Springtime

I Chron. 20:1

"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle...but David remained at Jerusalem."

God had called David to be the king which meant performing all the kingly duties that were required of him. Yet, this time, he did not. He should have been at war, but he stayed home. From that one decision, came a mountain load of trouble. He not only saw Bathsheba bathing on her roof, but he took her. When she was pregnant with his child, he called her husband, Uriah, home from the battle. Uriah was too good of a soldier to fall for David's plan and would not sleep with his wife. So David sent Uriah back to the battle with orders  for Joab, orders that called for Uriah to be placed in the heat of the battle where he would surely be killed. What began as a vacation from battle had turned into adultery and murder. When David's vision of God faltered, then his actions tanked as well. 

After Uriah was dead, David married Bathsheba, but God's judgment hadn't even begun yet. Nathan the prophet delivered God's words to David. The child of this unholy union was to die, and the sword would never depart from his house. Although David had despised God, his heart was tender towards the words of the prophet. He confessed his sin and sought God for the life of the child, but to no avail. The child died. 

How many times have I fallen into sin when I chose to be somewhere that I shouldn't have been? How many times have I indulged a fleshly response and allowed it to bloom into more and more sin? David's sin is a warning and a wake up call "to watch and pray, to guard my ways." 

Father,

Keep my eyes focused on You and not on my fleshly desires. Keep me in the right place at the right time so that Your grace will be my shield and portion.

In Jesus name,

Amen