To Encourage You

2 Samuel 11:2-3 “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman.”

It’s hard to know where to begin when considering the sordid account of David and Bathsheba. Here we have one of the most wicked events in all the Bible involving, of all people, David, who was known as “a man after God’s own heart.” Here was Israel’s champion. Here was Israel’s greatest king. Yet, here was a man shown to be capable of great evil, a man who fell deeply into sin.

One of the things that struck me as I once again read this account was various forms of the word “send.” It occurs multiple times. It’s actually because of the great authority God had given him that David could command people to carry out his wishes, to “send” them to go here or there or to do this or that. So what does he do with it, this God-given authority?

In verse 1 it says that David sent Joab, the commander of his army, into battle with the Ammonites, while he stayed home to relax. Then, in the verse above we see that as David lets his mind wander concerning Bathsheba, he sends some of his servants to inquire about her. Then, although he finds out that Bathsheba is another man’s wife, he sends messengers to take her and bring him to his own house. After his adultery, when David finds out Bathsheba is pregnant, he sends word to Joab to send Bathsheba’s husband Uriah home from the battlefield. In verse 8 we are told that David sent Uriah to his home to “wash his feet,” a Jewish euphemism for lying with his wife. It was all an elaborate plot to hide David’s sin. But because of his own integrity and his concern for the troops he had left in the field of battle, Uriah doesn’t do as David asks. Frustrated, David asks him to stay for two more days, after which he would send him back to the war. Still, Uriah doesn’t go to his wife, even after David invites him to eat and drink with him and succeeds in making him drunk. Then, in verse 14 we learn that as David sends Uriah back, he sends along a letter to Joab. The letter commands Joab to put Uriah in the thick of the battle with the full intent that he would be killed. After the battle and Uriah’s death, Joab sends word back that David’s dirty deed had been done. Finally, after Bathsheba’s time of mourning for her husband, David sends for her and she becomes his wife. It’s enough to make you sick, all this “sending” in an effort to steal a man’s wife and then try to hide that sin by murder. He’s not content to involve just himself in his wickedness, as he includes others to help him every step of the way.

So often we hear the justification for moral sin that because it just involves our own body, nobody is harmed by it. But is that ever the case? Do we ever sin in a vacuum? Maybe we should ask the children devastated by adultery, not to mention the betrayed spouses and the extended families and friends. Like a fire that begins with a small spark, our sin can slowly but surely reach its fingers far and wide in its destruction.

So, what about us? What authority has God given us? Who do we have the power to influence with our lives, and are we using that influence for good? May we remember the example of David. Although he was a great king and did so many great things, he also did great evil when he took his eyes off of the Lord. He lost sight of the fact that God had given him his authority with a purpose to always serve and glorify Him. Yet David used his authority to serve his own desires and bring great harm to others as a result. And so it is with the opportunities God has given us. We can make the most of them by serving Him and thereby bring blessing to others around us, or we can serve ourselves and curse everything we touch.

May God help us to remember the example of David and not follow His example of sin.