David sent someone to find out about her. (2 Sam. 11:3)
Expanded Passage: Samuel 11:1-5
“I didn’t mean to!” he exclaimed, while simultaneously wiping chocolate off his face with the back of his hand. Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe when our son asked for a sweet, he did not intend to take the whole basket or hide behind the leather chair unwrapping chocolate after chocolate that left a pile of foil wrappers in his wake. But standing in front of me, I could see it in his eyes: that flicker of knowing. The full truth was hidden behind his words.
Motivations are tricky, often simmering beneath the surface but influencing our actions nonetheless. What might masquerade as curiosity or good intent can often have a dark underbelly, where unnamed evil twists and grows to convince everyone (maybe even ourselves) that our choices are justified. Left unexamined and unnamed, intentions can sour, and bad things are done in the name of good.
We cannot know for sure what happened within the workings of David’s heart and mind as he looked, looked again, inquired, and then had Bathsheba brought to his room. But I wonder how David’s story might have been different if he had taken the time to name his motivations. How might saying our unspoken desires out loud to God or to a trusted friend shift the course of our actions? How might confession help us point our desires toward what is good?
Pause to reflect on and name your intentions.
Sarah E. Westfall is an author and speaker who currently resides in northeast Indiana with her husband Ben and their four boys; she is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
