Read 2 Samuel 11
David and Bathsheba
1 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.
2 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, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 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. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
12 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. 13 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.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 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.
18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 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? 21 Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman drop 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, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 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 of the city gate. 24 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.”
25 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.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 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.
Go Deeper
Today’s main takeaway is this: 1) be where God wants you to be, and 2) confess when you are elsewhere. David does neither and this chapter shows us the painful consequences of such sin.
First, David is not where God intends for him to be. Instead of going to war with his men, like kings normally do, David finds himself on his roof looking at another man’s wife. His lust overtakes him and he sends a messenger for Bathsheba. This is not a friendly message, by the way. In the Hebrew, the most accurate translation is David’s messengers “took her.” David’s choice to avoid his responsibilities led to lust and abusing his power. Pastor Tony Evans explains it like this: “It’s often when we’re not doing what we ought to be doing that temptation pounces.” The result? David commits adultery with the wife of one of his soldiers.
Second, instead of confessing his sin immediately, David doubles down on it. Calling Uriah in from battle will cover it all up, right? However, there are no cover-ups for sin. No one gets away with anything. Sin has consequences. David refuses to confess his sin and repent. When Bathsheba’s pregnancy makes his sin painfully obvious, David buys a lie and tries to deal with his sin in a way other than confessing it to God. That lie leads to more sin and death.
The bottom line? Be where God intends for you to be. Christians should physically be in places where we have responsibility, whether at home, work, school, church or within our community. In those places where God has us, we are called to care for and love our family, coworkers, neighbors or friends. When we stray from those places and those purposes God has for us, we are prone to sin. Unlike David, when we realize we are out of line, we should immediately confess and return to the Lord’s purposes for us.
Questions
- David’s first mistake was not being where he was supposed to be. Are you currently in places God has not intended for you to be? Are you neglecting responsibilities that He has for you in order to be somewhere else that He hasn’t called you?
- What sin(s) are you covering up? How can you bring that sin(s) to light as quickly as possible?
- What else do you see about the character of God in this chapter?
Pray This
God, we confess our brokenness and our sin to you. We confess how we are so quick to stray from the places and purposes you have created us for. Lovingly correct us. Show us our sin quickly. And allow your kindness to lead us into repentance. Thank you for your forgiveness, grace, and mercy. We love you.
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7 responses to “2 Samuel 11”
1 But David remained in Jerusalem.
Good point about not being where we should be can often put us in the bullseye of temptations. Kind of like the frequent parental admonition that”nothing good happens after midnight”!
PS – It always has bothered me that Joab so readily goes along with David’s scheme to have Uriah killed.
1Cor 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
“It is easy to see how David got into this sin: (1) he was self-confident, after enjoying victories and prosperity; (2) he was disobedient, staying home when he should have been on the battlefield; (3) he was idle, lying in bed in the evening; (4) he was self-indulgent, giving freedom to his desires when he should have been disciplining himself; and (5) he was careless, allowing his eyes to wander and yielding to the “lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes” (1Jn 2:16).”
Warren Wiersbe
So God provided a way for us to be His sons and daughters through this scandel. His way would have been easier most likely. God wanted all to be able to choose Himself. This is where the covenant of 2 Sam 7:12-16 comes in. This is God’s promise to David that his house, kingdom, and throne would endure forever. This is based on God’s grace not on what David did or didnt do.
Now as believers today we are able to choose to believe God and become believers saved unconditionally under the blood of Christ. It is not based on our performance, but on what Jesus did through His life/death/resurrection. Even when we struggle with sin in the minutes of a day the best news is that sin cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. His blood covered it. But there are always consequences for all actions good or bad. God makes it clear in scripture that sin always demands a payment. Obedience opens the door to grace, which is God’s means of forgiveness.
God thank You for freedom of choice. Thank You that You sent Your only begotton Son and He was willng to take on the sins of the world in order to pay the way for me to come into Your family. God thank You for how You show me from Your word about siin, consequences, good and bad. God thank You for Shema, hearing You,that I hear but that I obey what I hear. God thank You for loving me. God that HESED love that is unending, alsways faithful, overflowing with joy. God help me to desire that with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. God thatnk You for today, seeing others through Your love goggles, responding with Your words and to think on You throughout my day. God I give You the rest of the minutes in this day in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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“Christians should physically be in places where we have responsibility, whether at home, work, school, church or within our community.”
But/and Christians need to be just as purposeful about where we place ourselves mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
What am I reading? Watching? Listening to?
Who am I spending time with? Am I keeping mind and heart close to the things of God — or the things of man?
Because that’s where it all starts for me.
Going and doing can keep me out of trouble—but thinking and feeling get me into it!
Anyone, like me, feel dread while reading this chapter? It doesn’t fit with the previous ones we’ve read about David’s obedience and faithfulness to God. It sticks out like a sore thumb, a cancer or blight on his life that will soon spread and infect others. That’s what sin does, it corrupts, taints and destroys lives if not fully dealt with. Hence, the desperate need of the innocent Savior who would take on the guilt of mankind and make a payment in full to cover our sins past, present and future. As John so aptly challenged us on Sunday, we must cash the check! Have you?
Yep! I was tempted to skip over the chapter! I know it well, find it discouraging, etc. But I did dive in and learned some new things to meditate upon and apply!
I posted this variation on FB. Link:https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AgH5iPPgp/
The dangers of idleness, the power of temptation and the consequences of sin.
We see and learn the virtue of humanity, the destructiveness of pride and the faithfulness of God’s promise in this narrative.
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Proverbs 28:13