When Godly People Do Ungodly Things

The eighteenth-century Pioneer Methodist bishop and circuit rider Francis Asbury wrote in his journal, “My God, keep me through the water and fire, and let me rather die than live to sin against thee!” I am praying that prayer, too.

Going Deep // Focus: 2 Samuel 11:4, 27

David sent messengers to get Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, and when she came to the palace, he slept with her…But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

David was a good and godly king. The nation of Israel was at it’s best under his leadership. Although David’s son, Solomon, would lead Israel into an unprecedented time of economic prosperity, military dominion and unbelievable public works projects, David’s reign was truly Israel’s Golden Age. Not only militarily and economically successful, under David, the nation was spiritually as close to God as ever.

Much of the good times in Israel were due to David’s leadership. He was a man of passionate spirit, deep faith, and stubborn love for God. And he cared about his people. He truly “shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Psalm 78:72) They don’t come any better than David.

Yet even though he was a man after God’s own heart, he was still a man—and a flawed one at that. At this moment in time when we find David in 2 Samuel 11, he set his godly heart on the back shelf to indulge his sinful nature in a moment of fleshly passion. Apparently David’s success went to his head; he thought he was above the law, that the could get away with anything he wanted. He was king after all. So far too easily David committed adultery with Bathsheba, a beautiful but married woman whom he saw bathing on one night on the rooftop of her home. And after his dirty deed, he far too easily conspired with General Joab to cover up the affair. With an unusual and frightening callousness, he had Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, one of David’s mighty men of valor, abandoned on the battlefront, where he died.

The hero died from a wound, but not from the enemy. He died from being stabbed in the back by the king he served. Moreover, not only Uriah, but several other innocent soldiers were killed along with Uriah when the army withdrew to leave Uriah in this vulnerable spot.

But while there was no human being higher in authority and power than the king, the King of kings saw what he had done, and the Lord was displeased.

What happened in the mind of this man after God’s own heart that he could order such a callous, evil thing? How could the king act so brazenly? Why did he sink so low? From where did the ease with which he so quickly abandoned his values come? Who was this man, really? We assumed he was so in tune with God, but in this horrible moment, he is desperately out of tune.

David was a godly man who did a very ungodly thing. Unfortunately, that still happens. If King David, the sweet singer of Israel, the progenitor of Jesus the Messiah, the man after God’s own heart could fall so precipitously, so could I. You, too. Any number of spiritual leaders who have train-wrecked their lives, families, and ministries for momentary pleasure stand as witnesses to what I have said.

In truth, we are David, and so is every other human being on the planet. We are fully capable of abandoning our deepest values for the pleasures of sin for a season. (Hebrews 11:25) Why? Because as long as we are alive, we live with the sad reality that we are fallen human beings in desperate need of God’s moment-by-moment saving and sustaining grace. Moreover, we must never forget when we choose to set our godly hearts on the back shelf to do what our flesh desires, the same destructive forces that would haunt David all the way to the grave—in both his personal and public life.—will be set into motion in our lives as well. You will reap what you sow—don’t’ be deceived. David is Exhibit A of sin’s devastating consequences.

But, thank the Lord, David is also Exhibit B of God’s indescribable grace. Somehow, in a way that only a masterful God can, the Lord used David’s disaster to restore him to the throne—not a greater king, but as a deeper man. Moreover, God used David’s horrible mistake to bring about his own prophetic purposes. Through David’s line, through Bathsheba’s womb, the Messiah would one day come.

Now keep in mind that God never condones or winks at our sin. He didn’t simply turn a blind eye to David’s foolishness. Yet no matter how bad we fall, God has promised to restore the penitent sinner and bring good out of the incredible pain we unleash upon ourselves and others. How? Why? Only a God of grace can answer that.

All that to say, and this is the deep cry of my heart, that God would give me a David-heart, but keep me from David-mistakes! And that is my cry for you, too.