Daily PresenceSample

2 Samuel 11, the dark interlude narrating David’s adultery with Bathsheba and tragic wrong-dealing with Uriah, is one of the most impactful passages in the Old Testament. David’s personal life and royal career ran off the rails, beginning in 11:1, where the episode’s unthinkable outcome is determined on the swinging hinge of a simple conjunction: the wordbut.

“In the spring . . . when kings go out to battle, David sends Joab with the army . . .ButDavid remained in Jerusalem.”

So we infer that David’s first slip-up in the causal chain of tragic events in the chapter was staying home. Instead of dutifully attending the field of military conflict, where David was peerless, he ended up failing miserably on the field of moral conflict.

To unpack all of the applications and lessons embedded in chapter 11 is impractical in the space of this devotion, so let’s look simply at the consequences of the wordbutin examples of moral and ethical decisions that confront God’s children (e.g., us!). Let’s assign the every man/every woman names of Joe and Sue in the examples, but imagine our own names in their places. Notice how the swinging hinge of the wordbutwill produce predictable implications following our decisions.

Example 1: It was the spring of the joyous Easter season when the church gathered to celebrate the empty tomb,butJoe and Sue stayed home to grill and chill on the patio.

Example 2: It was the spring of a prosperous season for Joe’s and Sue’s business, and the need for giving to needy causes abounded,butJoe’s and Sue’s hearts were fixed on a Caribbean cruise.

Example 3: It was the spring of the year when men go out to work in their yards and fields,butJoe stayed inside to pursue the allure of seamy websites in the darkened privacy of his den.

Example 4: It was the daylight-savings spring of the year when children love to play outside late into the evening on fair-weather days,butSue was too grouchy to be a playmate when she got home because she always stayed too late at work and barely had time to throw supper together.

Perhaps David’s grandiose failure is more spectacular than these practical examples. But, do the hinges of these more practicalbutsswing closer to home?