It wasn’t that he was a lustful man. Really, it was a very bad time. He was tired, the battle had taken quite a toll on him, and things just followed in rapid succession. Plus, she was really beautiful. Thinking about it later, he realized something else he hadn’t paid much attention to – all of his peers were away, still fighting his war. They understood he needed his rest, even if for a moment, and hadn’t disturbed him when they left to go back to the battlefield.
So here he was, walking on his roof, and there she was, swimming naked in the compound next door. One thing led to another and by the time he was done, he had killed his friend, her husband, to hide his indiscretion. David had fought and won many battles, but this afternoon was his waterloo.
I’ve often wondered what went through David’s mind on realizing the weight of his sin. I wonder what discussions went on between him and his Lord as he pleaded for the life of the child Bathsheba carried from their union. Did he blame her for tempting him with her foray into the pool? Did he rant at God for allowing him to see her? Was it the circumstances of his weariness and the weight of battle that he pointed fingers at? Or was he angry at Uriah for having built his house so close to the palace?
In all likelihood, all of these thoughts went through David’s mind and more still. We all know the ‘morning after’ feeling, the realization that in giving in to an impulse, you had made an irreversible mistake. And as often happens to us, I suspect the things that David kept beating himself up about over and over again was not his weakness, but his being where he was at that particular time.
David’s whole army was out fighting, a war that he should have been leading. In fact, the chapter begins thus: in the spring, at the time when kings go off to war…David sent Joab out. But David remained in Jerusalem. It was the season for war, it was the season for people to be out conquering territory for the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. But the king opted to remain at home. What followed was not a disaster for the army (they won), but for the king.
And what a powerful truth it gives us - whenever kings stay at home, trouble surely and swiftly follows them.
This is the truth I’ve found – the enemy likes to find the kings in God’s army, and give them reasons to stay at home. Away from the war, in a place of ease and comfort. In that place, he finds temptation to present to them. With the laziness of peace having crept in, few of us are awake to his devices, and like David, we rarely make it. He likes to make sure that we have ‘things’ to do on our own, away from the family of God, and when he attacks, we are by ourselves and unable to stand.
Kings were not born to stay at home while the army is out fighting. These are times of war. Man of God, don’t stay at home. Don’t be at ease in Zion. If all you do is stroll on your rooftop every eve, soon enough there will be someone for you to sleep with. If your armor sees no war, it will soon be rusty and useless to you, your people and your God.
Kings were not born to stay at home.
