2 Sam 11 & 12, 1 Chronicles 20 (13th May) - Weiling

David was known to be “a man after God’s heart”.
However, we see today how he too had sinned against God by committing adultery and masterminding the death of one of his loyal servant.

1 Chron 20 laid out the setting of that time.
It was a time
When Kings Go Out to War
Yet King David remained in Jerusalem. We see in 1 Chron 20 that Joab was leading the armed forces. David’s other Mighty Men (read 1 Chron 11: 10-47 for the entire list of David’s mighty men) like Sibbecai and Elhanan were also fighting for him in war, winning victories. We see later that David only led his men out to Rabbath to fight when Joab asked him to do so. If David didn’t do so, Joab was going to capture Rabbath for himself.

Thus the episode began with King David idling at home when other kings were at war. He arose from his bed in the evening. Perhaps he couldn’t sleep. He became restless and bored and took a stroll on his roof (perhaps people in that culture and time walk on roofs though it certainly sounds peculiar to us now!). And that’s when he saw what he shouldn’t have seen.

Beautiful Bathsheba Bathing.
And what his eyes saw and desired, he began to lust after. He sent for her and slept with her. He knew she was someone’s wife (2 Sam 11:3). He knew she was of the wife of no other, but his faithful servant Uriah the Hittite. He was one of David’s Mighty Men (1 Chron 11:10-47), people who fought bravely for David and were loyal to him. And at that very moment, Uriah the Hittite was out in the battle field fighting wars for David. David knew he was doing wrong.

A Murder Plan is Hatched
After David slept with Bathesheba, she became pregnant. David tried to cover up by getting Uriah the Hittite back. He hoped that if Uriah came back and slept with his wife, it would not be so obvious then that Bathsheba became pregnant because she slept with someone else. Alas, his plot was foiled because Uriah was a righteous man. Uriah felt that he should not be enjoying himself while his band of brothers was fighting in the open field, and when the ark was still in a temporary shelter. Uriah was indeed a loyal man.

And so David had to devise other plans to cover up.
David sent a letter and instructed Joab to have Uriah killed in the battlefield.
When Uriah the Hittite went back to fight David’s wars, Joab was instructed to pull the other men away from Uriah where the fighting was fiercest so that Uriah would be overwhelmed by the enemies and killed. It would simply appear to one of the casualties of war but it was in fact an utter betrayal of loyalty.

And so Uriah the Hittite died and Bathsheba was taken in to be another of David’s wife shortly. All these, the Lord saw and they were evil in His sight.

The Poor Man and his Little Ewe
God sent Nathan to speak to David through a parable to show to him just how evil and cruel thing he had done. God probably sent Nathan to speak David because he had become callous to his sin and failed to realise the severity of his actions. If Nathan had approached David directly to talk to him about his sins, he might have tried to rationalise things and defend himself, like how we often do when become steeped in our sins.

David had many wives and great riches. God said that if that had been too little, He would have added many more! But what David was to take away the only and the little that Uriah had.

Repentance & Repercussion
We see in 2 Sam 12: 13 that David confessed his sin and truly repented. God was faithful to forgive and take away David’s sins so that he will not die. Indeed, as it is written in 1 John 1:9 too, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

However, even though David was forgiven, there were still repercussions and consequences to be faced because of what he did.
Because of his sin, David had given “occasion to enemies of the Lord to blaspheme”, thus the son that was born to David and Bathsheba had to die. (2 Sam 12: 14)

Similarly, we sometimes too have to face the consequences for our sins. For example, out of envy, you told a lie against a friend. God will forgive you when confess our sins and repent. But as a consequence, you may lose that friend.

Let us not take sin lightly and by doing so grieve the Holy Spirit and give Satan an opportunity.

David’s Response
David sought to plead with God and intercede on behalf of his ailing child. He fasted and refused to get up from the ground. His behaviour worried his servants. However, his response after his child died puzzled his servants. They were worried David would be overwhelmed by grief seeing that he was already not eating before his child died. Instead he got up and ate and behaved normally. The servants expected David to behave emotionally and interpreted his behaviour through that line of thought. But David was pleading with God because He knew God alone could save his son. In the end, David still submitted everything to God.

In the same way, let us not be overcome by emotions in our situations; let us instead commit all things to God in prayer and to submit everything and their outcome to God.

Beloved of the Lord
God blessed David and Bathsheba with another child, Solomon, who was to become one of the richest and wisest king who ever lived. Solomon also had the honour of being chosen by God to continue genealogy from David and through his descendants to the Lord Jesus. And indeed God loved this child that He named him “loved by the Lord”. This child also truly showed that God had indeed forgiven David and Bathsheba and remembered their sin no more.