Today’s scripture: 2 Samuel 11:2-27 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Julie Walsh):
David and Bathsheba… Quite a saucy story, don’t you think? Here is the Soap Opera Digest version:
David is out wandering about on his rooftop when he spots a lovely woman out bathing. He is overcome by lust and sends his messengers to retrieve her so that he can fulfill his desires without her husband’s knowledge. (After all, a king can have whatever he pleases!) Once he finds out that she is pregnant, however, David summons for Bathsheba’s husband so that he might come home and have sexual relations with his wife. This will surely cover up the king’s adulterous mistake! When Bathsheba’s husband refuses, David beckons him to stay one more night and gets him drunk, confident that he will then go home to his wife. When that plan fails, David immediately plots to have him killed at war. Orders are given to leave him stranded out on the front line and Bathsheba’s husband is killed.
Though David had been filled with lust and had committed adultery with Bathsheba, I believe he really wanted to clean up the mess he made. The second mistake David made was not that he sent for Bathsheba’s husband, but that he never consulted God or asked God for guidance or direction. To flub up in our journey is common, but to make amends, we need to consult first with God to develop a plan. Too often we are consumed with trying to cover up our trail, but that can just lead to a domino cascade of other sins.
What I find even more intriguing is that despite all of David’s sins — lust, adultery, deceit, murder — he was still the “apple of God’s eye.” (Psalm 17:8) God is a God full of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love!
Many of us carry around guilt and shame from our sins. We have sincerely asked God to forgive us, but do not fully realize the worthiness God has granted so that we may be forgiven indeed!
The scars of your past don’t have to affect your relationship with God. God always knows your sins and has walked through those experiences with you already. Have you asked for forgiveness? Then be forgiven! You are still loved and cherished by God!
Remember David: He sinned again and again, yet God still blessed him and used him in mighty ways. He wrote many of the psalms found in scripture that we still sing today. His son Solomon built the great temple in Jerusalem. And most importantly, it is from David’s lineage that a Savior was born — for you!
Thought For The Day: God still considered David the apple of His eye despite great sin. Pick yourself up, consult with God, and move back onto the right path believing in God’s grace for you!
Today, let’s join together in prayer: Dare to ask God, “Am I on the right path?” And then wait for the answer.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to start, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.