BEWARE LEST YOU FALL

BEWARE LEST YOU FALL

For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. —I Kings 15:5

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ —Acts 13:22

            The Lord said of David that he was “a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”  And yet David was not a perfect man.  He had an utterly horrendous moral collapse “in the case of Uriah the Hittite” (II Samuel chapters 11 & 12).  But he was a man that truly loved the Lord God Almighty.  What happened?  He dropped his guard and allowed the “lust of the flesh” to rule him in this “case of Uriah the Hittite.”

            We are told that “everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).  You and I who love the Lord need to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8).  The devil is a schemer and he will use whatever he can to try to bring us down.  The Apostle Paul said that we need to beware “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes” (II Corinthians 2:11).

            Are you in the midst of spiritual warfare right now?  Beware of being pulled into it with the wrong focus!  Understand that it is Satan that is instigating what is going on.  We need to be aware of his ploys and not be duped.  If we are duped we could have a major moral collapse as David did.  We need to learn from this sad example in God’s Word that we would not repeat something like this in our own lives.  David was a man after God’s own heart.  He was a mighty warrior, but he dropped his guard and in doing so did what was against his godly character which brought dire consequences.

            Do you think you are not capable of a moral collapse?  Then you are already in danger of that possibility because God said that “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.  So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!  No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (I Corinthians 10:11-13).  When tempted God does provide an escape from it and so “be careful that you don’t fall!”  Beware of Satan’s schemes!

            Again, God said of David that “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” and that “David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.”  Let us heed this warning from David’s life that we not have a repeat of it.

Dear Father, please help me to understand from David’s life that nobody is beyond failure.  But I do thank You for forgiveness that You gave David and understand there are also consequences that come from this type of failure.  May I stick close to You by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus.  May it be so! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGLwJNYu7q8