David is referred to in the New Testament as someone God called “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). We have already seen, however, that great men and women of God are still sinners, and they sometimes sin in spectacular ways. Such was the case with David.

Prior to the “Bathsheba incident”, David already had at least six wives and likely countless other concubines.  Even before his adultery with Bathsheba, how well would David have been accepted in your local church? How could such man ever be considered a man after God’s own heart?

The Adult Sabbath School Study Guide views David’s multiple wives as an indulgence of his passions and suggests that “the indulgence of a passion, far from removing the passion, only makes that passion stronger and stronger”. Is this true? Is it true of certain passions, but not others? Is it true of both positive passions (a passion for God or for truth) and more negative passions?