May the mumbling commence!
Are you at the top of your game? Be careful if you are! That is when you are most susceptible to fall. Ask David, the man after God’s heart. In 2 Samuel 11-12, David falls mightily. While Joab and the rest of Israel’s army fought, David relaxed in his palace. One day, from his roof, David saw a beautiful woman bathing. He inquired about her and found out she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of the men among the list of great warriors of Israel.
In his lust, David coveted Bathsheba. David ignored the commands of the Lord, sent for her, and laid with her. The product of that joining was a pregnancy. When David heard about the pregnancy, he realized that he would get egg on his face if this were to come out. So, David sent for Uriah – hoping that Uriah would return to his home, lay with his wife, and cover the sin of David.
But Uriah – a Hittite, not even a man of Israel – showed himself more faithful to his comrades at war. Uriah refused to go home in honor of his service to God, Israel, and David. David proceeded to get Uriah drink with the hope that drunkenness would get Uriah to sleep with his wife. That did not work.
In panic and the fear of discovery, David sent Uriah back to the front with a note to his commander Joab. Uriah was a faithful servant and delivered the note to Joab without question or inspection. That note was the death warrant for Uriah. It said, “Send Uriah to where the fighting is fiercest and abandon him to die.” Joab followed the command to the letter, and Uriah died.
Uriah’s death opened the door to David marrying Bathsheba. One sin led to another. David lusted. David coveted another man’s wife. David committed adultery. David lied. David murdered. What would have been if David would have confessed the sin of lust to God? We will never know. But there is much to learn from David’s mistakes and how he responded to those mistakes when confronted by the Lord through Nathan.
David was at the top of his game. He was letting others do his dirty work for him. And David’s idle mind and hands led to sin. Why do we try to hide our sin from others? We may succeed for a time, but sooner or later we will get caught in our sin. A liar must be perfect – and no man or woman is perfect. And nothing can be hidden from the Lord, who knows us better than we know ourselves.
Read David and Nathan exchange from 2 Samuel 12:7b-14 –
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'
This is what the Lord says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'"
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."
Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."
David’s sin affected his whole house. The brunt of the blow fell upon the innocent baby that resulted from the adultery. This blow was brutal to David. He fasted, prayed, and took a vow of silence in hopes to change the Lord’s mind. His servants worried about him. But, when the baby died, David stopped his plea – his only hope being reunited with his son in death.
So, if our own lives do not concern us, let us consider all the lives that will be changed for the worse when we sin and attempt to hide it. Let us confess our sins sooner rather than later, because the price increases exponentially with time.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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