“If you were stuck in a lift
with one bible character, who would you choose?” The question was thrown to the floor, all the
standard answers came out — Moses, Jesus, Paul, etc. Then someone heckled from
the back, “Bathsheba!” Everyone laughed,
we all knew what he meant, but isn’t it a little unfair that Bathsheba has that
sort of a reputation?
Look at 2 Sam 11, maybe the king
thing was getting too stressful, maybe the routine was boring, whatever it was
that opened David up to temptation, when temptations came along, he gave
in. What follows is a classic cycle of
sin, we’ve all done it, do one thing wrong, then do a second thing wrong in an
attempt to cover up the first. It’s a
real low point in the usually inspiringly godly life of David.
Spare a thought for Bathsheba
though, she is coerced into adultery by the King (generally one doesn’t say no
to the King), then later David has her husband murdered, and to top it off the
baby she has by David is struck down by God as punishment. Not a great few months.
Can we learn from David’s
mistakes? Well, it’s relatively easy to
avoid rooftop strolls in Bristol, but the real thing I would take away is how
long it takes David to admit wrongdoing.
All the way to ch12v13, and only then because he’s confronted by Nathan. Not one person questioned the action of the
king, all the way through the process.
Surround yourself with people you have authorised to question you when
they need to, especially if you’re in a position of authority! David wasn’t accountable to anyone, it took
God through Nathan to sort him out. Do
you have someone you are fully accountable to, not just God?