- araratchurch
- Jun 4, 2024
- 2 min read
“He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home.”
2 Samuel 11:3-4 NLT
Have you ever been walking down a steep incline, when suddenly your pace is getting faster and faster, as you desperately try to keep from tumbling down? At that point, your mind shifts into overdrive, and you’re wondering what’s going to be broken when you hit bottom. Hitting the bottom is inevitable. Some injury is also inevitable. The only question: How bad is this going to hurt me?
Well—as you can gather from my description—I have been there, finding myself on a steeper incline than I had anticipated, no way to stop, nowhere to grab, trying to keep up with my feet, just wondering how I’m going to look when I get to the bottom. Believe me, it’s a pretty scary experience, bringing to mind a line in an old Oak Ridge Boys song, “If the long fall don’t get you, the sudden stop will.”
Now, remember that slippery slope we keep coming back to?
You know the one: You’re just going to “relax” a bit. You aren’t being watchful. Something grabs your attention; and you find yourself in fast motion going where you never thought you would go.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
Proverbs 14:12 ESV
Yes, there is a way “that seems right;” but you see, that “seems” is the key. When you stop pursuing righteousness and look away from what is right, up jumps temptation, and now your judgment as to what “seems” right, is compromised.
King David should have stopped himself from going forward when told that Bathsheba belonged to another man. But, he has stepped out onto a slippery slope. There are no handrails. And, he is wearing skates….
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 3, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 19, 2024
“Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.””
2 Samuel 11:2-3 NLT
Oh no! King David, weary of battle, stays home to rest, and has let his eyes wander from what is right. Now he sees something that has caught his attention and he is about to enter into temptation.
Temptation is when you have gone beyond the point of just observing or looking at something, gone beyond a random thought. Now, in reaction to some stimulus, desire is stirred. As desire is stirred, thought processes kick in to plan a way to fill that desire as consideration is given to what it would be like to have that, or to do that, etc., if that desire is acted on. That imagination, fully engaging in what had been just an observation or thought, becomes the corridor to destruction.
“Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”
James 1:14-15 NLT
Now, there are people who have been doing wrong for so long that it’s anyone’s guess as to when it all began. But make no mistake, it had a beginning.
Even when someone has been doing right for a long time, if for some reason (weariness, disappointment, frustration, boredom, and so on), they waiver from their steadfastness, a perfect storm for sin is on their horizon.
So, King David sees a beautiful woman. [Please bear in mind that at this time, Kings had many wives. And, there’s no need to get into a debate as to whether this was something God ordained or not. It’s just the way it was, and is descriptive, not prescriptive.] Naturally, David wants to know who she is.
Now, here comes his moment of decision: David hears that this very beautiful woman is someone else’s wife. Prudence would have ended the matter in David‘s heart and mind, knowing that Bathsheba belonged to someone else. But, when you have wavered from your steadfastness and looked away from what is right, upon seeing something that stirs desire, the carnal mind will attempt to block any argument of conscience, often, by employing rationalization (see “Day 2”).
Many times, when confronted with temptation, we tell ourselves that we’re just having a flirtation in our mind about something and we will know when to stop. After all, we know where the “line” is.
You may look at someone who has done something so heinous that you wonder what “sort” of a person could do such a thing. Well, many times, it is the sort of person who—just like you—thought they would never cross the line they are about to cross. But getting too close to that line, proved to give a place for the devil to push them from temptation into evil doing.
Think of it, haven’t you engaged in some dangerous behavior (e.g., peeling something towards you with a sharp knife, looking away from the road when driving, not chocking a car on an extreme slope, etc.), and nothing went wrong…until it did?
“and give no opportunity to the devil.”
Ephesians 4:27 ESV
James’ admonition in the above scripture, is regarding continuing to allow anger to fester. But this admonition is applicable to the entertaining of any sort of deviation from what is right before God, deviation from what is holy.
But, back to King David. He has seen something he wants, and been told that it belongs to somebody else. Surely he knows where the “line” is. Doesn’t he?
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 2, 2024
- 2 min read
“In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.”
2 Samuel 11:1-2 NLT
When you get weary in what you’re doing, you become easy prey for something else to catch your eye. And, that something else is rarely going to be an impetus toward getting you back into action for what is right.
Indeed, things pursued as a result of battle fatigue (and pursuing what is right is often a battle), generally only serve to distract from what is most important.
Yesterday we looked at the fact that King David had apparently become weary with battle. Rather than going to war—as was his usual practice—he stayed at home to “rest.” Today we see that something else will capture his attention. Something not right, something not good, something not just, will be presented to David and he will step out onto that slippery slope we were discussing yesterday.
On that note, King David, walking on the palace roof, sees Bathsheba taking a bath (actually, a ceremonial cleansing related to her menstrual cycle). As we have noted, he is (apparently) weary of war, weary of struggling, and “needs” a distraction. But, beware! If you “need” a distraction, the devil will see to it that you find one of his making.
Yes, being distracted from what is right, always leads to calamity.
“This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord.”
Jeremiah 17:5 NLT
There’s just something about spiritual “inertia” that begs a prod toward evil. That is why it is so very important to guard the state of your heart, never letting it look away from what is right, never looking away from the Lord.
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
Proverbs 4:23 NLT
If King David had been doing as he always did—leading his men in battle—he would not have had the opportunity to let something else catch his eye. But, he was at ease, and everything was about to change for him as he slides into doing the unthinkable.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!