The Life of David #6: David and Bathsheba
CCEA
School of Discipleship
February
16, 2025
In class
Break into small groups of three or so, share one thing you learned from
McGee’s chapter 6, “The King Said He Was Wrong”
My McGee Notes:
Chapter 6 – The King Said He Was Wrong
Deals a little with David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah.
David would suffer consequences for his sin for the rest of his life.
Mostly deals with Psalm 51
As sinners, we need to confess our sin to find forgiveness
Let’s stand and recite together Psalm 23:1-5
:1 The Lord is my
shepherd; I shall not want.
:2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still
waters.
:3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
:4 Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are
with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
:5 You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup
runs over.
I mentioned at the beginning of class that with us being so immersed in the
Life of David, you might start seeing David everywhere.
This week Taylor was working on her memory verses and realized this was on
her coffee cup (“My Cup Runneth Over”)
Kelly saw this on her social media feed, a great Valentine’s Day gift idea
(Coffee cup with “You are worth more than 100 Philistine Foreskins”)
David and Bathsheba
Introduction
David has now been king over Israel for a number of
years.
He’s made Jerusalem the capital of the nation.
He’s conquered the enemies on every border, expanding the nation.
It’s like he’s won the Super Bowl and he’s asked, “David, what are you
going to do?” (go to Disneyland???)
He doesn’t go to Disneyland, he’s going to get
himself into trouble.
In the ancient world, kings could control what was recorded of their history. The
old saying is “History goes to the victors”.
Yet the Bible is different. Here
we are going to see one of the greatest men commit one of the darkest sins.
In talking about the Old Testament, Paul wrote,
(1
Corinthians 10:11 NKJV) Now all these things happened to
them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the ages have come.
So here’s the challenge today. Are we going to learn from David’s failures?
11:1-27 David
and Bathsheba
:1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to
battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and
they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
:1 besieged Rabbah
Last week we saw the beginnings of the war against the Ammonites, when the
Ammonite king embarrassed David’s messengers.
The battle took a break during the cold and rainy winter months, and now
it’s about to start up again.
Rabbah is forty-five miles east of Jerusalem. Today it is the city of Amman, Jordan.
:1 in the spring of the year
Lesson
Danger at the top
David has “arrived”. He has won victories over Philistines, Moab, and
Zobah. He’s just defeated the Ammonites in battle and pushed back the Syrians.
It’s at this point of greatest strength that David will fall into his
deepest sin.
(1
Corinthians 10:12 NKJV) Therefore let him who thinks he
stands take heed lest he fall.
Illustration
“A time to be careful is when one reaches his goals.” In other words,
vulnerability accompanies achievement.
-- Charles R. Swindoll, The Finishing Touch (Word,
1994), p. 76.
:1 when kings go out to battle
Fighting wars is a king’s business. Kings are
supposed to be in battle with their troops. David is taking a vacation when he
should be at work.
If you consider the fact that David might have had a hand in what is being
recorded, you get the idea that David is telling us that it all started because
he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He was supposed to be in battle.
Lesson
Staying alert
Be careful as a warrior to not let your guard down. You have to sleep
with one eye open.
Rest is good, but lack of vigilance isn’t.
Peter writes,
(1 Peter 5:8–9
NKJV) —8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him,
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same
sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
Illustration
Columnist Herb Caen wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Every morning in
Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion
or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun
the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It
doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up,
you’d better be running.”
Today, in our overweight world, I’m afraid a more appropriate picture might
be this
Play Rollin’ Safari – “The Chase”
https://youtu.be/BOOljk_LOcs?si=em_zYgW2cCm_bAUH
The point is, don’t let down your guard.
Paul wrote,
(Ephesians 6:10–13
NKJV) —10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand.
:2 Then it happened one evening that David arose
from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he
saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
:3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is
this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
:2 from the roof
Play “David’s Rooftop Map” video
(If you’ve been to Israel, you have probably spent some time in the city
of Jerusalem.
Modern Jerusalem has a population of just under a million people. It’s up on a mountain, about 2500 feet in altitude.
The walls around that part of Jerusalem known as the “Old City” were built
by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.
They are not exactly the same
borders of the city in Jesus’ day, or Hezekiah’s day.
Throughout history, Jerusalem has been attacked many
times. The city has been rebuilt over and over again
on some 20+ layers.
David’s city is south of the “Old City” and built on the slope of a
hill.
David’s palace would have been at the highest spot on
the hill, with the city houses down below it.)
In those days, the roof of a house was flat, and people often had something
like a patio on their roof.
Lesson
It can happen at “home”
Struggles, temptations, battles can come at places
where we think we ought to be safe.
We might think that the battles are always going to be at work with the
obnoxious atheist who is always calling you names. But sometimes the battle is
going to come when you come to church, or at home when you’re in a place where
you let your guard down.
:2 he saw a woman
Lesson
Temptation’s first step
Temptation can start with one of our senses, often with the
eyes.
(James 1:14–15
NKJV) —14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires
and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it
gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Eve was tempted in the garden when she “saw” that the tree
was good, pleasant, and desirable. (Gen. 3:6)
(Genesis 3:6 NKJV) So when the woman saw that
the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and
a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She
also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Temptation by itself isn’t a sin. It’s what we do after we’re tempted that
causes trouble.
Martin Luther said: “It’s not a wrong for a bird to fly
over your head, just don’t let it build a nest in your hair”
Billy Graham said: “The first look is free. It’s the
second look that kills you.”
It’s not a bad idea to be a little careful of what you let your eyes look
at.
Job said,
(Job
31:1 NLT) “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young
woman.
If you can limit the amount of exposure you have to
tempting things, you might have a better chance of resisting temptation.
Some of us get ourselves into more trouble than we should
because we do purposely go to places where we will “see” tempting things.
Illustration
It’s like the guy on a diet who said to the Lord, “Lord,
if you don’t want me to have a donut, please let there be no parking spots in
front of Krispy Kreme.”
But sure enough, there was a parking spot right in front,
the twentieth time around the block.
But you can’t always keep your eyes from seeing bad things,
and that’s when it’s good to learn to look away or walk away.
Ultimately, we need to learn self-control
There are some things we can’t have.
There are some things we just need to wait for.
For those watching this online, I’ll play a “Cookie Monster” video in
class, but I’m sure YouTube won’t let me play it online. I’ll have a link in my notes…
Play “Cookie Monster self-control” video
:2 a woman bathing
Lesson
Bathsheba’s guilt
There are some fellows who tend to blame everything on the woman.
They see a woman taking a bath and after they have committed adultery with
the woman, blame her for taking a bath.
There might be some sort of guilt on Bathsheba’s part, and it’s probably
not a great idea to be taking a bath on the rooftop in front of the whole
world, but keep in mind that we never hear anything about Bathsheba’s guilt.
The Scriptures do clearly lay blame at
David’s feet.
David is the king.
How could she refuse the king?
We need to be careful about blaming other people for our sins.
They may indeed be a part of the temptation, but there’s no reason you
can’t be a man enough to just say “no”.
:3 Bathsheba – “daughter of an oath”
:3 the
daughter of Eliam
Eliam is listed as one of David’s mighty men.
(2 Samuel
23:34 NKJV) …Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
Bathsheba’s grandfather, Ahithophel, was one of David’s smartest
counselors.
Ahithophel will be one of those who will betray David in a few years (2Sam. 15:12) – perhaps because
of what we’re going to see here.
:3 the wife of Uriah the Hittite
Uriah – “Yahweh is my light”
He was another one of David’s mighty men. (2Sam. 23:39)
(2 Samuel
23:39 NKJV) and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
Even after Uriah is dead and David is married to Bathsheba, we see several
places in the Scriptures where she is still known as “Uriah’s wife” (2Sam. 12:15; Mat. 1:6)
David is without excuse. He now knows this is another man’s wife.
He even knows who her husband, father, and grandfather are. They are all his friends.
Quiz Alert!!!
Lesson
List the casualties
I think a very healthy practice is to think about the people your sin will hurt. Think it through. Make a list.
1. Think of how it would devastate your spouse.
2. Think of what it will do to your friends. David’s sin would kill one of
his friends (Uriah) and may have been the cause of another of his friends to
betray him (Ahithophel).
3. Think of the very real effect it will have on your children. David’s sin
would have a profound influence on his sons.
The son of this sin will die.
Other sons will repeat this same kind of adulterous behavior (2Sam. 12:11; 16:21).
Some think that getting a divorce would be better for the
kids than seeing their parents argue all the time. I’m sorry, but I don’t see
it. I think kids are way better off in a family where the parents are
struggling than in a divorce. I think statistics would justify my position.
4. I think of what it would do to my family, my parents, my relatives.
5. Think of what it will do to your testimony. Because of David’s sins, the
enemies of God would have a reason to “blaspheme” (2Sam. 12:14). People who mock
Christians will have more fuel for their fire.
6. Think of what it will do to your ministry. We all have people that we influence positively for the Lord. Think of how
those people will be hurt. From time to time I run across people who stopped going to church because
someone they respected had fallen into sin.
7. Think of what it will do to those who participated in your sin. David
carries some responsibility for what happened to Bathsheba. The main thing we
remember her for is the woman who committed adultery with David.
Are you struggling with temptation?
Make a list.
:4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he
lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her
house.
:4 sent messengers, and took her
At this point in David’s life, David has at least seven wives (2Sam. 3:2-5, 11)
There was Michal, the daughter of Saul and David’s first wife. (2Sam. 3:11)
Once David became king of all Israel and ruled in Jerusalem, he would take
more wives and “concubines” (2Sam.
5:13). I haven’t found a complete total, but he had to have had at
least 18 wives and concubines (2Sam.
15:16).
Lesson
One is enough
Illustration
A Second Wife
One Father writes, “When our second child was on the way, my wife and I
attended a pre-birth class aimed at couples who had already had at least one
child. The instructor raised the issue of breaking the news to the older child.
It went like this: “Some parents,” she said, “tell the older child, ‘We love
you so much we decided to bring another child into this family.’ But think
about that. Ladies, what if your husband came home one day and said, ‘Honey, I
love you so much I decided to bring home another wife.’”
One of the women spoke up immediately. “Does she cook???””
Solomon had 1,000 wives but he wrote,
(Proverbs
5:18 NKJV) …rejoice with the wife of your youth.
Lesson
Don’t give permission
Somehow, it seems to me that David has given himself permission to do
something that God has not given him permission for.
David might have thought that as king, he basically owns everything and
everybody. Not true.
David might have thought, “Well, Michal hasn’t been very nice to me lately”
(and she hasn’t, but that’s no excuse).
David might have argued to himself, “Well, other kings have their harems”.
He might have said, “Well, Saul had many wives.” He might have said, “Hey, lay
off me, even Jacob had two wives and two concubines!”
Does that make it right? See what God says about kings:
(Deuteronomy 17:17 NKJV) Neither shall he multiply wives for
himself, lest his heart turn away…
We saw last week God’s original ideas about marriage for
all of us are found in the very design of the first marriage. How many wives
did God make for Adam? One.
I think we get ourselves into trouble when we look at our particular situation and think that somehow
we are the exception to the rule. We think that somehow
we ought to be treated differently.
:4 for she was cleansed from her impurity
impurity – tum’ah – uncleanness
The phrase also tells us that she has been through her menstrual cycle, and isn’t at the moment
pregnant with Uriah’s child.
It also opens up the possibility that she could
become pregnant.
This also hints at the Levitical law (Lev. 15:19-24) which says a woman is
“unclean” during her period, and that a man is not supposed to have sex with a
woman who is in her period.
The book of Leviticus says that a woman is considered “unclean” during her
cycle, and she is not to have intercourse until after her period is over. (Lev.
15:19-24)
(Leviticus 15:19–24
NKJV) —19 ‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body
is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be
unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she lies on during
her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that
she sits on shall be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash
his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until
evening. 22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes
and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she
sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on
him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be
unclean.
It’s possible this was the reason she was bathing on the roof in the first
place, to remove the ceremonial “uncleanness”
What’s the point?
Lesson
Missing the bigger picture
Is David more concerned about not having sex with an “unclean” woman than
the fact that he’s committing adultery with a friend’s wife?
(Leviticus 18:19–20
NLT) —19 “Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of
menstrual impurity. 20 “Do not defile yourself by having
sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.
I find it ironic that in one sentence God tells men to
wait until after their wife’s period is over, and in the next sentence it tells
men not to have sex with their neighbor’s wife.
It’s almost as if it was written for David’s situation.
If I’m not mistaken, I think things went like this –
David: Are you at that time of month?
Bathsheba: Nope.
David: Great, let’s have sex!
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
(Matthew
23:23 NKJV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and
have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and
faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
They were good at the “little” things,
but failed miserably at the “BIG” things like justice, mercy, and faith.
I have to tell you that sometimes I have a real
problem with people who are picking at this thing or another, when I see HUGE
glaring problems in their own lives. I
wonder if picking at little things is a way of distracting us from taking care
of the bigger issues.
:5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told
David, and said, “I am with child.”
:5 I am with child
David has not only sinned, but now he’s going to be caught.
Lesson
Your sin will find you out
Don’t think you are going to get away with it forever. If you are a
Christian, you will be caught one day. God will be sure of it. He loves you too
much to let you stay in your sin.
(Hebrews
12:6 NKJV) For whom the
Lord loves He chastens, And
scourges every son whom He receives.”
Turn from your sin.
Turn to Jesus. Turn to Him now. He will give you a new start.
:6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And
Joab sent Uriah to David.
:6 Send me Uriah
Uriah is at the battle of Rabba, about forty-five miles east of
Jerusalem. This would be about a two days’ journey.
David comes up with a plan to try and cover his sin. His intention is to
create a situation where Uriah will sleep with his wife, and
then think that the child is his.
Lesson
Covering up sin
Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to try and cover themselves.
Moses killed the Egyptian and tried to hide the body in the sand.
Illustration
Family Tradition
The Joneses were proud of their family tradition. Their ancestors had come
to America on the Mayflower. They had included Senators and Wall Street
wizards. They decided to compile a family history, a legacy for their children
and grandchildren. They hired a fine author. Only one problem arose—how to
handle that great-uncle George, who was executed in the electric chair. The
author said he could handle the story tactfully. The book was published. It said “Great-uncle
George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government
institution, was attached to his position by the strongest of ties, and his
death came as a great shock.”
(Proverbs
28:13 NKJV) He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever
confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
:7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the
people were doing, and how the war prospered.
:8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of
food from the king followed him.
:8 a gift of food from the king followed him
David sends Uriah off and sets him up to have a nice romantic Valentine’s
dinner at home with his wife. He even
has the evening catered (he sends food).
Maybe they’ll sleep together and when he finds out she’s pregnant, he will
think it’s his!
Think about the utter depravity of what David is doing. He is pretending to
be nice to the man whose wife he’s just slept with.
He is trying to manipulate the man for his own purposes, to cover his own
sin. If I were filming this scene, I’d dress up David in a polyester suit,
shirt opened showing his hairy chest, gold chains around his neck, with his
hair slicked back …
I wonder at the pain that David must have felt later as he retold this
story to the court records keeper.
Lesson
Depravity
There is nothing that our hearts are incapable of.
We need to be careful that we don’t fall into the trap of the
finger-pointers who look down at those who are fallen
into sin. We too could very easily do the same things.
:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of
his lord, and did not go down to his house.
:10 So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,”
David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down
to your house?”
:11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in
tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open
fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As
you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
:11 the servants of my lord are encamped
One commentator suggested that David and his men had a practice of celibacy
when they were on the battlefield.
When David was running from Saul, he asked the priest for bread for his
men. The priest said he only had the holy showbread. He said if the men had kept themselves from
women, they could have it.
(1 Samuel
21:5 NLT) “Don’t worry,” David replied. “I never allow my
men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even
on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!”
If this was indeed the practice of David’s armies on the battlefield, then
what Uriah is saying hits home even stronger.
Being a man of honor, Uriah is going to stay celibate like his brothers on
the battlefield.
I wonder if Uriah’s correct sense of duty isn’t just a bit convicting to
David
:11 As you live, and as your soul lives
Uriah is speaking serious words.
He’s not playing around.
This is the language of an oath, and it is usually phrased this way, “As
the LORD lives…”
The idea is “As surely as God is alive, and He is, I’m telling the truth”
But Uriah turns the phrase a bit and instead of it using God’s life as a
reference, he uses David’s life.
“As surely as you my king is alive, I will not act in a way that
disrespects you”
It’s a bit more personal towards David.
Uriah is a good, honorable man.
God is the first one to use this language when He is speaking to Moses:
(Numbers
14:21 NKJV) but truly, as I live, all the earth shall
be filled with the glory of the Lord—
(Numbers
14:28 NKJV) Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My
hearing, so I will do to you:
(Deuteronomy
32:40 NKJV) For I raise My hand to heaven, And say, “As
I live forever,
Gideon will use it
(Judges 8:19 NKJV) Then he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother.
As the Lord
lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
Boaz uses it when he promises Ruth he will take care of her
(Ruth 3:13 NKJV) Stay this night, and in the morning it
shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for
you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you,
then I will perform the duty for you, as the Lord lives! Lie down until
morning.”
Hannah will use it when she brings little Samuel to the Tabernacle, except
she uses Eli’s life as the ground of her oath.
(1 Samuel
1:26 NKJV) And she said, “O my lord! As your soul lives,
my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord.
Saul will use it
(1 Samuel
14:39 NKJV) For as the Lord lives, who saves Israel,
though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not a man among all
the people answered him.
From this time on, it will be used pretty frequently by various
people. David uses this phrase a lot.
When Nathan confronts David over his adultery by telling him a story about
“a man” who steals his neighbor lamb…
(2 Samuel 12:5
NKJV) So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said
to Nathan, “As the Lord
lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!
:12 Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will
let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that
day and the next.
:13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him
drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his
lord, but he did not go down to his house.
:14 In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it
by the hand of Uriah.
:15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the
hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.”
Get this picture, Uriah will be carrying his own death warrant back to Joab
in a sealed scroll.
:16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a
place where he knew there were valiant men.
:17 Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some
of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
Not only does David get Uriah killed, but it seems reasonable to conclude
that Joab took risks he shouldn’t have and other men were killed in order for Uriah to be killed as well.
:15 Uriah the Hittite died also
Lesson
Unfair
Sometimes we are so surprised when bad things happen to good people. Yet this is the kind of world we live in.
Uriah is the good guy in the story.
He’s the one with an apparently good sense of what is right and what is
wrong.
And another man sleeps with his wife and has him killed.
This is not God’s fault.
We live in a fallen world filled with sinners who hurt each other.
:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war,
:19 and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the
matters of the war to the king,
:20 if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did
you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did
you not know that they would shoot from the wall?
:21 Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who
cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez?
Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the
Hittite is dead also.’ ”
:21 Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth
David is a warrior and probably a student of history – so this little reply
that Joab concocts is not necessarily too far off of
how David might have responded.
Abimelech was one of the sons of Gideon (also known as Jerubbaal or here
Jerubbesheth). Abimelech was an evil man
who actually was the first to declare himself a “king”
and then went out and killed all seventy of his brothers.
Abimelech was killed by a woman throwing a stone at him from the top of a
wall. (Judges 9)
(Judges 9:53 NKJV) But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head
and crushed his skull.
Whether Joab realizes what he’s saying or not, there are some parallels.
Abimelech was a “king” (like David).
Abimelech was brought down, or died, because of a woman (like Uriah).
All this as a way of simply telling David that the dirty deed is done. Uriah has been killed as per David’s secret
orders.
So the messenger tells David all that Joab told
him to, and especially that Uriah was dead.
Skip to vs. 25
:22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent
by him.
:23 And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us
and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance
of the gate.
:24 The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the
king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”
:25 Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not
let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another.
Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow
it.’ So encourage him.”
David doesn’t respond with the history lesson, but simply says, “oh well…”
:26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she
mourned for her husband.
:26 she mourned for her husband
I wonder if Bathsheba was truly sad over Uriah’s death, or she was just
putting on the required show. We don’t
know.
Lesson
The “other” person
We don’t know what kind of a marriage Uriah had
with his wife. We don’t know if it was a good marriage or a bad one.
But there was a bigger problem than anything between Uriah and Bathsheba. There
was “another” person. His name was David.
I’ve seen this way too many times. You usually don’t understand until after
it’s all over. People will come in for counseling, trying to get their marriage
fixed. But it seems that no matter what you do, there’s some invisible thing
keeping things from working out. Usually it’s not
until the divorce is final that you begin to see that there was another person
involved.
It doesn’t have to be an actual adulterous relationship that is going on.
Sometimes it’s just a “good friendship”. But when there is someone in your life
of the opposite sex that is closer and nicer to you than your spouse, you’ve
got a HUGE problem.
Don’t wait and see if things work out in your marriage. It won’t work out if
you keep cultivating this other relationship.
If you have this secret thought in your head about some
other person instead of focusing entirely on your marriage, please be honest
with yourself.
Please focus on your vows, “…forsaking all others, cling
only to your spouse”
:27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and
brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the
thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
:27 displeased the Lord
David may have thought that he’s fixed the
problem, but he hasn’t.
Lesson
God sees
This is another of those truths that can help us to deal with temptation.
God sees what we’re doing.
Illustration
A burglar had been watching a house for a few days and was sure that the
people were away, so one night he went up to the door, rang the doorbell, and
upon getting no response, he picked the lock and let himself in. Once inside,
he turned on his flashlight and to his surprise he heard a voice say, “I see
you and Jesus sees you!” he turned instantly toward the voice and then he
laughed because his flashlight revealed a parrot in a cage who once again said,
“I see you and Jesus sees you!”. Now relieved, he turned on the light in the
room and as he turned toward the bird, he saw the Doberman-pincher.
And then, the parrot said, “Sick ‘em, Jesus!”.
Jesus sees what we’re doing.
David himself wrote,
(Psalm 69:5 NKJV) O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins
are not hidden from You.
The writer of Hebrews said,
(Hebrews
4:13 NKJV) And there is no creature hidden from His sight,
but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must
give account.
12:1-15 Nathan’s Story
:1 Then the Lord sent Nathan
to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There
were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.
Nathan is going to tell David a story. David doesn’t know that this story
is fictional. In his role as king, David is constantly being asked to sit as
judge over matters like the ones in this story. As far as David knows, he is
being asked by Nathan to give a judgment in this matter.
:2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
:3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he
had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his
children. It ate of his own food and drank from his
own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.
:4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own
flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come
to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had
come to him.”
The wealthy man could have taken a lamb from his own flock, but instead
takes the poor man’s only lamb, kills it, and has it prepared for dinner.
:5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to
Nathan, “As the Lord
lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!
:6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing
and because he had no pity.”
:6 restore fourfold
This is the correct judgment for restitution of stolen sheep. (Ex. 22:1)
(Exodus 22:1 NKJV) “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it,
he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
:5 David’s anger was greatly aroused
David is incensed at this story. He can’t believe that someone would do
such a thing.
The NLT puts it this way:
(2 Samuel
12:5 NLT)… “any man
who would do such a thing deserves to die!
He says the man deserves to die, though his actual punishment is to repay
with four sheep. (did you notice the oath, “As the LORD lives…”?)
Lesson
My sins look bad on you
Sometimes the very things that we get so incensed about in others, are the very things that we ourselves struggle with.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 7:1–5
NKJV) —1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not
consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can
you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a
plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank
from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your
brother’s eye.
Did you ever notice that the two individuals Jesus is
talking about both have problems of wood being in their eye?
My sin looks bad on you.
When I hear some preachers picking on one particular sin over and over again,
I have to confess I get a little suspicious and wonder
if they might struggle with that same sin.
What’s the answer to this?
Be merciful. If you want people to
be merciful regarding your sin, then be merciful to others.
:7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you
king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
:8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that
had been too little, I also would have given you much more!
The story is really about David.
David is the guilty one. I can’t
imagine what David must have felt as Nathan probably raised his arm and pointed
a finger at David.
It’s moments like this when we grasp that God really does see what we do. And sometimes he tells others like Nathan.
:8 I also would have given you much more
One more anchor for handling temptation.
Lesson
Contentment
We need to learn contentment in what God has provided for us.
We need to learn to be okay with what God has given us for now, and with
what God gives us in the future.
God is telling David that He would have given David even more than he
already had.
(Philippians
4:11–13 NASB 2020) —11 Not that I speak from need, for I
have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in
prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of
being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
If you think you don’t “have enough”, then ask God and
learn to be satisfied in what He provides.
This is truly a “secret” in life. Learning to be content with what God puts on
your plate.
:9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the
Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of
Ammon.
David used the Ammonites to have Uriah killed.
:10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because
you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your
wife.’
:10 the sword shall never depart
Lesson
Consequences to sin
One of the results of David’s sin would be the sword (conflict). He would
have one trouble after another for the rest of his life.
The sword would be in David’s house. His three oldest sons..
Amnon would be killed by his brother Absalom.
Absalom would be killed by Joab.
Adonijah would be killed after trying to subvert Solomon’s kingdom.
Even though David will confess his sin and be forgiven, there will still be
consequences to his sin.
Illustration
The Fence
There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of
nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the
back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He
discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the
fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose
his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that
the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was
able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to
tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the
hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look
at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say
things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a
man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the
wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
We can find forgiveness with God, but there may still be earthly
consequences to our sin.
A person who commits a sexual sin can be forgiven. But they may contract a
disease. The disease doesn’t go away because the sin is forgiven. There are
consequences to sin.
:11 Thus says the Lord:
‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will
take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he
shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
:12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all
Israel, before the sun.’ ”
:11 from your own house
We will look at this next week. There will be a lot of trouble that flows
from David’s sin.
This would be fulfilled by David’s son Absalom.
When Absalom chased his father out of Jerusalem and took over the
government, one of the first things he was counseled to do was to set up a tent
on the roof of the palace, and have sex with the
concubines that David had left behind (2Sam. 16:20-23).
(2 Sa 16:20–23
NKJV) —20 Then Absalom
said to Ahithophel, “Give advice as to what we should do.” 21 And
Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has
left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your
father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” 22 So they
pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his
father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23 Now the
advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had
inquired at the oracle of God. So was all the advice of Ahithophel both
with David and with Absalom.
The one who gave Absalom the idea was Bathsheba’s grandfather, Ahithophel.
Lesson
Follow Daddy
Kids love to imitate their dads.
Jacob was a deceiver. His sons grew up to be deceivers.
David committed adultery and murder.
Absalom commits adultery with his father’s own concubines
and had already killed his brother Amnon.
:13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you
shall not die.
:13 I have sinned
Lesson
Confession
David is finally getting back on track. He has been running from the Lord.
And now that he’s finally confronted face to face with his sin, he is smart
enough to admit it.
We think that David may have written at least two songs as
a result of this mess, Psalms 32, 51.
David learned that when you hide your sin, you are miserable (Psa. 32).
(Psalm 32:3 NKJV) When I kept silent, my bones grew
old Through my
groaning all the day long.
Yet when he admitted his sin to God, he found mercy.
(Psalm 32:5 NKJV) I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity
I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my
sin.
Psalm 51 is David’s specific cry for forgiveness. You’ve already learned
quite a bit on Psalm 51 from our McGee book reading this week.
(Psalm
51:1–4 NKJV) —1 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to
Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my
transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I
acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You,
You only, have I sinned, And done this
evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless
when You judge.
The same principles work for us.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
There may be people who say, “How can that be?” “How can
that be fair?”
You just admit your sins and God forgives you?
It may not seem “fair”, but it’s “just”.
It’s only because of Jesus, the son of David, that this
can happen.
God is “just” to forgive us because He made sure that the
sins were actually paid for. They were
paid for by Jesus when He died on the cross.
He laid down an infinite life to pay for our sins.
(2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT) For God made Christ, who never
sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God
through Christ.
He paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we
couldn’t pay.
And we can take advantage of this amazing forgiveness by
simply confessing our sins to God.
Some of you watching may have not yet taken advantage of
the forgiveness God offers.
Please take advantage of it today.
Say to God something like this, “God, I need You. I need your forgiveness. I admit I am a sinner in need of a
Savior. Please forgive me and help me
follow You.”
We are going to end the study here because of time, but I’ve got a few more
comments on the rest of the chapter that will be in my notes.
:14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the
enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,
the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”
David’s sin wasn’t all that much of a secret.
His sin would cause the enemies of God to blaspheme.
:15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it
became ill.
God decided that the child born from David’s adultery would not live.
12:16-25 The child dies
:16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and
went in and lay all night on the ground.
:17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him
up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
David is utterly distraught at the baby’s illness.
:18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the
servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they
said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not
heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some
harm!”
They think that since David has been so grieved with
the child’s illness, he will be in much worse shape if he finds out the child
is dead.
:19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that
the child was dead. Therefore David said to his
servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”
:20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and
changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to
his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.
:21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done?
You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child
died, you arose and ate food.”
The servants can’t figure out David’s actions. Shouldn’t he be MORE upset when the child
dies?
:22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said,
‘Who can tell whether the Lord
will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’
:23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I
shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
:23 I shall go to him
Lesson
Children go to heaven
The Scripture doesn’t tell us much about what happens to a small child when
they die.
This is one of the few places that we can draw a conclusion from.
David knew that he would not be able to bring the child back. But he fully
expected one day to go to the child, seeing him in heaven.
:24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and
went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son,
and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord
loved him,
:25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.
:25 Jedidiah – “beloved of Yahweh”
This is God’s nickname for Solomon.
It wasn’t “bastard child”, it was “beloved”.
What a picture of God showing grace in the middle of our sin.
Lesson
God’s grace in our sin
As this horrible episode of David’s life comes to a close,
we see a glimpse of God’s grace.
Paul wrote,
(Romans 5:20 NKJV) …But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
David would still suffer much from the consequences of his sin.
But God also put a ray of light in the darkness.
Solomon would one day be king in David’s place.
Solomon would one day build the temple.
Solomon would be in the line of Jesus, the Messiah.
I’ve seen this many times over the years when a young gal
gets pregnant out of wedlock.
In a Christian family, this can be devastating. It seems like the end of the world.
Yet I’ve seen over and over again how God will
bless that family through this child.
12:26-31 Back to Rabbah
Do you remember the war with the Ammonites from
last week?
That was the war started by a misunderstanding – when David’s servants went
to console the Ammonite king, but were instead
humiliated by him.
This war was never finished.
Joab and his army are still fighting the Ammonites, so Joab asks David to
come and help.
David comes and they capture the capital city Rabbah (today known as Aman
Jordan)
:29 fought against it, and took it
Lesson
Back to work
David has sinned, repented, and now it’s time for him to get back to work.
There is a principle about taking time to be restored – like David’s
servants staying in Jericho until their beards were grown.
But there comes a time when we need to get back to serving God and doing
what He’s called us to do.
(Proverbs
24:16 NLT) The godly may trip seven times, but they will
get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
:26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon,
and took the royal city.
:27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, “I have fought against
Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply.
:28 Now therefore, gather the rest of the people
together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it
be called after my name.”
I wonder if Joab had a sense that David’s place was in the battle, not at
home.
:29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought
against it, and took it.
:30 Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a
talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great
abundance.
:31 And he brought out the people who were in it,
and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and
made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to
all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned
to Jerusalem.
:30 their king’s crown
Lesson
Fear and consequence
Remember who their king was – Hanun the son of Nahash. He was the one that started the whole war
with David in the first place when he misinterpreted David’s actions of trying
to comfort Hanun as if David was spying on the Ammonites to conquer them.
Sometimes our worst fears come true, not because they are inevitable, but
because our stupid fear is the very thing that brings the
things about.
(Job
3:25 NKJV) For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And
what I dreaded has happened to me.
Sometimes our response to our fear or suspicion is more important than the
actual truth of our suspicion.
Later, another son of Nahash will show kindness to David when he is fleeing
from his son Abasalom (2Sam. 17:27-29), perhaps after David dethroned Hanun, he
made Hanun’s brother Shobi king in his place?
(2 Samuel 17:27–29
NKJV) —27 Now it happened, when David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the
son of Nahash from Rabbah of the people of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from
Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28 brought beds and basins, earthen vessels and wheat, barley and
flour, parched grain and beans, lentils and parched seeds, 29 honey and curds, sheep and cheese of the herd, for David and the
people who were with him to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry
and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”
It’s also interesting that we now know something about all three of these
men who help David.
Shobi is connected to this current war with Ammon.
Machir was the fellow who had raised Mephibosheth.
Barzillai’s name means “my iron”, and he’s connected with
the iron industry located on the eastern side of the Jordan.
Quiz
Fill in the blank:
From the lecture (7pts):
1. List the _________
(casualties)
From Memorization (3pts)
2. You anoint my head with _____ (oil)
Homework
Read McGee, chapter 7 “A Man After God’s Own Heart”
Memorize Psalm 23:1-6
:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
:2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He
leads me beside the still waters.
:3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His
name’s sake.
:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint
my head with oil; My cup runs over.
:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I
will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
Blessing