Desperate People Do Desperate Things

Desperate People

Have you ever been desperate? Well, I have. I think, we all have. Have you noticed that when you are desperate you do crazy things~things that you won’t have done if the circumstances had been different? Come on. Be honest with yourself. The following is a true statement: desperate people do desperate things.

As believers, it is so important that we focus on God and not our circumstances. We should never find ourselves in a situation where our back is against the wall, and we make desperate choices. We should always consult God first. Let’s look at some biblical incidents were people were desperate, and instead of turning to God, they turned to someone else or something else.

Victim of desperate circumstance #1: King Saul

After the death of Samuel, the Philistines gather together and settle around Shunem, and King Saul becomes afraid. When he didn’t hear from God, he took matters into his own hands. He consulted a medium. King Saul had this woman conjure up Samuel from the dead. (Playing with Dead Things~we’ll talk about that at another time). Although Saul knew this was wrong, he was desperate. So, he sins.

Victim of desperate circumstances #2: King David

Oh, King David…King David. You have to love this guy. Well, God did. He did a whole lot even despite his many short comings. Let’s look at his desperate situation. He sees a beautiful woman. He wants beautiful woman. He sends and gets beautiful woman. Beautiful woman gets pregnant. Beautiful woman is married to someone else. By law, she should be killed. By law, King David should be killed. Oh, what a tangled web we web when intentions are to deceive. King David was in a pickle. So, what does he do? He tries to trick Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, into going home and sleeping with his wife. When this doesn’t work, he has poor Uriah killed.

Okay. I know you are probably thinking that these guys did some bad stuff. Yes, they did. But, so do we. We have each done something that is wrong. We have each done somethings that we are ashamed of. Take the time to think about it. So, what should have happened in each situation?

King Saul had stopped doing what was right a long time before Samuel died. He made a lot of bad decisions that caused God to reject him. This was simply another example of his bad decision-making. Let us not become so consumed with our wrong-doing that God rejects us.

Poor King David should have been off fighting like the other kings. If he was too tired for a battle, he should have stopped looking when he saw Bathsheba at her bath. He should have ran away from his window like Joseph if he had had to. But, because he was the king and could do just about anything, he decides to indulge his lust. Think about it. He had several wives and concubines that he could have slept with. But, because he could, he sends for a woman he know is forbidden. As a result, his lineage is riddled with turmoil.

So, let us turn to God when we are desperate. Let us not look at our circumstances. Let us look to him who made the sun to stand still and parted the Red Sea. Let us look to him who can move mountains and the hearts of men.

He can do all things except fail. There is nothing too hard for God. Amen!

1 Samuel 28:3-25

2 Samuel 11

2 Samuel 12

Matthew 19: 26

Jeremiah 32: 27