Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."
So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house.
When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?"
Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"
Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die."
So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
Joab sent David a full account of the battle. He instructed the messenger: "When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, the king's anger may flare up, and he may ask you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?' If he asks you this, then say to him, 'Also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.' "
The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance to the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead."
David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab."
When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
"Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'
"This is what the Lord says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' "
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."
Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."
After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, "While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate."
David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied, "he is dead."
Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!"
He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.
Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, "I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me."
So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. He took the crown from the head of their king — its weight was a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones — and it was placed on David's head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. He did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 11, 12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Up to this point, we have watched David ascend to the highest heights of leadership, led by the Lord to become king over Israel, Judah and their surrounding territories. No one had more power and authority because no one had the Lord on their side as David had.
Yes, King David, once a shepherd boy who was after God’s own heart, was now on top of the world.
But there was one problem. David was a sinner…and in Chapter 11 of 2nd Samuel, we’re reminded that we can easily be taken down by sin if we allow it to take root in our lives. And note my words when I say WE allow it to take root.
In David’s case, he eyes a beautiful woman bathing from the roof of his palace and immediately lusts for her, sending “someone to find out about her”. After finding out she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, he sent messengers to bring her to him.
Now, David had sent “Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army” and “they destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah”. Scripture tells us that this time of year was when kings went with their armies but David had decided to remain in Jerusalem. Had he been where he typically would have been, maybe he would have avoided the sinful tryst he was going to engage in. But we sense that David had a weakness for beautiful women and this sinful lusting would get him into trouble.
And so while Bathsheba’s husband was off in battle with Joab, David took advantage of his wife being left alone and slept with her before sending her back to her home. David thought it was a one time affair…a “hook up” in more modern terms…but things became complicated when Bathsheba “conceived and sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant.’ " And scripture goes as far to say that Bathsheba had just gotten over her menstrual period so that there would be no doubt that the child she conceived belonged to David.
So David and Bathsheba’s sinful adultery had now resulted in an impregnated Bathsheba. David was in a real fix.
You would think that at this point a man after God’s own heart would turn to Him and seek guidance. But that’s not what David did. Instead, he allowed sin to continue to rule over him and lead him into even deeper trouble.
For David concocted a plan to try and cover up the fact that he had gotten Bathsheba pregnant. He would summon Uriah back from the battlefield and have him sleep with his wife. Then, they would think that the child belonged to Uriah and not David. And so David did just that, sending word to Joab to send him Uriah.
When Uriah came to David, we read where David asked “how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going” before telling Uriah to “Go down to your house and wash your feet." Uriah left the palace and David was sure he would engage in sexual relations with his wife but that’s not what happened at all. For “Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house”. Well, David was told about this and asked Uriah, “Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?" And Uriah replied, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!" We get a sense of Uriah’s loyalty in his words…a loyalty that David surely didn’t have for him.
David’s first plan had not gone as expected but he wasn’t ready to give up yet. And so he has Uriah stay one more day and invites him to eat and drink with him. David thought that if he could get Uriah drunk then surely he would go back to his home and lay with Bathsheba so the child could be pinned on him instead of David.
And so Uriah “ate and drank” with David and became drunk. But again after he left David’s company, “Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants” and “did not go home”. Again, David’s sinful plan had failed. What would he do now?
He decided to get rid of Uriah.
David would have preferred to place the pregnancy on Uriah while he was alive but killing him would get the job done as well. If Uriah was dead, there would be no way he could dispute his wife’s pregnancy and it would end up being Bathsheba’s word against the king’s.
And so David wrote a letter saying, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die” and then had Uriah carry the letter to Joab. Essentially, Uriah was unknowingly carrying his own death warrant. And after Joab received the letter, he followed its orders putting “Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were” and there he died as “the men of the city came out and fought against Joab”. David’s plan had succeeded this time.
Joab sent word back to David about what had happened, thinking he would be angry because of the other men who had died along with Uriah in the battle. But David obviously took the news well and sent encouraging orders back to Joab saying, “Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.” And Joab did just that fighting “against Rabbah of the Ammonites” and capturing the royal citadel.
Meanwhile, Bathsheba “heard that her husband was dead” and “she mourned for him”. And scripture tells us that “after the time of mourning was over”, David “brought to his house” where “she became his wife and bore him a son”. All seemed well again for David. He had pulled off his plan and had gotten away with his sinful actions.
But he hadn’t really. Because David forgot one thing…the Lord sees everything and we read where He was displeased at the thing that David had done.
We need to keep this in mind as well in our lives. Sin on its own is displeasing enough to God…but sin added to sin added to sin added to sin infuriates Him. In David’s case, adultery led to an attempted deceitful cover up which led to murder. And we will see that one never gets away with sin. There is always a cost that is paid.
For the Lord sends the prophet Nathan to David and Nathan shares a parable with the king saying:
"There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.”
"Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."
Note the meaning of the parable. The rich man who had everything took the one and only treasure that the poor man had…just as David had taken the one thing that his poor servant Uriah had in his wife Bathsheba, represented by the ewe in the parable.
Back to the scriptures where we find David burning “with anger against the man” in the parable saying to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." And with that, Nathan tells David that he is the man before giving him the following message:
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'
"This is what the Lord says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' "
David had thought he had gotten away with murder. But the Lord saw it all and showed David that there are penalties…severe costs…for sinful behavior. And we should take note of this.
In David’s case, the Lord vowed that members of David’s family would also be murdered and his wives would be taken from him and given to others for sexual relations…all this done in broad daylight and clear sight…not in secrecy and darkness as David had done. Essentially, David’s sinful actions against others would be brought against him but not without his knowledge of it.
Yes, sin has a definite cost in consequence from an almighty, infinitely powerful God. But we also learn something else in this scripture and in our lives as well…and that is that there is a just as much a power in grace that we experience as there is a power of consequence.
For David, after hearing the word of the Lord from Nathan confesses, “I have sinned against the Lord." And immediately after this confession, Nathan tells David, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” By the power of God’s grace David would be spared. But the power of God’s consequence would not be taken away. Because David’s actions had “made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt”, the Lord tells him that “the son born to you will die."
And so after Nathan departed, the “Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David” and the child became ill. We read where “David pleaded with God for the child”, fasting and spending his “nights lying on the ground” refusing to get up. But David’s actions were of no use for “on the seventh day the child died”. David’s servants were afraid to tell him because didn’t want him to do something desperate but David heard them whispering and, fearing the worst, asks them if his child was dead to which they tell him yes.
With this news, we read where David gets up, washes himself, puts on lotions and changes his clothes before going to the “house of the Lord” to worship. Notice how David’s first act after experiencing the power of God’s consequence and grace was to go to Him and worship. We too need to be ever drawn back to the Lord when we have committed wrongs as well. For even in His discipline, we are blessed as He seeks to try and make us to be the people He wants us to be. And just as a father or mother disciplines their children out of love to teach them to live right in life, so too does our Heavenly Father discipline us as well out of His love for us, His children, to teach us how to live right in our lives…each and every day.
After worship, David goes home where he finally breaks his fast and eats. His servants were confused by his behavior and asked David, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!" And David replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."
David’s words revealed both his renewed sense of trust and hope in what the Lord might do. He stayed in repentant prayer and fasting before the Lord hoping the Lord might graciously change His mind and spare the child. But after the child died, David realized that the cost had been paid for his sinfulness and it was time to move forward because nothing he could do would bring his child back.
It’s at this point that we realize the cost of sin…a cost that David paid with a son born out of an adulterous relationship. And it’s after this cost was paid, that we see the equally powerful nature of God’s grace. For as “David comforted his wife Bathsheba”, he lay with her and “she gave birth to a son” who they named Solomon…the son we know will succeed David as king. And scripture tells us that “the Lord loved him”.
In David, we see a lot of ourselves. Yes, I know that we aren’t kings and rulers over vast territories and peoples but that’s not my point. For it’s not our position or stature that's so important. It’s how we live our lives in whatever place or position the Lord has us in that counts the most.
David just so happened to be king of Israel and Judah. I am currently a Command Master Chief in the Navy. You are…(fill in the blank). We all have different positions the Lord puts us in. But we all share one thing in common. We’re all sinners who can allow sin to take over if we allow ourselves to get away from the Lord and His Spirit within us.
David did that and allowed lust to lead to adultery…adultery to lead to deceitful scheming…and deceitful scheming to lead to murder.
And we will find ourselves…or maybe have already found ourselves…in the midst of a sinful downward spiral if we aren’t careful. Satan is more than able and ready to do just that if we stray away from the guidance and care of the Lord.
And David learned that there is a cost to be paid for sinful behavior. In his case, it cost him the son born out of the adulterous affair with Bathsheba.
We too should realize that there are consequences for sinful behavior and use this as a deterrent in our own decision making. For as we get set to do wrong, the Lord is always there to convict us and at that point, we should stop and ask ourselves whether we’re prepared to face God’s consequence for our sinfulness. Because you can rest assured that He is going to correct us in some way…for sin does not come without a cost paid.
We need to also learn from this scripture that there is equal power found in God’s grace for us. In David’s case, he did lose a son but also gained one as well…one that God accepted and loved…one that would ascend to the throne after David could no longer lead. And in granting this blessing, God’s powerful grace was revealed as he sought to lead David and Bathsheba forward, beyond their sin and onto becoming better than they were…to become the people God wanted them to be.
Friends, God’s grace extends just as powerfully to you and I…for just by me writing this and you reading it, we should rejoice in the blessing of life…that despite our sinfulness, the Lord has found it fit to bring us into another day…another day where He can mold and shape us into becoming the kind of people He wants us to be…a people who live each and every day in the spirit of righteousness and holiness.
One last point to put an exclamation point on this very important lesson.
If you don’t believe there isn’t a cost paid for sin, then you haven’t looked at the cross lately. For it’s there that our Savior, Jesus Christ, was crucified…with our sins nailed to the cross with Him. God gave His only Son as a living sin sacrifice…as an unblemished Lamb to pay the price for us all. And so next time you have as decision to make that involves right or wrong…look to the cross…remember the cost of sin paid by the dying Savior…and also remember the power of grace and God showed us all when He gave His only Son to die in our place.
Indeed my brothers and sisters, the cost of sin and the power of grace are fully displayed in one place…the cross of Calvary.
And this should always lead us to ponder…Where would we be without Jesus? Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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