2 Samuel 12 / John 16 / Psalm 119:65-80 / Proverbs 16:4-5
Have you ever suffered from stuffitis? I used to have this disease. It was so much fun to go to yard sales, estate sales and sales in general to see if something caught my eye – something that I just couldn’t live without! My eyes would light up, I would smile, my heart would race. Then there was the part of bargaining on price – so thrilling.
But at some point, I had all I needed. I inherited some of my Grandmomma Wheeler’s things, as well as some things from our friend who passed away in the late 90’s. I have useful items, memory items, artistic items… I’m “itemed” out. I have all I need. Now I rarely shop or go to yard or estate sales. When I do, I may see something that catches my eye because of it’s beauty or historic draw, but I almost always talk myself out of getting anything else.
I’ll tell myself, “If you get that, you’ll have to get rid of something.” And I don’t want to do that because the things I have are special to me, or useful for our family. This doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the beauty; but I am no longer compelled to purchase.
Maybe if David had taken this stance when he saw Bathsheba, he would have averted his eyes and walked away. I mean the Lord had already given him Saul’s “house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.” And God told David through Nathan the prophet, “If that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.”
When I read that, I was thinking to myself how ridiculous it seemed that God would have given David more! He literally had everything he could ever want or need! He had hundreds of wives, lands, the title of king, etc. Why would he want more? But evidently, David was used to getting what he wanted simply by asking.
I believe the problem here was that David asked the wrong person for the wrong thing. I believe what God was saying was, “Why didn’t you talk to Me – relate to Me – communicate with Me? I wanted to spend time with you and meet your needs. But instead of you allowing Me to do that, you took matters into your own hands.”
Of course, David never would have asked God to give him another man’s wife – the answer would definitely have been “No!” Maybe that’s why he didn’t ask. He knew what God would say. Maybe that’s why he instead tried to hide what he was doing, not realizing God sees everything.
It’s interesting how we do the same thing. We think that if we don’t communicate with God, He won’t notice our sin. He notices. And we think if a consequence is delayed that we’ve gotten away with something. We have not. Something will come along to bite us in the behind for our actions – it’s a law. What law? The law of sowing and reaping.
Scripture tells us this in Galatians 6:8The harvest you reap reveals the seed that you planted. If you plant the corrupt seeds of self-life into this natural realm, you can expect a harvest of corruption. If you plant the good seeds of Spirit-life you will reap beautiful fruits that grow from the everlasting life of the Spirit.
David had planted the seeds of deception, murder and adultery and his harvest was death, sorrow and judgment from God. Thankfully David saw his sin and repented, and God blessed him with another son, Solomon (also given the name Jedidiah by God, which means “beloved of the Lord and friend of God”) How gracious of God to bless David again after he turned away from his sin! And what a beautiful stamp of love God placed on Jedidiah!
And God will do the same for us. Whatever it is that attempts to draw your heart away from God – things or people, circumstances, etc. – turn instead away from that and turn to God to have a conversation with Him. He wants to talk with you and bless you. He really does love you so much!
