Panic
Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 11:14-27
“Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will … die.”
2 Samuel 11:15
David could see trouble looming when Bathsheba said she was pregnant. This would mean disgrace for Uriah, weakened morale among his troops, and a steep drop in David’s popularity polls throughout Israel.
So David took political action. He came up with a strategy for damage control.
He’d already conquered his thousands upon thousands. Certainly he could figure out how to deal with this situation.
But there was a big difference between this problem and the problems David had faced in the past. In his early days of tough times and struggle, David had seen each new challenge from God’s perspective. David had depended on God, asking for help and trusting in him.
David had found joy and peace in his difficulties because he knew that it was God that brought him comfort, not the hope of a warm bed or a nice bath.
But now, instead of being motivated to advance God’s kingdom, David was driven to protect his own tottering world.
David was handling this problem on his own. Instead of looking upward, he was turning inward.
David was now serving himself.
But when we serve ourselves, we are following the way of fools.
Lord, warn us when we seek to serve ourselves. Help us to look upward to you rather than inward. Help us to seek you only. Amen.
About the author — Ron Vanderwell
Ron Vanderwell recently became the senior pastor of New Life Church in New Lenox, Illinois. He has been a pastor for 22 years, serving as a church planter for the previous 12 years at The Gathering in Sacramento, California, and before that as a pastor in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ron and his wife, Deb, have three sons: John, Adam, and Jake. Ron shares more of his reflections on “squinting” for God in his blog at www.squintforgod.com.
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