Did You Have to Do It Like That?

2 Samuel 11;1-5 (KJV)

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
And it came to pass in an evening tide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.


Okay, today's encouragement is meant to show us (especially us men) how not to allow a whole bunch of bad decisions to pile up, and then we find ourselves in the worst possible position we can be in. Hopefully, we are on the same page. Oh and by the way, if you are anywhere along the path of bad decisions, use this encouragement as the fuel to power your exit off of it and onto the path you are suppose to be on.

Let's breakdown David's list of bad decisions:
1. David wasn't even suppose to be in Jerusalem

If you look at the text you will see that this was the time of year for David to be out, in battle, conquering whatever the Lord desired he defeat. Then as we see further he went up onto his roof and saw the woman bathing. Right there he should have turned and went back into the house or somewhere else, but just as most men would do, he stayed there and began to 'look' at this woman.

***DISCLAIMER- Bath-sheba used to get blamed alot for being out in public, naked, in the first place. But, if you examine the text, you will see that (1) she was on her roof, (2) all the men were suppose to be out of the city, thereby giving her an additional sense of privacy, and (3) David is the king therefore having the tallest house in the city. How was she to know he would be home?***

2. David didn't respect this woman's marriage or family

Again, going back to the text, we see that David had another opportunity to stop the direction in which his decisions were leading him. His inquiry of the woman brought the information that she did have a Father (respected by the keeping of his name within the king's house), but that she in fact had a husband (who was out to battle with the rest of Israel; where David should have been). Did this curb David's decision making process? No!! Because he sent for her anyway.

3. David forced himself upon this woman: he misused his power

Verse 4 clearly shows that the word David sent with his messengers was, Bring her to me!! As we see the text says, "and took her". She more than likely was surprised to know that David was even in town, and let alone she violate her husband's trust. I imagine she even put up a struggle, and arrived at the king's house squirming, kicking, and biting the king's servants.
Then the ultimate misuse of anyone's power. Sexual gratification because you can. I think of how pornography is so destructive for that very same reason. Most of those women are in bad places within their lives and here is some 'producer' of adult film explaining that the woman can find relief from the current badness by performing. By the time the 'film' is released, this woman (more than likely very young woman) is seen by so many men; who if they admit it, can see the hurt, pain, and regret within this woman's eyes because of the extremely dissipated acts of brutal copulation due to ONE MAN's abuse of power.


This is a breakdown of David's bad decisions, and there is also some additional conversation to highlight the extreme possibility that you, yourself, could happen into if careful watch is not taken to ensure the 'bad decision' doesn't appraoch your thought process and make an introduction. We all would like to believe we can recognize our appraoch to 'bad decision', but be careful to not get too prideful about that. Because I can tell you from experience, when one 'bad decision' is made it mimmicks the process of a friday night tequila drinker's woe. "All I will have is two or three shots", is the thought. When two o'clock comes around the tequila drinker is now being poured into a cab or police cruiser because after that tenth shot..... You get it.

What David can show all of us is that this process by which decisions are made has many different avenues of outcome. Make sure that your decisions do not end with a story being told similar to his. Because I didn't take you through the second part, nor the third installment. But, if you were to study the rest of what David 'decided', you will see just what God has to do to not only keep his own name Holy and Worthy, but to show David, "I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house" (2 Samuel 12;11). Now, did you have to do it like that?


Holla,
Yer Brova Catalyst