David’s Great Sin

Text: 2 Samuel 11:1-12:31

Theme: The thing that David had done did not please the Lord.

Date: 09/12/2021 File name: King_David_12 ID Number: OT10-11

“O miserable man, what a deformed monster has sin made you! God made you “a little lower than the angels”; sin has made you little better than the devils.” — Joseph Alleine (17th century English nonconformist pastor). Here is an apt description of David’s life in this period — acting little better than a devil. The “Bathsheba event” is certainly the low point in David’s life in every way imaginable.

• David the Sinner

• David the Sorrowful

• Lessons from the “Bathsheba Event”

I. DAVID THE SINNER

ILLUS. In introducing the text the Harper’s Bible Commentary say this: The story is full of irony, starting with the narrator’s dry comment that “At the turn of the year [i.e., the spring], at the time when kings march out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel … and David stayed in Jerusalem” (v. 1). So while the army besieges Rabbah, The king takes an afternoon nap and then David besieges Bathsheba.

1. anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time knows this story

2. David is guilty of three major sins

A. HIS SIN OF ADULTERY (11:1–5)

1. two factors lead to this tragic sin

a. 1st, David’s laziness led to the “Bathsheba incident” (11:1)

“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.” (2 Samuel 11:1, ESV)

ILLUS. In our Constitutional tradition, even though the President is the actual “command and chief” of the armed services, we don’t expect the President to actually be “on the field” leading an army. That’s happened only one time in American history. Suffering under a heavy debt load originating from the American Revolution, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in January 1791 proposed to Congress an excise tax “upon spirits distilled within the United States.” This tax, which was passed into law in March 1791, was angrily opposed by many Americans living in Western Pennsylvania. Many of these frontier citizens relied heavily on distilled spirits for income and violently opposed this tax. History calls it the “Whiskey Rebellion” and it was a significant enough rebellion that it threatened the stability of the new United States and challenged the authority of the democratically-elected federal government. President Washington organized a militia force of 12,950 men and personally led them towards Western Pennsylvania, warning locals "not to abet, aid, or comfort the Insurgents aforesaid, as they will answer the contrary at their peril." The calling of the militia had the desired effect of essentially ending the Whiskey Rebellion.

1) it was that way in the ancient world — kings frequently led their armies into battle

2) at this time the Ammonite threat continued to threaten the tribal area of Gad and Manasseh, and David could not ignore this menacing neighbor; another, more focused military effort against them would be necessary

3) David stays behind in the royal palace and sends Joab to lead the Israelites to fight the Ammonites

a) this is not necessarily a dereliction of duty on David’s part

b) on previous occasions David’s troops had pleaded with him not to put himself in harms way

“But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”” (2 Samuel 21:17, ESV)

c) translation — you are the unifying light of Israel, and if you die in battle the nation might just fall apart

3) that being true, it’s hard not to read a subtle “dig” by the Prophet Samuel in this text implying that if David would have been where most kings should have been the whole “Bathsheba incident” may never have occurred

b. 2nd, David’s lust led to the “Bathsheba incident” (11:2–5)

1) David watches a beautiful woman named Bathsheba as she bathes on the roof top of her home

2) after learning that she is the wife of one of his soldiers, he sends for her, seduces her, and sleeps with her

3) soon he learns she is pregnant with his child

2. in the #metoo era the BIG question people ask is “Did David rape Bath-Shebe?”

ILLUS. The #metoo movement is a social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment where people publicize allegations of sex crimes. The phrase "MeToo" was initially used in this context on social media in 2006. Rachael Denhollander, the first athlete to accuse USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar of sexual assault, tweeted in 2019, “David raped. It’s important we get that right.” She is not the only one to feel that way. David Garland, Dean of Truett Theological Seminary, writes that, “Bathsheba laid with David not because she wanted to, but because she could do nothing to stop him.” Sue Schlesman, an English teacher, Christian author and blogger writes, “David raped Bathsheba and sent her home. This story is a classic example of a powerful man and a powerless woman.”

a. few words carry more emotional weight than rape

1) it is one of the most heinous crimes humans can commit

2) throughout history it has been used as a weapon of terrorism and revenge

b. many modern-day authors look at the story of David and Bathshebe and conclude that this is an ancient example of what we today call power rape — a situation where a woman does not say “no” but neither does she say “yes” but acquiesces to a sexual encounter, afraid if she does say no it might cost her a job or an advancement

c. did David rape Bathsheba?

1) a simplistic “yes” or “no” is unfair to the Scriptures — we must take a more careful look at all that is going on

2) doing so certainly does not let David “off the hook” for anything

3. there are four primary interpretations of the text

a. 1st, David raped Bathsheba

1) using the common understanding of rape to mean one person violently forcing himself on another, this interpretation is not supported by the text

2) we have any number of places in the Old Testament where forcible rape is described, and the accounts are very different

3) nothing in this passage supports the idea that David overpowered Bathsheba and forcibly defiled her

b. 2nd, David “power raped” Bathsheba — Bathsheba did not say “no” to David, but neither did she say “yes”

1) those who favor this point of view point out that David sent servants to find out who she was, and when he found out who she was sent messengers and took her

c. 3rd, Bathsheba seduced David

1) the suggestion is that Bathsheba chose to bathe naked in a place where David would see her and hopefully initiate a sexual liaison

ILLUS. In the 1951 movie David and Bathsheba, staring Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward, that is the storyline. Upon their meeting, David, played by Peck, scoffs at how stupid her husband Uriah is to prefer the stink of battle to the intoxicating perfume of his beautiful wife. He then confesses that he would like to ravish her. Bathsheba, played by Hayward, does some confessing of her own, telling the King that she knew his schedule, that she watched him walk his terrace every evening at the same time, and chose to bath when she did hoping to catch his eye.

2) Hollywood changes Bathsheba from the innocent being ogled by David into David’s sexual stalker

3) let’s just say that the Hollywood version take tremendous license with the biblical story

4) the Biblical text goes out of it’s way to ascribe all of the actions to David — he saw, he commanded her to come, he initiated this encounter

c. 4th, the sex was consensual

1) it’s possible that this was simply casual sex between two consenting adults

2) it’s possible that Bathsheba gladly slept with David

3) supporting this are several tidbits from the story that often get overlooked in its telling

a) they more-than-likely knew each other

4) verse 3 provides a couple of those tidbits

“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?”” (2 Samuel 11:3, ESV)

a) 1st, she is the daughter of Eliam who is the son of Ahithophel (2 Sam. 23:34) and Ahithophel is one of King David’s most trusted advisors

1. it’s very possible that David had known Bathsheba from her childhood

b) 2nd, she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite who is one of David’s “Mighty men”

1. 2 Samuel 23 introduces David’s mighty men — a select group of 37 men who are especially brave warriors and especially close to David

a) these men are Seal Team Judah

2. while we should be careful about reading too much into an Old Testament narrative, it doesn’t stretch the imagination too far to believe that David was familiar with the wives and children of these elite warriors

c) 3rd, this may have been a short steamy, but consensual affair that lasted for several weeks and included several “one-night-stands” between the two

ILLUS. The text clearly tells us that the bath she is taking is a ritual bath. “Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness,” (vs. 4). This was a spiritual requirement for women after their menstrual cycle so they could be “spiritually clean” again. It’s still practiced by Orthodox Jewish women. Now, it’s not impossible for a woman to get pregnant immediately after her menstrual cycle, although it's not very likely. There’s normally a two-week time frame when unprotected sex will unlikely to lead to a pregnancy.

1. now, I don’t want to be any more guilty of reading of something into the text that’s not there, then those who read “rape” into the text

2. but, in God’s word, everything is there for a reason, and I just can’t help but wonder why the author would want us to know that Bathsheba has just finished her period if it wasn’t important to the story

d) does any of this mean that Bathsheba was an absolute willing participant in the event?

1. no, but it means that there is more to the event than many modern interpretations want to admit

4. so what are we to conclude?

a. there is no question that the author of 2 Samuel strong condemns King David’s actions

1) there is no sense in which Scripture defends David in this

2) nor is there even a hint of scandalous intent laid at the feet of Bathshebe

a) she is never the one taking action: David looks at her ... David summons her ... David “lays” with her ... David tries to trick her husband ... David murders her husband ... David then marries her

b. all of that said, neither is there anything in the text that remotely implies that David forcibly, violently raped her

5. did David take advantage of Bathsheba? absolutely

a. in this part of the story David has broken two of God’s Ten Commandments

1) he has coveted his neighbors wife and he as committed adultery

2) before all is said and done he will break more commandments

b. this leads us to David’s second sin ...

B. HIS SIN OF DECEIT (11:6–13)

1. David tries to cover up his sin of adultery and the resulting pregnancy

a. it’s an unscrupulous plan

“So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king.” (2 Samuel 11:6–8, ESV)

1) David’s plan was simple and essentially foolproof: bring Uriah back to Jerusalem temporarily, have him spend one intimate night with his wife, and then send him back to the army

2) approximately nine months later Bathsheba would have her child, Uriah would be ecstatic, David would tell Uriah “mazel tov” and — no one, not even the servant who had brought Bathsheba to David, could prove that David fathered the child

a) David would have total deniability

3) with this plan in mind, David ordered Joab to “send me Uriah the Hittite,” which he did

a) when he arrives at the palace, David and Uriah exchange some chit-chat, David asks him how the siege of Rabbah is going and then says, "Go down to your house and wash your feet"

b) across the board, Old Testament Bible scholars agree that this is a Jewish euphemism for sexual intimacy

c) David is tellings Uriah, “Ya know, while you’re home ... “

b. it’s unsuccessful plan

“But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 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.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.” (2 Samuel 11:9–13, ESV)

1) twice Uriah refuses to go home to his wife

2) Uriah’s refusal to have sexual contact with his wife at this time was clearly an expression of his devotion to the Lord

a) all sanctioned military activity was a form of service to the Lord, and it required the Lord’s blessing for success

b) in order to maximize the probability of receiving that blessing in military endeavors, David seems to have required soldiers carrying out military assignments to keep themselves in a state of ritual purity, which necessarily meant refraining from all sexual contact

c) if Uriah had had sexual relations with Bathsheba, he would have rendered himself temporarily unfit for military service, and thus unfit for service to the Lord

3) in one last attempt the king would make Uriah drunk, hoping that his servant would then sacrifice principle for baser instincts

2. David strikes out in his deceitful attempt to cover his adulterous tracks

a. this leads to David’s greatest sin ...

C. HIS SIN OF MURDER (11:14–27)

1. failing to deceive Uriah into sleeping with his wife, David arranges for Uriah to be killed in battle so David can make Bathsheba one of his wives

a. David’s plan is as treacherous as any event in the Bible

1) this is Uriah ... one of David’s mighty men ... a man of exceptional bravery and combat skill who has fought along side David probably since his time on the run from Saul

2) this is a friend and a companion in arms ... and now David is going to have him “wacked”

2. how callous is the treachery? ..David sends a sealed letter to Joab by way of Uriah, ordering Joab to arrange for loyal Uriah’s death

a. during the next battle Joab places Uriah in the fiercest part of the battle, and he is killed just as David planned

3. news reaches David that Uriah has been killed, so he marries the widowed Bathsheba after her period of mourning, and she soon has a son

a. but this is not the end of the story, is it?

b. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD

II. DAVID THE SORROWFUL (12:1–13)

A. DAVID IS CONFRONTATED (12:1–12)

1. the Lord is going to send Nathan the prophet to confront David regarding his sin

2. any time there is a whiff of scandal, particularly sexual scandal, among the political elite people will talk, and evidently people in David’s palace are talking

a. at some point the news comes to Nathan the Prophet

b. he’s called to “speak truth to power” and he’s going to confront the king

1) but he’s going to do it through a story the king will associate with

3. Nathan’s confrontation begins with an illustration,

ILLUS. “O’ great king, there’s a situation in your kingdom you need to be made aware of. You have a citizen, a man in your kingdom who is like Job of old. He’s rich farmer with great flocks of sheep and large herds of goats. His neighbor is a poor man and a tenant farmer of the rich man. He has one ewe lamb, and she’s more like a pet. He treated it more like one of his own children than a farm animal. It grew up with him and his children. Everywhere the children go, the lamb is sure to follow. But one day the rich man received a business partner from out of town, and rather than take a sheep from his own flock to butcher and roast for his guest, he took the poor man’s little ewe lamb, had it butchered and roasted. How do you want me to handle this? And like the Queen of Hearts in Through the Looking Glass, David shout’s “Off with his head. Off with his head. Bring me the scoundrel and I’ll lop it off myself.”

a. and that’s when Nathan looks at the king and declares, “You are the man!”

1) it’s the Prophet Nathan’s “mic-drop” moment

3. Nathan then delivers the message of God

“ ... 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. 9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? 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. 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 out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ”” (2 Samuel 12:7–12, ESV)

B. DAVID IS CRUSHED

“David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” ... .” (2 Samuel 12:13, ESV)

1. David’s guilt is genuine, and his confession of sin is sincere

a. we know this from a number of his Psalms

1) Psalms 32, 51,and 86 are all Psalms written in the wake of this tragic era of David’s life

b. in these Psalms we hear words of deep anguish over sin, brokenness of spirit, and contrition of heart ... here are just a smattering of verses from these Psalms ...

“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah” (Psalm 32:3–4, ESV)

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalm 51:3–4, ESV)

“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;” (Psalm 51:16–18, ESV)

“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. 6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. 7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.” (Psalm 86:5–7, ESV)

2. do you hear the heart of a man who has been humbled by God?

III. LESSONS FROM THE “BATHSHEBA INCIDENT”

A. ADULTERY IS STILL SIN

1. in 21st century America it’s common to hear that someone has “fallen out of love,” or “married the wrong person,” or even “found the right person” as an excuse for adultery

a. but if either one of the partners of a love affair is married to someone else, it’s wrong

b. most everyone understands that marital infidelity is not good; many surveys reveal that close to 90 percent of Americans, Christian or not, believe marital infidelity to be wrong

c. however, statistically speaking, between 30 and 50 percent of Americans will cheat on their spouses

2. even in cultures where multiple marriages are still sanctioned by society, multiple partners puts a strain on all the relationships involved

ILLUS. Consider the domestic chaos released in the home of Abraham when he took Hagar as a concubine — even with his wife’s permission!

3. adultery is contrary to God’s plan for marriage and a hindrance to human flourishing

B. INTEGRITY ISN’T NATURAL

1. our sin nature gravitates toward selfishness and self-pleasure

a. doing the right thing, regardless of circumstances, is true righteousness, and must be constantly pursued in the believer’s life

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:16–18, ESV)

2. God calls us to holiness

C. THERE IS GENUINE FORGIVENESS FOR SIN

1. David pours himself out before The Lord, recognizing himself as a sinner, asking for God’s forgiveness, and eternal love

a. the three Psalms I mentioned a few minutes ago serve to remind us that no matter what we have done God WANTS to forgive us for any and all of our sins

2. David did not have Jesus Christ, but today we do

a. WE have the honor of knowing Jesus personally and not having to have a priest stand in the gap on our behalf

b. once we know Jesus … we can speak to Him and pray to HIM any time we would like …. anytime

3. when we come to Christ, as David came to God, we find not only forgiveness, but cleansing

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, ESV)

D. THERE ARE REAL-WORLD CONSEQUENCES FOR SIN

1. real forgiveness will not necessarily erase the aftermaths of sinful behavior

a. God is blunt with David ...

violence will never not be a part of David’s family and household

his wives will be given to other men and violated

the child conceived with Bathsheba will die

2. we all know that our sins are counted as far as the East from the West (Ps. 103:12)

a. we all know that if we confess our sins, Christ is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and that he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness

b. we all know that Christ died once for all that we might have eternal redemption

3. however, there is not a single verse in all the Bible indicating that our sin, even though forgiven, will not have consequences

a. sometimes those consequences are minor, such as God’s discipline through a momentary hardship (Heb. 12:6)

b. sometimes those consequences — as with David — are life-changing

c. but the consequences of sin in a believer’s life are always meant to produce the fruit of righteousness

Guard your heart. David’s greatest attribute was being called “a man after God’s own heart.”