DAY THIRTY-SIX: 

David and Bathsheba 

2 Samuel 11:1-12:31 

Last week we saw a David who was on top of the world. He loved the Lord as few others before or since. God honored David's faithfulness and made him king over His people in the place of Saul. Best of all, God promised David that He would never remove him or his descendants from the throne of Israel. His line would continue unbroken through the ages. It's time to say "And they lived happily ever after," right? No, I'm afraid not. Today's passage marks the beginning of the end of Israel as a political entity.

"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem." This verse is far more significant than it seems at first glance. It's spring and time to resume fighting against their enemies (it was difficult to keep an army in the field in the winter, so hostilities were put on hold until spring). David is not there with his army, where he should be. Why not? Maybe by this time in his life those cold nights sleeping in a tent on the hard ground was more difficult. He wasn't as strong as he used to be, and his vision wasn't what it once was. Maybe he started to doubt himself. In any event, he wasn't where he should have been, which opened him to the temptation he would face.

One day David got bored and went up to the palace roof, the highest place in the city, to survey his realm. He looked down on the neighboring roof and saw a beautiful woman taking a bath! It seems odd that she would bathe on the roof like that. But maybe she felt secure that no one could see her. Or perhaps she had seen the king on his roof and wanted to catch his eye. David asked one of his servants who she was. "Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite." Eliam was one of David's "Mighty Men," an elite group of thirty warriors who were famous for their exploits in battle. Eliam was no doubt at the front with Joab and the rest of the army. Uriah, her husband, is a Hittite, one of the "ites" that God said that He would remove from before Israel. But he believed in the God of Israel and was now a part of His covenant people and serving with the army in the siege of Rabbah. Not mentioned in our text but very important to understand later events, Bathsheba's grandfather was Ahithophel, David's chief advisor. These are three very good reasons not to do what he's thinking of doing. An even better reason is the honor of the Nation of Israel. The best reason of all is, of course, the righteousness of God and His Law.

But David sent for Bathsheba. None of his men rebuked him, and Bathsheba didn't refuse him. They had sex and when it was over Bathsheba went back home. No harm no foul, right? I'm afraid not. In a month Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant. He could have come clean right then and confessed his sin. But the Law of Moses calls for the stoning of adulterers, and even if he avoided stoning he would bear shame in the eyes of his people. He decided to cover up his sin.

David sent word to Joab at the front to send Uriah the Hittite back to Jerusalem. An odd request- take one of the best soldiers out of the battle? But Joab obliged. I think he might have figured out what was going on, but thought he could use it to his advantage later. Uriah came back and David asked him how things were going with the war. He received daily dispatches from the battlefield, so he already knew the answer. David told Uriah that as long as he was in town he should go and see his wife (wink wink, nod nod). If Uriah has relations with Bathsheba everyone will assume that the baby is his rather than David's. An excellent plan, except Uriah didn't play along. He was a man of honor, and it didn't seem right to him that he should enjoy the comforts of home while the rest of the army is in the field. So he slept in the palace doorway. When David saw this, he had Uriah stay over another day. David invited him to supper at the palace and plied him with wine. When Uriah was good and drunk David told him to go home and see his wife. But Uriah went back to the palace doorway to sleep it off. David, now desperate, sent Uriah back with an important message for Joab.  David ordered Joab to make an assault on Rabbah, with Uriah the Hittite in the lead. Then pull back from him so that he will be killed. Uriah was carrying his own death warrant! Again Joab obliged David and did this unconscionable thing. Uriah's platoon charged at the base of the wall, where he and several other brave men died. Joab sent word back to David that Uriah was dead. David calmly wrote back, "Don't let it bother you. The sword devours whom it will. Just double your efforts and take the city." Bathsheba was now a beautiful young widow. After the time of mourning her husband, David called for her again and took her as his wife. When the baby came he would be born in wedlock. David thought he had hidden his sin. But that makes the last verse of chapter 11 all the more chilling: "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." He could fool everyone, but there was no fooling God.

Time passed, and Bathsheba bore a son. By this time David started to relax. No one had asked any questions. He was home free. Then one day the Prophet Nathan came by. He's the one who relayed God's great promise of an eternal dynasty for David. He told David the story of a poor man and his rich neighbor. The poor man had few good things in life, but one of his blessings was a little ewe lamb, whom he fed by hand and cuddled like a dog or cat. The rich neighbor had large flocks, but when company arrived he didn't slaughter any of his own sheep. Instead he seized the beloved ewe lamb and served her to his guests. David was furious! That man deserves to die for what he's done!

David stepped right into Nathan's trap. Nathan pointed to David and said "YOU are the man!" You killed Uriah and took his wife. Wasn't it enough that you have so many wives already, a beautiful palace and all kinds of wealth? If that weren't enough, I would have given you much more if you had just asked. Now the sword will never depart from your house, and one of your sons will do in public to your wives what you did to Uriah's in private. And this son born of your adultery will die.

David was crushed. He knew that everything Nathan said was right. HE is the one who deserved to die. In that one moment David tarnished everything he had done before and would do in the future. Worst of all, he had disgraced the name of His God. Nathan assured David of God's forgiveness and pardon. He would not die, but in the days ahead there were times when he wished he would.

There are all kinds of lessons in this passage. First, if David had been where he was supposed to be, with his army, none of this would have happened. He came to see himself as different from the rest of the people. He was royalty, and the rules that applied to everyone else somehow didn't fit him any more. We all have a tendency to assume that ours is a special case, that our circumstances justify a departure from God's law. We are just as wrong as David.

Second, no one told David no. Not his servants, not Bathsheba, not Joab. The only one who refused David was Uriah, and it cost him his life. After he left office an interviewer asked President Clinton why he had an affair with one of his interns. His reply was simple yet very profound: "Because I could." David sinned because he could get away with it. He didn't think of himself as the rich man who stole and butchered his neighbor's precious ewe lamb. Leviticus 19:17 says, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him." (NKJV)

Third, the consequences of David's sin reached farther than he could ever imagine. He thought he was just having an afternoon of fun. But he ended up murdering not just Uriah but several other loyal soldiers to cover up his sin. He debased the daughter and grand-daughter of one of his best warriors and his wisest advisor. Even though no one refused David, everyone knew what he was doing was wrong. This weakened the moral fiber of the nation. Years later David's own son, Absalom, would rebel against his father, with Ahithophel, Bathsheba's grandfather, at his side. There's an old saying: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay." This was true for David. Dare we think it will be any different for us?

And fourth, no matter how well we cover our sin, there's always someone who knows. Remember this old Sunday School song?

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

Joseph faced the same temptation as David, but he refused to give in to it. He told his master's wife, "Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:8-9) Joseph knew he would not only betray his master's trust, but far more important he would betray God's trust. 

And last, let's not forget God's grace and forgiveness when we sin. He pardoned David, and He pardons us. 1 John 1:8-9 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If you sin, don't try to cover it up. Confess it right away and don't compound by covering up what you can't hide from God. David wrote in Psalm 32:1-5, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin."

Tomorrow we will consider David's son Solomon. He was the wisest man who ever lived, and when he was faithful to the Lord Israel experienced prosperity. But even in this the seeds of Israel's destruction are sown.  

I leave you with this beautiful song from Steve Green: