47 Days of Justice 2024 - Day 9: When righteous people thwart evil schemes, bad things can happen.

“Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax.” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?” Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.””

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭11:8-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Somebody help me! What I thought was a parachute, is just a backpack!

You may have been there. You have a plan to get out of a pickle [may come from a Dutch phrase, "in de pekel zitten," literally means, "to sit in the pickle brine"], but have actually managed to “find” the bottom of the vat!

As we have discussed, once the line is crossed into evil and injustice, the tendency is to continue the descent into deeper depravity, accompanied by increasing disregard for what is right. One step toward the bottom necessitates another until you are lower than you ever imagined, lower than those you previously scorned for their weakness.

“The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:18-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And then there’s this:

“Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭36:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And who wrote Psalm 36? Yes, it was David! (Remember when we discussed the fact that it doesn’t look different when it is you?) But here he is now, with a fail-proof plan to cover his sin! After all, what man—having been away at war—would refuse a night of intimacy with his beautiful wife?

Oh! But there is an “intervening variable” [when I was doing research in my psychological studies, we would often find that we would get an unexpected result due to the presence of some phenomenon in the experimental model for which we had not controlled—an “intervening variable”]! The intervening variable in King David’s plan is the fact that Uriah is a man of honor and duty, a man faithful to his fellow battle-weary brothers in arms.

Make no mistake, if you are committed to righteousness, sooner or later you will find yourself (often inadvertently) interjected into the crosshairs of an evil scheme. Sometimes your very existence as one devoted to the Lord, devoted to doing what is right, will necessitate your being neutralized. Sometimes those bent on carrying out an evil plan, or a plan to cover up evil deeds, will attempt to corrupt the righteous. When that doesn’t work, when you won’t be moved from your steadfastness, the only option left for those determined to carry out their scheme, is your removal.

Yes, it can be a very dangerous place to be when your commitment to righteousness stands in the way of the carrying out of an evil scheme. You don’t believe me? Just ask Uriah…

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim #47DaysOfJustice