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Patriarchs and Prophets
abrupt; it is not, at the outset, sudden and startling; it is a secret under-
mining of the strongholds of principle. It begins in apparently small
things—the neglect to be true to God and to rely upon Him wholly,
the disposition to follow the customs and practices of the world.
Before the conclusion of the war with the Ammonites, David,
leaving the conduct of the army to Joab, returned to Jerusalem. The
Syrians had already submitted to Israel, and the complete overthrow of
the Ammonites appeared certain. David was surrounded by the fruits
of victory and the honors of his wise and able rule. It was now, while
he was at ease and unguarded, that the tempter seized the opportunity
to occupy his mind. The fact that God had taken David into so close
connection with Himself and had manifested so great favor toward
him, should have been to him the strongest of incentives to preserve
his character unblemished. But when in ease and self-security he
let go his hold upon God, David yielded to Satan and brought upon
his soul the stain of guilt. He, the Heaven-appointed leader of the
nation, chosen by God to execute His law, himself trampled upon its
precepts. He who should have been a terror to evildoers, by his own
act strengthened their hands.
Amid the perils of his earlier life David in conscious integrity could
trust his case with God. The Lord’s hand had guided him safely past
the unnumbered snares that had been laid for his feet. But now, guilty
and unrepentant, he did not ask help and guidance from Heaven, but
sought to extricate himself from the dangers in which sin had involved
him. Bathsheba, whose fatal beauty had proved a snare to the king,
was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s bravest and most
faithful officers. None could foresee what would be the result should
the crime become known. The law of God pronounced the adulterer
guilty of death, and the proud-spirited soldier, so shamefully wronged,
might avenge himself by taking the life of the king or by exciting the
nation to revolt.
Every effort which David made to conceal his guilt proved un-
availing. He had betrayed himself into the power of Satan; danger
surrounded him, dishonor more bitter than death was before him. There
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appeared but one way of escape, and in his desperation he was hurried
on to add murder to adultery. He who had compassed the destruction
of Saul was seeking to lead David also to ruin. Though the temptations
were different, they were alike in leading to transgression of God’s