In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. 5The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 6So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. 8Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” 11Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” 12Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, 13David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.” 16As Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant warriors. 17The men of the city came out and fought with Joab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was killed as well. 18Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting; 19and he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling the king all the news about the fighting, 20then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.’” 22So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us, and came out against us in the field; but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall; some of the king’s servants are dead; and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city, and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” 26When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord (2nd Samuel 11:1-27;NRSV)
This text shares the downfall of David’s career. Up to this point, he has steadily fulfilled his destiny. He started out as a shepherd. He knew what it meant to care for the weak and defenseless. He knew what it meant to face threats. He rose from the grazing field to the battlefield and eventually to the court of Saul. He survived attempts on his life by Saul and the suspicions of the Philistines. At this point, he has consolidated the 12 tribes and has intimidated most of Israel’s enemies. He has shown honor to the grandson of Saul. He is a lover, fighter and poet and now King. It does not get any better than this.
However, one day David makes a decision that negatively impacts his career, family life and his relationship with God. He responded to an urge that should have been acknowledgeable but not actionable. As noted in this text, not only did David act on an urge, but gave it full thought, to the extent that he covered it up. Keep in mind that by sleeping with Bathsheba, David not only abused the power of his office but also committed adultery; under the Law, that qualified him to be stoned. David was in that light also unfaithful to the community because he betrayed the public trust that he worked so hard to earn. Little did David realize that by acting upon his lust, he was only one urge away from disaster.
What about us? Like David, we are sinful beings – prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love. We have feet of clay. We nurse unclean thoughts, we say unkind things, we engage in inappropriate behavior. And sadly, we can slip into patterns of continuing in sin that grace may abound. Every Communion Sunday, we are reminded that the judgment of God was passed over us because of the blood of the Lamb. But let’s ask ourselves some brutally honest questions: ‘How many urges away from disaster am I?’ What is my tipping point? Do I have some cushion or will acting on one more urge destroy everything that I have done so far? Am I willing to risk it all to fulfill one more urge? Does failure happen to a loser like David but not to people like me? When it comes to acting out my urges, do I take the position that failure is not an option? Do I want to continue my habit of sinning now and asking for forgiveness later? Am I too smart to get caught? I am exempt from the chastening of God? Do I think that my income, education or occupation exempt me from God’s expectations of righteousness? Does my age, gender or ethnicity exclude me from being obedient to God? Do I get a pass on chastening because I serve on a board, committee or team? Have I survived prior chastening and am therefore not worried about acting on my urges?
In this hour of reflection, I encourage us to regularly talk to God so that we will be less likely to act on our urges. Having urges is human but not acting on them is divine. Regular prayer demonstrates to ourselves that we do not trust our own flesh, our own strength or wisdom. Prayer reminds us that we are weak and that we depend on God to be our strength. If you notice in the text, temptation does not send email. It comes at anytime, anywhere for any reason. It makes sense therefore to do something that David does not do in this text – he never talks to God at any point. Oh what peace we often forfeit; Oh what needless pain we bear – all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.
Do you have an urge that could destroy your life if left unchecked. Take no chances – pray about it today. God will not lead you into temptation but will deliver you from evil. Prayer changes things and us. Amen.
