The Fall of King David

*(slow, reflective tone)* In the spring of the year — when kings traditionally

went out to battle — Israel’s armies were on the move. Second Samuel chapter 11,

verse 1 (ESV) records: > *“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle,

David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged

the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”* *(slight pause)*

It seems an ordinary line in the text, yet it carries the weight of warning. Kings were expected

to lead. David, Israel’s warrior-poet, stayed behind. What looked like

rest was, in truth, the first drift of the heart — a subtle withdrawal