What Was He Thinking?

I'm sure we've all watched in amazement the parade of sports stars and celebrities who seem to have it all going for them and then they blow it. They have achieved success at the top of their fields whether it's Barry Bonds and OJ Simpson in sports to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson in the music industry to even Richard Nixon in politics.

They had money, power, fame, entourages and adoring fans (maybe not Nixon). They could all snap their fingers and people would jump. These are all things that might seem appealing to us and we've possible even wished we were famous and had everyone wanting our autographs. But what happened?

They all made a bad choice that sent their lives into a spiral. Now some compounded one bad choice with another and still another as they started to cover the last screw-up. I know we've all sat on our couches and said "How could that Britney Spears be so stupid?" and "Didn't Bonds have enough talent before going to the juice?" But I find myself lately with empathy for these people because I know if I made the wrong choice how my life could take a downward spiral.

The beauty of the Bible is it has wonderful stories and people that seemingly illustrate all of today's issues. The classic person I can point to from the Old Testament is David. I think David and Moses have to be the most exciting stories in all the Bible. What makes their stories so intriguing is they are both great men of God, but they are not perfect. They both had flaws. Moses killed a man and David's mess-up amounted to the same.

David was the quintessential star who had it all. He was a man after "God's own heart", he was good looking, he was God's anointed king, he had the beautiful home with the beautiful wives and then he made one bad choice that changed the course of his life forever. Due to his own doing, David was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was supposed to be off at war with his men, but instead he probably thought, "my guys will take care of things, I don't need to go." So he found himself on the roof of his palace checking out the neighborhood and what did he see?

He spotted a gorgeous woman named Bathsheba taking a bath (appropriate name) and at that instance he had a choice to make. He could stand there and stare at her or he could flee. He chose the former and from there things got worse. Being the king he could have his people send for her and he slept with her and she got pregnant. Then he finds out she was a married woman and her husband was out at battle like he should have been.

Finally, after some more attempted cover-up David just for her husband to be killed in battle and he goes ahead and marries Bathseba. Was this the same David who had dropped Goliath with a stone or the man who had the integrity not to kill King Saul when he had the opportunity? Now he's out sleeping around and arranging murders. What did God have to think about all this?

"But the Lord was displeased with what David had done." 2 Samuel 11:27. Can we all say "duh." But to me here is where the story gets better and the application to our lives is so real.

God had a consequence for David's sin. He forgave him of the sin, but the ramifications lasted the rest of his life. "Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel." 2 Samuel 12:11-12. Ouch. Did you know this kind of stuff is in the Bible?

After being caught David didn't go into spin control mode and try and blame Bathsheba for teasing him or saying her husband was at fault. He confessed his sin to the Lord. "Then David confessed to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord." Verse 13

David was forgiven by the Lord, but because of what seemed like an innocent glance his life changed forever. The baby eventually died and David's personal life was a mess forever. But, did God discard him and tell him he couldn't use him anymore because he blew it? No, God still loved him and was still a force for God. He was still the bloodline that led to our saviour Jesus and he wrote many awesome Psalms about his troubles.

Our takeaway today is this. Don't get too high and mighty when we see people who seem to have it all fall from grace. If we don't take the proper precautions and have the right boundaries in our lives we could all wind up in a heep of mess. Also, what we do in secret God will eventually bring into the light so confess our sins to him earlier than later and we will receive His forgiveness. Remember 1 John 1:9.

I encourage you all to read the story of David. It has more drama than anything you could watch on tv and it's real life. Blessings to you all.