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What's Love Got To Do With It: Learning from King David's Sins

We can learn some valuable lessons from the sexual sin of King David. This 1-minute devotion explains.

In 1984, Tina Turner belted out the lyric "What's love got to do with it?" in a song that expressed confusion about love and physical attraction.


Most Americans are similarly confused.

Statistics show that most people are involved in premarital and/or extramarital affairs at some time during their lives.(1) But physical relationships minus love are nothing new. King David lusted after Bathsheba and paid a hefty price in his personal and political life (2 Samuel 11-12).

God created us to enjoy romantic love, but it's based on a committed marriage relationship as explained in Ephesians 5:22-33.

  • Genuine love involves friendship and respect. David and Bathsheba were strangers.
  • Genuine love involves honesty. David's relationship with Bathsheba was built on deception which eventually led to murder.
  • Genuine love involves marriage. David was "committed" to adultery, not to Bathsheba.

What did love have to do with it? Nothing.(2)

It was lust, something Scripture condemns (Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5).

In contrast, God's commands about sexual behavior flow from His perfect love for us. That's what Love has to do with it.
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I encourage you to check out Bible Love Notes' collection of devotions called God's View of Sex and our collection called Christian Marriage. And don't miss the "Mother-in-law series" in the marriage collection.

Footnotes:

(1) God calls both of these things sin. Their biblical names are fornication (sex with anyone who is not your spouse--1 Corinthians 6:9-10) and adultery (sex with someone other than your spouse when you are married--Hebrews 13:4). Our culture considers fornication (premarital sex) acceptable, but God's loving laws warn against it.

(2) Scripture doesn't reveal anything about Bathsheba's role in this relationship. David had an unfair advantage as the king, but nothing in Scripture suggests that David forced himself on Bathsheba and nothing in Scripture suggests that she refused his advances. We must be careful not to read more into Scripture than what is clearly stated. If we claim Bathsheba bathed naked to entice David or if we claim David raped Bathsheba, we are making claims not supported by Scripture. If you want to read a thorough, Scriptural article on this question, see Did David Rape Bathsheba?


We can learn some valuable lessons from the sexual sin of King David. This 1-minute devotion explains.


Bible Love Notes

4 comments:

  1. This is so true. Thank for the reminder. We need to teach our young boys and girls this truth.

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    1. Yes, I tend to repeat myself from time to time on Bible Love Notes. I've mentioned this subject before : )
      But I know I need reminders that God's values are as good today as 100 years ago.
      Just checked out your fun blog. Love the name and look.
      Bless you,
      Gail

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  2. Gail sex with someone else once married sounds like any marriage the first the second the third the fourth. Adultery is against your first wife even after divorce to your first wife or husband if it is not a biblical divorce it is still adultery so remarried and living biblically and thinking you are a good person and not cheating on the second wife....mark 10:11-12. When pastors and religious writers say while married a man thinks if he cheats on his wife and leaves and divorces her and remarries his new mistress he is no longer in sin. He is now living morally as long as he does nonot cheat on this new wife but Jesus' words says he who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her (nkjv) the Good News Testament specifies this her is "his wife" (GNT) so, jesus is saying if you remarry you are stil committing adultery against your first wife. Many pastors say a man can repent ones he remarries even if it is to the mistress he cheated on hisfirst wife with. But this relationship started in sin is like the house of sand it is built on a sinful foundation andfalsehoods. If the man was forgiven why would jesus say you commit adultery against her the first wife if you remarry? So it is not I believe when you are married anyone other than your spouse it is anyone other than as the book of proverbs 5 and malachi specify the wife of your youth!!!

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    1. Yes, Nicks, Many situations that people put themselves are not "repairable."
      I remember a teacher once describing such situations and saying, "You can's unscramble scrambled eggs."

      There are some different views on how to handle these situations, and I've not done enough study to know just how Scripture can be applied, especially in regard to the spouse who was abandoned in the divorce (1 Cor. 7:15). I'm glad I'm not in the position to have to do that.



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