“Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.” (2 Sam. 13:15) If it was love that Amnon had for Tamar, then it was not the love that we are to have for others, it was an infatuation that he would not control, he was consumed by the lust of the eyes and flesh, and would not seek the face of God for relief from it.
He had lied and cajoled to get what he thought he wanted, he was fixated, even past the point of listening to the young woman’s pleas before and after the fact.
Very few people fall directly into sin, the thought always, or in the majority of times, precedes the action, they are tempted, we ponder at length that which at first was just a passing thought, a fleeting moment within our mind. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)
If you continue long in your thoughts on a particular deed, the possibility of your performing that act increases exponentially, and although our adversary is well equipped and more than happy to assist us in that temptation, we are quite adept at going in that wrong direction ourselves, we really do not need his assistance.
David’s sin with Bathsheba demanded stoning under the law, but as it has always been, the further up the ladder you go, the less the laws apply. Someone had to have said the same thing about this incident that David said about King Saul, “The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed:” (1 Sam. 26:11a) But God does not allow those who are His to go unpunished when sin has come to fruition in their lives, especially when it dishonors His name. “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numb. 32:23)
The way out of temptation is generally the same way that it finds its way in, from the mind, from our thoughts, that which begins to consume us cannot just be set to the side, something must replace it, and that something is not a good deed instead of an evil one, but a love for the Lord. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
Nearly all of these that we succumb to are of our own design, and nearly every time we do so our emotional state is the same as Amnon’s was, we will hate that which we once thought we loved. If this is not your reaction after you have sinned against the Lord, then you may rest assured of one of two things, either you were not a servant of the Most High in the first place, or He has given you over to a reprobate mind.
Each of us who have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ has gone, and willingly I will add, into that pleasure of the season of sin, some for a longer time than others, but each of us also finds that we do not want to stay at the pig’s trough and continue to eat the husks. We come to ourselves. It is like being blinded and then being able to see again.
Satan’s world is much more powerful than any of us can begin to imagine, none of us will ever go through this life and not fall into the traps, we will all be tempted, and we will all fall at one time or another. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, we keep in mind the weaker brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not do what we know is alright in the sight of God for us for their sake, but when we sin, when we become consumed and then fall into a temptation, we must do two things, repent, ask the Lord for forgiveness, and then move on. Many a brother in Christ has been forgiven but will not forgive themselves and their ministry is ruined because of that.
David was God’s chosen King over His people before, during and after that event, we are always His children, no matter where we are on the path.
If you have fallen into a trap, there is only one way out, you must ask for forgiveness, accept it, reach up and take the Savior’s hand, and then start moving forward in His service again. Hopefully all the wiser and more dependent on Him than before.
