Of David, Bathsheba and Uriah

“And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” 2 Samuel 12:13

In 2 Samuel, Chapters 11 and 12, we are told the story of King David, Bathsheba and Uriah. I would hope that most Christians are familiar with the story. However, to refresh us it was the time of the year that King David should have been with his troops fighting against the people of Ammon, but he stayed at home in Jerusalem. Then, one night, he awoke and walked out on his roof. Looking down, he saw Bathsheba bathing, and she was exceptionally beautiful. Well, what can you say at that point? He sent for her, and she conceived. After being told she was with child, David conspired to cover up his sin by recalling Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, from the battle field. He hoped that Uriah would lie with her. Thus, they could claim the child was his. As it turned out, however, Uriah did not go home, which led David to take a more deplorable and desperate course of action. He sent Uriah back to battle with written orders that David’s general, Joab,  was to send Uriah to the front of the battle where he would be left to die.

While there are lessons to be learned from the story just told; such as, what frequently happens when we are idle or how one sin can lead to another, and another yet again; ever escalating in wickedness, the point that captured my interest dealt with how God addressed the matter to David through the prophet Nathan. In Chapter 12, we are given an interesting sequence that provides us insight.

• Preliminary Set Up (12:1-5): First, God had Nathan tell David a story that would arouse David’s anger. In the story, a rich man, who had many flocks and lambs, took from a poor man his only lamb and prepared it for another who had come to him. David, reacting as we all would react when confronted with someone else’s sin, wanted Nathan to tell him whom the man was so that he could deal with the scoundrel. Not only that, David announced what consequences the rich man should have to pay; which included the rich man’s death and four-fold repayment of the property.

• Conviction and Consequence (12:7-12): ‘You are the man!’ Nathan answered, and therein the rich man was identified and the judgment pronounced. David was the rich man! However, God did not stop there. God, through Nathan, recounted all that He had done for David; saying that He would have given him so much more, but no, that wasn’t enough. David took Uriah’s wife and then had him killed in order to cover up his sin. Nathan next pronounced God’s judgment against David: There would be bloodshed within his own family, and David’s neighbors would come to  lie openly with his wives in full view. However, God did not say, as David that He would require David’s life.

• Repentance (12:13): ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ David cried. I believe that David’s cry for forgiveness at this point was truly for what he had done against Uriah and his family; not because he was told what would happen to him and his family. Many times, we cry for forgiveness in order to escape the consequence; not that we have a true sorrow for our sin. God knows our hearts and motives. We should not deceive ourselves to think that He does not know. In such cases, we not only suffer the consequences, but will not have the joy of true forgiveness.

• Grace and Mercy Revealed (12:13-14): It is written here that, “The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” The Hebrew word, ‘abar’ means to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress. Combined with ‘thou shalt not die,’ God ‘passed over’ David’s physical death as a consequence of his sin; thus grace was shown to him. (Recall that David himself would have required that from the rich man.) However, because David’s enemies were given the occasion to blaspheme God; which inferred David’s act was public knowledge, the child that David and Bathsheba conceived would not live. The child subsequently died, as well as, the bloodshed within his family was realized and the taking of David’s wives.

So, what do we take from this? I find this to be a wondrous confirmation of God’s working all things together for good; even our sin, and yes, the consequences that we face. How can I say this? We later we learn that David and Bathsheba gave birth to King Solomon! As a result, when we study the Scripture it behooves us to remember that God sees the end from the beginning and that all events were planned before the foundation of the earth was laid in accordance with the counsel of God’s own will and purpose. When God mercifully reveals to us our sin, it is best that we confess our sin because we know it mocked God and caused other to blaspheme His name. Next, we accept whatever consequence may follow. As we learn from this story, God’s mercy is shown the sinner by His passing over our sin, but the consequences that God established will be brought to fruition; and ultimately to His glory and praise!   

As for Solomon, I wonder if his knowledge of this story had to bear on what he wrote in Ecclesiastes 10:18, “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.” Oh, if only David had gone off to battle Ammon! But, then again….