All Things

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  

People often ask “Why does life have to be such a struggle?” Actually, we are all much safer when there are challenges in our lives. When things are going perfectly well and falling right into place is when we get ourselves into trouble. Success often separates us from a dependence on God. It tends to make us self sufficient, causing us to trust in our own abilities rather than turning to an all knowing, all loving God for direction, fellowship and help.

In 2 Samuel 11:1, we find King David enjoying the good life. Israel has just routed their enemies and the kingdom is united under one roof. Prosperity has finally come and with it David’s greatest enemy, complacency. Verse one states that in the spring, kings usually go out into battle with their troops.  David, however, sends Joab and all Israel out to battle while he stays behind in the king’s palace. David does not bother to inquire of God for direction but trusts in his own decision making for the answers.

David, unable to sleep, goes to the roof for some fresh air. After a few minutes, he relaxes, and begins to survey the other roof tops below the palace. Eventually he spots a beautiful woman bathing in the privacy of her own roof top. Instead of turning away, David’s eyes linger allowing his mind to feed on the sight of this beautiful woman. The king inquires about the identity of the woman and summons his servants to bring Bathsheba up to his own room.

Everything seems to be going David’s way until Bathsheba informs the king that she is with child. Worried, David now plots a way to cover up his sin by summoning Bathsheba’s husband home from battle to be with his wife. Uriah turns out to be a an honorable man refusing to go home to his wife as long as Joab with the  other men are sleeping out in the open field and the ark of God is housed in a tent. David tries again to get Uriah to go to be with Bathsheba by giving him much wine and sending him home but Uriah stays outside the king’s door with his servants. 

His plan thwarted, David sends orders to Joab to put Uriah in the front lines and then to retreat from him during the heat of battle. Uriah is killed which makes David think he has covered his mistake and that no one will know the truth. But this thing that David did displeased the lord, so God uses Nathan the prophet to go to David and tell him a story of two men; one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a large flock of sheep while the poor man had only one ewe lamb to his name. This one little lamb was like one of his own family; it played with his children and ate food right from his table. 

One day a traveler came to visit the rich man. The rich man did not take a lamb from his own flock but instead took the poor man’s only lamb that was like a daughter to him to prepare for his guest. The bible states, “So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” To which Nathan replies to David “You are the man!”

Our sin tends to look so terrible when we watch others commit them, however, when we commit the same act it doesn’t take on the same ugliness. We have our excuses and try to justify in our own minds why it is allowable for us to sin. King David had done the exact same thing by taking the only wife of Uriah when he already had so many wives and concubines of his own. Then as he attempts to cover up his sin he lies and eventually commits murder.

“Be sure your sin will find you out!”  Whatever type of seed you sow in life, you will reap in due season. There is a cost associated with all sin. As we continue through David’s story, we will watch as he begins to reap from the seeds he has sown. But more importantly, we will watch as God will take this seemly horrible situation and turn it into blessing as He uses one of David and Bathsheba’s sons, Nathan, as a part of the family lineage that will bring the blessed Messiah into the world.