David — The Peeping King Who Killed for Lust

This article is taken from Ray Comfort’s upcoming book, Idiotic Things People Did in the Bible. Please subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter to be the first to receive its release date!

2 Samuel 11:2–4, 15:
“Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof… and from the roof he saw a woman bathing… So David sent messengers, and took her… ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle… that he may be struck down and die.’”

What he did:
He saw Bathsheba bathing, summoned her, got her pregnant, then had her husband killed to cover it up.

Why it was idiotic:
David, the man after God’s heart, let a passing glance spiral into adultery, deception, and murder. He repented—but the consequences haunted his family for the rest of his life.

A synopsis of what happened:

King David’s encounter with Bathsheba is one of the most infamous moral failures in the Bible. While his army was away at war, David stayed in Jerusalem and saw Bathsheba, a beautiful woman, bathing. He summoned her, slept with her, and she became pregnant. To cover up the sin, David tried to manipulate her husband, Uriah, into sleeping with her, but Uriah refused because of his loyalty to his fellow soldiers. David then arranged Uriah’s death by placing him on the front lines of battle and having the army withdraw, ensuring Uriah would be killed. After Uriah’s death, David took Bathsheba as his wife. Although he thought his sin was hidden, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him, leading to David’s repentance—but not without lasting consequences, including the death of their child and ongoing turmoil in his household (2 Samuel 11–12).

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I have spent much of my life reading the words penned by David. God used him to write most of the Psalms—and I live in them. They give me great comfort in trials and my continuous battle with invasive thoughts. Before we look at his Goliath-sized blunder with Bathsheba, let’s look at how we have a daily fight with a taunting enemy.

“David, the man after God’s heart, let a passing glance spiral into adultery, deception, and murder. He repented—but the consequences haunted his family for the rest of his life.”

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About 3,000 years ago, David perfectly captured the life of a believer when he wrote Psalm 40. He described God hearing his cry, rescuing him from a horrible pit where his feet were stuck in miry clay, setting his feet upon a rock, and establishing his steps (Psalm 40:1–2).

When we recognize our need for God’s mercy and cry out to Him, He pulls us out of the darkness of death—the horrible pit from which there seemed to be no escape—and sets our feet on the Rock of Ages. We become new creatures in Christ with an agenda to seek and save that which is lost. He guides our steps and puts a new song in our mouths— “praise to our God.” And if we are honest and faithful witnesses, “many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord” (verse 3). As Christians, we live a life based on truth, walking in humility of heart, with a deep love for God (verses 4–5).

Through the new birth, as described in John chapter 3, God opened our eyes of understanding so that we saw all things differently. The heavens declared His glory. The trees lifted their arms in worship, and the early-morning birds sang His praises as the sun rose and shone in His strength. And we found ourselves whispering with David:

“Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.” (verse 5)

Then David looked forward a thousand years to the cross, when the Messiah willingly came to save humanity from sin and death:

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.’” (verses 6–8)

After which, David spoke of the message Jesus preached. He proclaimed “the good news of righteousness” (verse 9). He didn’t hide God’s righteousness in His heart because He feared man; instead, He declared the Father’s faithfulness, His lovingkindness, and truth (verses 9–10).

We should do the same. We must never let the fear of man stop us from proclaiming God’s righteousness. We shouldn’t keep His faithfulness or the truth of the gospel to ourselves.

David then brings us great consolation. He speaks of God’s tender mercies and His lovingkindness preserving him. And we see why:

“For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.” (verse 12)

Dear Christian, if sometimes you feel discouraged because your mind seems like a battlefield of innumerable evils—unclean, lustful, jealous, conceited, selfish, gossip, and other wicked thoughts—you are not alone. The Scriptures remind us:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.” (Ephesians 6:12, Amplified Bible)

Charles Spurgeon said, “I have myself been hunted by this wolf. A man might as well hope to fight a swarm of flies with a sword as to master his own thoughts when they are set on by the devil.” What a perfect analogy! Trying to fight a swarm of fast-moving flies with a sword would be futile. But that’s the daily battle we face—especially if we are doing God’s will by seeking the lost. These are spiritual forces that have access to our minds, and God’s mercy is needed because, at times, we can be guilty of welcoming these invaders, for our hearts are evil. And so we say with David:

“Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me!
Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who seek to destroy my life;
Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor
Who wish me evil.
Let them be confounded because of their shame,
Who say to me, ‘Aha, aha!’” (verses 13–15)

While the accuser of the brethren tries to make us feel condemned, we have a sure victory. We look to our God and rejoice in Him, knowing that we have already been delivered from the kingdom of darkness:

“Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
‘The Lord be magnified!’
But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.” (verses 16–17)

We are poor and needy, but because Jesus gave us peace with God, we are no longer His enemies. Instead, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

So, while I admire David for the comfort his inspired words give me, I am even more grateful for his devastating moral failure. He leaves us a clear example of what not to do when it comes to sin—never act on those invasive thoughts.

He began so well. He was Israel’s great hero. Thousands of years later, we still remember his famous victory over Goliath. He defeated the taunting, blasphemous, gigantic enemy—but he overlooked a bigger one in his own heart. Here is his blunder preserved in all its tragic detail in the world’s bestselling book: David made the error of staying in Jerusalem while his army went out to battle:

“It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel… But David remained at Jerusalem.” (2 Samuel 11:1)

Sin is like a rattlesnake—lying quietly, waiting to strike. Fortunately, many lives have been saved because of the rattlesnake’s rattle. David should have heard the rattle of his conscience. But he didn’t. He walked straight into the enemy’s trap and was viciously bitten.

David’s fall serves as a strong warning about the dangers of temptation. We should pray to God (as Jesus told us) to never let us be led into temptation. An invasive thought may tempt us, but don’t follow its path like David did—it’s a dead end.

Here now is some practical advice on our battle with sin. The first step in modern warfare a country takes is to disable the enemy’s air defense system. In June 2025, Israel set the stage for US bombers to target nuclear facilities in Iran by doing this. That’s why no shots were fired at the B-2 stealth bombers. The Bible calls the enemy the prince of the power of the air:

“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience…” (Ephesians 2:2, KJV)

There is a simple yet powerful way for the soldier of Christ to disable the prince’s air defense/attack system. When you have a negative thought, pray a positive prayer. It may seem simple, but it works. It will neutralize the enemy.

There are several reasons for doing this. Firstly, while it is true that every man naturally battles his own lust (James 1:14), the battle is spiritual. And so, the enemy will continually place things before our minds to try to cause us to stumble. If you pray each time this happens, you will turn a negative into a positive. You will transform something bad into something good. Instead of causing you to fall into sin, he will cause you to stand firm in prayer. The more he attacks you, the more you will pray. Instead of looking down in discouragement, you’ll be looking up to the heavens. These attacks will serve as an alarm bell, reminding us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

What kind of positive prayer should you pray? What do you most want to see in your life? The salvation of your loved ones? A revival spreading throughout the whole world? That God would grant you wisdom? Formulate a prayer that glorifies God, and then pray it with faith in your heart, knowing that God is faithful to answer prayer. Sometimes He says, “Yes.” Sometimes He says, “No.” And sometimes He says, “Wait for a minute.”

Whatever the case, the Bible assures us that if you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you your heart’s desires (Psalm 37:4). That’s an open invitation we should eagerly accept. This truth takes the practice even further: you’re not only resisting the enemy and strengthening yourself through prayer, but you’re also prompting the supernatural hand of God to move in your direction.

Secondly, godly prayer is always a good thing. The Bible says that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16). One key to building muscle is resistance. The more you lift weights and create resistance, the stronger you will become. When you pray, you are resisting the devil. That will build the muscle of godly character.

And thirdly, praying shifts your focus toward God. It reminds you that the eye of the Lord is everywhere, observing both evil and good (Proverbs 15:3). Praying also recalls the words of Jesus: if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you (Matthew 5:29).

This principle of praying a positive prayer when you have a negative thought also applies to overcoming bitterness or fear. If somebody causes you serious problems and you can’t get it out of your mind because you keep thinking negative thoughts, then every time they come to mind, pray a positive prayer. If a particular fear keeps hounding you, let it remind you to pray a positive prayer about trusting God, because trust is the opposite of fear. The key to success in this battle is consistency. So don’t give up—not an inch.

This article is taken from Ray Comfort’s upcoming book, Idiotic Things People Did in the Bible. Please subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter to be the first to receive its release date!