A Set Apart Heart

2 Samuel 11:11-13

“Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah,”Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.”

The story of David and Bathsheba is one I have heard countless times, but never once have I looked at it with the word ‘discipline’ in mind. I see two men in this story: Uriah is a man disciplined unto the Spirit, and David is a man disciplined unto the flesh. In times of war, the King was supposed to be at every battle, but while David’s men were fighting his war, he was lying in bed. I am sure David never thought his one sin would create such catastrophic events, but that is what happens when we submit ourselves under the devil instead of God. David’s one lustful gaze, took him completely off course, and his heart that was once consecrated to the Lord, became consecrated to himself and his own fleshly desires. Uriah was a different man, a man who lived by a strong constitution, guided by the Lord, disciplined to follow God’s will. He had the opportunity to go home, eat rich food, and be with his wife for the first time in months, but not once did he turn to the left or the right, he stayed the course and kept his eyes fixed on the Lord. Many times, I have read this story and wondered how David could make such a stupid mistake, but now I understand. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it? But I the Lord search the heart, and test the mind, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” I am David all of the time. I let my eyes wander, I allow my thoughts to carry off wherever they desire, and often times I act on my feelings. The moment I act on my own emotions, is the moment I change alliances. Acting on what I feel, simply means that I reject God’s authority over me, and believe that my will is above his own. It’s a web that entangles, entraps, and ensnares, and once you fall into it, it is impossible to come out on your own, and David tried with all of his might to rescue himself. He recognized the huge mistake he had made, but still did not want to switch disciplines, the end result was the death of Uriah, the death of his baby, and great internal destruction on David’s part. Though Uriah died because of David’s sin, he stood firm in his beliefs, and was not shaken by the temptations placed before him. I want to be like Uriah, disciplined and concentrated on the Lord; firmly planted and rooted in the will of the Lord, and not ruled by my ever fleeting emotions. Jesus, I pray that every thought would be taken unto the obedience of your will, and not my own. Let me not go through this life working in my own strength; may I be consecrated unto you. 

Application: Tomorrow, I will keep track of problems that come my way, and write them in my journal. I will pray over them, that I might not act impulsively, under the obedience of my own will.