No Wonder Our Eyes Wander

The Bible says in 2 Samuel 11:1-5 CSB In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home. The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”

What you have just read is the story of a carnal encounter between King David and a woman named Bathsheba. David was the powerful king of Israel and Judah. Bathsheba was the wife of one of King David’s most elite warrior soldiers named Uriah the Hittitte. Uriah was off fighting in a war against the Ammonites. During this time in the Old Testament Middle Eastern kings were supposed to march out into battle with their soldiers. Well, instead of going to the battlefield, King David sent out other officers in his place and stayed behind in Jerusalem.

One night while at his palace, David couldn’t sleep so he decided to take an evening stroll. During his evening walk David saw from a distance a very beautiful nude woman bathing. Her name was Bathsheba. David was completely mesmerized and couldn't take his eyes off of her. Next, David’s carnal desires took over and his lust for her boiled over. I am sure you know what happened next. Yep, they did it. David committed adultery with Uriah's wife.

Now, the situation couldn’t have gotten worse for David but it did. David got Bathsheba (again still Uriah’s wife) pregnant. Well, now things really got sinister, later in 2 Samuel 11:14-17 ESV the Bible says, In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. David hatched a plot to get rid of Uriah so that he could have Bathsheba all for himself. Next, David willingly ordered his men to put Uriah on the front battle lines knowing later that Uriah would be struck down and killed.

Okay, this is a lot of transgressions to mentally think about. So here we see that David committed three serious sins against God: 1. adultery, 2. illegitimate father-ship and 3. conspiracy to murder. Let me say this, if the Jerry Springer Show had existed during Old Testament times David would have been voted “guest of the year.” He royally screwed up on so many levels. King David’s one lustful moment led to three tragic sinful violations.

Now, we all know that in today’s society it’s a lot worse than it was in King David’s day. We’re bombarded every day in the media, through the internet and in our daily surroundings with sexual temptation, pornography, lust, and evil. It’s everywhere and we can’t get away from it. It seems like things are getting worse. Things that were completely sexually taboo in the 60’s, 70’s and 80's are everyday mainstream today.

Pornography is destroying the innocence of our children and young people. Adultery is demolishing marriages and family relationships. Sexual sins are turning our minds into barren wastelands. Hollywood is pushing the sexual envelope to the extreme in the movies and on television. Finally, our liberal governments are determined to pervert everything that we once considered sacred, moral, and traditional.

It's no wonder why today's sexual enticements are causing our eyes to drift and our minds to wander. It’s almost impossible to keep our blinders on and to keep seeing straight ahead to things that are pure and holy. Everyday Satan is determined to turn us to the left and to the right to the road of destruction. My friend, if you're struggling with sexual sin, pornographic addiction, or adulterous relationships, I want to tell you that there’s hope for you. God knows that you are human, flawed, and sinful. The Bible says in Matthew 26:41 NIV Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” While we are spiritually weak, God is strong.