THURSDAY September 26, 2019
Never a Perfect Man
So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”
1 Samuel 27:12
David’s behavior among the Philistines was deceptive. David’s behavior was so believable; the King of Gath thought he would become his servant forever! David was never a perfect man; even in the future he would fall into another area of sin––adultery. He was about fifty years old when he decided not to go out to battle. While on his balcony, he looked towards the horizon and noticed a beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop. It was the second, lingering look that caused him to desire her.
David asked his servants, “Who is she?” Her name was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s faithful warriors. David asked for Bathsheba to be brought to him. He slept with her and afterwards sent her home.
The circumstances drastically changed once David received a letter from Bathsheba. She was pregnant. Even though he was King of Israel, according to the law of God, he was guilty of adultery––punishable by death. Yet as king, David had acted as if he was above the law.
I am sure David paced back and forth, asking himself, “What am I going to do?” David tried and failed to get Uriah to go home and sleep with his wife. David had the perfect solution; I believe, the devil placed these thoughts in his mind. He wrote a letter to Joab, had it sealed, and sent it by Uriah’s own hand. Uriah was to be placed in the heat of the battle; Joab was to withdraw his men from him to have Uriah killed. Uriah delivered his own death certificate! Now David had committed murder!
David thought he had covered his sin. David could marry Bathsheba and have a child without anyone knowing, but God knew! It was not until the prophet Nathan came to him that David fully repented of his sin before God (2 Samuel 11-12). It is pointless to try to hide our sin for months or years. God knows about it. Repent before you are found out!
Ah! How foolish we are! How we repeat the folly of our first parent every day when we seek to hide sin from conscience, and then think it is hidden from God.
~C. H. Spurgeon~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit Somebodylovesyouradio.org!