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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.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. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, ‘This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ So David sent messengers to fetch 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. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’ So David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. 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. 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. 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?’ 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.’ 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, 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. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 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)
Good day dear Reader. May this day be filled with God's blessings for you is my prayer.
The Bible is a real book. It tells the stories of God's people and hides not their blemishes, scars, or sins. It shares how the only perfect person was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And as much as we have rooted for, and appreciated the boy David who slew the giant, who endured much suffering as he awaited the throne of Israel; cheered when he finally became the unifying king, today we study the dark chapter in his life.
It is spring, when "a young man's fancy lightly turns to love" from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Lockley Hall." Or, in the case of kings, it is the spring of the year, when kings go out to battle. Oh, how the story would have turned out better had David the King chosen to be in the battlefield instead of his home! But he wasn't. Arising from his nap, he goes to the roof of his house when he spies a beautiful woman bathing. He inquires about her, sends for her, and sleeps with her. A clear abuse of power. Oh, that the story ended here. His sin resulted in her pregnancy. His first thought is to have her husband come home under the pretense of reporting to the king progress on the war; he comes and reports, but instead of taking time to go home and record a touching video of a long-awaited warrior's return home by his wife, spends the night with the king's servants in the entrance to the palace. Not where David hoped he would sleep. His desire was to have Uriah sleep with his wife, therefore he would come to believe the child she was carrying was his. David extends his leave another day, invites him to eat and drink and drink and drink, but again, Uriah chooses to sleep with the servants as a dutiful soldier. The sins continue, for now David writes a death warrant for Uriah and it is Uriah who delivers it to the general in charge. "Place Uriah in the fiercest part of the battle, and then retreat away from him so that he may be struck down and die." Ouch.
His weakness gave in to his temptation, and David commits several sins. He gave in to adultery, with a woman who was untouchable because of her purification time as prescribed by the Law, and tries to make it right with lies, and finally the sin of murder. How can we justify these actions? We can't. It is a sad reality that people do sin. The sins of all people grew and grew and it became necessary for God to send His only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.
We end with a time for self-reflection and confession before the Lord. God knows our sins, and God stands ready to forgive. We have only to confess and ask for pardon, and mercy will be shown. David's story does not end with today's passage, we shall know more soon. For now, your story, dear friend, is before you; how will it continue? It may continue with the sure knowledge that God is a loving and merciful God, who forgives our sins, and as Micah 7 records, casts our sins into the deepest part of the sea; and as Revelation states so clearly the day is coming when the sea will be no more.
PRAYER: Loving Father, hear my confession, as I lift it up in private, silent thoughts. Forgive me. Let me know that not only have I been forgiven, but that You have cast my sins into places where they never shall resurface, for such is Your love and mercy towards me. Give me the strength to not continue in my sin; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a blessed and great day in the Lord! No better way than to know that our sins have been forgiven! Even yours!
Eradio Valverde
