The story of David and Bathsheba is a sad one. The consequences of David’s sin have ramifications for years to come. Even though the Lord removed David’s sin (13), there still were some consequences that David had to face.
Nathan’s rebuke in verse 9 caught my attention. It reads, Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. God revealed all the sorted details to the prophet. I thought, “Wow, God really does know everything!!!”
But what struck me most forcefully were the words, Why did you despise the word of the LORD. The importance of knowing God’s Word. It was not just that David despised the Lord; it was that he despised the word of the Lord.
Way back in Deuteronomy, God gave Moses a word about when Israel would ask for a king, Among the regulations set by the Lord for the king, it says:
When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel (Deuteronomy 17:18-20).
Assuming David did this, he had his own copy of the law which he was to read daily. This is how he would know what God expected of him. The law was to be a guide for his life. Such is the value of being in God’s Word daily.
Like David and the kings, so with us today… day after day, year after year in God’s Word is meant to shape our life and living so that we may learn to revere the LORD our God and follow carefully all the words of His law and these decrees.
And God will hold us accountable to His Word!
Oh, Lord, plant Your Word deeply into my soul, mind and heart. Oh, Lord, may Your Word be a guiding light and path for me all the days of my life until I live with You forever in eternity. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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