"In the spring, when kings (and others who were born with an aggressive temperament) went out to war, David (who was not the kind of man who really wanted to conquer and kill anyway as it was not in his genes) stayed home.
David was relaxing one evening, walking along the roof of his house, when he noticed a woman bathing. He was not immune to this kind of thing--he was a man and as such could not help but keep his gaze fixed on this. He was powerless to do anything else. He sent a messenger to inquire of her and found her husband was out to war (apparently one of those of aggressive temperament). This made her fair game. She had a will and so did he. He could not help but want her, it was part of his makeup. So he called for her and did as any man would and then sent her home.
She became pregnant. This was unfortunate, as David saw no way to pass this off as her husband's doing. Though he did try and yet her husband would not go home (due to his sense of duty to his fellow soldiers who were still fighting as he wished to be). Seeing that the only honorable decision was to kill her husband and take her for his rightful wife, David acted according to his chemical make-up and had Uriah abandoned on the front lines of battle, where he died. David took Bathsheba as his wife and the village rejoiced. How honorable of the gentle king.
God was not displeased. No. If God was displeased he would have said something, but as it was David had acted in accordance with his true self and therefore could not possibly have been in the wrong. He took some Prozac and all lived happily ever after.
If you have ever read the story of David and Bathsheba (II Sam. Ch. 11-12), you'll notice some interesting changes in the version you've just read.
My generation depends on feelings. If it feels right, it is. You cannot help who you are.
That is the epitome of our culture, and one of the greatest lies we have ever succumbed to. You can help who you are as much as the thief has the ability to put his hand back in his pocket, or the man addicted to pornography has the ability to turn off the computer. It is not that any one person is unable to do these things, it's that they choose not to. You choose who you are by your actions, your actions display your heart, and ultimately, your heart discloses the real you. Maybe men never see it, but God does. He tells us that he "searches every heart and understands every thought of every man".
You see, we have developed the lukewarm drawl of "God will do nothing-neither good nor bad." And soon such excuse-making and procrastinatic apathy will bring wrath of inescapable proportions upon our idealistic heads. For it is not the unjust nature of God that sends Nathans our way, who proclaim, "You are that man," but the love of the infinite Father who is pleased with truth and issues pardon at humility. It is His love that calls us out. And the mark of a true Christian child who answers back with no excuses, "I have sinned."
May we not be lost in the acidic waves of our day, excusing every turn! But, in sobriety of thought, examine our ways, humbling ourselves in repentance until we come forth as gold.
