When You Wonder Off Course For Too Long

Commentary

It was tradition for kings to go into battle in the spring, since winter was too harsh for executing a battle plan with success. So David would’ve known where he was supposed to be when the time came. However, he chose to stay back home while sending his mighty men into battle. Suffice it to say, at home was not where God wanted David to be.

We can see this as a reflection of the Christian walk. As we follow God’s lead, He impresses upon us where He wants us to be and what He wants us to be doing. But too often you and I have other plans. Whatever the reasoning may be, we step away from the direction and protection of the Lord. When we do this, we open ourselves up to trouble, as we’ll soon see with David.

Commentary

During this time when David was supposed to be leading in battle, he was restless for whatever reason. In his restlessness, he decided to pace on the palace roof in the middle of the night. Perhaps in his open schedule, he became bored and allowed his mind to dwell on things which caused his restlessness.

God’s plan for you and me keeps us focused on what’s truly important. But when we deviate from God’s way, we allow our minds to be open to thinking about other things too much, leading to obsession, anxiety, worry, and a desire to pleasure-seek in order to find joy again.

As David paced, his eyes caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman bathing. David didn’t sin at that moment because he didn’t go to the roof to seek that. However, David allowed what he saw to become the focus of his mind. As a pleasure-seeker, David didn’t need to be seduced like Joseph (see Genesis 39) was or dragged kicking and screaming; his heart was fertile for whatever the enemy could bring his way.

David’s first sin in this situation came when he allowed his mind to become occupied with what he saw; seeing turned to lust. He still could’ve left the roof and gone back to his room, but instead, he craved pleasure, and that would lead him further into sin.

This is how the enemy takes advantage of our weakness. You take God’s blessings for granted, you deviate from His guidance, you start seeking pleasure in your lack of joy, then Satan and his demons seize on the opportunity to tempt you into sin. A mind so focused on self will be very easy to persuade into doing what is not right.

Commentary

Don’t assume Bathsheba was completely innocent in this situation. Though it was nighttime, bathing in a place that can be seen so easily was not right. We are to be modest and not openly displaying our nakedness for others to so easily see. In addition, this passage makes no indication that she resisted David. She is guilty of her sin just as David is his.

What began with a glimpse, turned into lust, then burning desire, then adultery. But it wouldn’t end there; David got her pregnant, so now there was not only an affair, but also an unplanned pregnancy, which only complicated the matter more.

God knows what’s best for each of us; He blesses us accordingly and guides us away from trouble. But when you and I get lazy and sloppy in our walk, and step way from His lead, we eventually get into trouble.

David had been blessed beyond measure, yet he still disobeyed God in his marriages to many wives and having concubines. It’s obvious David loved sex, yet with all those women he had, it was still not enough. This is because he was seeking joy from pleasure instead of from God. Joy from pleasure is short-lived and if pursued long enough simply becomes elusive altogether.

When you’re so focused on worldly pleasure, after time, you won’t gain any pleasure but will instead find misery while multiplying trouble for yourself. Not only bringing harm to yourself but also to innocent people around you.

Commentary

Here’s where David’s sin really starts to snowball. Trying to cover up his and Bathsheba’s affair, David brings her husband Uriah home from battle so that he will sleep with his wife. No doubt David thought if he could just get Uriah to sleep with her, no one would know, apart from him and Bathsheba, that the baby was his, and he could go on without major repercussions.

Uriah was one of David’s top men, not to mention so were Bathsheba’s father and grandfather. In his nearsighted desire for pleasure, David sinned not only against God, but secretly against men in his life who trusted him and who David was dependent on. That had to have weighed David down to some extent.

What might feel good for a moment, ends up becoming quite bitter for a much longer time, especially when you try and hide your sin. We see this play out far too often in this world, and God forbid in our own lives as well. The consequences are immense for the one trespassing and also for those in their path.

Commentary

David’s plan A failed, and now plan B was unimaginably worse. He had Uriah murdered while making Joab an accomplice. David lost focus on God, opening his mind to pleasure-seeking. What his eyes saw planted a seed, which at this point led to adultery, deceit, and murder. He didn’t have to. David could’ve turned away at any point and not dug in further, but he didn’t. When you’re in that deep, it’s very hard to stop, but with the Lord, anything is possible. David would end up paying a heavy price for this with the death of their baby and further issues in his family later on.

Let this be a lesson in your own life. If you’re struggling with pleasure-seeking, which we all do at times, in different ways, understand that all it takes is a moment of stepping away from God’s direction, a moment of shifting focus from Jesus to your own desires, to make way for massive failure.

Reflecting on all of the Lord’s blessings upon you and being humbled and thankful to Him goes a long way toward avoiding this trap that Satan and his demons love to set for us. And Satan loves it because it’s easy. We’re so weak without our God’s protection and guidance. Like a lamb wandering off into the wilderness, we become vulnerable to all the enemy’s attacks when we’ve chosen to leave the protection of our Shepherd.

Maybe your weakness is sex, perhaps money, alcohol, or something else. Whatever your flesh seeks, kill those desires by following Jesus as close as you can. As you can see, it doesn’t take powerful or persistent seduction when you’re in the wrong place. All it can take is just a glimpse of what you desire to send you into chaos.