2 Samuel 11:1-9
1 In the spring, at the time 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. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 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?” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
Related Text:
Deuteronomy 5:18
Job 31:1
Psalm 119:9-16
Proverbs 5-6
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
-
Here’s the Deal
David was tempted when he saw Bathsheba taking a bath on the roof. Although David’s resulting actions were not acceptable or obedient to God, most people can understand the temptation. The sin we read about in today’s scripture was not the temptation itself, but rather it was acting on the temptation that was sinful. It was the actions David took after He saw Bathsheba bathing that was disobedient to God. Then, David sinned again when he tried to cover up his first sin. He messed up big time . . . and this guy loved God!
It is not uncommon to be sexually tempted. Sex is everywhere in our society, sexual images and innuendos are used for all kinds of advertising, network tv progressively allows more and more sexual situations on their airwaves as the years go by, advertisements on just about any website have the chance to contain some sort of sexual reference. You can almost make the argument that the only way to avoid the temptations of a sexual nature is to close your eyes and plug your ears, or go to sleep.
But the next time you are tempted, you can do something that David didn’t do; you can use self control and decide not to act on those temptations. Got has given us the tools necessary to be obedient to him and to avoid sin by not acting on those temptations. God knows we will be tempted, but He has given us self control. It’s totally up to us to decide whether or not we will use it.
Develop a plan of action for when you are tempted. Memorize some scripture that will give you the strength to get out of the situation. Some scholars, after reading verse 1 of 2 Samuel 11, say that David should have been out leading His army, but for whatever reason, he stayed in Jerusalem. He wasn’t where he was supposed to be, and this could be the first step to fight through the temptation: don’t allow yourself to be in situations where temptation is possible. Now, we don’t know the future, so we can’t always know where temptation will occur. But we’re not stupid people either, God has given us a brain. We can all think of places where we know temptation is a guarantee. Whatever our struggle is, whatever keeps making us stumble and fall, we need to run from those situations and places where we know temptation is waiting for us. But ultimately, it’s up to us. We have the power to choose.
