I’ve fallen very far behind in writing lesson summaries, but we have spent the last few weeks in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. We have seen Samuel’s faithful ministry as a judge over Israel, we’ve seen Israel’s rejection of the Lord’s reign over them by asking for a king, we’ve seen Saul’s (the first king) brief reign and quick failure and rejection, and we’ve seen David’s great faithfulness to the Lord and a beautiful (and eternal) covenant made between him and God that finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. But while David has been the shining star so far (at least among the human characters), his faith in God and faithfulness to God come crumbling to the ground in complete and utter moral failure in this week’s story. But by God’s grace, this failure is neither permanent nor irredeemable. Let’s look at the story unfold in 2 Samuel 11.
As this chapter begins, we see that it takes place in the time when kings would go out to battle. But rather than going into battle with his troops, David sends Joab in his place, and instead stays home in Jerusalem. Something to note here is that when Israel asked Samuel for a king, one of the reasons they wanted one was that he would go fight their battles for them (1 Samuel 8:19–20). This was an area where Saul fell short, refusing to fight Goliath, and here this is an instance when David falls short. If David had gone into battle with his troops, perhaps his life may have unfolded very differently (and less tragically).
As he is at home, we see that one afternoon he was walking on his roof and saw a woman bathing. To be clear, the text never places blame on the woman for bathing in David’s view. While many people assume she was bathing publicly on her roof, we never actually see this. More likely, she was probably bathing in her home or in a courtyard that ordinarily would have been private and hidden from view, but David’s vantage point from his roof allowed him to see her.
Rather than turning away, as he should have done, he continues to look with lust, and even sends servants to find out who this is. Their response is, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (v. 3). The way they phrase this suggests they were trying to remind David that this woman is married, and her family is entwined with David’s close associates. We know that her husband, Uriah the Hittite, is one of David’s 37 mighty men (2 Samuel 23). Some believe that her father, Eliam, would be the Eliam who is also listed among David’s mighty men, and his father Ahithophel is one of David’s trusted advisors (2 Sam 16:23). In other words, his servants were trying to remind David that Bathsheba is spoken for and untouchable. Yet, David does not care. Instead, he sends to have her brought to the palace, and he sleeps with her. By modern standards, this would be considered rape, since there is little to no realm where she could have said no to him. He sends her back to her home, and she later reports to him that she is pregnant.
What David did here, according to the Law of Moses, is worthy of the death penalty. Even if the Bible does not define this as rape (but there’s a good case to be made that it would), it is certainly adultery. David thought that he got away with it, but when he finds out she is pregnant, he realizes there is a problem since her husband has been away at war (where David should have been). Rather than confessing his sin and asking the Lord for forgiveness and mercy, he contrives a plan to cover it up. He has Uriah come home from battle under the pretense of bringing an update on progress. He then tries to get Uriah to go home to Bathsheba (presumably to sleep with her), which would remove all suspicion from David’s being the father. There’s only one problem. Uriah, the Hittite (a foreigner who has chosen to join the people of God), proves himself to be a better Israelite than David, the King and “man after God’s own heart” (as the saying goes).
Rather than going home to his wife, Uriah spends the night outside the palace because he cannot conceive of going to his house, eating and drinking, and lying with his wife, while his fellow soldiers and the Ark of the Covenant are in tents or the open fields in war. Yikes, this should have pierced David through the heart. But instead, he scrambles even more for another chance at a cover-up. Perhaps if he gets Uriah drunk, then he will go home to sleep with his wife. Yet, even in his drunken state, Uriah still proves to be faithful to his convictions. Finally, David decides the only way for his failure to remain hidden is for Uriah to die so that David can take Bathsheba to be his own wife. Uriah shows his faithfulness over David’s corruption one final time, as Uriah returns to battle carrying a letter from David to Joab, not knowing that this letter was essentially an order of execution. David commanded Joab to send Uriah to the frontlines with the hardest fighting, and then to have everyone else withdraw so that Uriah would be killed in battle.
David’s cover-up is carried out, he marries Bathsheba, and he thinks he gets away with it. But the Lord knows everything, and what David did “displeased the Lord” (v. 27). Chapter 12 begins with Nathan, a prophet at the time, coming to David and telling him a story about a rich man with many flocks stealing a poor man’s only lamb (which he loved like a child) to feed a traveling guest. Enraged, David says this man deserves to die and must pay the poor man back fourfold. However, this story was a tale about what David had done to Bathsheba and Uriah, and Nathan cries out, “You are the man!” (v. 7). David may have hidden his sin from his people, but it was never lost on the Lord. And because of the great and evil lengths he went to in order to cover it up, he also accumulated great punishment. The Lord forgave his sin and promised to keep the throne within his family (2 Sam 7), but the consequences of his actions were by no means removed.
As he raped Bathsheba and used the enemy’s sword to kill her husband and take her for himself, Nathan tells him that the sword will never depart from his family, and his own wives will be publicly taken by another man. In fact, this all quickly comes to be. Just one chapter later, we see one of David’s sons rape one of his daughters (they had different mothers). The daughter’s full brother (Absalom) conspires against and murders the guilty son, and then sends David into hiding and publicly rapes David’s concubines in a grasp for the throne and kingdom. Absalom is eventually caught and killed by Joab, but upon David’s death, we see two other sons competing for the throne. David’s sin against Bathsheba and Uriah blew up in his face. The Lord was faithful in forgiving him of his guilt (see Psalm 51), but the consequences of this momentary pleasure absolutely destroyed his family.
There are several things worth noting by way of application from this story. First, we need to strive to be faithful to the Lord in all things and compromising in none. There will be times when we want to give into temptation, but as we see here, moral compromise doesn’t end well. Be faithful to all God has given you. Second, when we do mess up (because we will give into temptation at times), we need to confess our sins and repent from them. David feared consequences, so tried to cover his sin up. But if he had just repented and confessed right away, the Lord possibly would have been much more gracious to him. Most of the consequences stated are grounded in murdering Uriah and taking Bathsheba as his wife (i.e., the coverup). Third, it is a sad reality that this kind of thing still happens frequently in our world. If you or anyone you know experiences something like this, it can be tempting to hide and feel shame. But please tell a trusted adult who can help keep you safe and help you work through it.
The Bible never puts blame on Bathsheba. In fact, she seems to be acting in faithfulness to the Lord and the Law when she taken by David’s men. Sadly, she is one of many tragic victims of a broken and sinful world. But the Lord redeems her sorrow. Her next son with David is Solomon, who will take over the throne, become known as the wisest man ever, be the one to build the Temple of the Lord, and be the one to carry the family line and covenant all the way to Jesus, our great Messiah and Savior. David’s sin and Bathsheba’s sorrow are not small, but the Lord redeems both to bring about the salvation of the world.
