Conviction of the Intention

2 Samuel 23:15-17
"And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem,

which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David:nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this:is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men."

This ties in with the previous devotion. Here, David had just been in battle with the Philistines and he becomes thirsty. 

His flesh has a desire and it specifically desires the water from the well of Bethlehem. He could have asked for water from any well but it had to be from that well. 

So 3 devoted men went out to get the water. However, they had to go through Philistine territory in order to get it for David. 

No doubt they had to fight their way to the well. They risked their lives because of David's fleshly desires. 

When they return from their "quest", David discovers the struggle they went through and he feels so guilty for the risk he had put these men in, just for water. 

Now his spirit is kicks in and convicts him. David allows the spirit to overpower his flesh. 

The Matthew Henry commentary brings up a very interesting point: the potential for the blood of these 3 devoted men to be on the hands of David because of a desire of the flesh might have brought up the tormenting memory of what he did to Uriah because he wanted Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. So the thought of possibly repeating that scenario disgusted David that he didn't want anything to do with that water and offered to to the Lord and instantly repented for what he did. 

So what happened here was he recognized the danger of his flesh and countered it with his spiritual conviction and repented for the sin that could have happened but didn't. He still felt responsible for the unshed blood of these men because there was potential for them to get harmed.

What he did was the right thing. So often I find myself thinking that if I didn't commit the sin then I haven't done anything wrong. But even the potential for the sin to happen is bad enough. 

Jesus warns us about our thoughts in the book of Matthew. He says how if we even think hateful thoughts, it's as if we committed murder against that person. If we have sexual thoughts towards an unavailable person, then that is just as bad as committing adultery. Thoughts and intentions are just as bad as the actions themselves.