2nd Samuel 11 THE DETERIORATING EFFECT Believers do not plan to sin and commit themselves to unfaithfulness, but we are not immune to temptations nor are we powerless to deal with sin because "sin shall not have dominion over you." However, if we get complacent and settle down to comfortable living and circumstances that tend to give us ease, we are in danger of yielding to temptation in a way that we would not if our hands are full in our work for the Lord. The story of David's fall in this chapter is a warning to every child of God of what can happen in one day, even after a life of devoted service for God had characterized us.
The "time when kings go forth to battle" was when the roads were dry enough for travel and food was plentiful enough to feed armies of men. It is a principle in leadership that those who fight the actual battle need to know their leaders are there for them to give direction in order to provide the desired result because they have the ability to see the big picture. Tried and proven leadership is invaluable when the pressure is on and the enemy is out to stop what is right. Leaders are susceptible to temptation the same as anyone else but are called upon to conduct themselves by a high moral standard so that those who follow them have an example to go by. David fell into sin because he was not where he should have been doing what he should have been doing.
He lacked a defined purpose for his daily activities when he felt he was not responsible for the warfare he had delegated to Joab to accomplish. He focused his attention when he was at ease on getting that which he had no right to have. In the time of temptation, he turned into it instead of away from it. There is always a way to escape temptation. God provides that. In taking the action he did, David chose to sin deliberately rather than act wisely. Then he tried to cover sin by sinning further calculating to use the sin of deception. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, he tried to cover his sin of adultery and his sin of deception by the sin of murder. All the laws taught in the ten commandments were broken as he went further and further down the road of moral deterioration.
The punishment he inflicted on others to cover his own sin was on him for the remaining years of his life through far-reaching consequences in his own family. The farther he went in deception, the worse it became in bad consequences. Sin is impossible to control and to stop once we have deliberately allowed it to start. The greater the sin, the less desire we have to face it and the harder it is to correct the effects of it.
Dealing with temptation is a deliberate action on our part. We need to flee temptation. We need to resist temptation. Earnest prayer for divine help to make us willing to do that which is right is needed. The word of God hidden in the mind and heart by memorization, or read on a daily basis, combats our moral weakness. There are times when we need the help of other people to overcome our times of temptation by wise and scriptural counsel.
The whole event exposed the moral weakness and deterioration of all the parties involved. David was certainly wrong in his condition, position and actions. Bathsheba was wrong to expose herself openly even though she was going through a biblical practice of purification. She was wrong to commit adultery even with the king, although she was not really in a position to deny his request. Joab was wrong to submit to an obvious attempt at murder. The contract to murder Uriah was under his power to not be allowed to be carried out. He had stood up to David before. Apparently, it was not a big deal to him to arrange for another man's death. He did what David wanted and did not grieve over the action the allowed. It may have been because Uriah was from the line of Ham with probably a different skin color that he was not seriously bothered with such injustice.
Uriah's loyalty and allegiance to his king and his fellow soldiers identified him as a trusted man. His bravery and skill as a warrior made him one of David's "mighty men." His personal discipline and commitment to that which he was given to do by those higher in authority establishes the fact that he was a man of high moral character living at a time when even those around him were deteriorating morally. It is up to us what we allow in ourselves and to ourselves in these days of declining moral standards and resisting of divine authority. The principles of holy living are not subject to the opinions of men because they are established on the unchanging word of God.