HEADLINES…  MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART, FALLS HEAD OVER HEELS IN TEMPTATION…

I’ve heard the saying, “falling head over heels in love”, but I’ve never heard of “falling head over heels in temptation”.  Yet, in 2 Samuel 11 we will see King David doing just that – falling head over heels in temptation.

2 Samuel 11, opens up with an interesting verse,  In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. – 2 Samuel 11:1

Interesting, umm?  King David chooses to stay behind and not fight?  What was he thinking?

Well, regardless of what he was thinking, it’s what he did while chill’in that got him into a whole heap of trouble.  The full story can be read in 2 Samuel 11.

I will summarize the chapter below, and point out how David’s temptation led him into sin.

Temptation #1 = Lust of the eyes –

David looks over his balcony, and sees a beautiful woman bathing.

David inquired who the woman was.  He is told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

Temptation #2 = Pursues Bathsheba even though he knows she is married –

Then David sent messengers to get her.

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David succumbs to sexual temptation – David SINS –

She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she went back home.  The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

DAVID’S TEMPTATIONS DID NOT STOP HERE…

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Temptation #3 – David attempts to cover up his SIN – 

Next, David sends word to Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, and says, “why don’t you take a break from fighting, come home and spend time with your wife”.

Uriah leaves the battle, but does not go home.  Instead, he slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
Uriah was an upstanding man and warrior.  He chose not to leave his men to partake in some frivolous R&R (rest and relaxation).

Temptation #4 – David attempts to tempt Uriah, urging him with food and drink to go home and sleep with his wife.

Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

Temptation #5 – The choice to put Uriah in the line of fire on the battlefield.

In a last-ditch effort to cover his tainted tracks, David told Joab, captain of the his army, to “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

David SINS – David murders Uriah.  Although David did not physically murder Uriah, he knew he would be killed having been put on the front lines of the battlefield.

There was no hope of survival for Uriah when put in the line of fire.  So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

9.  So David, the honorable man that he is, ya right :/, brought Bathsheba to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.

****BUT THE THING DAVID HAD DONE DISPLEASED THE LORD****   2 Samuel 11:27

In this post, we’ve looked at King David and his downward spiral from temptation to sin.

David had many opportunities to say, NO!!  Yet, the pull to fulfill his temptation was stronger than his will to resist it.

You may be asking yourself…

If David, a man after God’s own heart – Acts 13:22, couldn’t resist temptation, then how can I?

The answer is somewhat easy, but it requires preparation.

• It requires us to remind ourselves of what we’ve learned from the Bible.
• It requires us to apply into our daily lives what we’ve learned from the Bible – James 1:22
• It also requires us to realize that God promises us that He will not allow the temptation to be more than we can stand. When we are tempted, He will show us a way out. – 1 Corinthians 10:13

As we saw with David, he had a number of opportunities to say NO!, to put an end to his pursuit of Bathsheba.  However, David chose not to, leading to an unfortunate series of events.  This in contrast to Joseph, who was frequently tempted by Potiphar’s wife, yet resisted – Resisting the Desire to Fulfill Our Physical Pleasures???  –  TEMPTATION [8], http://wp.me/p5nZpi-zv.

Two similar stories seeking to fulfill physical pleasure.  Two very different endings.

** FOR MORE ON TEMPTATION SEE MY OTHER POSTS BELOW **

Resisting the Desire to Fulfill Our Physical Pleasures???  –  TEMPTATION [8],  http://wp.me/p5nZpi-zv.

The Battle Is On…  –  TEMPTATION [10],  http://wp.me/p5nZpi-A3