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Monday, January 17, 2011

What can we learn from King David?



"Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing;"--2 Samuel 11:2. David saw a woman bathing. The woman was Bathsheba.  I think most of us know the rest of this story.  David saw she was beautiful.  David falls victim to what some would call the lust of the eyes.  He goes after her despite the fact that she is a married woman. She becomes pregnant with David's child. He has her husband murdered on the front lines in the battle field in an attempt to cover up his sin.  He succeeds in his plans for Uriah.  What he does not succeed at is covering up his sin.  God saw this all unfold from the time David got up from his bed to walk around on the roof which would lead to the downfall of David's otherwise spotless record.

A man after God's own heart. King David. The man who slew Goliath in his youth with a smooth stone. The man who would be Israel's most prominent of kings. The man who would play a crucial role in the coming of Jesus Christ as being the one from whose line the Messiah had to come. David would have quite the resume.  But then when looking at his "resume", we notice this one little black spot.  He took another man's wife, got her pregnant, killed her husband and one price he would pay, is that he would lose his illegitimate child to sickness. David would repent but would still pay heavily for this one sin that he attempted to hide from God.

Why was David a man after God's own heart and why would he be so privileged to play such a crucial role in the coming of the Messiah in spite of his sin?  Because unlike many of the kings before and after him, David went to his death never forsaking the Lord for other gods.  When confronted with his sin, David didn't make excuses, he owned up to his sin and was willing to accept the consequences of his actions no matter how severe.  But in spite of all the trouble his sin would bring, David still praised God. Even after the death of his first child, David praised God.  That part of the story can be found in 2 Samuel 12:15 and following.  Its heartbreaking to say the least.  But his reaction was to worship God.  David screwed up to be sure but he owned up and still worshipped God.  It is sad to see that amidst the victories David would have from this point, there were so many troubles that littered his life including the fact that his own son Absalom would set out to kill David.  But what was David's reaction? He praised God and wrote some of the most heart wrenching Psalms.  Some were psalms of praise to God and others were psalms of lamentation. Absalom dies.  David is once again grief stricken because this is his son.  More rebellion. David still seeks God and writes his last Psalms.  David would anoint one of his other son's Solomon king. Gives him charges.  And David dies with a stranger as his nurse.  But one of the last things David did was build an altar to the Lord.  One choice, one sin caused him the trouble amidst the victory.  Why was David a man after God's own heart? He messed up but David lived his life praising God.  On the mountaintop, David praised God.  In the deepest of pits, David praised God.

So what can we learn from this? Well, based on how the story begins, we notice how easy it is to give in to sin and how when we are confronted with "the lust of the eyes", we MUST turn away. David was walking around on his roof when he saw a beautiful woman.  Makes me think of how often some of our own women within the church dress in such a way that provokes men to the lust of the eyes. Simply illustrating the situation here, not picking on anyone. We can also learn that one sin can lead to a lifetime of consequences even if we do turn from it.  For example, I recently heard a story where a man had smoked for X amount of years.  He gave it up and later in his life developed lung cancer.  He couldn't get over the fact that although he had long since given up smoking, the damage had been done and now he would pay the price. David turned from his sin, but he too would suffer a lifetime of consequences as a result of his sin.  But there is one more thing we can learn from David's sin with Bathsheba. Let us not forget that even in the face of consequences DAVID PRAISED GOD!!! Once again, David owned up to his sin. He repented and his relationship with God only got stronger. I don't know what sin you are struggling with right now.  I hate to admit that some of the choices I made in my teenage years have led to what seems like an everlasting struggle that I do not want to admit to publicly on my blog site but am not ashamed to speak about with my brethren in private as my struggle is a common one among the brethren.  But I know for myself, my struggle was a result of sins I committed early in my life which I have now repented of. But I still praise God, and on occasion I still stumble in that area. However, I still praise God because I am covered by the blood of Jesus Christ by having clothed myself with him through baptism for the remission of my sins per Acts 2:38 and Romans 6.  So if you are a Christian, turn from whatever sin you might be struggling with and praise God even if there are consequences to that sin. If you are not a Christian, turn from that sin, or in the words of Acts 2:38 "Repent and Be baptized for the forgiveness of sins." Wherever we are, let us think of King David, a man after God's own heart.  The more we focus on God and what He expects of us, the less likely we are to sin. Remember King David. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL GOD BLESS!

1 comment:

  1. King David is one of my favorites from Scripture! He is a reminder to me that even though I've fallen short, I can still be a man after God's own heart.

    Thanks for all the hard work and time you put into these thoughts David.

    Jeremy

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