Share this Post
Nobody enjoys being disappointed. You plan, you get excited, your expectations grow and then it all falls flat. Truly, dealing with disappointment is just part of life. However, it is much more than learning how to navigate emotion or finding how to drown your sorrows in a bowl of ice cream! The enemy uses disappointment as a tool to ‘dis-appoint’ you from the thing you have been Divinely appointed to in life. We have all experienced this to some degree but I want to expose this tactic of the enemy for what it is so you can better navigate the stormy waters when the time comes.
Many of us are familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba as found in 2 Samuel chapter 11. King David does not go off to war at the time of year that territorial boundaries were being contested and, so, in his laziness and apathy, he sees Bathsheba bathing from his rooftop and lusts after her. He pursues her, commits adultery and then engagess in an epic, woeful coverup that would affect his family for generations. Many of us have heard that story as a lesson in self-control or as a warning of not becoming complacent in our position. These are great lessons and very helpful to consider, but it is my position that the story of David and Bathsheba is a lesson in how disappointment can actually attempt to cancel the Divine Appointment God has for your life if you allow it. I believe you will see that as well if you read the events leading up to the famous David and Bathsheba encounter.
Is There More To The Story?
2 Samuel chapter 10 tells us about how King David wanted to honor Nahash, the Ammonite King who had died, by sending a delegation to extend his condolences to the dead King’s son, the new King of the Ammonites. David’s kind gesture towards this people who were enemies of Judah were completely misconstrued. The Ammonites thought David was sending spies and therefore took them into custody, shaved their beards (a tremendous slap in the face) and cut their garments off at the waistline, thus exposing them in the most humiliating way. This broke David’s heart for his men and infuriated him towards the Ammonites. David gathered the army and attacked the Ammonites and their cohorts, but before they were defeated, the Ammonites fled (bunch of cowards!). At the start of Chapter 11 we see that David was ready to restart the campaign (likely after a break in action due to the rainy season) but he did not join his army. I believe he didn’t go because he was shut down by his severe disappointment. (Click here to read my post on Restraint)
All David was trying to do was be kind. All he wanted was to be honoring to a fallen King and perhaps build a bridge and instead was slapped in the face. He was so disappointed and heart-broken after how they shunned his kindness that he decided enough was enough. He told the generals to go kill them all while he stayed home and pouted (this is all my interpretation). Disappointed and hurt as he was, leading the army was still his job but he ‘abdicated the throne’ because of his disappointment. This set him up for the events with Bathsheba just a few verses later. I believe it would have never happened if he had he dealt with his disappointment differently.
A Few Lessons To Learn From David’s Disappointment:
- Don’t honor a snake: The Ammonites were enemies of God and the King of the Ammonites was named Nahash (which literally translates as ‘serpent’). Some people aren’t supposed to be your friends. If you try and make a deal with the devil you will be disappointed every time! (Click here to read my post on The Right Thing in The Wrong Place)
2. Finish the job: David sent others to finish the job he started. In our disappointment we can’t just give up halfway… that could be the enemy’s plan to dis-appoint us from the victory God has appointed for us on the other side of the obstacle. Be faithful to the end.
3. Don’t wallow in your shame: The more David stewed on his disappointment and hurt, the more the enemy was able to position himself to distract David and attempt to dis-appoint him from his Divine Appointment of being a righteous King. When disappointment comes, fix your eyes on the source of your strength: God alone.
There’s Hope For You!
Today, face disappointments realizing that God is for you, nothing can separate you from His divine love and power and that you have everything you need for life and Godliness. Don’t let the enemy take you out and dis-appoint you from the Divine appointment God has for you. Often it is not the initial disappointment that shuts us down, it is how we respond to that initial disappointment. Choose to look to the God of hope and know that He can turn it around for your good and for His Glory! (Click here to read my post on The Invisible Value of Maintenance Mode)
When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.” 2 Samuel 10:5 ESV
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. – Psalm 42:11 ESV
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. – Colossians 3:23-25 ESV
Share this Post