The Test Of Success

I will never forget an experience I had like this. I am sure that I am not as handsome as David was but let me tell you this story. A few months after Lynley and I married, I was flying by myself out of the airport in Little Rock. At the jetway, there was this girl waiting to get on the plane and she was dressed to kill, if you know what I mean. She was not the kind of girl that you would take home to mom. At any rate, I boarded the airplane and sat down in my seat. There were two seats next to me and I saw her walking in my direction. I quickly looked down pretending to read my newspaper, and thankfully, her seat was a few rows ahead. I was not assuming that she was interested in me, I just didn’t want to deal with that situation. So the plane is about to take off and the man sitting next to me says, “Sir, that gal up there has asked me to trade seats with her. Are you OK with that? I said, “What?” He said, “That pretty lady right up there.” I looked up and she was looking right at me with a big smile. I didn’t know what to say. I just froze, and quickly replied, “Uhhhhh, no thanks.” And then looked at my newspaper and never looked up again until the plane landed at my destination. That’s how terrified I was by the very idea of an affair. And I remember sitting there in that airplane and thinking to myself, “So this is how it happens. A man gets bored in his marriage, and all it takes is one flattering invitation, and his life is changed for ever.” The truth is…I could have gotten off that plane, introduced myself to that girl, purchased a hotel room, and no one would have ever known.” But God would have known, and it would have destroyed my ministry before it ever started.

Prov. 5:3-8:

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and

her speech is smoother than oil;

4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a

double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight

to the grave.

6 She gives no thought to the way of life;

her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;

do not turn aside from what I say.

8 Keep to a path far from her,

do not go near the door of her house…

David was tempted by women early, and he passed the initial test. He had no idea that later, he would tragically fail.

2. David was tested by a demotion.

Men do not dream of dropping down on the ladder of success. They dream of going up. They hope to be promoted, not demoted. Men want to be assigned more responsibility. Most ambitious men are not driven by a bank account; they are driven by a competitive spirit. And that competitive drive can be a good thing, or it can be a disastrous thing.

David came out of the gates fast. He started out with a dead sprint to success. At an early age, he was assigned tremendous responsibility. Look at v. 5….

Here we learn that David received a BIG promotion. Notice, everybody loved him. It pleased the people and it pleased the officers. That is a rare thing that both the court and the country celebrated this young man as general. Those positions weren’t just given away. You had to give a lifetime of decorated military service to earn such a prestigious position. But, not with David. Almost overnight, he is handed a high rank in the army, and this is the shocking part—the seasoned veterans, the older, experienced men in the army thought it was great, and the people celebrated him.