Devotion
Two wrongs don’t make a right
David Jacobs

It is quite common for men and women in positions of power to commit adultery. The sanctity of marriage does not seem as important today as it once did, and many people view divorce as almost an inevitability. The collapse of the family structure and lack of good relationship examples can help explain the modern issues with marriage and divorce. How can we make sense of David's actions in these verses?

The Ten Commandments specifically prohibit coveting, committing adultery, and committing murder (Exodus 20). The King of Israel manages to commit all of these sins in these verses. Seeing the beautiful Bathsheba, King David abuses his power and sleeps with her. She gets pregnant, and David tries to get her husband, Uriah, to sleep with her so that he will not think about the pregnancy, but Uriah does not do it. In an attempt to correct two sins with an even bigger sin, David orders Uriah, a loyal and competent soldier, to be placed in the area where fighting will be heaviest in the next battle. Uriah dies and David takes Bathsheba, now widowed, to be his wife.

"Two wrongs don't make a right." David has more than two wrongs, but the more wrongs you add, the less right the result. In an attempt to correct his mistakes, David sins, making his wife less happy, himself less happy, and giving Uriah no option at all. We can learn from David's mistakes, realizing that all of the sins are prohibited in the Ten Commandments for a reason: committing these sins will hurt us and hurt others.

Prayer

Abba Father, grant me the wisdom to discern what is good and what is not. Lead me away from temptation, for I know that like Adam and Eve, doing what you have prohibited will hurt me and hurt you. I pray that you grant a sense of peace to relationships that may need mending, hoping that more love can be shared instead of sin. Amen.