2 SAMUEL 11: 1-5 [The Life of David]
DAVID AND BATHSHEBA
[James 1:14-15]
This section deals with one of the most familiar stories in this part of the Old Testament, with the possible exception of the story of David and Goliath. It is the story of David's disastrous affair with Bathsheba and its implications for David and for the monarchy.
Unlike the average campaign biography or press release, the Bible never flatters its heroes. All the men and women of Scripture have feet of clay, for the Holy Spirit paints a realistic portrait of their lives. He doesn't ignore, deny, or overlook the dark side. It should encourage us to know that even the best men and women in the biblical record had their faults and failures, just as we do yet the Sovereign Lord in His grace was able to use them to accomplish His purposes. Noah was a man of faith and obedience, yet he got drunk, Twice Abraham lied about his wife, and Jacob lied both to his father and to his brother Esau. Moses lost his temper disobeyed God and struck the rock, and Peter lost his courage and denied Christ three times. [Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Joshua-Esther. David Cook. 2003. Colorado Springs, CO. p.331].
Here David, a man after God's own heart, committed adultery and then murdered in an attempt to coverup his own sin. These sins are greatly intensified because of who he was and because of how he mishandled it.
There is no justification for what David did, as you will see in this message, and some that follow. I'm certainly not defending it. I do want to try to put it in perspective. No sin, save the sin of Adam and Eve, has received more press than the sin of David with Bathsheba. Movie makers exploit the passage with their "David and Bathsheba" films. This is a good time to remember that David was a man who loved God. . . he was still "a man after God's heart." He sinned, just as we have but ours have not been recorded for all to read. I am forever grateful that God has finished writing Scripture. There is not a person I know who would want to have his failures and vices recorded for all generations to read and discuss and make movies about and write books on and preach sermons on down through the centuries. [Swindol, Charles. David. 1997: Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN. p. 179-80]
This story, told with candor and honesty, doesn't gloss over anything. It dramatize David's humanness in an unforgettable way. It offers amazing insight into the elements that make us spiritually vulnerable. It reminds us that in accomplishing His purpose God always is forced to use fallible people. It also should warn against presumption upon position and status to which all people are vulnerable, and that no one is above God's law.
These terrible sins give perspective to the events that occur in the succeeding chapters as a result of God's judgment upon David. The repercussions of David's sins do not end with the death of the child but seem to lay the foundation for a whole series of tragic events—rape, murder, and insurrection. When lust has conceived it gives birth to sin (CIT). The shock waves that began with a lustful heart on a rooftop were still being felt when David lay dying and was being pressured to make Solomon his successor on the throne. With this in mind, let's see what we can learn from the man's tragic failure.
At this time we will look only at the contents of 2 Samuel 11. Sufficient for us to note is the fact that the events took place during the Ammonite war. Here is an outline of our passage:
I. THE CONTEXT, 11:1.
II. THE CONCEPTION, 11:2-3.
III. THE COMMITMENT, 11:4.
IV. THE CONSEQUENCES, 11:5ff.
The story of David's adultery is very short. Everything is told in twelve lines (in a Hebrew Bible). In an earlier chapter, we saw how the Lord turned the tables on Philistia, Moab, Syria, and Edom to extend Israel's borders and give His people control of vital trade routes. In other words, what began as a series of unprovoked attacks and unwanted wars ended with Israel in command of territory from the Tigris/Euphrates valley in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Now the wealth of these nations poured in to Israel.
The first verse sets the backdrop for the story. "Then it happened in the spring , at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the sones of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem."
It was that time of the year after the agricultural chores had been taken care of and before the heat of summer. The army of Israel had laid siege to the capital of Ammon, Rabbah. The kingdom had grown and the situation had change to where David had delegated to Joab the leadership of the army in the field and intended to come to the scene of battle when victory was imminent. It was a time when many of David's goals had been reached and he was experiencing fulfillment and satisfaction. Israel was united, the borders had been expanded, the country was prospering, and David was now firmly established in the minds and hearts of the people. Having the pressure off may have made David more vulnerable to temptation.
Though the Syrians-Arameans no longer came to their aid, the Ammonites stubbornly maintained their hostile posture toward Israel. In the context of David's ongoing problems with these foes occurred the turning point of his reign.
It was spring, the time when kings go off to war. But David didn't go off to war. David sent out his army, but he remained in Jerusalem. Though kings usually led their armies personally, David, for reasons not related, remained in Jerusalem. He evidently decided to take a break and let the younger men go without him.
David was now about fifty years old, perhaps a few years older. He had been on the throne approximately twenty years. He had distinguished himself as a man of God, as a composer of psalms, as a faithful shepherd, as a valiant warrior on the battlefield, and as a leader of his people. He not only led the people in righteousness, he gave them the glorious music of the psalms. He was a man of passion as well as compassion. As we just observed, he was the one who took in Mephibosheth, keeping his promise to Jonathan and to Saul, demonstrating grace and showing honor.
But as we look at the next segment in the life of David we find him falling into a period of sin, and that sin had devastating consequences for his family, his reign, and his nation. Sin always bears consequences. The Bible warns us in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." We're to take heed lest we fall, whether we are in our fifties or sixties, our teens, or our twenties, thirties, or forties. No one is too young or ever gets too old to fall.
At this point, David's spiritual life was like a neglected sea wall crumbling against the constantly surge of the tide and the pounding waves of the sea. Unguarded at a weakened moment, his spiritual wall crumbles and he pays a terrible price for it.
II. THE CONCEPTION, 11:2-3.
One of southern California's lesser known attractions is the La Brea Tar Pits. Situated on the edge of downtown Los Angeles, this prehistoric site is mainly visited by school children on field trips.
The entrance immediately leads toward an open section where centuries ago tar had collected and replaced the sand. A layer of water covered the oily mass. Gas bubbles escaped at irregular intervals, releasing a sulphurous odor. Across from the fence that circled the tar pit were huge cement mastodons. One had become caught in the ooze and was slowly sinking into the mire while its mate and calf stood helplessly by trumpeting their concern.
Adjacent to the first of the tar pits is a museum. Inside are fossil remains that had been dredged from the bottom of the different pits. Some of these had been pieced together by staff paleontologists. The result of their efforts gives modern viewers a picture of primeval life in this part of the world. Saber-toothed tigers, with huge incisors, show how fearsome these creatures must have been. The skeletal remains of a small mastodon have been reassembled and covered with look-alike skin and shaggy hair. And then there are the remains of a variety of antelope, birds, and rodents that all sank to their death in these pits.
But how were these animals drawn toward these traps? And what possible relevance might this have for us today?
Rain is scarce in southern California. It falls mainly in the winter. The rest of the year is dry and hot. Naturally, for most of the year, water is hard to find.
Rain falling on the tar would not sink into the earth but would offer what appeared to be a refreshing pool of water. Animals could come to the brink and drink freely. As evaporation caused the water to recede from the edge of the tar-filled pit, animals would have to step onto the soft surface in order to reach the water. Their feet would begin to sink into the ooze in much the same way they would into soft mud-except that it would be much, much harder to extract their feet from the tar. Provided the tar was not too deep and the animals could feel firm ground underneath them, they could struggle free. However, the further they had to advance to get to the water, the less likely they could regain the safety of the bank. lf they were unable to extricate themselves from the soft, clinging tar, then they would slowly sink into the pit with nothing to stop them.
These animals had been lured with the promise of a thirst-quenching drink of water. But many of them found instead a slow, agonizing death. In their case, the temptation to slake their thirst proved fatal.
All of this has a bearing upon the culture of our times and the principles found in this portion of God's Word. [Barber, Cyril. The Books of Samuel. Vol 2. 1994 & 2000. Loizeaux: Neptune, NJ. p. 168-169.]
The sin that set the whole chain of events into motion was lust. It was the cool of the late afternoon. David had risen from a nap that he had taken during the heat of the day and took a walk on the flat roof of his palace to catch the cool evening breeze. As his eyes scanned the rooftops and gardens of the houses located below the ridge on which the palace had been built he saw a beautiful woman bathing. Verse 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,"
One evening, restless on his bed . . . David arose, went to a rooftop of the palace, and from there happened to observe Bathsheba . . . the wife of his neighbor Uriah. She was bathing out in the open. One may not fault David for seeking the cooler breezes of the late afternoon, but he should have averted his eyes at once. [Bathsheba, knowing the proximity of her courtyard to the palace, may have harbored ulterior designs toward the king. Yet] David visually drinking in her charms is inexcusable. Then the deliberate steps he followed to bring her to the palace required more than enough time for him to resist the initial, impulsive temptation (James 1:14-15). [Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, p. 467.]
The Scriptures report that "the woman was very beautiful to behold." David now had leisure he was not equipped to enjoy. He was a man of action with a bit of time on his hands, a warrior who now took naps in the afternoon, and he may have felt the need for some excitement, for a new interest, or for an escape. So he was ripe to be enticed by his own lust.
David's sin could have stopped with nothing more than an erotic fantasy, but it didn't. David was now the most powerful person in the kingdom and had grown accustomed to getting whatever he wanted, so he followed up his physical desire with an inquiry "about the woman" in verse 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?"
The indulgent king, against God's Word [Deut. 17:14-17], already had a harem of wives and concubines. The simple fact is that sexual passion is not satisfied by a harem of women, it is increased. One of the lies of our promiscuous society is that if you indulge your sexual appetite you can satisfy it. It doesn't. Sexually permissiveness only increases it. Just like it did with David. But not only did his sex drive increase, his integrity decreased, as these women begin to turn his heart from his devotion to the Lord.
The soft spoken answer from the servant offered the king a subtle warning. Each part of the question was a statement that should have said "Off Limits!" It should have given David pause that she was "the daughter of Eliam" David's faithful associate, and the granddaughter of Ahithophel, his wise counselor. That she was already "the wife of Uriah the Hittite" should have stopped him cold, because this meant that she was married to one of David's mighty men. These answers about Bathsheba's identity implied that she was not just a beautiful woman whom David desired but a person in a family, with covenant commitments to another.
As though that were not enough, David had his own role as the king, priest, and judge to consider, but in the heat of the moment he regarded these roles as nothing. All these prohibitions do not even register with David. At that moment David was too distant from God to listen to God. Completely out of control he said yes to all the things to which he should have said no. The desire for sexual pleasure with this women was more important than anything else.
III. THE COMMITMENT, 11:4.
[The next two verses which describe the affair have David sending for Bathsehba, their having sexual relations, and Bathsheba returning to her house and later sending word that she was pregnant (vv. 4–5).] In verse 4 we see that David moved quickly to avoid thinking about any warnings or consequences as we see. "Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her....
If this had been a Hollywood movie this scene would have been long and drawn out. Scripture simply says, She came to him and he slept with her. David abuses his privilege, power, and position. The king, the man of God, the sweet psalmist of Israel, sends for her. This experience probably brought great excitement, but they both had just stepped down onto a slippery, greasy slope.
[Bathsheba's possible lack of discretion provides no justification for David's actions.]
How the mighty have fallen! F. B. Meyer succinctly states the outcome: "One brief spell of passionate indulgence, and then-his character blasted irretrievably; his peace vanished; the foundations of his kingdom imperiled; the Lord displeased; and great occasion given to his enemies to blaspheme! [F. B. Meyer. David. p. 195]
IV. THE CONSEQUENCES, 11:5ff.
In verse 5, a few weeks after the affair, the woman realizes that she is pregnant and something needs to be done. "The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." Oops!
It has been observed over the years that the devil never tips his hand as to what he is about when he tempts us. Satan displays the only the excitement, the beauty, the delight, the excitement, and the stimulating adventure of sinful desires. But he never tells the heavy drinker, "Tomorrow morning there'll be a hangover. Ultimately, you'll ruin your family and your health." He never tells the drug user early on, "This is the beginning of a long, sorrowful, dead-end road." He never tells the thief, "You're going to get caught, friend. You do this, and you'll wind up behind bars." He certainly doesn't warn the adulterer, "You know, pregnancy is a real possibility." Or, "You could get a life-threatening disease."
Are you kidding? Face it, when the sin is done and all the penalties of that sin come due, the devil is nowhere to be found. He smiles as you fall. . . but he leaves you with no encouragement when the consequences kick in. [Swindoll, p. 188.]
[Knowing how scriptural accounts are often condensed, some scholars wonder if the affair might not have been of longer duration with the account giving the minimal facts. Although I have read sermons that tried to fix the blame on Bathsheba for bathing where she could be seen by David, the Scripture account [& Nathan in chapter 12] lays the blame on David.]
The sin that David's power and lust had conceived, literally. David and Bathsheba had sinned against God and that sin would bring hurt, sorrow and death. The marriage bond was considered sacred and the punishment for adultery was severe [the stoning of both parties, Lev. 20:10] under the Law. David could have been put to death for what he did, but for the double standard for men and women. Kings made the laws for the people, but they did not always feel the need to obey the laws themselves.
This happens today in our country. It has always been a temptation for people in authority through the years. One of the ways in which power corrupts is by making those who have it think that they are above the rules that guide the conduct of ordinary people. [Chafin, Kenneth: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol. 8 : 1, 2 Samuel. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1989, S. 275.]
The next section shows David's attempts to extricate himself from the consequences of his sin. But like one of those animals caught in a tar pit from which they could not get out of, David also had become trapped in a predicament of his own making. He was now incapable of showing hesed ("loving-kindness"). The events of this chapter, therefore, stand in stark contrast to the tender regard he showed Mephibosheth and the comfort he wanted to extend to Hanun.
IN CLOSING
David's sin did not just suddenly appear in a moment of time. David set himself up for this fall. We know he disengaged himself from the battle, choosing instead a life of comfort & ease. You & I may make the same decision, though in a slightly different way. We may choose to ease up in our pursuit of becoming a disciple of our Lord, of the disciplined life which causes us to bring our bodies under our control (1 Cor 9:24-27). We may weary of taking up our cross & begin to take up ourselves as our highest cause. We may back off in the area of separation, having become weary of being laughed at for our Christian principles. We may keep quiet, rather than bear witness to our faith, lest we be rejected by our peers. We may hold off from rebuking a fellow-believer, who is falling into sin, b/c the last time we tried it was very messy. When we retreat from the battle, our own fall into sin is coming. [Deffinbaugh, Bob. Quicknotes. 1 Samuel-2 Kings. Vol. 3. 2009. Barbour Publ. Uhrichsville, OH: p. 41 & Bob Deffinbaugh: A Study of 1 Samuel. Bible.org]
We all get weary of the adversities of life. We all yearn for the time when we can kick back & put up our feet & relax a bit. We all tire of agonizing over the bills & not having quite enough money to go around. David certainly looked forward to the time when he could stop fleeing from Saul & begin to reign as king. But let me pt out that from a spiritual pt of view, David never did better than he did in adversity & weakness. Conversely, David never did worse than he did in prosperity & power. How many pss do you think David wrote from his palatial bed & from his penthouse? How much meditation on the law took place while David was in Jerusalem, rather than on the battlefield? We are not to be masochists, wanting more & more suffering, but on the other hand we should recognize that success is often a greater test than adversity. Often when it appears "everything's goin' my way" we are in the greatest danger.
Ease & prosperity are usually more dangerous to our spiritual health than poverty & adversity. Often when everything appears to be going well, we are
in the greatest of dangers b/c we forget we need God & stop relying daily on His power. Even David's finds out that his spiritual weakness leads to deadly & destructive consequences.
For at least 9 months, David refuses to confess his sins, but then God broke through to Him again & he sought the face of the Lord. God forgave him & David made a new beginning. But David paid dearly for his sins. Charles Spurgeon said, God does not allow his children to sin successfully. Alas, David suffered the consequences of his sins for the rest of his life. We may too if we rebel against Him, for the Lord disciplines those He loves.
