2 Samuel 12:1 – 23 “Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.
Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.”
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”
Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.
Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
“The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”
After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them. On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”
When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he perceived that the child was dead. So, he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?”
“He is dead,” they replied.
Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.
“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”
David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
DAVID FAILED MISERABLY!!! Forgetting his responsibilities as a husband to his current wives, as a father to his children, as a commander to his troops, and as a king, David abused his authority to have sex with the wife of one of his commanders, Uriah. When this act resulted in pregnancy, David corrupted Joab, the commander of his army, by demanding that Joab place Uriah in the fiercest part of the battle, so that the Ammonites would slay Uriah. Once Uriah’s wife finished mourning her husband, David married her.
If David thought that he had successfully covered up his sin, he was absolutely wrong! By this point, all of Jerusalem was probably buzzing with the scandal, and already other men were following David’s example to behave indiscriminately. After all, everyone knew that David had God’s approval; if David could get away with something so foul, then why shouldn’t others do the same?
Anyone who has worked for a large organization of any kind can tell you that leaders have no secrets. There are always subordinates who are fully aware of everything a leader does. Sooner or later, information regarding misdeeds will certainly leak out. God gave Nathan the prophet a stern message for David, couched in a parable. Nathan recounted the heartbreaking story of a poor man who had only a single ewe lamb that was as close to him as a child. When a neighboring rich man wanted to entertain visitors, he seized the poor man’s ewe lamb, slaughtering it to feed his guests. David’s sense of fairness came to the fore and he was outraged….. until Nathan confronted him with the fact that he, David, had behaved just as heartlessly.
Sin is never a private matter! The incident with Bathsheba began because David chose to remain in Jerusalem while his troops were on the battlefield. Had David accompanied his troops, all would have been well. Then David kept watching Bathsheba when he could have quickly left the parapet of the palace. David could have said, “Wow! That Uriah is a lucky man!” and gone back inside to his own wives. But David was seduced by the power of kingship – after all, other kings would have taken any woman they wanted, so why not David? David definitely did NOT pray over the matter, nor did he stop for an instant to consider the ripple effects such a sin might have.
Eventually, David’s act corrupted his own family, Bathsheba, everybody in the palace, and everybody in the army who knew about Uriah’s death. Because of David’s sin, his first son by Bathsheba died. Because of David’s sin, later at different times, two of his sons rebelled against him. Because of David’s sin, the sword would never depart from his house. And because of David’s sin, someone else would take his wives and have sex with them in broad daylight before all Israel. Truly, David fouled his own nest and created a terrible legacy for his family.
APPLICATION: Once birth control became widely available in the 1970’s, many people abandoned the idea of chastity as a virtue. The hedonistic philosophy of “If it feels good, do it” became popular, with many people chanting “I’ve got to do my own thing, man!” But the results of this paradigm shift have been disastrous. Nearly 50% of all marriages in the U.S. end in divorce. Many young people who have come from broken homes refuse to marry, feeling that it is a useless exercise. A divorce is like a death, only without a body to bury. The repercussions of divorce can last for years. (Note: This is not a criticism of those who find themselves divorcing. My first marriage ended in a divorce.)
One of the saddest consequences of these shifts is the loss of the understanding of fatherhood. While God created fathers to love, cherish, protect, guide, and provide for their families, many have been raised by working mothers trying to fulfill both roles. Frequently, husbands and fathers have either proven to be abusive or have decided that being an adult is too difficult or too boring and so have simply abandoned their families.
When David invited Bathsheba to the palace, all he could think about was satisfying his lust. David wasn’t thinking about anything or anyone else. Even though kings were generally regarded as being fathers to their subjects as well as to their own families, this was the furthest thing from David’s mind. It was a supreme tragedy that this leader who generally placed a high value on his men and their loyalty could so swiftly betray a man who was later described as one of David’s “mighty men.” Uriah wasn’t just some common foot soldier; Uriah was one of the assistant commanders in the army. (2 Samuel 23:8 – 29)
The Jews had a saying that “the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Like it or not, a father’s actions will always have consequences. Is it possible that David’s father Jesse had more than one wife, and that David was the son of a less – favored wife? Perhaps Jesse set a bad example for David as a father. Certainly, David’s record as a father was not stellar. David’s sin with Bathsheba and his later marriage to her created extreme resentment among his other children and led to the rebellions of Absalom and Adonijah.
In Numbers 32:23, God warns those tribes who settled east of the Jordan that they must follow through with their commitment to help conquer the Promised Land. “But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.” What can we do about sin? We can confess to God, so that we can receive forgiveness.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, this morning we want to confess ______________ to You. Please forgive us for this sin and help us to turn away so that we do not keep repeating it. If we need to make life changes to avoid that temptation, help us to make those changes. Thank You for Your forgiveness. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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