”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 to behold.“ II Samuel 11:2 NKJV
a. David arose from his bed and walked on the roof: The Hebrew verb form of walked suggests that David paced back and forth on the roof. He couldn’t sleep and was uneasy – uneasy because he wasn’t where God wanted him to be.
b. He saw a woman bathing: It may be that this woman (later called by the name Bathsheba) acted immodestly. Though it was evening and apparently the time when most people were asleep, it is possible (even likely) that she knew that her bath was visible from the roof of the palace. Any possible immodesty on Bathsheba’s part did not excuse David’s sin in any way, but if she was immodest, she was still responsible for her wrong.
i. We must never be an occasion for sin to others, even in how we dress. Paul’s word in 1 Timothy 2:9 is relevant here: the women should adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation.
c. He saw a woman bathing: David’s sin was not in seeing Bathsheba. It was unlikely that he expected or planned to see her. David’s sin was in choosing to keep his eyes on an alluring image after the sight came before his eyes.
i. Christians – men, especially – must learn to never let their eyes (or their mind) rest on alluring images except for what God has given to them in marriage. Our eyes must not remain on alluring images that come into sight.
ii. David’s many wives did not satisfy his lust. This was because you can’t satisfy lusts of the flesh. They are primarily rebellious assertions of self. It wasn’t so much that David wanted Bathsheba, it was that he would not be satisfied with what God gave him.
iii. The principle would be illustrated in an exaggerated way in the life of Solomon, David’s son. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. David and Solomon show us that if one woman isn’t enough, 1000 women aren’t enough.
d. The woman was very beautiful to behold: Bathsheba’s great beauty made the sight tempting. But the real strength of temptation often does not lie in the quality of the tempting object, but in the state of heart and mind of the one being tempted. David was carefully “prepared” to fail at this very point. Even so, this temptation was not too strong for David, no matter how beautiful Bathsheba was.
i. For example, Joseph was more severely tempted to commit sexual immorality than David was here, but he fled that temptation.
ii. David looked at Bathsheba and said “beauty” but God saw this as ugly. The hoped-for pleasures of sin deceive us like the bait hides the hook. We must call it what God calls it – sin. We want to say “affair” but God says “adultery.” We want to say “love” but God says “lust.” We want to say “sexy” but God says “sin.” We want to say “romantic” but God says “ruin.” We want to say “destiny” but God says “destruction.” (Guzik)
Bait Hides The Hook!
This is a great analogy for sin! Satan fishing 🎣 for people hides the hook under the bait and once you are hooked he reels in the line drawing you away from God!
Sin is an enticing addiction as we can see with king David and his many wives wasn’t enough to satisfy his lust of the flesh!
One thing I’ve learned from attending and leading a twelve step group is that every one of us has an addiction of one kind or another. If you take a moral inventory of yourself you will understand what I mean.
One of the men in our group once asked another man, what is your drug of choice?
David’s drug of choice was lust, what is yours?
Blessings
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