God's Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

When he was overcome by temptation he did not immediately re pent of the sin. His initial reaction was to solve the problem him self, his first device being to recall Uriah from the battlefront in the hope that he would sleep with his wife and then assume that her baby was his. When this failed, David’s desperation led him to plan the murder of his faithful soldier (see 2Samuel 11). David’s misguided attempt at problem solving resulted in complications and tragedies. These include: •The innocent and noble Uriah lost his life; •Four of David’s sons died as a result; •David had to face the terrible shame heaped upon him as the whole nation became aware of his transgression; •He lost a great deal of parental and regal authority as the respect of family and nation was withdrawn; •The resultant stress that David had to bear broke down his health and strength until he eventually died, a shadow of his former self; •Throughout the land, sinners were encouraged to act out the dictates of their evil hearts; •God’s work was retarded and doors were opened for the ad vancement of that terrible apostasy which marred Israel’s history in later years. David himself escaped the immediate death sentence—the punishment required by law—because the people had called for a monarch like those ruling over the nations around them, and this placed him, like them, in a position where the law of Israel could not touch him. Furthermore his deep repentance enabled God to protect him. Later, when David fled for his life from his own son, Absalom, he discovered that Bathsheba’s grandfather, Ahithophel, had joined the conspiracy against him. “But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. Now David had been told, ‘Ahithophel is among the conspir ators with Absalom.’” 2Samuel 15:30, 31. David recognized this as another outworking of his sin be cause Ahithophel, who was an able political leader, was acting out of revenge for the disgrace done to his family.