Great ‘Failures’ of the Bible (part 4)

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Title: Great ‘Failures’ of the Bible (part 4) ------------------- Date: 1/4/2003
Keywords: “David”
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Passages: 2 Samuel 11:3-5,14-17,26-27*

3. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"

4. And David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.

5. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant."

14. Now it came about in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

15. And he had written in the letter, saying, "Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die."

16. So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men.

17. And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died.

26. Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

27. When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Questions

Note: You might want to read the entire chapter (2 Samuel 11) to get the details of David’s sin in perspective.

1. David was the King of Israel. What options did Bathsheba really have when he called her to his palace?

 

2. Uriah was one of David’s most trusted soldiers. He wasn’t even Jewish — but was a Hittite. How did David treat Uriah?

 

Practical help

We know David mostly as the sweet psalmist of Israel, the man after God’s own heart. He wrote most of the Psalms, killed Goliath, danced before the Lord and united the Kingdom of God after King Saul’s debacle.

But, there was a dark season in David’s life that has been recorded for all to see. This man of God committed adultery with the wife of one of his "mighty men." Then, failing to lure her faithful husband to Bathsheba’s bed to make it appear that the baby was Uriah’s (and not David’s), the King gave command to have Uriah exposed to an enemy onslaught on the field of battle — a command that resulted in Uriah’s death, as planned.

In a word, David committed adultery and murder.

Did God discipline him for his sin? Yes! Was God through with him? NO!

In fact, if you will read in Hebrews 11 (The Hall of Fame of Faith) you’ll find David’s name listed along with the other greats of the Old Testament.

God restored David after his repentance, recorded in Psalm 51, where he affirms that God loves "a broken and a contrite heart."

Failure — be it adultery, murder, or pornography addiction — is not the end of the story for the child of God. Moral failure provides God’s child the opportunity to stop, confess, receive God’s cleansing forgiveness, and resume a vibrant, trusting faith walk.

If you have experienced failure in your desire to cease your involvement with porn, take a cue from David. Receive God’s grace with gratitude, and walk with the Lord into a bright future!

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."