2 Samuel 11-12: Bathing Bathsheba and Your Own Lust Problem

"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem." 2 Samuel 11:1

We are a lustful people. Often, we try to blame it on the culture, but even apart from the culture, we are still a lustful people. For men, it's obvious. Lustful thoughts towards women, pornographic addictions, and other sexual sins are prevalent even in our culture--yes, even among Christians. For women, it may be less obvious, but it's still there. The romance movies and novels testify to the idealization and lust that we all put towards sexual relationships. We are a lustful people.

Fortunately for us, we have a few (and by few, I mean many) stories in the Bible to help us with our lust problem, ultimately because many people in the Bible failed in the area of lust as well. One of those stories is the story of David. David had it all. He was anointed by the Lord, the King of Israel, and he even had a few wives to keep him satisfied. Yet one fateful spring, David decided to stay home from battle, and his life was derailed. In his own laziness, he found himself scouring the rooftops. Amidst his evening stroll, he looked down from his high castle and found Bathsheba bathing on the roof. Rather than running from temptation like Joseph did, David inquired about his lustful desire. He could have stopped it after a lustful thought, but he acted on his mind's intention. He then took the woman, slept with her, and she became pregnant. David then tried to cover up his tracks and ended up murdering the woman's husband. He thought he got away with it, but the Lord was watching the entire time.

In this great story, we see a process that led David to his great and awful sin. This process is the exact same process for you and me. and I want to show it to you, that we might be encouraged to fight our lustful thoughts by God's power rather than our own (see the last two devotionals):

1) Laziness. The author of 2 Samuel makes it very clear to us that David should have been out to battle in the springtime. Yet, he chose laziness over perseverance. He could have been where God had called him, but he decided to stay home. Let us realize here that David's original intention was not to sleep around. I guarantee you that he never thought to himself, man, I should stay in from battling this season so I can sleep with Uriah's wife. No. David never had such a thought, but because he gave into the sin of laziness, the pattern was started. No man every sets out randomly someday to cheat on his wife, but sin starts small, and grows quickly.

I heard a pastor say about this passage once that "it's hard to take your pants off when you're playing rugby." Was this a bit much? Perhaps. But you'll never forget it now. What's the point? That you don't have time to sin sexually when you keep yourself busy. The man who works 8 hours a day and spends time with his wife and kids when he's home is much less likely to watch pornography than a man who is sitting on his but on the couch all day--it's just a fact. Get busy, do something with your life, so that you don't have time to fantasize about getting together with your neighbor's wife.

2) Stupidity. David was found roaming the rooftops. Many times in our fights against lust, we think that we're strong. Guess what: you're not, and to think that you are is utter stupidity. We often think that the best way to truly fight lust is to put ourselves right next to it so that we can prove that we're able to overcome it in our own power. The Bible has a very different pattern for you: "Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?" (Prov. 6:27). Randy Alcorn says in his book The Purity Principle, "It’s always easier to avoid temptation than to resist it. In moments of strength, make decisions that will prevent temptation in moments of weakness." Don't believe the lie that you don't need to set up guardrails for yourself. Although some of us certainly need more guardrails than others, there is no excuse to be roaming around on the internet late at night without an internet filter. That's just common sense.

3) Lust. Let us take a moment to discuss this one. David's sin wasn't that he saw Bathsheba, it's that he lusted after her. We live in a sex-craved culture, and from time to time our eyes are going to seek things that we shouldn't. We can put up as many guardrails as we want, but sometimes just going to Walmart is impossible without seeing someone scandalously dressed. The question is what we do in those instances. David's mind was set on staying. He saw something that he liked, so he fixated his mind on it. He lusted. He focused himself on the fading beauty of another individual rather than keeping his mind set on the unfading beauty and satisfaction found in Christ. His sin wasn't that he saw Bathsheba, but that he gave into temptation rather than resisting it. Let us notice that all of us, men and women alike, are going to have lustful temptations. The question is whether we will act on them like David did, or resist them (like Joseph did).

4) Physical Action. Up to this point, David's sin was fully mental, but it was about to take a harsh turn. After lusting after the woman, David inquired about her. He did not go to her house and sleep with her, he simply inquired about her. Yet, this got the ball rolling. Before he knew it, he was in bed with her. And before we think that this would never happen to us, think again. It's sad, but we all know of a man who cheated on his wife. Do you think this happened overnight? No. It started with one super tiny, almost miniscule lustful thought. Before he knew it, that lustful thought snowballed into a temptation that he did not resist, and he committed adultery. David's sin, and our sin, is much the same. We think our lustful thoughts are innocent, but they aren't, because if they left alone to reign freely, they will influence our actions. Lustful thoughts have a goal, and that goal is not to stay in our heads. If you're dreaming about seeing something or doing something impure, don't let your sin deceive you into thinking that you wouldn't do it in real life. You're thinking about it--so you obviously desire it. Let that be a warning sign to you to call someone for help. confess your sin, and start intentionally fighting lust so that you don't go in the other direction.

At the end of this story, we find something amazing. Although there was certainly great punishment for David's sin, we find the Lord's mercy as well: "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die." Praise the Lord. Even our gross and awful sin of lust has been covered by the cross of Christ. Is there punishment for our sexual impurities? Certainly. But thanks be to Christ that that punishment is not eternal. God has died on the cross for our lustful sins. Let us not grieve him by commiting them all the more.