June 21

Proverbs 21
David probably stopped to ponder his actions. He must have justified himself many times. Each time that he took another wife, he surely justified himself. After all many others had multiple wives, why shouldn’t he? He once had vowed to kill a man for snubbing him and his troops after they had spent endless hours protecting him. Fortunately the man’s wife and the Lord intervened. The man died. David was more than willing to take the beautiful widow as his wife. But this new circumstance was a little different. This widow’s husband was intensely loyal to David. David had coveted her before her husband died. David had yielded to that temptation and seduced her while her husband was on the battlefield fighting for David’s cause. David arranged to have him put in a battle situation where he would surely die, and he was killed.
How could a man after God’s own heart justify such a course of action? The deception of our own hearts is ever deep. David must have thought, “I am king; I have the right to do as I please.” Kings throughout history have often taken the wives of other men and forced themselves upon them. Perhaps he reasoned even that it was his Divine right. After all had he not be faithful to “touch not the anointed of the Lord” for more than a decade? Had he not done everything possible to wait upon the Lord to bring him the rule of kingship over Israel? Did not more than a decade of running in the desert leading what many considered to be an army of thieves finally warrant some kind of perks? Didn’t he deserve this? And why should one night with the man’s wife matter to the man. After all she had promised that she would never tell him. No one would ever know. The complication of the whole matter was that she had become pregnant. No problem, bring the man home to enjoy marital conjugation with the woman, and everyone would think the child was the man’s. But the man had an unusual sense of honor. He refused to enjoy a night with his wife while his companions were on the field of battle. Do you suppose he knew what had happened? How could David ever justify this? For the good of the image of the office of the king, this matter must be discretely taken care of. He was the commander-in-chief. He would simply place the man in a unit where he would likely be killed. It was after all his prerogative. After all, he was King!
Even a man after God’s own heart can make his perverted ways seem right in his own eyes. If David could fall prey to it, so can I. Even Solomon, a man blessed with wisdom and riches beyond any other, could fall prey to it, so can I. What are we to do? There is only one solution. I must throw myself upon the grace of our Lord imploring Him to constantly weigh my heart and show it to me. I can never be satisfied with the condition of my heart yesterday. The question is, “Where is my heart today?” Yes, I may have had a great interaction with the Spirit of the Lord and His word yesterday, but what about today? The glory of our Lord Jesus is that He will weigh our heart today and share with us the results, but we must pursue Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john