These days people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future — Vernon Cooper

Back to the Future was the highest grossing film of 1985 and was an international phenomenon.  It was a science fiction trilogy that dealt with complex theories of time-travel.  One of the main aspects that it explored was to go back into history, change an event, and thus affect the future. 

I know that I’ve wanted to use time travel to go back and change some things in my life. I’d probably take back some things that I’ve said, some things that I’ve done, and some things that I didn’t do (like buy Starbucks stock when it first came out). 

George Santayana, philosopher and poet, once said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

That thought came to mind as I studied the relationship of David and Jonathan.  David had an amazing life from the underdog shepherd boy to the King of Judah.  He has been remembered as a “man after God’s own heart,” a man of wisdom, compassion and a forgiving spirit.  But oftentimes, he’s also remembered as the king that had an affair with Bathsheba and covered up his immorality by having her husband Uriah killed.

So how could a “man after God’s own heart” fall like he did, how could it have been different had Jonathan been by his side (hypothetically), and what can we learn from it all?

Isolation

David was born a warrior and was created to lead.  He thrived in the battlefield like no other in history.  Throughout his life, the Lord showed him favor in the battlefield with valor, with wisdom and with success. 

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.” — 2 Samuel 11:1

David, for some reason, stayed home from the battlefield.  Maybe he lost his “will” to be in the heat of battle, maybe he had too many other things to take care of as king, or maybe he didn’t have his best friend to fight alongside. 

“Within the willingness to die for family and home, something inside us longs for someone to die with . . . someone to die beside . . . someone to lock step with.  Another man with a heart like our own.  That’s what David was saying about Prince Jonathan.  Every warrior needs a fellow soldier.  Every fighter pilot needs a wing man.”
Stu Weber — Tender Warrior

Jonathan was no longer there to share in the fight with David.  If Jonathan was still alive, I believe that David would have been out on the battlefield, where he was born to be, and not isolated and in a position of temptation.

Idleness

Sexual sins don’t (usually) happen when a person is busy and in the midst of battle; it happens during that idle time in the day when they’re alone and bored.  Proverbs 12:11 says, “ . . . only fools idle away their time (he who chases fantasies lacks judgment)” NLT (NIV).