What exuberance
there was among satan and his infernal underlings when David fell
into the greatest peril his soul had ever known! “We got him!”
they all shouted. “If we can get him to fall, then we can get
anybody to sin!”
The devil
had been determined to prevent Me from keeping My promise to Abraham
to raise up a Deliverer through his lineage, and especially through
the Royal Tribe of Judah. And now he thought victory was in the
bag. He felt certain that I was so furious with David because of
the size of his sin that I couldn’t possibly forgive him. Surely
I was bound to end his dynasty forever, and the Messiah could never
be born through him.
Satan licked
his chops, thinking that now David, son of Jesse was a goner. Gleefully
he anticipated David’s death, and the day he would be dragged
by demons into hell for his sin. The devil truly hated David above
all men who were alive on earth at that time. The sweet songs of
praise David had composed on his harp were excruciating torment
to satan. The devil had been enraged when his earlier attempt to
murder David with King Saul’s javelin thrust was unsuccessful.
Yes, in that
terrible hour of David’s disgrace, the devil was very glad
that David had not died in his youth. He thought for sure David
was destined for eternal destruction. But when I forgave David for
his sin, the devil was first amazed, then incensed. He simply had
not counted on Me being able to forgive a big sin. A tiny peccadillo,
maybe even theft or manslaughter. But never a sin so mind-numbingly
sordid as David’s. It’s not fair, thought satan. After
all the strings I pulled to set David up for that big fall. How
could God do this to me?
The devil
is extremely vengeful. He hated David more than ever for escaping
eternal damnation, and he detested Me all the more for pardoning
David and keeping him on the Throne of Israel.
David was
not lost to me, but for the rest of his days the enemy wreaked havoc
in his home. What merriment it brought to the enemy to see David
struck time and again by domestic and national calamities.This poor
man felt like he was a ball being kicked around by forces beyond
his control. He often wept, pleading with Me to set limits on the
awful sufferings he must endure. How it grieved My heart, knowing
I had to allow the consequences of sin to play themselves out in
that dear saint’s life. Only when David died did he know lasting
peace. Only then was he completely at rest from the fiery darts
of the Prince of Darkness.
How great
is My grace. If it made satan angry when I forgave David, how galling
it will be to him when I resurrect this one whom I called “a
man after My own heart”, and appoint him to rule over mortal
saints once again in the coming Kingdom of God.