After all the enemies of Israel were subdued and David was exalted as the king of Israel, David committed a great sin while he was in a peaceful situation. This indicates that whenever we are at ease in a peaceful situation, it is easy for us to be seduced to indulge our flesh (cf. 1 Pet. 4:1 and note 1 Pet. 4:1⁴). David’s sin was the issue of his indulging of the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh (vv. 2-3). David, abusing the power of his kingship (vv. 4-5), committed willful adultery by robbery. After committing such an act, David tried to cover his evil deed by means of a pretense (vv. 6-13). Then he murdered Uriah, his faithful servant, by conspiring with Joab, so that he could take Uriah’s wife (vv. 14-25; 12:9). David’s behavior here was utterly different from that of Joseph, who ran and escaped from adultery (Gen. 39:1-12), and Boaz, who kept himself clean from the indulgence of the flesh of sin (Ruth 3). By his one sin David broke the last five of the Ten Commandments (Exo. 20:13-17). David’s sin was a great insult and offense to God, and it nearly annulled all his attainments from the past.

David, a man according to God’s heart (1 Sam. 13:14), was perfect in every way, but he failed in the matter of the indulgence of the lust of the flesh (1 Kings 15:5). In this matter David was loose, and he sacrificed his high attainment in the pursuit of God. Even though he was a person of high attainment in his spiritual pursuit, he was still able to commit such a great sin. This should be a warning to all of us.