RIGHTLY POSITIONED!

2 Samuel 11:1-27 CSB

In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. [2] One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing-a very beautiful woman. [3] So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hethite?" [4] David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home. [5] The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, "I am pregnant." [6] David sent orders to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hethite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. [7] When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. [8] Then he said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. [9] But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master's servants; he did not go down to his house. [10] When it was reported to David, "Uriah didn't go home," David questioned Uriah, "Haven't you just come from a journey? Why didn't you go home?" [11] Uriah answered David, "The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!" [12] "Stay here today also," David said to Uriah, "and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. [13] Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master's servants, but he did not go home. [14] The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. [15] In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies. [16] When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. [17] Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David's soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hethite also died. [18] Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. [19] He commanded the messenger, "When you've finished telling the king all the details of the battle- [20] if the king's anger gets stirred up and he asks you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? [21] At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Didn't a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall?'-then say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hethite is dead also.'" [22] Then the messenger left. When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. [23] The messenger reported to David, "The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the city gate. [24] However, the archers shot down on your servants from the top of the wall, and some of the king's servants died. Your servant Uriah the Hethite is also dead." [25] David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.' Encourage him." [26] When Uriah's wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him. [27] When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the LORD considered what David had done to be evil.

 

Don’t you just love the bible? I call it the library of exquisite collections of books- murder, adultery, war, marriage, babies, betrayal, political coup, and lots more. There are many genres in the Bible; one of them is the iconic story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, which we all know very well.

Temptation comes in every form and any places. Sometimes temptation even finds us when we’re in the right place but think how disastrous it could be when we fall into temptation because we were absent from our approved position. How many times have we been absent from where we’re meant to be?

To be in the proper position is the spot where a person is placed, a site, station, and situation. We all pray to be in the right place at the right time, and that’s good, but we need to also pray not to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and not be in the wrong place at the right time. David was in the right place but at the wrong time and season, it was his palace after all, but he was meant to be on duty at the warfront at that time not on his rooftop. Because he was in the wrong place and he ignored his duties, he fell into temptation and indulged in his desires according to Galatians 5:16.

Temptation is a normal part of life and falling into temptation is a sin because every sin begins with temptation says James 1:15, which unfortunately always leads to yet another sin states 1 John 3:4. As enjoyable as Sin is, it does carry consequences, peek at Genesis 3:1-19 to see how. When we aren’t where we’re supposed to be, we always end up doing the wrong things.

Proper positioning is important in every area of life; there is no limit to the depths of sin a person is capable of when they are not in the right position or once they walk away from God. We all want to be rightly positioned in life, marriage, work, and business and sometimes we do all we can and do some things we shouldn’t do to get to the position we believe is right for us.

But David remained in Jerusalem declares verse 1. This "but" marks a major contrast. It was the season when kings (including David, as Israel's leader) customarily led their armies into battle. David, however, stayed behind in the palace—out of his proper place of responsibility and duty. This wrong positioning set the stage for temptation, idleness, sin, cover-up, and tragedy.

David sent his men to war and stayed behind. Why? We may never know. Yet Ephesians 2:6 says our proper and right position is in Christ Jesus. We received this position because of God's grace when He became our representative and substitute in making the blood covenant, the New Covenant in His blood. It’s the blood covenant that produces divine exchange. For us to be who the Bible says we are and experience what we can because of our position in Christ, there must be an understanding of the differences between our position and our experience in our walk with Jesus. Understanding our position in Christ is the key to spiritual growth and living the dynamic Christian life with power and miracles like Jesus said we can and the grace to overcome temptation when they come and not fall into sin. We all need to be in Christ: “For ye have died once for all" says Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:4-7. We must die practically to the world to become dead with Christ; this is the only way we remain rightly positioned in life and Christ.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

·       Where am I currently “positioned” in my life—spiritually, emotionally, and physically—and is this where God wants me to be?

·       In what areas of my life have I neglected my God‑given responsibilities, creating room for temptation or distraction?

·       Are there relationships, environments, or activities that pull me out of my rightful position in God? What steps can I take to avoid them?

PRAYER: Father, may I not take my position in You for granted, nor ignore the right position for something else, help me to actively choose to be rightly positioned always in Jesus’s name. Amen.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0YignTPqHanMYGdXccRrOR?si=ySUKDpn7SQKVHNtpKvQ98g

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