Transcript

The Bible does not withhold the sins and failings of God’s most faithful servants.

For example, Noah was a man of faith and obedience, and yet he got drunk. Abraham the father of faith twice lied about his wife Sarah. Jacob was a thief and a liar. Moses lost his temper when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it.

Gideon and Timothy were fearful men. Jonah ran from the Lord. Peter denied the Lord three times. James and John in their pride argued about who was the greatest. Thomas doubted. Martha worried. Elijah fell into self-pity. Paul stubbornly would not listen to God’s warnings about not going to Jerusalem.

David, a man after God’s own heart, committed adultery and then murdered a man to cover up his sin.

The saints and servants of God in God’s Word were real people who made mistakes, and sometimes lost their way, who failed, faltered, wandered, and sinned. The Bible presents the facts as they were so we may learn from the consequences of their sins.

We shouldn’t tolerate spiritual failure in our lives or ever excuse our sin. But yet, when we stumble, fail and mess up, we should not give up. We should keep going, keep living by faith, yielding to the Lord’s strength and will, and allowing Him to use us.

I’ve always liked the statement that “God uses people who fail, because there aren’t any other kind around!” We all fail, but believers have a faithful, merciful God who has forgiven us all our sin in Christ, and He uses us for His glory as we live for Him.

As Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” 2 Timothy 2:13 reads, “If we believe not [or are faithless], yet He abideth faithful.”

In our first two parts of this series, we looked at unbelievers who committed murder: Cain murdered Abel, and Herod Antipas and Herodias murdered John the Baptist. In this episode, we’ll be looking at a believer who committed murder: David.

2 Samuel 11:1-5: “And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

“And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

“And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

“And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.”

David was around 50 years old at this time. He had been on the throne for about 20 years. In our investigation of Uriah’s murder, we learn the reason behind it here.

The account of David’s sins is given against the backdrop of Israel’s siege of Rabbah under Joab, David’s nephew and “the captain of the host” of Israel’s forces. Rabbah was the capital city of the Ammonites and it was a walled city. Joab and the troops of Israel were besieging the city until they ran out of food and water.

While Israel’s army was on this important campaign, David remained in Jerusalem. Kings in that time often led their armies personally. As verse 1 says, “when kings go forth to battle.” But for reasons not stated King David did not lead his army here.

He did not act responsibly. And as it’s said, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Instead of being in the battle, he was in his bedroom. Had David been with his troops, the Bathsheba episode would have never happened.

It was springtime, the rainy season was over. Warm breezes were blowing across Jerusalem. Restless, David rose from his bed and walked on the flat roof of his palace.

Looking out from the roof, he saw a beautiful woman bathing. There is fault on both sides of this story. David was idle. Bathsheba was careless. Modesty would typically require one to bathe in a place where she knew she could not be seen.

Then David acted on his desire. And with forgetfulness of God who sees all, David sent one of his servants to find out who she was.

The answer from the servant has warning in it: “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Bathsheba’s father, Eliam, was one of David’s mighty men of war as listed in 2 Samuel 23 (v. 34). He was a faithful and courageous soldier within the army of Israel.

Bathsheba was also the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Uriah also was one of the mighty men who was listed among David’s bravest warriors and most outstanding soldiers (23:39).

But of course, the important thing to note here that the servant shared with David was that Bathsheba was married.

When he heard that she was the daughter of one of his mighty men, and the WIFE of one of his courageous soldiers who was even then on the battlefield, he should have turned from temptation and gone back to bed. But David ignored the warning from the servant.

Instead he sent for her and they both committed adultery and sinned against God. It is God who established marriage and gave the rules that govern it.

Adultery was so serious a sin within God’s law, that both the adulterer and the adulteress were to be stoned to death.

Later, when Bathsheba learning that she was pregnant, she sent the news to David, stating simply, “I am with child.”

2 Samuel 11:6-11: “And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.

“And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.

“But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

“And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?

“And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.”

David knew that what he did was wrong. He takes the first step to try and cover up his sin. As is often the case with sin and its consequence, one sin leads to another and to another. And in his crisis, David goes the route of lies and deception.

David tried three cover-ups: a “clean” one (vv. 6-11), a “dirty” one (vv. 12-13), and a “criminal” one (vv. 14-17).

A message is sent to Joab the captain of the host. The message is for Joab to send Uriah the Hittite from the battlefield to King David in Jerusalem.

Upon arriving, David asks Uriah for a report about the state of the war and how Joab was doing. But he didn’t really care about any of this. It was all a charade to get Uriah back home temporarily with his wife Bathsheba.

David tries to legitimize the impending birth of this child by having Bathsheba’s husband come home to be with his wife and then return to the battlefield.

Then when the baby was born, Uriah would think that it was his own child and nobody would ever know what David had done.

But it doesn’t work. After giving his report of the war, David sends Uriah to his house with a gift of good food with all the trimmings from the king.

They had food delivery service back then too! One comedian said it well: “Food delivery is a combination of my two favorite activities: eating and not moving.”

David underestimates Uriah’s faithful commitment to him. And his clever idea flopped.

Instead of going home as instructed by David, Uriah slept at the door of the palace. Uriah did not feel it was right or that he could enjoy the comforts of home as long as his nation was at war and his comrades in arms were still on the field of battle.

Uriah was a true soldier and his heart was with his brothers in the field. And if his fellow-soldiers were enduring the hardships of war, he was not going to seek the comfort of his wife and home.

The next day, David hears about Uriah not going home, and he calls Uriah before him to chide him and ask him why.

Uriah gently responds: “The ark and Israel are dwelling in tents, and Joab my commander and the servants of my commander are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to be with my wife? I can’t and I will not do this thing.”

There is an unstated rebuke here for David as well, when typically a king was with his men on the battlefield, David was not with Israel in a tent, he was in his luxurious palace.

Uriah also points out that not only is the army of Israel dwelling in tents, so is the Ark of the Covenant and Jehovah with the Ark. The Ark influenced his actions: if the Ark was in a tent, he could not and would not enjoy the comforts of his house.

Uriah was a Hittite, a foreigner, yet his name means, “Yahweh is my Light.” And his concern over the symbol of God’s covenant with Israel shows that he was a true worshipper and follower of Jehovah.

Uriah was a man of loyalty who was committed to his God and nation. Uriah’s faithfulness was in stark contrast to David’s unfaithfulness. David should have felt rebuked by Uriah’s integrity. Instead, he moves on to another plan to cover-up his sin.

2 Samuel 11:12-13: “And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.

“And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.”

David’s next idea, born out of desperation, was to get Uriah drunk so that he would go to his house and be with his wife. David hoped that alcohol would tear down his defenses and he would cooperate with his plan.

But again David underestimated Uriah. David invited Uriah to have a meal with him before he returned to the battlefield. During the meal, David made sure that Uriah’s cup was filled with wine and that it kept being filled until Uriah was drunk.

But after David had made him drunk, the faithful soldier still refused to go home. Instead in his loyalty, he again slept with his fellow servants at the palace of the King.

It’s been said that “Uriah drunk proved to be a better man than David sober.”

2 Samuel 11:14-18: “And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

“And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

“And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.

“And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war.”

Unable to manipulate Uriah into doing what he wanted, David stoops to his lowest level. The next morning, David’s two plots having been foiled and now in even greater panic, David writes a letter to Joab, and orders Uriah to take it to him.

Think about that: he sends this faithful man off with his own death warrant in hand. Sin can cause a person to do heartless and horrible things. David was breaking the ten commandments, one by one by one.

By God’s grace, we can have victory over sin in our life. God has provided us with the same power that raised Christ from the dead to be able to turn away from sin and temptation. Sin pulls a life down, and brings about horrible consequences.

God only wants what is best for us. And by grace, we can live a transformed life, not under sin’s control, but instead allowing God and His Word to lead, guide, and direct our lives and thinking. Doing so, we will live a life of blessing on a higher plane in goodness and righteousness and pleasing to the Lord.

The cold memo to Joab commanded that Uriah be stationed at the hottest, most dangerous part of the battle, and that during the fight, Uriah should be abandoned to the enemy by pulling back and retiring from him, so that he would die.

Thus, David’s third plan to cover up his sin, was for Uriah to not be alive to learn about the baby that would be born.

David’s sin with Bathsheba was a sin of the moment that overtook him, but his sin of having Uriah killed was premeditated. This was premeditated murder by David.

Joab observes the walled city of Rabbah. He assigns Uriah “unto a place where he knew that valiant men were” that is, in the city. He sets Uriah in front of these men.

Putting everything together from the rest of this chapter, we learn that one day, some of the men of the city of Rabbah made a sally, or they suddenly charged out of their besieged place to attack the troops that were blockading the city.

But they did so only to entice them to pursue them, and come within shot of the archers who lined the wall. Joab knew better than to follow. But to obey the king’s command, he ordered some of his men, which included Uriah, to purse the attackers.

When they came within range of the Ammonite archers, many of them fell, including Uriah. But many of these good soldiers made it all the way to the gate of the city.

Thus, David’s sin was magnified even more, as not only did Uriah die but also brave, innocent men with him, when Joab gave orders to be sure that Uriah would be killed. David was responsible for their deaths too.

2 Samuel 12:1-7: “And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

“But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

“And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

“And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

“And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.”

At the end of chapter 11, we learn how David, still covering his sin, took Bathsheba, Uriah’s pregnant widow, to be his wife and into his house, and thus her child could then be explained by their marriage and not their adultery.

While David’s sin might have been hidden from other people, his sin was not hidden from the Lord who sees everything.

Thus, verse 26 of chapter 11 reads, “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.” The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:7: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

David reaped what he had sown and he paid dearly for his sins.

Because what David had done had displeased the Lord, and because God is not mocked, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to King David, to tell David what he had been refusing to tell himself for a year: that he had sinned and done wrong.

Nathan tells David a story, a story that was to reach for David’s heart. Nathan tells a story about sheep. Since David had been a shepherd, he paid close attention, and he quickly became engrossed in what Nathan said and let down his defenses.

Nathan’s parable was about two men in one city. One man was rich. The other was poor. The rich man had many flocks and herds of sheep and oxen. The poor man possessed nothing except one small ewe (female) lamb, which he had bought and nourished.

This small lamb grew up in his house with his children. It was treated tenderly and loved deeply. And it ate of his bread, and drank of his cup, and would lay in his bosom, Nathan said. The lamb was a family pet, and like a child to the poor man.

One day a traveler stopped in to visit the rich man. But he was unwilling to use any of his own animals as food to prepare for the visitor. Instead, he took the one small lamb belonging to the poor man and slaughtered it and prepared it for a meal for his guest.

The one city was Jerusalem. David was the rich man, who had everything he ever wanted as king in Israel. His many flocks speak of David’s multiple wives. Uriah was the poor man who had nothing. Bathsheba was the one small ewe lamb and Uriah’s one wife.

Uriah loved and cared for Bathsheba deeply. But David came and stole her away.

The traveler represented the lust of David, that was just passing through. And for this traveling visitor, David had reached into the household of a poor man and took his cherished ewe lamb or wife away.

When Nathan said that the small lamb “did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom” in verse 3, this had a direct correlation to Uriah’s words to David when he asked Uriah why he hadn’t gone to his home.

In verse 11 of chapter 11, Uriah said, “shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife?”

Nathan’s story evoked a strong reaction by David because there was no justification from any way you looked at it for what the rich man had done to the poor man. David could judge sin in others more easily than in himself.

Moved with compassion, David’s anger was kindled and he reared up and declared that the rich man should die for his sin and this despicable act, even though stealing and killing a domestic animal was not a capital offense in Israel under the law.

But David was so angry he exaggerated the punishment. David passes judgment on the rich man without realizing that he was passing judgment on himself.

Up to this point, David had been minimizing and hiding his sin, when his murder of Uriah and his adultery with Bathsheba were both sins calling for his death under the law. He did deserve to die.

He needed to brought to a realization of the seriousness of his sins before God and that what he had done was worthy of his death, and this heart-wrenching story did it.

David further told Nathan that before the rich man did die, he needed to restore four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole to compensate the poor man’s property loss.

This was in accordance with the law, which David knew well. He orders him to make restitution according to the Mosaic Law that he himself had disregarded.

After David orders the death of the rich man and restitution for the poor man, Nathan dramatically and fearlessly pointed his finger at David and drops the bombshell, “Thou art the man.” And I imagine David’s jaw just dropping open. His sins were exposed.

Nathan tells him, “You are the rich man who did this. God was gracious with you. He made you king, He enriched you, He gave you everything that your heart could desire. But you took Bathsheba from her husband and then killed Uriah to cover your crime.”

David had abused the great blessings that God had given him.

In spite of the enormity of his sin and the utter absence of personal merit, David experienced the blessing of the forgiveness of sin. The Apostle Paul wrote of David in Romans 4:6-8:

“Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

David was a great sinner. He deserved to die. But God put away his sin, as Nathan informed him. Nathan told David, “The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die” (12:13). Forgiveness of sins is a matter of God’s grace, not of man’s efforts, not of anything we do to try to earn it. David learned this lesson well.

God justifies the ungodly. David was an ungodly sinner, guilty of adultery and murder, deserving of death, yet he experienced God’s full and free forgiveness by grace.

And we experience God’s full and free forgiveness by grace when we trust that Christ died for our sins and rose again the third day. Please make this decision now to trust Christ as your Savior, and God will forgive you of all your sins—all past, present, and future sins—and you will be righteous in Christ and ready for heaven.