Pastor Jann Braaksma
We make hundreds of choices every day. Most of them small, like when to finally go to bed, if we use the snooze alarm the next morning. Coffee or tea, one cup or two. What to wear that day, where to park at work. And the choices go on all day till you are back to going to bed again.
On a particular day you may not be called on to make any large decisions, but each small one has an effect.
Were there people in the bible who made choices? Of course, and who do you think of?
Adam & Eve – even though Eve had not been created yet when God told Adam, “you must not eat of the tree of life,” she knew the rule. That how she first answered Satan when he tempted her with the fruit. So she knew, she choice the fruit. (Gen. 2:16 & 3:2)
Noah – It doesn’t seem God asked Noah to build the ark, but I believe Noah could have said, “Sorry, I’m too busy.” Then where would the world have been? (Gen. 6)
Mary and Joseph – I believe they both could have said no. In Revelations 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
All the Disciples – Jesus said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They could have no, but “at once they left their nets and followed Him.”
Peter – could have stayed in the boat. (Matt 14:29)
Annanias – Replied to the Lord in regard to Saul; “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” (Acts 9:13) And how did our Lord answer? “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
And there are hundreds more. Then we could each speak of a choice we have made and the results of that. Both to God’s glory and to our shame in some of those choices. Today I’d like to talk about King David and Bathsheba. Please open your bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 11.
_________ please read verse 1. (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.) Thank you.
Winter is the rainy season in Israel, the time when crops are planted. Spring was a good time to go to war because the roads were dry, making travel easier for troop movements, supply wagons, and chariots. In Israel, wheat and barley were ready to be harvested in the spring. These crops were an important food source for traveling armies.
It has the feel of, in the morning when the sun comes up. In the spring at the time when kings go off to war, David went. No?
David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. Who can tell me about Joab, the Three or David’s Mighty Men?
During the time David was being hunted by Saul, David gradually built a fighting force of several hundred men. Some were relatives, others were outcasts of society, many were in trouble with the law. They all had a least one trait in common—complete devotion to David. Scripture gives the impression that these men were motivated to greatness by the personal qualities of their leader.
Think with me for a moment about the pattern of a bull’s-eye. Jesus is the very center. Who is the next ring? Peter, James and John. (Matt 17:1) The next ring? The remaining nine disciples. Next ring? I believe the women who followed and supported Jesus from their own funds. (Luke 8:3) Then the rest of the believers in every increasing rings.
David had a similar pattern I believe. Himself, the three, the thirty and the rest of the mighty men. The whole list is in 2 Samuel chapter 23, and verse 39 says, “and Uriah the Hittite.”
Joab, the great military leader, had two brothers (Ab and As) but Joab proved to be the greatest leader of the three and was the commander of David’s army throughout most of David’s reign. There is no record that his troops ever lost a battle.
Joab was a fearless fighter like his brothers. Unlike them, he was also a brilliant and ruthless strategist. His plans usually worked, but he was seldom concerned about those hurt or killed by them.
So the ‘cream of the crop’ were off fighting and David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
_________ please read verse 2-5. Thank you.
And the plot thickens. Deuteronomy 22: 8 says; “When you build a new house, make a guardrail around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.” No I’ve often wondered about this walking around on the roof story. We sure don’t walk around on our roofs. But in that day and culture people used their flat roofs as porches, thus the caution of having a guardrail so no one fell.
Its late evening, middle of the night, almost morning, we’re not told the time. Just that David got up from his bed and was walking on the roof when he saw a woman bathing. And by the way, she was very beautiful.
Now what could he have done? Yes, turned away, been embarrassed, prayed and asked God to have forgiven him. But what does he do? Watches. And gets others involved. This is no common subject or a prostate. It’s the wife of one of his own mighty men, who was at that moment fighting the Ammonites.
Even now David could have walked away. I believe God was giving him the opportunity to. But no, David makes another choice and brings Bathsheba to his bed and has sex with her.
The bible tells us that the child is not Uriah’s and is King David’s. Bathsheba had her monthly menstrual cycle, that why she was taking the bath.
David and Bathsheba’s story shows that little wrong decisions often lead to big mistakes. It is likely that neither was where he or she should have been. Bathsheba may have been rash in bathing where she might be seen; David should have been at war with his army. Each decision contributed to the beginning of a very sad series of events.
So David calls Uriah home but Uriah doesn’t sleep with his wife so David has him killed in battle. Then he marries Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet comes to call, the baby boy is born and dies because of David’s sin. A lot of pain and suffering and death because of small choices made.
God gives us opportunities to flee and avoid temptation. We need to take advantage of His mercy and grace.
From Bathsheba’s life we see that the little, day-to-day choices we make are very important. They prepare us to make the right choices when the big decisions come. The wisdom to make right choices in small and large matters is a gift from God. Understanding this should make us more conscious of the decisions we make and more willing to include God in our decision making.
Have you asked for God’s help with today’s decisions?
Let us pray.
Resource: The Life Application Bible