Advent Devotional  |  December 20, 2020

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 2 Samuel 11:1-5

The route that leads to the coming of Jesus involves a ton of messy life situations. David was a man after God’s own heart. Many know of his great exploits in battle, how he killed Goliath and honored King Saul, who was anything but deserving. With the help of God, David established the golden years of Israel. There was no other nation that could stand against him. What eventually led to his missteps? Sin. Namely, adultery and murder.

In a moment of lust, David took a woman who was the wife of another. He then covered it up with murder. An undisciplined life is like a dam with a crack in it. As the pressure builds, it only takes one small moment of weakness to cause catastrophic damage. David found this out the hard way. Remember his title? King David. Now, look back at the first verse and notice where he should have been. He should have been out on the battlefield, but instead, he stayed home. (This is an entire sermon in itself, but I’ll save it for the next time I preach). My point is this: we are not immune to sin. In the book of Matthew, we find a detailed list of the lineage of Jesus. And Matthew does not beat around the bush! Included here, he says, “David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.” Ouch. Jesus came in the wake of David’s sin through Uriah’s wife, whom David had illegitimately taken.

God confronted sin with Jesus. Advent is His response to breaking the cycle. Praise God for that! Even a “man after God’s own heart” such as David felt the effects of a broken world. The good news is that God goes there, and Jesus is proof. When we think our sin is too much, consider King David and Advent. Like David, we should not stay sinning but repent. There is great hope for those who repent because Jesus came. When life seems irredeemable, it is not. What is a better time to confess sin and cling to the Savior who came to break the madness? There is no time like the present moment. Choose today to repent, as David did, and receive Jesus.

Pastor Dave Mergens