Few incidents in the Old
Testament have been used as often - and tell as good a story - as David and
Bathsheba. We'll take it in two parts; this lesson will deal with just how
David got himself into the mess. Next time we'll deal with how God got him out
of it.
(2 Sam 11 NIV) 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, "Isn't this
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.
(She had purified herself from her 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} 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?" {11} 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!" {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 in the front line 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 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.'" {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 to 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.
Start to Checkpoint
It's interesting to see how David
got into this mess:
- If you look into the preceding
chapters, you will find that this is a time of triumph in David's life,
both personally (his care for Jonathan's son) and militarily (his defeat
of the Ammonites). We often think Satan attacks when we're down. It is
not always so.
- David is in the wrong place at
this time, for this is the season "when kings go out to war."
- His eyes are wandering into the
wrong places, too.
- Why? Perhaps it is because he
has so many wives. Is his mind preoccupied with sex - especially since
the palace business is really happening with the army in the field? Too
much leisure time and too many women to occupy it, perhaps? At the very
least, we can fault his attitude towards women - toys to play with.
Next step: involve others
David will not commit this sin
alone. Isn't it interesting that even the most "private" of sins -
adultery - always seems to require a little help from our friends?
- First, there is the messenger
who finds out who she is. No doubt he laid a little groundwork for the
king.
- Then he sends messengers to
take her to the palace.
- Finally, later, he will connive
with Joab.
Why do we seem to need to involve
others in such sin?
- We know it's wrong, but we feel
better if we get someone else involved - and they don't object. After
all, if it was really all that bad, they would say something,
wouldn't they?
- We often use them to do what we
consider the risky part. After all, if this was discovered half way
through, it was just some servant, right?
- Sometimes, we like to think
that we have laid some of the guilt on them as well. This may be, but it
doesn't lessen our own.
- For people like David, it gives
a sense of power and particularly control. It says, "I can handle
this situation. Nothing can go wrong; I'm in complete control."
Adultery
About the adultery itself there
is little to say. This is a Bible lesson, not a Hollywood epic, so we'll skip
the sex scenes. It is sufficient to note that the sin began when David put his
eyes on Bathsheba and decided that he had to have her. The sin starts with the
eyes, goes through the heart and evidences itself in the body.
In our time we take adultery very
casually; it is worth remembering that it was a capital offense in Israel. Of
course, we would say that this is a result of sexual repression - in a country
where the king has dozens of women, and in any number of neighboring towns you
can find temple prostitutes. We see it in the light of "if it feels good,
do it." David more likely saw it as forbidden fruit.
Whatever the view, sin has
consequences. She's pregnant.
Cover Up
This is our most common tactic in
dealing with sin. A new wrinkle has come up with Christians today. There
seems to be an attitude that says that if I confess my sin to God (and do
nothing else) that this should be sufficient. God seeks reconciliation for
us; we seek a band-aid. Why?
- "Out of sight, out of
mind."
- We can safely ignore God; we
can always ask forgiveness from him. The important thing is that no one
else finds out.
- After all, we're in control of
events, aren't we? We can pull the strings to make it happen, right?
- And since we're covering up,
all those friends we've connived with will want to cover up too. There's
no one to bring it to mind.
Checkpoint: Uriah the
Hittite
God often gives us a chance to
figure out what we should do on our own. One way he does this is to send us a
checkpoint - a person or event which sharply reminds us of what we should be
doing. Uriah the Hittite is David's checkpoint.
- You have to remember that Uriah
is not an Israelite - he's a Hittite, which means that his devotion to
David is not from family reasons.
- He's listed as one of David's
thirty "Mighty Men" - his personal bodyguard, the toughest of
warriors who have been with him from the earliest days. He's a good
friend and servant to David; they've been through a lot together.
- Look at his attitude. It's a
perfect example of the servant not being above the master. His buddies,
the army, the ark are all in tents - and he's going to go home and relax?
- This is also a man who is
accepting of what God has given him. The campaign means hardship, but he
does not reject it or squirm out of it.
Uriah should have been an example
to shame David into repentance. David didn't see it that way.
Gangrene
David has a choice at this
point: repent, or go all the way in the cover up. He chooses to complete the
cover up. His partner in crime is Joab:
- David has chosen a man to whom
murder is no stranger. Once before Joab has murdered; then for revenge,
now as a favor to the king (and a point of blackmail, perhaps?)
- He's a conniver, a man who
plots.
- Notice Joab's "wink"
in his instructions to the messenger. He doesn't know why David wants the
man dead, but he's sure it's not a legitimate execution. You can almost
see the wink in the words.
- David winks back in his reply,
and spirals deeper into sin.
The magnitude of the sin -
man's view
The sedate language of the Old
Testament sometimes soothes our ears so that we do not recognize the gravity of
the sin:
- First there is adultery - a
capital offense then. We think little of it now; our reaction would be
something like "Why didn't she get an abortion?" This is a
measure of our depravity. Adultery is deadly.
- Then there is murder. About
this we care! But note that this murder has no real redeeming
circumstances about it. There is no revenge, or other motive. It is the
murder of a loyal, long time friend who did absolutely nothing to deserve
it.
- Consider for a moment
Bathsheba's view: how would you like to find out that your second husband
murdered your first one - to get you?
- In all this there is a great
sense of betrayal - a betrayal of a loyal friend, a betrayal of trust, a
betrayal of the kingship itself.
This is slime.
The magnitude of the sin -
God's view
- First, there is the sheer
ingratitude of the man. Look at what God has done for him - and if that
wasn't enough, how much more would have been!
- More than that, he has dragged
God's name in the mud. The enemies of God all around can now point to
David. As today, when a prominent Christian is found out to be so wicked,
the cry is, "They're all hypocrites." And if God produces
nothing but hypocrites, what kind of god is he?
Lessons for Us
All this happened a long time
ago, but human nature hasn't changed that much. There are lessons in here for
all of us.
Lead us not into temptation
- We must remember that we are
not immune to temptation, no matter who we are. This especially applies
in the high moments of our lives.
- We need to ask ourselves
"Where am I supposed to be, and what am I supposed to be
doing?" We should do this frequently.
- We should check our attitudes
towards other human beings. David thought women to be playthings. Is
there someone in our lives that we esteem too lightly - and sin against
too quickly?
- We must check our attitude
towards God - if we see him as the easy mark for forgiveness, with no
thought of the awesome, holy God, we are in for a big surprise.
Deliver us from evil
But once we start down the trail,
what can we do then? Aren't we trapped by our own actions? Not at all:
- If you know someone is an evil
person, a conniver, then stay away. Don't ask their help; ask the help
of the righteous.
- The best method of cover up
is: don't start it. Confess quickly before the splinter goes into
gangrene.
- When God presents you with a
check point, listen!
Hallowed be thy name
Remember, in all these things,
you bear the name "Christian." This is not something that is about
"just me." It is a matter which reflects upon the church itself.
When (I did not say if) your sin is found out, the enemies of God will have a
fine time telling the world just how rotten those Christians really are. God's
name in the mud!
Do you care?