WoG Wednesday: 2 Samuel 11

All of the Bible passages I read yesterday and today have been really heavy. They make me think a lot about the life i am leading and whether or not I am truly glorifying my Creator, Savior, and Lord in everything I am doing!

I usually draw from my recent reads for W.o.G Wednesday but because they have been so deep, I was really hesitant to write about any of them. But a couple of them keep coming back to me so I feel like i should just post and be done with it--no more overthinking! So, without any further ado, here is my W.o.G. passage this week!

2 Samuel 11:1-5, 14-16, 26, 27

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were.

When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

This story of David becomes personal when I read the first verse--David, as a warrior king, should have been at war with his army.

But he decided to stay home.

Why? Was he feeling particularly lazy? Did he have important matters to tend to at home? We can't be sure but we do know that he was supposed to be someplace other than home!

And, all because he was not where he was supposed to be, we see a crazy series of events take place--he was able to see something he shouldn't have seen (Bathsheba bathing), and then act on a desire that would never have presented itself (adultery) had he just been where he was supposed to be--leading his men in war!

Hold the presses--how is this personal? Granted, I'm not a king, i don't fight in wars, and I don't have a tall castle to spy on my neighbors. But, I do know where I should be--the question is, am I there, or am i being selfish and "staying home", getting into my own trouble, instead of being used in a place where God has called me?

It is soooo easy for me to get out of bed, check my emails, my blog reader, make C's breakfast, etc., before I even stop to think about getting into the Word of God. Number one, i know that is where i should be first! A lot of the other passages I read yesterday and today reference what happens when we present ourselves FIRST to God--unlike what we see happen to David, everything falls into place.

Invariably, we all mess up--we are far from perfect (Romans 3:23). I am often like David, choosing the easy path and then finding myself far from where i began--all because I wasn't where I was supposed to be in the first place! As we saw in the passage, David spun his own web of lust, lies, and murder. Thankfully, David's God is my God--a God full of grace (Romans 5:8). Even though we may get ourselves in a tangled web of sin, God is still able to work every single action out for His glory and according to His plan (Jeremiah 29:11). He sent His perfect son to die for me (John 3:16) so that all the places my sins take me might be made straight! What a wonderful God!

Wow! Really didn't see this post coming! And I'm very hesitant to hit "publish post" right now...but here goes!