YOUR DEBTS AND KING DAVID’S LUST

Sometimes you wonder why you acquire so much debt without really thinking about it. Client makes $20,000 a month which is high income. When his home increased in value in 2006, he obtained a home equity loan of $300,000 and used that as down payment to buy two McMansions. With 3 houses and $1.5 M of loans on the houses, his monthly mortgage payment was $12,000. When the housing market crashed in 2008, he lost 2 houses to foreclosure since he could not make the payments even with husband and wife working 3 jobs. So, the bank sues him for $300,000 for the home equity loan which is now an unsecured debt. First he scratches his head and wonders why he decided to get such a large loan. Then he says, “Because I was greedy, I thought the values of the 3 houses would keep on going up then I could sell two and make a million dollars after paying back the $300,000!” Now he seeks bankruptcy relief.

It was his desire for a million dollars that made him decide to borrow $300,000.  So, be careful of what your heart desires because it can lead to destruction. This is what happened to King David. King David was the one who killed Goliath, the Philistine giant, with a slingshot. From a shepherd boy, God made David, king of Israel and Judah after Saul. He had 6 wives and numerous concubines. While walking in the roof of his palace, he saw Bathsheba, who was then the wife of Uriah, naked and taking a bath on the roof of her house which was just across the palace. Let’s just say that Bathsheba was a young, well-endowed beautiful woman who looked a lot better than Goliath. At that point in time, David forgot about his 6 wives and numerous concubines. His eyes and his heart coveted Bathsheba. He forgot the 10th commandment, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife!”  Covet means he lusted after Bathsheba and wanted to commit adultery. He forgot the 7th commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery!” At that moment, King David’s desire to have Bathsheba caused him to break two commandments. And as we shall see later, he will also break another commandment, the 6th “Thou shall not commit murder!”  King David became a fornicator, adulterer and murderer because of his strong desire for Bathsheba.

King David subsequently made Bathsheba pregnant. The problem you see was her husband Uriah was an officer in David’s army. Uriah was never home because he was far away fighting a war for David. In an effort to conceal his sin, David summoned Uriah home from that battlefield so that Uriah may re-consummate his marriage with Bathsheba and think that the baby was his. But upon coming home, Uriah decided to stay with the soldiers in the barracks instead of spending quality time with Bathsheba, which was the custom for officers in those days.  So, David decides to send Uriah to the front lines of battle hoping he would be killed. After Uriah is killed in battle, David marries Bathsheba as his 7th wife. Now, David is also a murderer.

David thinks he has done nothing wrong. But God sends the prophet Nathan to tell David a story about a rich man who steals the ewe (baby sheep) of a poor man. David is outraged by the injustice and demands that the rich man be punished. Nathan says the “rich man is you David, because you stole the only wife of Uriah whom you killed!” Realizing what he has done, David is filled with remorse and repents.

What David has done is displeasing to God. He is punished with the death of his baby with Bathsheba. The baby becomes seriously ill and dies several days after birth. His son Absalom rebels against him and claims the throne. Absalom has sex with 10 of David’s concubines in public because David stole Uriah’s wife. Absalom is later captured and executed by David’s army just as Uriah was killed in the battlefield.

Lawrence Bautista Yang is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and has been in law practice for thirty years.  He specializes in bankruptcy, business and civil litigation and has handled more than five thousand successful bankruptcy cases in California.  He speaks Mandarin and Fujien and looks forward to discussing your case with you personally.  Please call (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S Fremont Ave Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58 Alhambra, CA 91803.