Year 4, Day 328: 2 Samuel 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

We’ve already spoken about David’s appetite for women.  By this point in the story we should not be surprised that when David sins the majority of time it is a sin of the appetite variety.  David sees Bathsheba.  David wants Bathsheba.  David’s men take Bathsheba.  David sins because his appetite is out of control.

But if we look at this chapter, we can see why his appetite is out of control.  This chapter begins by saying that it was the time for kings to go out to war.  Up until this point, what had made David a great military leader is that he led his troops personally.  But now that he is king he stays at home.  So here is David with all of his generals, his advisors, and the strong fighting men of the town gone.  He should be at the battle leading his men personally.  But he’s at home with minimal accountability.

He puts himself in a position where his appetite has no check to help balance him out.  His appetite gets the better of him because all the people who should have been there to help him were gone – including Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband.  He set himself up to fail.

This is an important lesson to learn.  We often set ourselves up to fail when we lose sight of our accountability.  We often sin the greatest in the moments when we are alone and the sinfulness that resides inside is left unchecked.

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