Today I’d like to read to you from the book of Second Samuel, chapter 11. In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. That happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the King’s House that he saw from the roof, a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman, and one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Ilium, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
David made a very bad choice. But I want you to see a couple of things about this. First of all, what contributed to a bad choice? Well, it was the time when kings went forth to war. But where was David? He had stayed home. Anytime we get out of a battle. So often, we think, well, I just need some time for myself. I just need to focus on my needs. Well, there’s a time for that. But be very careful that when you do you stay on guard because you can be vulnerable during that time period.
Secondly, I think it’s important for us to realize that what contributed to his decision was that he was on his roof looking. Again, we don’t get any details as to how or why this was all going on. But it was, and he pursued it further. He started inquiring about the woman he sent for her, he wanted to get to know her. And the next thing you know, they made a very bad choice.
But here’s the beauty of it. That doesn’t define David. It’s true. He made a decision that cost him. There was a lot of sorrow and heartache in his family because of it. But in the end, David is not defined as the man who slept with Bathsheba. He is the one who is the forefather of Jesus Christ. He is the one on whose throne, Jesus will sit. He is the one that will forever be known as the man after God’s own heart.
So yes, be careful. But remember, even when you make a bad choice, and God is not done with you, and that doesn’t define you. God wants you to continue to serve Him as David did for the rest of your life. And if you do, those bad choices can be turned around and used for God’s glory.