Good Morning Friends,
“In the spring, when kings go off to war, David
sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed
the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. David remained in Jerusalem. One evening
David got up from his bed and walked around the roof of the palace. He saw a
woman bathing who was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about
her. The man said, ‘Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of
Uriah the Hittite?’ 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.’" (2 Samuel 11:1-5)
David’s sin with Bathsheba began with David in
a place he should not have been. It was spring, when kings go off to war. David
did not go with his army. He sent the commander, Joab, and he remained in
Jerusalem. It was an idle time for David and the devil found an opportunity.
David lingered on Bathsheba while she bathed. David
looked long enough to determine that she was a very beautiful woman. Paul
reminded us, “Flee from sexual immorality.” (1 Corinthians 6:18) Instead, David
dwelt on the beauty of the woman he saw.
David knew she was married. Someone brought him
the news of her identity. This was no sin of ignorance. David knew what he was
doing. David had no right to take her, she belonged to another man. David wasn’t
concerned about what was right that night -- only about what he wanted. He
wanted Bathsheba -- and he took her.
God promises to always provide a way out of
temptations that come to us. Paul said, “When you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
God gave at least three ways out for David:
He could have gone to war and avoided the
temptations of idleness.
He could have turned quickly away when he
noticed a woman bathing.
He could have found she was married and stopped
his plotting.
David rejected all of those opportunities and
any others God provided.
Look for the opportunities to get out from
under temptation and don’t give in like David did.
His, by Grace, Steve
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