David and Bathsheba

Hallelujah. The title for this evening’s message is David and Bathsheba, and the Scripture reading comes from 2 Samuel 11:1

2 Samuel 11:1 NASB95

Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

The incident of David and Bathsheba is sandwiched between a wider incident. As we’ve just read, David and his army are currently at war against the Ammonites, and they’re placing their capital city Rabbah under siege. So the Israelite soldiers are encamped outside this city and it’s got fortified walls.

This city of Rabbah was allotted for the tribe of Judah to conquer (Josh. 15:60). But for hundreds of years, since the Israelites entered Canaan, through the Judges period, the people of Judah could not conquer this city.

But after this whole incident with David and Bathsheba, the Israelites finally conquer Rabbah. That’s the end of 2 Samuel 12.

Now, could God have given Rabbah into their hands much earlier? Could He just blow and the walls come crashing down? Could the Israelites wake up one day to find all the enemy soldiers dead? Of course. God brought down the walls of Jericho, and He sent an angel to kill 185,000 Assyrians soldiers in one night.

But God lets David’s army siege Rabbah for about a year while David stays back in Jerusalem, sinning his head off. The two are connected.

Rabbah is the enemy city with fortified walls. David’s lust was a sin with fortified walls. And God decided to bring down the latter before bringing down the former.

David’s sin

2 Samuel 11:2–5 NASB95

2 Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am pregnant.”

What’s the problem in this passage? Is it sinful to get out of bed in the evening? No. You can go to bed anytime. But not if your soldiers are dying in the battlefield. I heard it’s very difficult for an office worker to apply for leave in Japan, because there’s a certain shame in taking it easy while your colleages are working hard. While his men are in poor conditions, putting their lives at risk at his command, David takes an off-day.

And he takes a stroll on his palace roof. When do you go to a high place? To admire the view. In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, goes up to his palace roof and admires his kingdom. I did this. I built this. I’ve arrived.

David admires his kingdom, and he sees woman bathing. And he lets his gaze linger because she’s beautiful. Let’s pause here for a moment.

If we could give this message another title, it would be, ‘Do not take an off-day from being the Lord’s anointed.’

Do we take off-days from being in the presence of God? Are there times in our week around which we’ve built fortified walls? “This is my alone time. My me-time.”

Friends, there is no alone time. There is no time when we are truly alone. And if we choose to have an alone time, without God, that’s when we are weak and vulnerable to temptation.

David is on the roof. He saw something, and it was a delight to his eyes, and desirable. It reminds us of Eve in the garden. Where was Adam? Where were David’s wives? Michal, Abigail, Ahinoam, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, Eglah (2 Sam. 3:2-5). It takes 3 verses to list all of David’s wives, and none of them are with him because he needs his me-time.

So David asks about this woman. She’s married, and she’s married to David’s companion, Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s mighty men. His special ops. His Navy seals. That should’ve put a stop to things.

But he sends people to fetch her, and he takes her to bed. And then he sends her away.

Did David not know this was sin? Of course he did. But when sin has got a grip on us, it overrides all sense of reason.

Have you seen a bull riding competition, where a man gets on a bull, and the bull goes absolutely wild and jumps and twists and turns to get him off? When sin has us in its grip, and especially the sin of lust, we become like that bull. All reason goes out the window.

But lust cannot override one thing. Another pair of eyes. The presence of someone else.

David did this because he thought he was alone. And it was supposed to stay that way. No one knows. Just carry on with daily life.

But God doesn’t let it go.

Bathsheba gets pregnant. Could God have closed her womb? Of course. He did that with Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth. But this one time when nobody wants to get pregnant, she gets pregnant.

So what does David do? He calls her husband Uriah back from the battlefield and tells him to go home for a bit. Go back to your wife. Maybe Uriah will think the baby is his own.

But Uriah doesn’t go home. He sleeps with the servants in the palace (2 Sam. 11:9).

And this is what he says.

2 Samuel 11:11 NASB95

Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, 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? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”

My comrades are at war, camping in the open field. Should I enjoy the comfort of my home? He didn’t get complacent.

So as a last resort, David gives Uriah a letter for the army commander. Put Uriah at the frontlines, and then suddenly withdraw and abandon him so that he dies.

Uriah loosely reminds us of Jesus. We were in danger, sure to lose the battle. But Jesus chose not to enjoy the comforts of His heavenly home, but He came to fight for us.

But when the enemy soldiers came, all of His disciples ran away, and He died alone, abandoned by the people He loved so much.

Would Uriah have delivered the message if he knew the content? Probably not. But Jesus knew His message would mean His death, and He came anyway.

We are in the spiritual battle. And as our king, Jesus isn’t taking it easy. He’s leading the charge. He’s commanding His army. He’s giving orders. He’s interceding in prayer. What He’s not doing is taking a nap until evening. Jesus is our true King. Amen?

Back to the story.

So Uriah dies, and David marries Bathsheba. In one chapter, David commits sloth, greed, adultery, covetting, false witness, and murder.

The man who cheats on his wife did not discipline his eyes years ago. The woman who tells a destructive lie did not discipline her tongue years ago. The David who sinned with Bathsheba did not discipline his lust years ago.

2 Samuel 5:13 NASB95

13 Meanwhile David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David.

By the time he sinned with Bathsheba, he already had many wives and concubines. So is it so mysterious that he sinned according to lust? This was the sin with fortified walls in his heart.

So what does God do? He sends the prophet Nathan to rebuke David.

Nathan’s rebuke

Can we read this responsively?

2 Samuel 12:1–7 NASB95

1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. 6 “He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” 7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.

A pastor once said, ‘If you’re guilty, it makes you unusually upright in all kinds of other areas in your life.’

Did David know that he was guilty of sin? I’m sure he knew. But as human beings, we tend to be righteous about other people’s sins, but I’m full of empathy when it comes to myself. Why? Because we get familiar with ourselves. We get familiar with our sins. We get familiar with the pattern of sinning in private, then repenting in private.

But there’s a different kind of remorse we feel when our sins are exposed to other people. You suddenly see your sin through the eyes of others. It’s like seeing yourself for the first time. And it produces in us sorrow. Grief. Remorse.

Psalm 6:6 NASB95

6 I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul rebuked them for tolerating a terrible sin by one of their members. And he commanded for the man to be excommunicated. That’s in 1 Cor. 5.

And in his follow up letter, this is what he said.

2 Corinthians 7:8–10 NASB95

8 For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— 9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

The meaning of Nathan is ‘conscience’. God sent David a conscience to make him come face to face with his own sinfulness, and to produce in him a sorrow that produces repentance, and a repentance that leads to salvation.

David’s repentance

How did David repent?

First, he confessed his sin with his own voice.

2 Samuel 12:13 NASB95

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.

Second, he felt remorse toward his sin (Ps. 6:6).

Third, he begged God for forgiveness.

Psalm 51:9 NASB95

9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.

Fourth, he asked God for a clean heart.

Psalm 51:10 NASB95

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

So what happens when David repents?

2 Samuel 12:13 NASB95

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.

The Hebrew word for ‘taken away’ is abar. It means ‘to cross over’ or ‘pass over.’

It’s where we get the name Eber in Gen. 11, who crossed over to avoid the Tower of Babel construction.

It’s also where we get the word ‘Hebrew’, which is what they called Abraham, as someone who have crossed the river Euphrates to enter the land of Canaan.

So what this word tells us is that when David repented, his sin didn’t just disappear into thin air. Repentance doesn’t make sin vanish.

Instead, David’s sin crossed over from him, and it went forward a thousand years into the future, and was placed upon Christ. That’s what happened. Sin isn’t forgiven by feelings. It’s forgiven by the shedding of blood.

And likewise, when we repent, our sin crosses over from us, and goes back in time 2000 years, and is nailed to the cross.

1 Peter 2:24 NASB95

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

That’s why it says that God forgives our sins out of righteousness.

1 John 1:9 NASB95

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

How can God forgive our sins out of righteousness and justice? Wouldn’t you expect it to say ‘He is faithful and merciful to forgive us our sins’?

God forgives our sins out of justice because our debt of sin has been paid by the precious blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Justice has already been served. And only when we repent can we access that ocean of mercy and grace that forgives every sin.

That’s what happens when we repent. But we must also make a determination never to repeat that sin again.

Did David continue in his lust? Much later on, when David was old and grey, he still proved his repentance toward lust.

1 Kings 1:1–4 NASB95

1 Now King David was old, advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm. 2 So his servants said to him, “Let them seek a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her attend the king and become his nurse; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm.” 3 So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king did not cohabit with her.

God tore down the fortified walls of David’s lust. And only then, did God allow the Israelites to conquer the city of Rabbah.

After this incident, David’s life became a life of ongoing and continuous repentance.

Psalm 139:23–24 NASB95

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

When there is a big obstacle in our lives, whether in business or family or even church, we might want to ask ourselves, “Is there a fortified sin within my heart?”

The physical consequences of David’s sin

What was the result of David’s sin?

2 Samuel 12:10–11 NASB95

10 ‘Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.

Later on in 2 Samuel, one of David’s sons, Amnon, will rape one of David’s daughter. And then another of David’s sons, Absalom, will kill Amnon. Fast-forward some years later, Absalom will launch a coup and try to kill his father David. And Absalom will sleep with David’s concubines in broad daylight to show that he’s taken over the throne.

2 Samuel 16:22 NASB95

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

Ultimately, Absalom was killed by David’s men, causing David immense sorrow and grief.

All of this happened because of David’s sin with Bathsheba. It is what we might call the “physical consequences of sin.”

Could God have made these consequences go away? Of course. So why didn’t He? It’s because we tend to be forgetful about things unless there’s a physical reminder. If David didn’t experience such heart-wrenching sorrow, he might have gone back to his sin.

So when we repent of our sins, don’t expect God to remove the physical consequence. Even that physical consequence is a grace from God to keep us in line.

So if we have sinned, or if we are not dealing with an ongoing sinful habit, let us truly repent and face the physical consequences with sincerity and integrity, knowing that God has delivered us from the eternal consequence. Amen?

Conclusion

In conclusion, what does this incident teach us about God? What kind of God is this?

Could God could have stopped David from committing this sin? Of course.

God stopped Pharaoh from taking Abraham’s wife (Gen. 12).

God stopped Abimelech from taking Isaac’s wife (Gen. 26).

So why didn’t God stop David from taking Uriah’s wife? Why didn’t He stop Uriah from getting murdered? Let’s ask a deeper question. Why doesn’t God stop me from sinning? Here’s six answers from our passage.

A God who sends a Nathan to expose our sin.

A God who makes us see our own sinfulness.

A God who produces a sorrow in our hearts leading to repentance.

A God who doesn’t abandon us to the consequence of our sins, but sent His only Son to die so that when we repent, we can receive forgiveness.

A God who keeps us humble by making us face the painful physical consequences of our sin, so that we can avoid the eternal consequences.

A God who doesn’t abandon us to our pride.

The most dangerous position to be in is when we are satisfied with our current spiritual condition. When we think that we’ve arrived. Now I’m ok. Now I’m strong.

That’s pride and ignorance of our weakness, and it results in prayerlessness. Not starting the day with prayer, pleading with the Lord, “Lord, don’t leave me alone. Don’t leave me to my own devices. Don’t let me forget your holy presence.’

Prayer should be the first thing we do when we sit at our desk, at work or in the classroom.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB95

pray without ceasing;

Romans 12:12 NASB95

rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

Why pray so much? Because there’s no such thing as a strong Christian. I’ll say it again. There’s no such thing as a strong Christian. There’s only a self-aware Christian. One who is aware of their pathetic state of weakness, and it drives them to take refuge in God.

Psalm 16:1–2 NASB95

1 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. 2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”

The life of a saint isn’t about overcoming sin with our willpower. It’s about overcoming sin by recognizing our weakness and cleaving onto God.

Psalm 51:11 NASB95

Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Psalm 51:17 NASB95

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

I pray that Zion church will be humble and cry out to the Lord like this every moment, and may the grace that flows from the cross of Jesus fill us, empower us, and strengthen us to overcome our pride.