A King's Failure (Bathsheba)

Introduction

Let me tell you a story… (tell the story don’t read it)

2 Samuel 12:1–4 (ESV) ...“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought.

And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.

4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

… they ate it. The End.

How did you like that story? Yeah, neither did King David.

In our “Kings and Kingdoms” series from the books of Samuel we are looking at the life of King David and God sent the prophet Nathan to David to tell him this very story. And David had that same response of righteous indignation as I hope you felt by the end of the story.

In fact, 2 Samuel 12:5 says:

5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

It is not right. It was not just. King David was angry, so angry that he pronounced a death sentence on this man for his grievous actions…and then while David was still fuming in his anger...

2 Samuel 12:7–9 (ESV)

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

Whoa! No one saw that coming. But Nathan isn’t finished...

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.

And we have watched this part of David’s story unfold over the past several weeks haven’t we. David has flourished as King over a united kingdom of Israel. He has won many victories and the nations around him are now bringing him tribute and peace offerings.

But David grew up a poor shepherd boy, only now does he know the life of a rich man. So Nathan uses this story because he knew it would stir up righteous indignation and so disarm his natural defensiveness.

But now Nathan delivers the question that he was there to ask:

9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?

And what was it that David did? What evil has he done? Did he steal his neighbors beloved lamb? No. Something much worse. Something worthy of even more indignation. The great King of Israel … first took another man’s wife and then to cover it up, he took that other man’s life… Nathan said...

You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

Tension

Over the past several weeks, we have been talking about the significance of the “Davidic Covenant” and all the great things that God did through King David but today his story takes a dramatic turn. From this point forward we no longer see David as this “larger-than-life” superhuman kind of character but he is now whittled down to size. Something closer to ourselves…actually knowing this we would probably place him as beneath us...

But I bet if you had taken David aside the day before he began down this nightmarish path and told him of the man that he would become… he would not have believed you. He would think, as we do, that such things are beneath him.

Because David did not wake up one morning and put “Become a back stabbing murdering adulterer” on his to-do list.

That idea was furthest from his mind when he took the... first... step.... towards it.

The truth is that we are all just 4 steps away from being just like David. And if you find that idea offensive then all it proves is that you are paying attention right now. Because that is an offensive accusation... but is it true?

We are going to look at the four steps from David’s story that led him to doing these things that he would have never dreamed of doing and would have been offended if anyone suggested he even could do such a thing.

But we are also going to look at the “good news” that comes out of this story. That shining even brighter against that darkness is the good news that even though we are only four steps away from such horrible things, by God’s grace, we are also just four steps away from being restored to freedom again.

It’s a tall order and a lot to cover, but this story from David’s life is powerful enough to get us there. With that I am going to stop us to pray, but you can find 2 Samuel chapters 11-12 in your Bible or the ones in the chairs on page 262

Truth

Verse one of chapter 11 gives us the first step…but it is so easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it. It says:

2 Samuel 11:1 (ESV)

1 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.

Step 1: Neglecting our Calling (2 Samuel 11:1)

Ironically, the first thing step that David took down this terrible path was actually not something that he did, but something that he did not do. It was the often ignored sin of omission. To not do the right thing can be just as much of a sin as to do the wrong thing.

James 4:17 (ESV)

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

The text makes it clear that as the King, David’s place was not back home in Jerusalem but out on the battle line doing his duty. And we don’t exactly know why David chose not to follow through with his calling, but it has to have something to do with the fact that God has now securely established him as King and as the saying goes… “It is good to be King!”

There were comforts and luxuries that went along with this season of David’s life and…hear me here Church…

A times of ease and comfort produces some of the most fertile ground for temptation.

This does not make these things bad or wrong in and of themselves, but it does mean that we should be careful in how we spend these times. Often a sudden increase of our so called “free time” leads us to more trouble than it does freedom.

This is certainly true in David’s story...

2 Samuel 11:2 (ESV)

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch turned off the tv and wiped the cheese curls off his lap…for a modern equivalent… you get the picture... ... and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

At this point, David is still just taken the one step down this terrible path. God has made woman to be beautiful and to notice this is not a sin… it is what you do after you notice that is so dangerous.

And for a man who had the position, power and resources of a King… it was particularly dangerous.

2 Samuel 11:3–4 (ESV)

3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.

David has now taken the giant leap from Step 1 to...

Step 2: Indulging our Cravings

David’s particular sin was in the area of sexuality, but our “cravings” or the Bible often uses the word “lust” or “wordly desires” can be aimed in all kinds of different directions.

The Apostle John warned about this in his first letter where he wrote:

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

We have seen David do the will of God on many occasions… but not today. And the question that Nathan confronts David with is very convicting. Remember He asks David...

2 Samuel 12:9 (ESV)

9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?

… and we are happy to apply this to David’s actions… but we would all be served to ask ourselves the same question...

Why have I despises the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?

We might not have the same power as a King, but we still think that as long as I don’t get caught…as long as no one else knows…then what’s the big deal...

But God always sees. God always knows. And actions have consequences, even for the King.

2 Samuel 11:5–6 (ESV)

5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.

We might hope that David is sending for Uriah to confess his sin and repent, but that is far from the case. Instead, he takes the next disastrous step in the same terrible direction…

Step #3 Attempting a Cover-Up

When it comes to a “Cover-up” David has the resources to do a bang up job. He has the strategic experience and political power to move things into place like nothing ever happened.

Since Bathsheba’s husband is one of David’s fighting men he sends for him and he has him come in and report on the battle as a guise for his return home. Then he nonchalantly dismisses him - to go home and be with his wife.

This way if no one is watching the calendar or doing the math then none will be the wiser. It was a well thought out plan, a perfect cover up… the only variable that David did not consider was that Uriah might not choose to go home. When David found out, he asked Uriah why. And...

2 Samuel 11:11 (ESV)

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”

In the face of David’s neglecting his calling as King, Uriah shows faithful loyalty to God’s call on his life. In essence he is saying “What kind of man would I be, if I went home to be with my wife at a time like this?”

What kind of man indeed...

And we would hope that this would shake David up, but he doubles down, even gets Uriah drunk hoping he will change his mind… but a drunken Uriah proves more honorable than a neglectful King.

And this is the point that David decided to leverage his position as King to take this fourth and final step down this terrible path to… .

Step 4: Becoming the Unconscionable

2 Samuel 11:14–15 (ESV)

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.”

And Joab, the King’s commander obeyed the order of his King. And Uriah , a faithful soldier, obeyed the order of his commander. And he was struck down and died.

The news of his death came back to Jerusalem, and…

2 Samuel 11:26–27 (ESV)

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.

Shewww....that was a close one. David sure dodged a bullet there. Sure he is now a murdering adulterer but the important thing is that no one else found out…

Why would he think that? Why do we ever think that?

In just four steps, David had become something that he never would have even imagined he could be… but this story is just getting started. The last sentence of this chapter works to unsettle any sense of closure in this story… But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Gospel Application

It is at this point when Nathan arrives with his story about the rich man who took the poor man’s pet sheep. David is not only lying to everyone else, but he is lying to himself as he sits on the throne as if everything is just fine… and then God sends his prophet Nathan to deliver God’s word to David, words that expose him for who he has become. Nathan says “You are the man!

So the first step back to toward Freedom is to be...

Step #1 Convicted by God’s Word (2 Sam 12:1-12)

Through Nathan, God speaks plainly about all that David has done...

2 Samuel 12:9 (ESV)

9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?

The sin that David worked so hard to cover up has now been exposed. The people know that their King is a murdering adulterer. But more importantly, David begins to realize the implications of the fact that God knew all all along.

The steps to freedom are less complicated than the path to failure… but they are much more difficult. David’s part in this whole exchange with Nathan consists of just one short declaration:

2 Samuel 12:13 (ESV)

13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

The second step toward freedom is to...

Step #2 Repent for God’s Forgiveness (2 Sam 12:13)

But forgiveness doesn’t make sin safe. It restores our relationship with God, but it doesn’t erase the damage that has been done. From this point forward David will suffer dearly for his terrible sins, and one could argue that the first consequence was the most devastating. For God told David that the son that was born from his sin with Bathsheba will die.

But in this next tragic part of the David’s story we see him...

Step #3 Submit to God’s Sovereignty (2 Sam 12:21-25)

I would encourage you to circle the word “reign” that we find in the center of the word Sovereignty. Because that is the essence of what this step is all about. It is turning your back on living for your own selfish cravings and recognizing God’s reign over your life again. This is how David demonstrated this...

NO SLIDE

2 Samuel 12:15–17 (ESV)

15 ...And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. 16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

My heart breaks as I picture this desperate father wasting away without food or drink and just crying out to God on behalf of his son. He was in such a desperate state that when the child died more than a week later his servants were afraid to tell him… fearing that he might go even further and harm himself.

But when David heard that his son was dead, he surprised everyone by getting up, washing and sitting down at the table ready to eat.

2 Samuel 12:21–23 (ESV)

21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing 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.”

22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows 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 will not return to me.”

Even though he didn’t get what he desperately begged God for, David humbly submitted himself to the sovereignty of God. David recognized the reign of God over everything in this world, but he also knew that this world is not all that their is.

David will not get to see this son grow up here in this world, but he will be with him again. Our Sovereign God will bring them together again.

Those of us who have lost young children take great comfort in these words of David as we look forward to seeing our sons and daughters again.

And since God is reigning over this world, and accomplishing His purposes here through His people...the final step toward real freedom in this world is to...

Step #4 Be Restored to God’s Service (2 Sam 12:26-31)

Israel’s military continued to battle against the Ammonites and eventually Joab sent word to David that his presence was needed to finish the war.

2 Samuel 12:29 (ESV)

29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it.

This is the kind of story that we are used to from King David, a story of God working through him to accomplish a great victory over the enemies of God’s people…

Gospel Application

...but as the rest of this story showed us, David’s greatest enemy was not from the outside, his greatest enemy... and ours.... is the sin and selfishness within us. David won many battles but could never defeat this enemy of God’s people.

Only the promised “Son of David”, the prophesied “Anointed one”, The “King of Kings” and “Lord of Lords”... Jesus the Christ could defeat the enemy of our sin. And through his life, death and resurrection He has done just that… so that we can now always live just 4 four steps away from being restored to the purposes and plans that God designed us for.

Landing

Over the past couple of weeks we have been seeing how these stories of David found in the books of Samuel run parallel to many of the Psalms. This particular story is directly linked to Psalm 51 which says right in the introduction:

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

I would like to invite the worship team to come on up and take their places… and as they do I want to ask you listen to the words of this Psalm, remembering all that you have learned today about the context that it was written in.

You can turn there if it will help, the words won’t be on the screen this time, but it’s near the middle of the Bible on page 474.

David says: Psalm 51

We are just 4 steps away from becoming something that would offend us as we sit here today, but wherever you find yourself right now, by God’s grace you are also just 4 steps away from being right with God through Jesus the Christ.

Let’s close in prayer