Closing the Door

Written By Ryan Lovett

What is in me that Satan could use against me?

Opening Thoughts

  • Scripture tells us over and over again that Satan is a deceiver, an accuser, and a tempter.

    • But here’s the truth we often forget: He doesn’t need to invent sin in you. He just needs to find a crack that’s already there.

  • And the danger is, we might not even see it—until we’re in the middle of a battle and realize he’s using something in us against us.

    • That’s exactly what we’re going to see in the life of David today.

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” - II Corinthians 4:8-10

A Door Left Open

1 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. - II Samuel 24:1-4

  • Now, taking a census in and of itself wasn’t wrong—God had allowed it before.

    • But this time, something is different. David didn’t consult the Lord.

But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”  - II Samuel 24:10

  • God is the only one who can call for a census and when He calls for it, a ransom must be paid for each person.

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord's offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.” - Exodus 30:11-16

God or Satan?

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. - I Chronicles 21:1

Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” - II Samuel 24:1

  • So who incited David—God or Satan?

    • These are not contradictions but complementary truths:

      • God is angry with Israel and is going to bring judgment on them.

      • In His sovereignty, he allowed Satan to tempt David, using it to bring judgment on Israel for prior sin, while holding David responsible for his response.

David’s Open Door

  • God allowed Satan to tempt David… and Satan used what was already in David to do it.

15 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. - II Samuel 24:15-16

Satan Already Uses What’s Inside Us

  • Satan doesn’t need to invent sin in us—he just looks for what’s already there.

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. - Ephesians 4:26-27

  • Notice that phrase: give no opportunity to the devil.

    • The Greek word there literally means a foothold—a place of access.

    • That means it’s possible for us, as believers, to unknowingly give the enemy space to work.

Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. - James 1:14-15

  • If Satan were to come against you today, what would he use?

Common Footholds the Enemy Uses:

  • Unhealed wounds – rejection, betrayal, abandonment, church hurt

  • Prideful independence – “I’ve got this, I don’t need help.”

  • Control issues – fear of surrendering people or plans

  • Comparison/envy – craving what others have, feeling overlooked

  • Hidden sin or shame – what’s kept in darkness often becomes a snare

How to Close the Door

Search It Out

Let God expose what’s in you.

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalm 139:23-24

  • If you ask God to search you… He will. He’ll bring things to the surface. Not to shame you—but to free you.

Confess and Repent

Don’t just feel sorry. Turn away from it.

  • You’ll never find freedom without repentance. But the moment you confess and turn—mercy is waiting.

Whoever conceals his sin will not prosper, but the one who confesses and forsakes it will receive mercy. - Proverbs 28:13

Live Surrendered

Keep the door closed by walking closely with God.

  • The truth is, we don’t just need a moment of repentance. We need a life of dependence.

…For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” - II Peter 2:19b-22

Conclusion

  • If there’s something in you that Satan can use—you can’t afford to ignore it.

  • ou have the Spirit of God living in you. You have the Word of God to guide you. You have the mercy of God ready to meet you.

  • Don’t wait for the cracks to become fractures. Let Him show you now—so He can heal you now.

Reflective Questions

  • What is in me right now that the enemy can use against me?

  • What can I do this week to come before God and have Him expose these things in a deeper way?

  • What do I need to repent of and then live a life of dependence in God for?

Ryan Lovett
Next

Resurrection Power