2 Samuel 11:2-3 – 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
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The story of David’s adultery is quite familiar to most who have studied the Bible. The sordid details are often the source of much examination, much reflection. I have read this passage many, many times; but, this morning, I find myself struck by something that I had not previously considered.
In verse 3, after David has initially been taken by Bathsheba’s beauty, he takes an action that seals his doom: “And David sent and inquired about the woman.” Often we hear people preach sermons about how David ought not have been home, but instead should have been out with the army. Often we hear that David should not have been looking at a bathing woman. Often we hear that the woman ought not have been bathing in a place where she knew it was possible that she could be seen. All of those are true. However, seldom have I heard it taught that David stepped into sin’s trap when he sent and inquired about the woman.
Until David sent and inquired about the woman, all he had done was seen a nameless person from a distance. Without question, David allowed his lust to be stirred, and thus had sinned against God. But when he sent and inquired about her, he took a step that led to him knowing who she was and where to find her. The inquiry empowered David to act on the passions that had been stirred within him.
Now, let’s take this out of a 3,000 year old context and place it in our lives today. We live in a world in which we are bombarded with images, entertainments, and headlines that are designed to stir our passions. No matter how hard we try, it is very unlikely that we will ever be able to so isolate ourselves as to actually not have a moment in which our eyes or ears are exposed to something titillating. But, the question is, do we turn away from such things, or do we, like David, make an inquiry?
Suppose you are out surfing the web. While innocently looking through the headlines on your favorite news site, you come across a headline about some sort of sexual impropriety. It’s a story about which you have no real interest. There is no social good to come from you learning the details. Yet, out of curiosity, you make an inquiry. You click the article. You read the lewd details of what some couple was caught doing somewhere they shouldn’t have, with someone they shouldn’t have, or in a way that caught the attention of others. What have you done? You have had the details of someone’s sin etched into your brain, into your imagination, for absolutely no good reason. Out of curiosity, you have focused your imagination on something ungodly, unwholesome, and unhelpful. You have made inquiry into something you need not know.
Not convinced? OK, make it more simple. You read an article in your news reader about lurid photos taken of some Hollywood starlet. You make an inquiry. Suddenly, splashed across your computer screen, are the very photos that you have no business seeing. No way is this simple righteous data gathering. Instead, it is an example of a believer feeding his or her flesh with the immodesty and juicy gossip upon which the world feasts.
Or, take it off the Internet. A married lady has a co-worker, a male friend. He begins to share with her that he and his wife are going through hard times. She has a choice to make. She can either offer simple encouragement, or she can make an inquiry. She can either say, “I’m so sorry to hear that. Perhaps you could talk to my husband about what’s troubling you,” or she can say, “Really, what’s happening?” With the former, she expresses that she is concerned, but she is not the right person to share the intimate troubles of this man who is not her husband. With the latter, she opens herself up to becoming personally and emotionally involved with the man, perhaps even displaying herself as a dangerous contrast to the man’s wife—the woman who is not so concerned with the man’s supposed needs.
It is the nature of our sinful flesh to think that we want to know just a little bit about something we shouldn’t. It is the nature of our eyes to tell us that we want only a peek. It is the nature of our minds to rationalize away our desires to inquire into something lewd, feeding our flesh in the process. It is the nature of our arrogance to convince ourselves that we only want to know the truth, and that we can keep ourselves from danger. It is the nature of sin to convince us that we can stop anytime we want to. But David’s example and the example of our own lives if we are honest shows us that, when we look deeply into sin, we become enticed, not merely educated.
The point here is not to call us to avoid all people and all potential exposure to the world. We cannot make such a change without leaving the world. But we can be careful, thoughtful, and godly about which issues to look into and which to leave alone. Being open and honest is good; however, looking into something that brings no benefit and only opens our minds to inappropriate thoughts and images is not righteous. There are times when the most godly thing that we can do is refuse to inquire about something about which we have no business knowing.
Pastor Travis Peterson 