For the purpose of this post, when I speak about “THE PRESENCE” I am talking about the manifest presence of God where we are able to sense His pleasure, favor and blessing on us.
Long before David had the palace, he had THE PRESENCE. As “a man after God’s own heart” David knew that THE PRESENCE was everything. He’d spent years alone in the desert tending sheep enjoying THE PRESENCE. Eventually David ended up as THE KING living in A PALACE and He grew PRIDEFUL.
Pride has a way of making us forget about THE PRESENCE.
What was the clearest sign that David was about to mess up his life in a big way?
He chose to go to a place without THE PRESENCE.
How do I know that? Because David chose to go to the place where he knowingly pursued a married woman.
“One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” -2 Samuel 11:2-3
David chose to go to a place OUTSIDE THE PRESENCE AND BLESSING OF GOD and it cost him dearly.
Most commentaries record this as the lowest point in David’s life. David thought that he could get away with his adultery and assumed that nobody knew what he was doing, but God knew!
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there!” -Psalm 139:7-8
David had knowingly walked away from the THE PRESENCE OF GOD but found that God was still very much PRESENT!
Nathan the Prophet called David out on his little secret, and David was about to learn that choosing to be in a place without GOD’S PRESENCE was going to cost him.
“Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword AND TOOK HIS WIFE to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, BECAUSE YOU DESPISED ME AND TOOK THE WIFE OF URIAH THE HITTITE TO BE YOUR OWN. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” -2 Samuel 12:9-12
David viewed his decision to take another man’s wife as a private matter between him and Bathseba, God saw it very differently saying, “YOU DESPISED ME”.
David was choosing sin over God, and God wasn’t happy about it!
A place without THE PRESENCE
David could choose THE PLACE he wanted to be- he could be in bed with Uriah’s wife or he could be in the presence of God,
BUT HE COULD NOT HAVE BOTH.
Temptation always whispers,”You’re not leaving THE PRESENCE, you’re pursuing “THE PRIZE”!
Scripture tells us that sin comes attractively packaged, but has a short expiration date!
“The fleeting pleasures of sin.” -Hebrews 11:25
Not only are the pleasures of sin short-lived but “The Prize” that temptation offers just happens to be in a place without THE PRESENCE!
That’s a big deal! David was essentially choosing his sin over his relationship with God.
Choose the place BY HIS PRESENCE
What does David’s life tell us?
When faced with life’s choices never go to a place where you know THE PRESENCE will not be.
David could pretty much know that God wasn’t going to show up in his bedroom blessing his union with Uriah the Hittite’s wife!
God in his love and mercy didn’t let go of David, but he did chastise him severely.
“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” -Hebrews 11:12