KING DAVID & THE CAMEL’S NOSE –
a Biblical Devotion based on a Poem by Lydia Siguorney
1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1
The end of the year is a time of taking account of our lives – what have we accomplished, where have we been found short in character, how faithful have we been to our calling in the Lord? In our text from 2 Samuel, the time is at the end of the year in Israel. It is springtime according to the Hebrew calendar. The seasonal conditions are best suited for battle, and our lives are characterized by a battle against the flesh and evil desires of the heart. That battle is not consummated until the very last of our lives.
Now, David was a mighty warrior and never failed to lead his army into battle, but this one time, he remains in his palace and sends Joab and the army of Israel off to battle. Why? This one failure of duty will lead to a spiraling failure of character and duty – to sins of enormous proportion.
What motivated David to this failure? We are not told the intricate details, but we do know that David sent all the men of his army and household to do battle with the children of Ammon – including Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba!
We are told that David arose in the darkness of night to walk upon his roof and he (chanced?) to look down into the courtyard of Bathsheba whose custom it was to bathe at that hour. Could it be that David was aware of that practice of Bathsheba and, therefore, was urged by a burning and fleshly desire to witness that event? Regardless the reason, David did remain behind while his army did battle. He did get up at an hour when he should have remained in bed, and he did see something that aroused a deep-seated and evil desire.
David sent to have Bathsheba brought to him and slept with her which resulted in the conception of a child. Now, David was confronted with a scandalous circumstance. How could he cover his adulterous act with Bathsheba? He would send for Uriah, wine and dine him, and send him home to spend the night with his wife. But Uriah was a loyal and devoted soldier in Israel. He refused to go to his home to be with Bathsheba while his brothers were in the field of battle. This created a dilemma for David. Now, there could be no explanation for Bathsheba’s pregnancy but his own maligned act of adultery. How could he cover his sin of failing to perform his duty as King of Israel, of the fleshly impulse to view what he should not have viewed, and, finally, to conclude those sinful inclinations with the act of adultery?
David would send to have Uriah placed in the front line of battle where he would most certainly be killed, and he was! Now, David felt exonerated of all his sins – but “ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23 The child conceived by Bathsheba would die in infancy as a result of David’s sin against his Lord and his fellows.
David was guilty of a failure of duty in the first place. That led to unwholesome sexual desires, to adultery, and, finally, to murder of innocent blood. The wrath of the Lord was aroused against David.
Sin is a spiral into the abyss of darkness. This sordid account reminds me of Sigourney’s poem:
THE CAMEL’S NOSE
by Lydia Sigourney
Once in his shop a workman wrought
With languid hand, and listless thought,
When through the open window’s space
Behold!-a Camel thrust his face.
“My nose is cold,” he meekly cried,
“Oh, let me warm it by thy side.”
Since no denial word was said,
In came the nose,- in came the head,
As sure as sermon follows text
The long, excursive neck came next,
And then, as falls the threatening storm
In leap’d the whole ungainly form.
Aghast the owner gazed around,
And on the rude invader frown’d,
Convinc’d as closer still he prest,
There was no room for such a guest,
Yet more astonish’d, heard him say,
“If incommoded, go your way,
For in this place I choose to stay.”
