Why have you shown contempt for the LORD’s decrees by doing evil in my sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife to be your own wife! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!’
2 Samuel 12:9-10 NET
Apart from David’s defeat of Goliath, his affair with Bathsheba is probably the best-known story about David. David saw a beautiful woman bathing, had her brought to him, and then slept with her. And she became pregnant. The problem was that she was married to one of David’s best soldiers.
To cover up what he had done, he had her husband killed and then married her. All must have seemed well to David. Until he was confronted by Nathan the prophet. David confessed his sin and was forgiven (2 Sam 12:13). But there was still a price to be paid for his actions.
Consequences
The child Bathsheba bore to him died. And the rest of his family was embroiled in conflict: incest, murder, and insurrection. Some of that may have happened anyway. But Nathan was clear that much of it directly resulted from what David had done. Even though God forgave him, he still paid the price for his sin—for the rest of his life.
Not all sin has as dramatic a consequence as what David experienced. Indeed, some sin may not seem to have any discernable consequences. But I should not expect that because I have been forgiven, my actions will have no consequences.
If my sin damages a relationship, it may be a long road to reconciliation. If I ignore a speed limit sign, I still have to pay the fine and any potential increase on my auto insurance premium (assuming I get caught). Getting my first taste of porn or drugs can awaken a desire for more. A desire that may stay with me for a very long time and get stronger with each exposure. And when I ignore God’s call in my life, I may find that his voice becomes fainter.
How much better to resist sin in the first place than to deal with the consequences afterward? The pleasure that sin promises pales compared to the price it extracts. As appealing as it may seem, sin is never the best option.
