The Highs and the LowsSample

David (The Lows)

Day 7 - David (The Lows)

David is known for being “a man after God’s heart.” When we hear that phrase, we often picture David as a teacher's pet or goodie-two-shoes. But when we read about his life, we recognise it wasn’t all that simple. He had many highs and lows; he messed up and made it right with God. Today, we will look at one of the darkest moments in David’s reign but, just as importantly, how he responded to his sin and was challenged by it.

So many of us remember David as the little boy who fought off a giant with a slingshot and became King. But the story of David continues long after that. This particular story occurs at the height of David’s military prowess. In David’s position, many of us might feel invincible and impossible to challenge, and it’s possible that these feelings might have inspired David’s actions.

One evening David was looking out over his palace roof when he saw a woman bathing whom he found attractive. Intrigued by her, David asked someone to find out who she was like you might ask a friend about a new guy or girl at youth. After discovering that this woman (Bathsheba) was married to one of David’s own soldiers (Uriah), he sent messengers to bring her to him rather than removing himself from the situation. David slept with Bathsheba, and as a result, she became pregnant.

This places David in a very tricky situation. Instead of realising he's sinned against not just Uriah but God, he tries to find the easiest way to cover it up. Get rid of Uriah! To make the situation even worse, Uriah respected David greatly. Even so, David went ahead and planned his death and, sadly, others with him. The prophet Nathan later confronts David, and he then begins to see the error of his ways.

For many of us, we might assume that would be it, that God would be done with us. However, David recognises his wrongdoings and went out to honour God. His first action upon the death of his child was to go to the temple and worship God. From David’s genuine repentance, we read that the Lord took away his sin, and he was forgiven. From this, there is a lesson for all of us. Repenting is much more than saying we’re sorry. It’s going out and living each and every day with a new mindset to turn around our way of thinking and to live differently.

Questions

Q: Is there any sin that you’re hiding? Why don’t you take the opportunity to tell someone about it and repent to God? If that sin is against an individual, ask for their forgiveness.

Q: How do you usually react to being challenged? Do you need to humble yourself and put the situation right?

Prayer:

Lord, I ask for your forgiveness today; I repent for the things I have done wrong that you have reminded me of even now. Thank you for saving me and putting my life back on track. I humble myself before you today, and I ask you to forgive me and help me put things right in my life and with the people around me.

Amen.