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Setting the Slide Aside

Words of Faith Final

Setting the Slide Aside
Words of Faith 2-5-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2025
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Samuel 11:10-13
[10] When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?" [11] Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!" [12] Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. [13] At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening, Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home.

It is difficult to think of a time in David's life when he had sunk lower than this or when he was ever quite so far from God. The great poet of worship and musician of the heart was now snared in a devious, self-absorbed arrogance. He thought that if only he could get the right cover-up plan, no one would ever need to know that he had committed such a selfish betrayal. The next step would be absolutely treacherous.
But let's stop and ask: How does a person get to such a place? The Apostle Paul talked of a "seared conscience"-- a place where one is no longer sensitive to what is right or wrong or how actions hurt people and God. David had a searing of the conscience. He no longer prayed. He no longer sought God. He no longer confessed sin. He was distant from those who loved him. He did not even struggle with these terrible deeds. He was convinced that as long as he could keep covering up his sin, he would not have to be responsible for these actions.
David's initial sin was one of opportunity and probably had to do with the wealth and power of the monarchy. It never would have happened if he had been walking closely with the Lord. In this solitude away from God, David may have come to the quiet conclusion that he was "entitled" to behave this way and then determined to have Bathsheba... because he could. He had the power to simply summon her. She would be present, and then he would send her away. He discovered that he could use a person and then have them disappear.
How do we set aside this sort of "slide"? How do we avoid making these sorts of mistakes and failures or similar ones? To avoid this sort of slide, we must carefully attend to the key relationships in life.
1) First, we must attend to our relationship with God. If we are regularly in prayer and communion with the Lord, this is our most significant protection. Authentic quality time with God meets the deepest needs of our soul that we are so prone to attempt to fill with something illicit and idolatrous. The Writer of Hebrews exhorts us to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (12:1-2). Without this, we start to slide.
2) We must also carefully examine our relationships with people. We want to be careful to value people in the same way God does-- as a precious child, created for a purpose, whom Jesus was willing to die for. It is when we objectify people and see them as resources to be used either for pleasure or for achieving some end-- that is when we lose sight of the value that Jesus has placed upon them. The Apostle Paul advised young Timothy to take great care in relationships treating older men with respect like a father, younger men as a brother, older women as a mother, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity (1 Tim 5:1-2). People around us are not to be used or abused. Jesus died for them… that is the value God has placed upon them.
3) We also need to examine our relationship with self. There is a certain amount of self-loathing that leads a person into infidelity and profound betrayal. Carefully assessing who we are and whose we are in light of God's Word is a powerful tool. If we understand our value in God's heart and sovereign plan, we are not drawn toward the dark intentions of the enemy. At a time in David's life when he was walking closely with God, he wrote Psalm 139-- For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well (13-14). There is no self-loathing in those phrases.
4) There is also the tool of accountability. The Writer of Hebrews exhorts such accountability-- Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching (10:23-25). Accountability means that we give someone or several who are closely trusted permission to speak into our lives when they see a stumbling block, blind spot, or even something that might appear less than reputable. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Prov. 27:7).

Lord God, draw me close to You. Never let me go. Feed the deep needs of my soul so that I hunger only for You and thirst only for Your righteousness. Heal the relationships of my life and my view of people. Help me to see others the way that You do. Help me to know myself and love myself as I appreciate who You have created me to be. Bring me into relationships of accountability where the eyes and hearts of others can keep me safe and help me grow. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.