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Hear From the Prophets

The lessons of this course record the life-changing experiences of eight of God’s prophets. Careful study of this course and obedience to the words of the prophets will help you know how to submit to God.

David’s Sin

It may be hard for us to believe that this same King David caused an innocent man to be killed, and feeling like a murderer, cried, in dire anguish, “Save me, 0 God, from bloodguilt.” What happened to spoil the perfection of this great man?

The answer is, of course, that David was not really perfect. There is only One who is perfect; only One who commits no wrong. Beside God, there is no other! David was strong, talented, intelligent, brave, religious, faithful in worship, and submissive to the will of God. But he was a human being and had in him the tendency to sin, just as all human beings do. He was tempted by Satan as we all are, and he yielded to that temptation.

On the roof of the king’s palace there was a place for walking in the cool of the evening, to breathe the fresh air and to view the city. One evening as David walked there he saw a woman bathing. She was beautiful. Desire for her grew in his mind.

“Who is she?” he asked.

“She is Bathsheba, the wife of the soldier, Uriah,” answered the servant.

Now, tempted by Satan, David’s longing for the woman grew. He decided to have Uriah killed. Then he could take Bathsheba to be his own wife. Uriah is a soldier, thought David, he can be killed in the fighting.

Any soldier might be killed. But David was not content to take a chance that Uriah might die in a battle. He decided to make sure. He told the captain of the army to put Uriah in the most dangerous place, in the front line of attack. The plan worked. Uriah was killed in the battle.

For a time David tried to pretend that nothing wrong had been done. “Don’t let this upset you,” he said to the soldier who told him of Uriah’s death. “The sword devours one as well as another. Say this to encourage the captain.”

But it was David who was upset He was trying to encourage himself. He knew he had done wrong and that God was displeased. He had lived very near to God, but now his sin made him feel far away. He learned at this point a most serious truth: Sin separates man from God. We cannot be close to God and feel His friendship if we allow evil 10 temptations to influence our thoughts and actions and cause us to sin. Sin contaminates our lives, and God, who is holy and pure, cannot remain with that which is unholy. David could not sleep. He said that he felt God’s hand upon him, day and night, . “and my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”

Many of us know what it is like to feel that God is far away from us. Sometimes, like David, we try to tell ourselves that nothing is wrong. But in our hearts we feel a longing, an emptiness, a separation This is God’s way of making us aware of the reality of sin, and of our seek His holiness.

For You To Do

Write a correction for the FALSE statement

  • Religious acts protected David from temptation.
  • David had been strong, but sin made him feel weak.
  • David’s experience shows us that we can know when God is displeased with us.
  • David felt separated from God because of sin.
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