28 March | EVERYONE
“It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” 2 Samuel 11:1
David's tragedy began when he “remained at Jerusalem.” His armies fought on the battlefield while the king rested peacefully in his palace. In chapter 10, we see that Joab and an army of mighty men had partially defeated the Syrians and Ammonites, but victory only came when David went out and took the war into his own hands. So, the king knew that his place was next to his soldiers and not in the palace.
The brave and courageous victor of many battles was now succumbing in his spiritual warfare. By staying comfortably at home, he placed himself on the ground of temptation, and the enemy of souls took possession first of his mind, his thoughts, and then his heart and body. David knew that the beautiful woman he saw from his balcony was the wife of one of his soldiers. But he surrendered to her beauty. The voice of the Spirit undoubtedly spoke to him, made him uncomfortable, and admonished him loudly, but the king allowed himself to be carried away by the passions of the flesh.
When the sin was consummated and when he learned that Bathsheba was expecting a child, he wanted to hide the case, which began a chain of detestable actions—adultery, political intrigue, treason, murder, abuse of power, hypocrisy, lying. In short, a cocktail of sins that would horrify any mortal.
The consequences were catastrophic, the people began to distrust their king, and his family lived through undesirable situations: the rape of his daughter Tamar, the death of his son Amnon, the rebellion of his son Absalom, including the rape of his concubines.
Through it all, God's forgiving and transforming grace was abundant and David was called "a man after [God’s] own heart" (cf. 1 Samuel 13:14).
What a wonderful love!
Take Action
A fall (or two, or three...) will not deprive you of God's love, but it will embitter your life and may also embitter the life of people around you. Instead, hold on to the Helping Hand and do not get carried away by your own instincts, even if it is just for a minute.