Jump Start # 1833
2 Samuel 11:2 “Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.”
Our verse today is the beginning point of the dark chapter in King David’s life. All the ingredients came together to unravel his life, his family and even his role as a king. This is much more than the historical account of someone who was on top that fell, it is the classic steps that lead from temptation to sin. God uses this not only to tell David’s story which flows into the life of Christ, but also so we can see ourselves. Paul’s warning to the Corinthians, “Take heed lest ye fall,” echoes loudly here. It can happen. It can happen to any of us.
All of this began so innocently. That’s how Satan operates. It’s evening. David has been in bed and he can’t sleep. So, he walks about on the palace roof, probably because it’s cooler up there. It is from there that he looks down and sees a woman bathing. HE SAW. That’s how all of this started. Some want to blame Bathsheba. The text never points any fingers at her. John writes, “The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life” is what leads to sin.
It all started with a look. The way the account flows, this all seems to be unplanned. We don’t get the impression that David was a peeping Tom. He wasn’t up on the roof with binoculars looking into the windows of the homes below. All of this just happened. Satan always provides an opportunity to sin. He knocks on the door of our heart. Whether or not we open it is up to us. There was nothing wrong with Bathsheba taking a bath. There was nothing wrong with David walking around on his roof. But HE SAW.
That happens today. Innocently. Nothing premeditated. You go out to your backyard and a neighbor, next door, is sunbathing. You walk through the grocery store and at the check out are magazine covers with beautiful women wearing hardly anything. A billboard as you drive down the road. A TV show as you are simply flipping channels. It could be something as innocent as a preacher looking on Google for a picture to put in his Sunday’s powerpoint.
But it is at this very moment a choice will be made. In an instant a decision is formed. David looked. We don’t fault David for that. Now, what will David do. Does he look away? Does he walk away? Does he turn his head? Does he flip the channel? Does he move on to another website? Does he put the look out of his heart and mind? Does he keep the door closed to Satan?
David didn’t do that. The look became a thought and the thought became a choice to sin. We remember that Eve saw the forbidden fruit, “she saw that it was good for food and a delight to the eyes.” A LOOK. That’s how it starts. The look becomes a thought. The thought becomes an action.
It is interesting the added variable that the Bible adds to both Eve and David. For Eve, the forbidden fruit was a “delight” to the eyes. It wasn’t an apple with a big soft brown spot with a worm hanging out. UGH. It was delightful, or enticing and inviting to the eyes. For David, the text tells us that Bathsheba was VERY BEAUTIFUL. She was not a wrinkled old hag with warts, missing several teeth, scraggly hair, and old enough to be David’s grandma. No, she was very beautiful. It all started with a look.
From that look, David sent for her. His look has now become an invitation and an opportunity to sin. His servants remind the King that this is Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. God always provides a way of escape and here it is. This is the exit ramp. You better take it David. She’s married and not to you. Not only is she married, but this is Uriah’s wife. Uriah was more than a neighbor, he was one of David’s mighty men. More than that, Uriah was a Hittite, a foreigner. For a Hittite to be living that close to the King’s palace meant trust, confidence and loyalty to the king. Uriah had proven himself. He was honored by being allowed to live so close to the king. Hit the brakes, David. There is a “No Trespassing” sign here. She’s off limits and out of bounds for you. Go your own way, David.
The righteous man of God acts very unrighteously here. He sends for her. They commit adultery. She becomes pregnant. David tries to hide what has happened. Lies. Deception. And, even murder will be the choices that David makes from something that simply started with a Look.
And here we are today, too often following the steps of David right into Satan’s trap. For David, it started with a look. For us, it may start with a joke, or a flirt, or a tease, or a touch. Something so innocent as a look can lead to the bottom falling out of your life. What if David had been off to war as he usually was, this wouldn’t have happened. Had David stayed in bed that night, this wouldn’t have happened. Had David not seen Bathsheba, this wouldn’t have happened. All the elements were there. For us, it may be working late with a co-worker of the opposite sex. It may be a quick lunch with someone we are not married to. Innocent. Simple. No big deal. And the powers of Hell can move quickly and lead us blindly from a look to a thought to an improper decision.
It’s easy to backseat drive on this. What should David had done? Look away. Move on. Go back to bed. Get his mind on something else. Pray. It’s so easy to see what David should have done. Yet, we don’t listen to our own advice. There we are starring at something on the screen that we shouldn’t be. Don’t we hear our own advice? Move on. Look away. Get your mind on something else. Pray. Sounds like good advice for David, but we fail to think about that when we are on our own roof top looking about.
There is a real need to learn how to stop the transition from a look to a decision to an action. Some would say, “Well, just don’t look.” That’s not realistic. David wasn’t intending to look. It just happened. Some would conclude that “all men are obsessed with lust.” That’s not true. And that doesn’t help the situation nor fit into the story of what happened. David’s guard was down. That’s the key. Peter tells us to “be alert…Satan is prowling about” David wasn’t alert. David wasn’t thinking spiritually. David forgot his promises to his wife. David failed to think that people were counting on him. In the moment of a look, David forgot everything about who he was and how he got there. Lust took over. What David needed to do, just the same as we need to do, is to remember. Remember our promises to our mates. Remember our commitment to Christ. Remember that our families are counting on us.
David LOOKED and saw a beautiful woman. He didn’t see Satan. He didn’t see sin. He didn’t see a baby coming from this. He didn’t see the death of that baby. He didn’t see the murder of one of his loyal soldiers and a neighbor. He didn’t see his son raping his daughter. He didn’t see another son killing that son. He didn’t see a son trying to steal the kingdom and even agreeing to killing David, his father. He didn’t see God’s great disappointment in him. He didn’t see Nathan coming and rebuking him. He didn’t see how far he had fallen. He saw a woman, but his eyes were closed to all of these other things.
Imagine a David today, who sees a beautiful co-worker. As he LOOKS, he also sees, a sin coming. He sees the shame of his wife finding out. He sees his marriage falling apart. He sees a divorce. He sees that he has to sell the house. He sees that the kids are only around every other weekend, and they are not the same anymore. He sees the church withdrawing from him. He sees his life falling apart. He sees himself sitting in bars and trying to pick up women. He sees the great disappointment God has in him. A man who may one day have been an elder. A man who preached. A man who had great potential. It all started with a LOOK. If only our eyes could see where that look may take us. Then, and only then, can we put on the brakes, look away, and continue our walk with the Lord.
Our military recently dropped the largest non-necular bomb in our arsenal. It’s called “The Mother of all bombs.” It’s massive. It’s destructive. Satan has a similar bomb. It’s not dropped out of the sky, but into our hearts. It will kill your marriage, your family, your reputation and your walk with the Lord. And it all starts with a LOOK.
Take these words seriously. Hardly a congregation exists today that has not had someone following in these same steps of David. How wonderful Hebrews tells us, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Heb 12:2). Pray about these things. Help each other with these things. Keep your guard up. Remember who you are and where you are headed. It helps to sing the children’s song, “Be careful little eyes what you see…”
Roger