When God gives you success, don't let the enemy give you entitlement

David was anointed as the king of Israel by the prophet Samuel (while Saul was still king):

1 Samuel 16:13 NIV

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. ...

David served King Saul for a while, but eventually Saul's fear and jealousy made him crazy, and David escaped.  David demonstrated amazing faith, humility, and patience those years that he was on the run in the wilderness, waiting on Yahweh's timing to fulfill His promise of promotion.

Eventually, King Saul died (1 Sam 31), and David was anointed king of Judah (2 Sam 2) and eventually King over all of Israel (2 Sam 5).  Yahweh granted King David military victories over the Philistines (2 Sam 8) and the Ammonites and Arameans (2 Sam 10).  

When God grants you success, be careful to guard your heart against a mindset of entitlement.  I think you can see entitlement starting to creep in when David had sons from six different women (2 Sam 3), which was explicitly forbidden by Moses in Deuteronomy 17:17.  Then he forced Saul's daughter Michal, to return to him (2 Sam 3:14-15), even though she had been given as wife to another man.  Then David took even more wives and concubines (2 Sam 5:13).  

So, when David probably should have been with his army (2 Sam 11:1), or at least he should have been asleep (v. 2), and he sees a woman bathing, his previous pattern of entitlement made a slippery slope, and he didn't stop himself from several successive failures in a short amount of time. First, he took time to enjoy her beauty (v. 2b). He should have looked away immediately, but I speculate that even if he wasn't consciously aware of it, he felt entitled to survey "his" kingdom from his palace rooftop. A mindset of humility would have had a different train of thought. Second, he allowed his mind to wonder who she was, but he should have taken his thoughts captive. Third, he acted on his curiosity by sending someone to inquire about her (v. 3).  Curiosity killed the cat (and eventually Uriah and a baby). The mind set on the flesh (even fleshly curiosity) is death (Rom 8:6a). Fourth, even though he knew that Bathsheba was the wife of one of his thirty-seven most trusted bodyguards (2 Sam 23:39), he sent messengers to have her brought to him (v. 4), and it wasn't to ask how Uriah was doing.  Fifth, David got Uriah drunk to try to cover up Bathsheba's pregnancy (v. 6-13), but Uriah was an honorable man (v. 11). Sixth, David resorted to premeditated murder (v. 14-15).  I speculate that this last step was still enabled by David's sense of entitlement; pawns are sometimes sacrificed in chess (v. 25).

I don't think the David in the wilderness would have done any of that because he was still humble at that season of his life.

So, how do I stay humble in the midst of God giving me advancement, promotion, and success?

Father, thank you for this warning against a mindset of entitlement.  Jesus, thank you for your example of a completely humble mindset and lifestyle.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your presence.  I want to be humble and focus on hosting your presence.  I love you.