5/02/2005 08:43:00 AM|||Laura|||And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God, which He commanded you. For now Jehovah would have established your kingdom on Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not stand. Jehovah has sought Him a man after His own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him to be leader over His people, because you have not kept what Jehovah commanded you.
(1Sa 13:13-14 MKJV)
And when He had removed him, He raised up David to them to be their king; to whom He also witnessed and said, I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after My own heart, who shall fulfill all My will.
(Act 13:22 MKJV)
God was displeased with Saul because he was disobedient; David was a man after God's own heart because he would fulfill all His will. David had such a turbulent relationship with God. When he was walking with God, his successes were phenomenal and his relationship with God was amazing - but when he fell, he fell far and fast. Here's how it happened:
2 Samuel 11:1 - Instead of going to work - that is, out with his troops to fight - David stayed home.
2 Samuel 11:2 - While he was home not working, he saw Bathsheba (bathing out in public! Not exactly the soul of modesty...) and he gave in to temptation and kept looking.
2 Samuel 11:3 - Next step, he asked around to find out who she was, the wife of Uriah, one of his commanding officers who was out fighting.
2 Samuel 11:4 - Sent for her, had her brought to him, and had sex with her, then sent her home.
2 Samuel 11:5 - He had nothing more to do with her, until she found out she was pregnant and sent a message to David to let him know. He was probably skulking around at home, ashamed of himself, and trying to pretend the whole thing never happened.
2 Samuel 11:6 - David sent for Uriah, so he could sleep with Bathsheba and take responsibility for the pregnancy.
2 Samuel 11:7 - David played it real casual, how's it going, etc. Uriah was probably kind of perplexed, but what could he do? He reported on how things were going.
2 Samuel 11:8 - David said, go home, get some R & R, and when Uriah left, David even had a gift sent after him.
2 Samuel 11:9 - Uriah did not go home, he hung around David's place, waiting for further instructions from his king, probably wondering what the heck was going on.
2 Samuel 11:10 - David asked Uriah, what's going on, why didn't you go home?
2 Samuel 11:11 - Uriah said, I'm not going on vacation, there's a war on, and my troops are at the front. I'm not going to go enjoy luxuries that they can't.
2 Samuel 11:12 - Now David tries to be crafty, saying Stay one more day, then you can leave tomorrow.
2 Samuel 11:13 - David got Uriah drunk, figuring that would do it, but no luck, Uriah stuck around.
2 Samuel 11:14-15 - Now David figures he's done everything he can, he can't ORDER the guy to sleep with his own wife. So David writes to Joab, one of his generals, to say, Put Uriah in a really dangerous part of the battle. And he gives the letter to Uriah to deliver. That was cold.
2 Samuel 11:16-17 - Joab obediently sent Uriah to die, and David was a murderer.
All this started with the one decision to be lazy. He probably rationalized that he was due a vacation, hadn't he worked hard and been obedient to the Lord? God forgave him (when he finally repented) but that one sin of selfishness or laziness sent David's life spinning out of control.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then they who are in the flesh cannot please God.
(Rom 8:6-8 MKJV)
To be carnally minded - giving in to sin - is to declare myself not subject to God's laws, and places me in opposition to God. That's where David went, and his life became scary and chaotic, and there were repercussions for the rest of his life. But there is hope:
But if the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised up Christ from the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.
(Rom 8:11 MKJV)
|||111513145316241036|||Spinning out of control