9/17/2010 5:20:56 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My
Worship Time Focus: Imagination
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2Sam. 11:2b
Message of the verses: “-and from the roof he saw a woman bathing;
and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.”
“You
heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But as for myself, I am
saying to you, everyone who is looking at a woman in order to indulge his
sexual passion for her, already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28 Wuest’s Expanded
Translation)
Dr.
Wiersbe writes: “Lead us not into
temptation’ was the prayer David should have prayed. By lingering and looking, David tempted
himself. By sending the messengers, he
tempted Bathsheba; and by yielding to the flesh, He tempted the Lord.”
As
I wrote in yesterday’s SD it was that second look that got David in
trouble. When sin enters the mind it is
the easiest place to do something about it, for there has been nothing done
physically yet. As far as temptation,
that was what happened to David at first when he first looked at Bathsheba
bathing and that would have been the best time to rid his mind of the
temptation, for temptation is not yet sin, but David took that second look and
then did not think of a way to rid his mind of her. I’m sure that David knew the story of Joseph
who ran from temptation when he was confronted and that would have been the
thing for him to do, run to another part of his palace. I guess that thing that disappoints me the
most about this is that David acted like one of the kings of the world when he
took Bathsheba and slept with her, for this would have been something like
several of our former presidents have done as they used their power
corruptively. David however when
confronted confessed his sin and that makes me happy for the good example that
he set in doing that.
My Steps of faith for today: “Taking every thought to make it obedient to
Christ” is from the last part of 2Cor. 10:5 and it is a most difficult thing to
do, for it is something that takes practice and patience when you fail to do
it.
I
have to write about one more thing David could have done that is probably not
in any commentaries, but something that I have thought about since I have
struggled with this problem for a very long time. What I am thinking about is that David had
many wives and concubines that could have satisfied his sexual desires when he
looked lustfully at Bathsheba and although it probably would have been sinful
for him to be thinking about Bathsheba when sleeping with one of his wives or
concubines the results would not have been the same, for Uriah would not have
been killed by David and therefore the other bad things that happened to David
would not have happened.
Now
we come to a more difficult problem, well at least humanely speaking a problem,
and that is what probably would be called the providence of God, for God could
never cause someone to sin, but according to Romans 8:28 God causes all things
to work together for our good and for His glory. In God’s providence God would chose Solomon
to be the next king of Israel to keep the line of David going, and God loved
Solomon very much and this is expressed in His Word. I see this problem in my mind, yet I trust the
Lord to work all of this out, and one more thing, and that is that David had
great difficulties in his life because of his sin with Bathsheba, so even
though this was in the providence of God, David still experienced the pain.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Continue
to remember to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ.
2. Give
myself to the Lord for worship and service.
3. Trust
the Lord to guide and direct my path and also to continue to teach me, and for
me to learn contentment.
9/17/2010 6:00:16 AM
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