A Rooftop With A View

TheDiscipleMD

“And it came to pass in an eveningtide, 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 wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her…” (2 Sam. 11: 2-4)

Many people have marveled at the fall of King David and how it was that a man of God, such that he was, could have made such a mistake. Not only was he guilty of adultery, but later he conspired and had Bathsheba’s husband killed.  How could a man who was so favored of the Lord fall so quickly?  My experience is that seldom, if at all, does anyone take a grand fall from grace.  The pathway usually has been self-paved for a long time when the fall finally comes to light.  David was no different from most. And that, to me, is the greatest lesson we can learn from his leisurely walk across his rooftop that tragic night.

The pathway away from the Lord started years before when David took additional wives unto himself. The scriptures are not very clear regarding these  additional wives but we do know that the Lord was not pleased.  (Jacob 2, BOM) In my mind, David’s fall started with behavior that was not condoned by the Lord. When one travels on the edge of the precipice, falling off into the abyss of sin is not only possible, but as in the case of David, its likely.

Let us stay off our rooftops with a view,  where we hope to gain a better eyeshot of, and a carnal knowledge of this world lest the fate of David befall us. He found in that fateful moment, as he spied Bathsheba, that his resistance had been weakened by his prior acts,  and so the decision to commit sin was not some great fall as many might think, but just another small step in sinful rationalization.  Sinful behavior is always preceeded by sinful thoughts.

While we want to see this world in all its light and glory, there are some parts of it that are best kept in the shadows;  never to be discovered or opened by the human heart,  nor seen by the human eye. Let us follow the example of Joseph (Genesis 39),  and flee when temptation is upon us rather than embrace the view we often behold from the rooftops of the world.

 

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