January 21, 2023

Passage Read: 2 Samuel 10-13
Meditation Verse: 12:14

Thought

What enemies of God would show contempt because of what David did? From the sound of it, the only person who might piece together what happened would be Joab, since he arranged Uriah's death and then saw David with Uriah's wife. Who else knew? Bathsheba's friends? Did Joab tell others? It seems more likely that these would be God's angelic enemies, Satan and his followers. They can see what is going on, perhaps they had asked permission to test David, and when David failed, they gloated over their victory.

Application

The angels and demons are spectators as well as actors in the affairs of men. God is working through us to glorify His name and Satan is looking for ways to discredit the Lord and make us stumble. Though he's limited by the Lord, the Lord gives room for him to succeed, and to let us reveal what is really in our hearts, how loyal we are to Him or not. Job (mostly) passed his test; here, David failed. I need to see temptations to sin as tests of my loyalty, with the Lord's honor in the balance. What I choose at those times either brings God honor or encourages His enemies against Him.