David Stayed in Jerusalem

This may be one of the saddest verses in the Bible. Instead of doing what kings are supposed to do in the spring – go to war with his troops – David stayed behind. He must have had a good reason to remain in Jerusalem, especially since the battle was against the Ammonites who had rejected David’s peace envoy. It would seem that he could have had a personal stake in the outcome of the battle. There may have been other royal duties that caused him to stay home, but one thing is sure: he found something to do that ruined his life.

Because David wasn’t out avenging his shamed emissaries, he had occasion to be on his rooftop one night when his neighbor’s wife, Bathsheba, was bathing on her roof. This is when the second saddest verse comes to play: “He saw a woman bathing.” Actually, it wasn’t what he saw that got him in trouble; it was what followed his look: lust. James puts it like this: “Each one is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desires. Then desire, after it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is brought to completion, gives birth to death.”

If you know the story, you remember that literal death soon followed as David arranged for the murder of Bathsheba’s husband when the king’s attempt to cover her pregnancy with a conjugal visit by her husband failed. A few months later, the child of the illicit affair died. More death visited David’s family when his second-born, Amnon committed incest with his half-sister and her brother Absolom had him killed. Several years later, Absolom was tragically killed during his attempt to usurp his father’s throne. This was all predicted by the prophet, Nathan, after he confronted David with his adultery. The Lord said, “Because you have despised me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife, …I am going to raise up evil against you from within your own house.”

There is an important lesson to be learned by watching what happens after Nathan confronts David. Two things are worth noting. First, David immediately admitted that he had sinned, and he begged for forgiveness from God. Read Psalm 51; David penned the psalm in the aftermath of his affair. He expresses repentance and contrition, and he asks God to purify him – maybe to help him handle his lustful thoughts. David’s attitude is exactly what God requires when we sin. The word confess means to agree with God concerning our sinfulness; David did that, “Against Thee only have I sinned.” Uriah might have felt differently had he lived, but David was correct in placing the focus on his relationship with God.

The second thing that happened, or perhaps I should say didn’t happen, is that God’s promise to David concerning his royal dynasty was not revoked. Our human sense of justice might cause us to expect that God would have punished David by passing the throne to someone else. That is what He did with King Saul, because he failed to do what David did: Saul did not repent; he pretended righteousness with Samuel and made excuses for his indiscretion. His attitude cost him the throne. God’s covenant with David was secure though, and we now understand why. God planned to bring salvation to the whole earth through the ultimate Son of David, Jesus Christ.

It should give us comfort to know that God doesn’t remove His grace when we sin. Quite the opposite: His grace covers our sin – even sin as grievous as David’s adultery and murder. This is not to say God doesn’t care how we act. He certainly does. What it says is that our salvation is not based on what we do; it’s based on Who we know. Know Jesus; know peace. No Jesus; no peace. Seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness sets us in good standing with the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. But as we see with David, it doesn’t relieve us of the consequences of our bad behavior.

There is a side issue that I think is worth mentioning. David fell prey to an almost universal weakness of human flesh: lust of the eyes. This is particularly damaging when it involves sexual attraction. Because marriage and its sexual component is elemental to God’s plan for humankind, the enemy loves to play on our weakness. (I have written about this previously.) We can fall into the same trap David did if we stay home in front of the TV or computer instead of going out to do whatever it is God would have us do. We may slip into a bad place if we linger longer than we should in that glance at the attractive person at the next table. Modern society has abandoned many of the conventions that used to help guard against temptation.

We need to listen to the Proverb and keep our hearts with all vigilance and look straight forward with our eyes. As Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is sincere, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore, if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” The word Jesus used, sincere, means simple, single, or clear. Looking as David did when he stayed in Jerusalem was anything but “simple.” His life became complicated in the most painful way. Let me rephrase the KISS principle: Keep it simple, servant.

 

Related posts: Christian Cleavage; Women’s Attire Again; What About Men’s Attire; How to Watch TV Part 4; Creating Chaos