After God’s great promises in 2 Samuel 7, David then experiences an impressive series of victories which are described in chapters 8-10, against the Philistines, Moabites, Zobahites, Edomites, Ammonites & Arameans. But these victories stand in stark contrast to the moral failure he then experiences in chapters 11-12. We’ve already seen much of David’s life and there has been a huge amount to celebrate. In particular, we’ve seen how his relationship with God has framed the way that he has approached the challenges that have come his way. He understood deeply that God was with him, and that the key question was not the power/size of his opponent, but the greatness of his God. David surely was a man after God’s own heart, but he was still a man and in these chapters we see some of David’s failings and how they were almost his complete unravelling!

The context for this failure begins with the decision for him to remain in Jerusalem while Joab took the army off to battle. Verse 1 tells us: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war…But David remained in Jerusalem” (11:1a, c). Some make a lot of this concluding that David’s choice to remain, leaves him wide open to the temptations that subsequently come his way. During the battle against the Ammonites in ch.10, when David send out the men with Joab and they enjoy much success. The decisive victory, however, comes when David subsequently leads the army out into battle. This, some argue, was where David should have been, and it’s interesting that he is drawn into the battle again, before their final victory at the end of chapter 12.

On the other hand, however, others argue that David’s presence earlier on in both battles was an unnecessary risk that they did not need to take. Was David really at greater risk of temptation staying in Jerusalem? In some senses yes of course , the battlefield was not filled with bathing beauties and in my experience temptation is at its strongest when I am not doing some very useful or productive. But, on the other hand the real battle was raging in David’s heart. Whether he was in Jerusalem, or out with the army, there was still a battle to be waged within.

There is a vast amount of material to get out teeth into in this chapter but I want to draw out four principles that will help us as we too wrestle with our weaknesses and failures.

1. Dealing with temptation (11:2-6):

First some facts. Everyone who has walked this planet has faced temptation. Everyone bar one has succumbed to their temptations. The only one to have not sinned was of course Jesus. As a result He is now uniquely qualified to be our High Priest and is able to sympathise with our weaknesses because He was tempted in every way:

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16

I love those verses and they bring us much encouragement as we too seek to face temptation. These chapters in 2 Samuel are however a case study in how things can go badly wrong.

Step 1: David is walking around the roof of his palace and spots a woman bathing. The passage says that she was very beautiful. We don’t really know whether there was any desire on the part of Bathsheba to be seen by David. There is also no suggestion that David planned or expected to see her. This just seems like one of those moments and there is nothing initially wrong with the fact that David sees her.

Step 2: What David should have done at this point was to walk away. Instead, however, David keeps on looking. He is likely already committing adultery with her in his heart, because he clearly likes what he sees, and sends someone to find out about her. Even if there is a link between David’s choice not to go into battle and this experience of temptation, the reality is that this is a battle that had been raging in David’s heart for sometime. We already know that David has taken quite a few wives already (Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital & Eglah are all mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:2-5). Kings were not supposed to take many wives, but in this respect David seems to lack a sense of self-control. He just cannot help himself!

Step 3: Word came back to David that her name was Bathsheba. She was the daughter of Eliam who was one of David’s mighty men and the son of his key counsellor Ahithophel (2 Sam 23:34). That in itself was a great reason to walk away, but she was also the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Uriah was another of his mighty men and he was away fighting against the Ammonites. These facts should have been raising huge red flags for David, but still David pushes things to the next level.

Step 4: Now David sends messengers to get her. The NIV simply says: “She came to him, and he slept with her” (v4). There seems to be no suggestion here that Bathsheba came unwillingly. Given David’s position as King, some have suggested that he took her by force. But, while we don’t find any mention of consent, neither do we find any mention that she offered any kind of resistance.

These steps the a chain of events that lead David into committing adultery, not merely in his mind, but also in practice. In taking Bathsheba to bed, David sinned against Uriah, Eliam, and Ahithophel. While initially, it might have seemed like David had got away with it, but then a message comes from Bathsheba saying “I am pregnant” (5b).

I am sure that at times we have all started down this path to some extent. If we are starting to feel complacent, the Apostle Paul warns us to be careful that we do not fall. When we are tempted, God will provide a way out, but we must choose to take it.

¹² So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

2. Trying to cover up our mess (11:7-27):

There was really no question about who the Father was (see v4b) and David now tries to cover up what he had done. But that can often make things worse and that’s exactly what happens. Firstly, David recalls Uriah from the battle and we soon see that his plan is to encourage Uriah to sleep with his wife so that 9 months later it would seem as if the child was his. Uriah refuses to do so and in a slightly poignantly written verse we see the stark contrast between what Uriah did and what David should have done:

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!’

2 Samuel 11:11

Refusing to give up, David kept him another night, but when that also failed, he asked Joab to place Uriah on the frontline and then pull back so that Uriah would be killed. Joab is always David’s man for these kind of jobs and he does what David asked. Uriah dies and when it is reported back to David he says to the messenger: “Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another” (v25). 

This then allowed David to marry Bathsheba, but the final words of chapter 11 are very striking: “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (v27). Interestingly, it is the first and only mention of God in the chapter and it tells us how God feels about our sin. David thought he’d managed to cover it up, but God sees everything. David had in fact made things far worse! Not only had David committed adultery, but now he had also had a trusted friend killed, and he had used others to make it happen.

3. You are that man (12:1-24):

As yet, there has been no sign of David acknowledging his sin and so God sends Nathan to David. Nathan comes at this by telling David a story about two men – one rich and one poor. We don’t have time to get into the detail, but essentially the rich man takes advantage of the poor man. David is incensed and pronounces a death sentence on whoever this man might be. But, then comes the moment Nathan has been preparing for as he says: “You are the man!” (v7).

Nathan shares God’s verdict on what David has done. He had despised both God and His Word (v9-10) and a few verses later we read that David had treated the Lord with utter contempt (v13). As a consequence God tells David that the sword will not depart from his house and that God was going to bring a calamity on him. He had slept with Bathsheba in secret, but now another would come and sleep with his wives in broad daylight.

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 

2 Samuel 12:13

Crucially, David does now acknowledge his sin and God confirms that He had taken away his sin. But still, there would be consequences and they were going to lose the child. David fasted and prayed, but God did carry through on what He had said He would do. That in itself raises all sorts of questions, but there is also grace here, because it is not long before Bathsheba conceives again. In time, she gives birth to Solomon and the passage tells us that “The Lord loved him” (v24a).

4. Experiencing God’s Grace and Forgiveness:

Confession and repentance are essential elements of what it means to live as disciples of Christ. We all need these moments of recognition and acknowledgement of our sin. God is gracious and freely offers us His forgiveness, but we do need to ask for it. There may still be consequences, but just like with this example of David – God will forgive us of our sin.

The reason David didn’t just go off the rails like many of the other Kings was because of the strength of his relationship with God. Several of David’s Psalms focus on his response to sin. The best known of these is probably Psalm 51 which is a beautiful expression of what God was doing in David’s heart as a result of committing adultery. He is brutally honest about his sin as he asks God for mercy and compassion. He wants God to wash away his iniquity and to make him clean. He recognises the need for God to create in him a pure heart and to restore to him the joy of his salvation.

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. ² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:1-2, 10-12

We’ve all been here at some point or other, but what marks out a godly man or woman is someone who comes to God daily for forgiveness of our sins. Of course none of us would choose to experience sin and failure, but critically, how we respond to those things when they do happen, says volumes about what God is doing in our hearts. Let’s be those who come to God daily to confess our sin, enjoy God’s forgiveness and live out our lives under the grace God loves to lavish upon us.

Cover Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash