…you have utterly scorned The Lord… – 2 Samuel 12:14, Amplified Bible

We can be such a great source of joy to our God. And, we can be such a great source of pain to Him.

God Himself described David as a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), and it’s not hard to see why when we look at David’s early life. His faith in God’s protection and enabling was unwavering in the battle with Goliath (1 Samuel 17). He demonstrated his respect for authority by refusing to kill King Saul – not once, but twice (1 Samuel 24:4-15 and 1 Samuel 26:9-12) – when God had delivered Saul into his hand. He displayed his obedience to God’s leading on several occasions by asking God’s will before going into battle (1 Samuel 30:8, 2 Samuel 5:19, and 2 Samuel 5:23). And, he worshipped The Lord with humility and without regard for his own status as king (2 Samuel 6:14-23). In these examples – and many more not listed here – David indeed brought joy to his Heavenly Father.

But then there were times when David, instead of bringing joy to God, brought God great pain. There is, of course, no more infamous, horrible example of this than David’s adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. So much pain followed David’s failure! His firstborn by Bathsheba died (2 Samuel 12:19). His family was riddled with war (2 Samuel 12:10), rebellion (2 Samuel 15:6-14), sexual sin (2 Samuel 13:14), and embarrassment (2 Samuel 12:12). And, perhaps worst of all, he had given great occasion to the enemies of The Lord to blaspheme God’s holy name (2 Samuel 12:14). God later forgave the repentant king, but David had to face the consequences of his sin regardless of his being forgiven. Those consequences produced pain for him, for his loved ones, and for his God.

When sin comes calling, it does so seductively. Satan masterfully frames sin when he presents it to us, keeping our eyes focused on the pleasure and averted from the pain. The wise person realizes that on the other side of the fun is a huge fall, and while plunging helplessly into despair we come to realize that the price of sin is more than we, our loved ones, and our God want to bear. When tempted, we must remember that God will make a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13), and we must be sure take it immediately when presented to us. If we do not, we will give in to sin, and the fleeting pleasure that sin promises will inevitably be followed by the long-lasting pain that Satan deceptively hides.

The next time sin comes calling, look past the pleasure. Take note of the pain. Take account of sin’s tremendous cost, and understand that no pleasure is worth causing yourself, your loved ones, or your God great misery.