Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the sin which David committed in his life, the sin of adultery and a sin of murder, as he fell in love with the wife of his own commander, Uriah the Hittite, and desiring her, Bathsheba, to be his own wife. To that extent, and to hide the fact that he had committed adultery with her, David as the king tried to cover his sinful act.

But whatever is made secret, all will be revealed and be known to the Lord our God Who knows it all, and Who sees it all. King David in his desperation tried to bring Uriah to sleep with his wife in order to cover up the wicked deed which he had committed, but he who was devoted, loyal and faithful to his king refused to do so. This brought David to a dilemma, as if Uriah did not do so, then the scandal between him and Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife would be known to the public.

And in the end therefore, both lust, desire and also fear caused David to plot for the death of his own loyal and faithful servant, a great sin in the sight of the Lord our God. Through this we can see how dangerous is the force and power of desire, lust, greed, fear and all of those negative emotions on us, as unchecked, and if we allow these to affect our lives, then we may bring ourselves to the corruption of sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a reminder to all of us, to be always vigilant against all the allures and the temptations of sin and of the devil, as even someone as faithful and devoted as king David could fall to its lure and trap. But this event also showed all of us that even though God resents sinners and shows His wrath against those who have sinned against Him, but if the sinners desire and genuinely pursue true repentance, then there is hope for all of them.

God pronounced His anger and punishment for David and for his family which He made clear through the prophets, how He would withdraw the graces and blessings intended for him and for all of his descendants because of his disobedience, just as what He had done with Saul, the first king of Israel, who disobeyed the Lord and ended up losing everything, for God transferred His grace and favour from him to David.

What made the difference was that David showed humility and the true and sincere desire to repent from all of his wicked acts and sinfulness, whereas Saul remained adamant that he was doing the right thing, and even tried to explain his way out of trouble. But he could not outsmart the Lord, or pretending that he was doing the right thing while he did not, and that was why Saul fell, while David was forgiven.

The lesson for all of us is that each and every one of us has the potential in us to be forgiven by God, and for all the multitudes of our sins and wickedness, there is indeed the potential for forgiveness and mercy, but these do not come free and easy for us. All those who thought that God’s mercy is freely given without condition are sorely mistaken in the account that His mercy needs to be accepted with a sincere heart, and with a sincere and genuine devotion towards repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all today ponder on this and reflect on our own lives, on our own actions and deeds. Have we been considered to be among those who walk in the path of the Lord, or are we still under the control and the influence of our human desires, our greed and lust, our apathy and indifference, and our inability to distinguish good from evil?

Let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us walk from now on in His path, faithfully devoting ourselves to Him, so that in all things, we may bring glory to the Holy Name of our Lord, and be made worthy through our faith and deeds, that we may partake in the eternal inheritance and assurance of life eternal that He had promised us all with. May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.