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1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, "This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite." 4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant." 6 So David sent word to Joab, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet." Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?" 11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing." 12 Then David said to Uriah, "Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, 13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die." (2 Samuel 11:1-15 The Message Bible)
Dear Friend, here is a prayer request from Mr. Ricardo Gonzalez of Mission, Texas who writes, "I'm scheduled for my fourth spinal injection at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio on July 25 at 12 p.m. This medicine should stop the progression of Muscular Dystrophy. Please keep my wife (Maridol) and me in your prayers! Trusting in God." Signed by Ricardo. May the Lord hear our prayers and help our brother attain the victory over this disease. Thank you for praying in faith for him and Maridol and all, everywhere, who need our prayers!
The Bible is an honest book. It hides nothing. Sometimes it's as if it shows off the goofs and blunders of our heroes and heroines, even with stories that may make us blush and giggle. And for clarification it is not a sin to giggle in church; although some moms and dads may not agree, and I have the now-healed bruises of some very strategically placed pinches for my having giggled in church. Today's passage is, for some preteens, especially in this modern version, a giggle-maker. For the rest it is a serous reflection of what can and does happen in real life with those in similar situations.
While other kings went out to war in the spring as was the custom, this particular year, David decided he would sit this one out. David had a very capable general in Joab and he decides to take a spring break at home. The news on the war front was encouraging; Israel was winning the war against the Ammonites and Rabbahites. "Keep up the good work me boys!" David may have said, and decides to go for a walk on his roof. It's a king of Israel thing; you wouldn't understand! But it so happens that this walk lets him come across a beautiful woman taking her own stay-home-spring break, bathing as the peeping king sees her taking a bath. Her beauty caught his eye so much that he asks about this woman. "Does she have an Instagram account? Is she on Facebook? Does anyone have her cell phone number?" David manages to get her to come to the palace, and one thing led to another, and the king slept with her. Some time later, the woman, who is named Bathsheba, sends word to the king that she is pregnant.
David, as God Himself had said, was a man after God's own heart, but being human, succumbs to temptation. David could have just gazed on this woman for a bit, but he lingered and the lingering led to lust, and the lust led to the temptation and the consensual act which leads to this unexpected pregnancy. Evidence that temptation can often start subtly - an innocent glance, a passing thought, or a brief curiosity. And if we leave it unchecked, that small beginning can grow, as we saw here, into something much larger and can even become larger and destructive. This story of Israel's king reminds us of the importance of vigilance and the need to guard our hearts against temptation. The reality is that even the strongest among us can stumble if we do not remain rooted in God's Word and His ways.
The Bible is also a book that contains some humor for that is what temptation may even lead us to; for the king tries to correct the story by bringing home Bathsheba's husband home. The king invites this faithful soldier into his palace for a report on the battle and then suggest that he go home to rest and "wash your feet." Uriah leaves the palace and decides to sleep in the entrance of the palace rather than his own home. Uriah is invited back to a second audience with King David so he can get an explanation as to why he didn't go home? Uriah has a solid reason and we can see the type of man he truly is, shares that he cannot, in good conscience, stay in the comfort of his own home when the ark and the nation's soldiers are sleeping in tents; and he adds the names of General Joab and the servants who don't even have tents. He adds, "As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing." The king invites him (I guess as king he was ordering) Uriah to stay another day away from battle. The king has a big feast and enough food and wine to make Uriah loosen up a bit, but even in a drunken state, stays to sleep again stays away from his home and instead sleeps with the king's servants. The next morning the king writes a letter to the general with the order that Uriah be set in the front of the heaviest fighting and then withdraw other troops leaving Uriah vulnerable for death.
You and I know the rest of the story. Uriah was killed. For the sin of the king. I should say sins of the king. The ones who ground themselves in prayer and in love for and from God, and love for others, will receive the strength to stay strong and true in God to God's ways.
PRAYER: Loving God, We come before you humbly, acknowledging our vulnerability to temptation. Lord, help us to be vigilant and discerning in our thoughts and actions. Give us strength to turn away from anything that leads us away from Your will. Forgive us for times when we have allowed temptation to overcome us, and restore in us a steadfast spirit. Help us, like David, to repent sincerely and seek your forgiveness and guidance. Guard our hearts, O God, and fill us with your Holy Spirit, that we may walk in purity and obedience before you all the days of our lives. May we find our satisfaction and joy in you alone, and may our lives be a testimony of your grace and faithfulness. In Christ Jesus' strong name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Pray that we can guard our eyes and thoughts. Be careful what you allow yourself to see and dwell upon. Set boundaries that helps protect our hearts and minds from inappropriate influences. Surround yourself with fellow believers who can encourage and support you in your walk with the Lord. Confide in someone you trust when you're struggling with temptation. Finally, immerse yourself in prayer and God's Word. These spiritual disciplines will strengthen your faith and help you resist temptation. Never forget that God is faithful and God can provide a way out when we are tempted.
I love you and I thank God for you!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
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