favoured by God in so many ways, a great saint. On this particular day, he stayed at home in idleness while his army went out to battle. It happened that David arose from his bed after noon, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and he saw from the roof of his house a woman washing herself, over against him: and the woman was very beautiful (2 Sam 11:2). The beauty of the woman attracts him, he is allured, and consents to adultery in his heart, according to those words of Our Lord: Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart (Mat 5:28). From there to the act of adultery and the subsequent murder of her husband, there was only one step. But it all began with his eyes seeing a lovely woman bathing. A holy man sees a woman bathing and he falls into adultery and murder. That’s food for thought. This Biblical story makes manifest the importance of modest dress. Certain forms of dress appeal directly to the senses. They seem designed not to clothe the body, but to reveal as much of it as possible. The eye quickly perceives this, and passions are promptly aroused. Lack of custody of the senses leads to unhealthy and unholy curiosity. This is what lost David (by the way, have you ever wondered what Bathsheba was doing bathing in sight of the king’s balcony? Would you bathe where you could be seen by anyone unless you had bad intentions?). Curiosity is the cause of so ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’ Exodus 20:14 43
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