2 Samuel 11:1-27

This is one of the darkest days in the history of Israel and the life of David.  The Bible is honest to paint the lives of the heroes with all of their failures and imperfections.  It is a very sad thing when leaders fail morally.  We often call this “falling into sin” but this passage shows us very clearly that that is not really what happens.  David did not “fall” he steadily walked in the direction of sin and kept on walking in that direction in a very purposeful way.  When we start down the path to sin, there are several warning signs along the way that alert us to the dangers ahead.  If we ignore those warning signs, with time we start to get used to them and our conscience no longer bothers us as we continue to walk deeper and deeper down the path of sin.  This is what happens with David as his conscience is seared to the point that he does not recognize the warning signals going off all around him.

DAVID WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE: David’s place was on the battle field with his men.  He had always been a warrior and the nation was at war.  However, instead of leading the men he stays back in the comfort of his own palace.  I am sure he had many ways to rationalize his actions and convinced himself that he deserved the time off.  The problem is that when we let our guard down in one area, we leave ourselves vulnerable in all areas.  David finds himself bored in his room lying on the couch in the late afternoon so he goes up on the roof and sees a beautiful woman bathing.  He should have looked away; he didn’t.  His first look became a lingering look and then it became lust.  Rationalization about our needs and comfort is always a very dangerous thing.  When we find ourselves saying that “we deserve a break” it should be a warning sign that things are not right.  Taking a vacation is not wrong, but we must be careful how we use that vacation time or it can lead to letting our guard down.

DAVID DOES THE WRONG THING: Looking leads to lusting which leads to acting upon those lusts.  David sends for the woman even though he finds out that she is married.  The fact that she was married was of really insignificant consequence because we must remember that David was married.  He had no business even asking about her but once he found out that she was married he should have had double reason to walk away.  The problem was that he had walked so deep into the jungle of his own lusts that he could not hear or see these warning signs.  He calls for Bathsheba, has sex with her and then sends her back to her home.  I am sure that David continued to rationalize that he deserved this pleasure; after all he was king and had worked hard for so long.  He was focused on his “needs” his “comfort” his “rights” and that lead him to a path of pain and destruction that brought shame to him and the nation for year to come.  The pleasures of sin are passing but the consequences are lasting.

DAVID RESPONDS THE WRONG WAY: When David finds out that Bathsheba is pregnant, he tries to do a “cover up.”  He sends for her husband to come from battle in hopes he will go sleep with his wife and no one will suspect when she shows up pregnant.  Uriah is not willing to take comfort while the nation is at war and refuses to go down to his wife.  David decides that the only thing he can do is have him killed and then take his widow as his wife in order to hide his adultery.  Once again the lights, sirens and whistles of David’s conscience must have been blaring but David had become blind to all of the warnings.  Sin is blinding and it will always take us much further than we ever set out to do.  David never planned to murder this woman’s husband; he just wanted a little frolic that he thought he “deserved.”  Sin takes a grip on our hearts and does not want to let go.