Flirting With fire

King David sent his army out to battle while he stayed back in the city (I Chron 20:1). That seems innocent enough. So innocent that I have never heard anyone else belabor the point and explain why that comment is included by the chronicler of the kings’ stories. But I think I have come to understand how much meaning is packed into that little statement. Allow me some imaginative license in interpreting the story, embellishment you might call it, because I think we need to hear it. It was not innocent happenstance that occurred when David looked down from his rooftop.

David was a warrior. Always was. Never going to quit. To stay home and send Joab out to lead his army was more than significant. It had intrigue written all over it. Sad thing was, the few who could see and know what was going on, they all kept silent and let David blow it big time. After all, no one tells a king what he should and shouldn’t do. No one, that is, except God. And God chose to wait and let this whole thing run its full course before He sent the prophet Nathan to David’s front door.

David had just conquered the city of Jebus, probably less than ten years prior to this story. He made it the “City of David” -- Jerusalem, as it would come to be known. But at this point in his life he had only built his palace, and homes for his thirty mighty men surrounding the palace. One of those homes was that of Uriah and Bathsheba.

While it may have been customary for people to go to the roof of their home to take a bath in the warm sun, it could have, and should have been done modestly and discreetly. I don’t think the first viewing of Bathsheba bathing on the roof top below happened after the army went out to war. It had begun months earlier. In fact, she may have even known that David was watching her. I even suspect that there had already begun some flirting and clandestine liaisons taking place. Definitely some flirtatious glances and suggestive gestures. That is the underlying reason why David stayed behind in the city instead of going out with his army. The lure of seduction and an affair with a beautiful woman incapacitated his ability to be reasonable and responsible. He was swept off his feet with the possibility of how far this affair could go if Joab and the other mighty men were all gone, and he was home alone. That’s the nature of sexual addiction. Blind and reckless.

So, now, Joab is gone, and the opportunity is ripe. David sent for Bathsheba to come to his palace, maybe for lunch, or afternoon tea. And what had started as flirting and lustful desires burst into a blazing fire. There were probably repeated visits, and everyone turned a blind eye. David was so blinded by the fire of his passions that he essentially tuned out God for a year of his life and followed the passion of sexual desire. So much so that he tried to cover over her pregnancy, and with that attempt failing, he had Uriah killed. With Uriah dead David may have hoped that the story in the headlines of the Gazette would read, “King David steps up to the plate, honorably refusing to leave Uriah’s pregnant wife as a widow.”

But the fire still would not have gone out. What started as a spark began to smolder and catch flame. Then the raging fire wreaked havoc, as sexual lust and unleashed pleasure always do. Only God could put out the fire and restore the damage. He sent the prophet Nathan. And David responded wholeheartedly, a man after God’s own heart. His confession is as real as real can get (Psalm 51).

The lesson for us, both men and women, is to be aware how dangerous it is to flirt with fire. Knowing glances, playful comments and gestures, wishful desires -- they all have disaster written on the label. Flammable. And secondly, if you find yourself making plans to fulfil your lustful desires, you have one of two choices. You can pour gas on the fire and let her rip. Or you can disclose it to a friend who will keep you from shipwreck. And for God’s sake, if you have a friend disclose to you impending disaster, take them seriously. Don’t stand back and watch the flames.

“Guard your heart, with all diligence, for it is the well spring of life…. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? … So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her will not go unpunished.”  (Prov 4:23; 5:27,29)