2 Samuel 11:14-15
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.  And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

David, normally so concerned with doing the right thing and conducting himself with integrity, gets to a place where he is willing to purposely hurt one of his faithful men.  It started with one sin, and that changed David into a manipulator and a conniver and a desperate man willing to take drastic measures.  He had shown Saul mercy.  He had shown kindness to Mephibosheth.  He had done many things that demonstrated his upright heart.  But now he’s plotting the death of an innocent man to try to cover for himself.

Sin changes us.  It changes our motives and our methods and our hearts.  It makes us resort to desperate measures when we try to hide and cover over what we’ve done.  It tends to lead to other sins.  It makes us hurt other people.  It is a dangerous path to take.  And even the most upright is not immune to the most unthinkable sins.  And when we kind of panic and feel like being found out for our sin is much worse than the consequences of confessing, we usually end up making the situation even worse than it had to be.

David had been the shepherd boy, the giant slayer, the harpist and poet, the mighty warrior, the king of Israel.  He’d been called a man after God’s own heart.  He had a reputation as a pretty good guy.  He dedicated himself to God.  He studied His Word.  He knew Him and sought Him with his whole heart.  But underneath all of that, he was human.  Beyond those superlatives and achievements, he was just an ordinary sinner.

We are all just human.  We all mess up at times.  No matter what good things we have done, there could come a moment where all of that would be undone.  But we are not without hope.  These situations just prove how much we need a Savior.  It just shows us that no matter how much we want to always do the right thing, we’re not perfect.  When we are willing to admit that, we receive God’s mercy.  When we let our sin get out of control instead, there is often a steep price to pay.  So may we not let sin drive us down that regrettable path and turn us into someone we wouldn’t even recognize.