Disaster
David is supreme military commander; his men are away fighting a campaign, and he is back in his palace. It’s then that the terrible episode with Bathsheba took place. The daughter of one of David’s finest men, she was also related to one of his most trusted advisors. On top of that, she was the wife of one of his inner circle of most heroic soldiers. In other words, David was not just breaking a law, and potentially ruining Bathsheba’s life - he was violating three other trusted relationships. But untamed hormones can cause us to take irrational and terribly hurtful actions. Casting constraint and logic aside, oblivious to the terrible damage and pain that we are going to create, our eyes can lead us into disaster - it was as he saw her bathing that his desires were aroused. There’s no suggestion that Bathsheba was deliberately trying to entice David, and as the king, he would have absolute authority over her anyway - when he summoned her, she had no choice. This story is not about Bathsheba’s sin, but David’s.
I’ve seen too many good people mar their lives, trash their marriages and lose the respect of their children and grandchildren because of a terrible choice made in a moment of weakness. And those who say that it could never happen to them are the ones who worry me most - bluntly, some of us have not fallen, not because we are morally better, but because we have not had the temptation or the opportunity. Are we looking in the wrong direction? Let’s look again, at the carnage that will be created if we continue to look that way.