When Kings Go To War

Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful.    2 Samuel 11:2 NKJV

When I joined the Army, my recruiter told me I would be fine if I did two things. Be where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be there, and in the proper uniform. I followed that when I was in the Army, and I had a successful four years. Obviously, there is more required than just showing up, but that was an excellent starting point. It never ceased to amaze me how many soldiers didn’t do that simple thing.

What about when you don’t show up spiritually? When you don’t spend time with God in prayer, devotions, reading your Bible, and going to church. When you don’t do that thing, you know God is telling you to do.

 You open the door to temptation and compromise. You go down a slippery slope, hit rock bottom, and wonder how you could’ve fallen so far. 

King David opened himself up to a great sin when he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there and in the proper uniform. Where should David be instead of walking on his rooftop watching a woman bathe that 2 Samuel 11:2 tells us he was doing? The preceding verse tells us. 

2 Samuel 11:1 says, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel: and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”

David was a king, and he was supposed to be in the field with his army. But he wasn’t, and he saw a beautiful woman who was another man’s wife. He took her and had the man killed. All because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there, and in the proper uniform. Did he need to be in the field for his army to succeed? No, but that wasn’t the point. 

David caused a lot of pain, grief, and anguish because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be?

 Let’s make sure we are where God asks us to be, doing what He asks us to do.