“When David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel… to meet King Saul with tambourines, songs of joy, and musical instruments… [singing],
“’Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.’
“And Saul eyed David from that day on… afraid of David because the Lord was with him... So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand… And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him…
“So Saul was David’s enemy continually… And Saul spoke to Jonathan and to all his servants, that they should kill David.” 1 Samuel 18:6-7,9,12-15,29; 19:1
“It happened, late one afternoon, David… saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful… So David sent messengers and took [Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah], and she came to him, and he lay with her… And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’
“So David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite…’ Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and drink and lie with my wife?..’
“In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah... ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.’ And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. The men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David… fell. Uriah the Hittite also died…
“These are the names of the mighty men whom David had:.. Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.” 2 Samuel 11:1-6,11,14-17; 23:8,39
David knew what it was to be an innocent victim of the one in power- he’d been hunted by the viciously jealous King Saul for years. Yet, clawed himself by the deceitful talons of frantic lust, and bleeding with unstoppable sin upon sin, the very one unjustly targeted now set his target on an innocent, unknowing rival. Having salaciously impregnated Uriah’s wife, David sought to eliminate his paramour’s faithful husband, a loyal elite of his mighty men.
The enemy is a heinous liar. Let his foot in the door, the monster grows, and we’re trapped. The fear of being exposed for what we desperately want to conceal stokes the fury and fire of repeated folly. Sin distorts thinking and entangles actions to heap plot upon hideous plot to the ruin of those around us. Concentric circles of fallout can’t be contained. (Proverbs 6:34; John 8:44; Romans 7:15-20; 8:28; 1 Peter 2:11)
What sin have we coddled into habit? Is there unchecked fury we fuel by bitterness, jealousy, or pride? Untamed gossip, gluttony, or lust? How has it frozen our heart, or seeped into language, demeanor, or destructive action? Only by God’s grace can the flesh be thwarted, and consequences softened and used in mercy for ultimate good. (Romans 8:28; 1 Peter 2:11)
Lord, stop sin in its tracks, that I might be pure and single-minded for You.
As the rain and snow 