There are those that say that it doesn’t matter how a woman dresses, because bad men will still lust after a woman after all; that the problem is not the look out there but the heart of the looker. Such philosophies are generally callous excuses for an obstinate lifestyle. That a bad heart will usually see bad things out there, even in the good, is only partly true. Some that thus defend their bareness often insist on their right to a freedom of attire, mindless of whom they wrong with their stubborn rights.
David had never been known to commit adultery or rape anyone, until his royal eyes fell on a naked woman carelessly bathing where she could be seen. That was not the first time that David had seen a woman, but David did not invite them or rape them. Their attire was a critical factor in what did not happen, even if he had a devil in his heart.
David did not know Bathsheba while she was respectfully clothed, but when he saw her exposed, it struck a chord in him that had not otherwise been activated; a chord that would still have been still if she had not been so seen (2 Samuel 11:1-27). That disastrous encounter with the naked Bathsheba was what brought the lingering curse of shame upon David’s household; it was the root of all the rapes and bloodbaths that were later to plague the house of David (2 Samuel 12:9-12).
Beautiful Bathsheba, beware. In your paradise of rights that care not who is wronged, you could soon have blood on your hands (Matthew 18:6; Luke 17:1-2).
From The Preacher’s diary,
September 6, 2023.
