is based in His nature and anchored in His Word. It is tied to loving God and loving people. In the Bible we see those who followed God and gleaned from His Word morality and lived wisely, and we also see people that forsook God, acted immorally, and suffered the negative consequences.

Back to our text. Bathsheba does give birth to the child of this affair but he dies shortly after. David is besought by guilt and shame for what he has done to one of the thirty best men in his army. At this time, David was fifty years old, had seven wives and other wives he married when he moved to Jerusalem to be King of all Israel. In this story, David did not go to war with the army because Joab was handling it as a small war against the Ammonites.

We are told, David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite (1 Kings 15:5). His sins included adultery with his wife Bathsheba, David’s attempts to cover it up, and the murder of Uriah by putting him in the heat of the battle where he could be killed more readily, which is exactly what happened.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. This one adulterous night led to moral choices to cover it up rather than confess it. Review them.

2. What were the consequences for David and Bathsheba because of this choice?

3. What could David have done to prevent all that happened?

APPLICATION:

1. What moral issues are the most difficult for you?

2. What would help strengthen you against a failure in the area of morality?

3. What are consequences you can see with immorality?

CLOSING PRAYER:

Lord, we are able to mess up our lives with one immoral action. Help us to consider this when we are tempted to waiver in our commitment. We want to be loyal to you and that means we must be loyal to ourself, our family, our church, and our business activities.

Continue to Lesson 4 – Disappointment

Or use these links to navigate to various parts of this study:

Did you find this study useful?

We’d love to hear your success story, ideas, or other feedback. Please send us an e-mail addressed to mensgrouptopics@gmail.com or use our contact page.

click the button below for A “PRINTER FRIENDLY” PDF OF this free study

Get PDF

Join our email list to stay in touch!

Get notified of updates such as when new studies are added.
Stay “in the know” about book giveaways (and other prizes).
We hate spam and will never sell or share your email address.