“GOD VALUES HUMAN LIFE.” 2 SAMUEL 11:1-17; 12:1-14.
2 SAMUEL 11: 1-5, 14-17; 2 SAMUEL 12: 1-6, 13-14.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO 2 SAMUEL 11.
We left the young shepherd last Sunday as the National Hero of Israel. He had slain the Philistine Champion Warrior with a sling and a stone. Several years have passed and David is now about 50 years of age. He was the author of the beautiful 139th Psalm. Its theme is the all-knowing, ever present God who created us from the beginning within the womb and placed great value upon each individual life.
A difficult and most unwelcome task now confronts us: to contemplate and comment upon the darkest blot in the fair character of David.
Certainly we would not select this subject from personal choice, for it affords us no pleasure to gaze upon an eminent saint of God befouling himself in the mire of evil. We must approach it with true humility, remembering that “as in water face answereth face, so the heart of man to man.” Before proceeding further let us awe our hearts by the solemn scene which is before us.
LET US PRAY.
It must be for God’s glory and our profit that the Holy Spirit has placed on record this account of David’s fearful fall; otherwise it would not have been given a permanent place on the imperishable pages of Holy Writ. But in order to derive any good from it for our souls, it is surely necessary that we approach this sad incident with a solemn mind and in a spirit of meekness, “considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1.)
This inspired record is to be regarded as a divine beacon, warning us of the rocks upon which David’s life was wrecked; as a danger signal, bidding us to be on our guard, lest we, through unwatchfulness, experience a similar calamity. Viewed thus, there are valuable lessons to be learned, instructions which will stand us in good stead if it be humbly appropriated.
The
fearful fall of David supplies a concrete exemplification of many
solemn statements of Scripture concerning the nature and character of
fallen man. Its’ teaching in regard to human depravity is very
pointed and unpalatable, and often has it been made a subject of
unholy jest by godless scoffers.
Scripture verses such as Gen. 8:21, “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Jeremiah 17:9, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Rom. 7: 18, “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing,” are highly objectionable to human pride, yet the truth of them cannot be disputed. Fearful and forbidding as are such descriptions of fallen man, yet their accuracy is illustrated and demonstrated again and again in the lives of Bible characters, as well as in the world today.
One of the most astounding demonstrations of the truth of the Bible is its unhesitating revelation and denunciation of sin, in the professed follower of God. It conceals nothing: on the contrary, it pulls aside the veil and discloses all. It condones nothing; instead, it either utters the terrible wrath of God against the guilty one, or records His judgments as they fall upon the unhappy sinner, even to the third and fourth generation.
Time will not permit us to go into the sins of Noah, Abraham, Lot, Aaron, Miriam and Moses. The white light of truth shines on every page, and the faults, the follies, and sins and inexcusable iniquities of those who call themselves the people and servants of God, are seen in all their repulsive forms.
This was in the tragic case now before us. The fearful conduct of David reveals to us with terrible vividness that not only is the natural man a fallen and depraved creature, but also that the redeemed and regenerated man is liable to fall into the most heinous evil.
Here in 2 Samuel, we behold the lust of the flesh allowed full sway not by a man of the world, but by a member of the household of faith; here we behold a saint, eminent in holiness, in an unguarded moment, surprised, seduced and led captive by the devil. The “flesh” in the believer is no different and no better than the flesh in an unbeliever. Yes, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, who had enjoyed such long and close communion with God, still had the “flesh” within him. He who in the day of his distress cried, in Ps. 42: 2, “My soul thiresteth for God, for the living God” now lusted after a forbidden object. Alas, what is man? Ps. 39:5 says truly “man at his best estate is altogether vanity.”
PLEASE READ 2 SAMUEL 11:1-5.
We cannot do better than to fill in the outline of Mathew Henry on these verses: first, the occasion of the sin; second, the steps of the sin; third the aggravations of the sin.
The occasions of or what led up to David’s fearful fall are plainly intimated in the verses just read. We begin by noticing the time mark here mentioned: “And it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle” which signifies, at the season of spring, after the winter is over. Following the period of enforced inactivity, upon the return of favorable weather, the military activities against the Ammonites were resumed: Joab and the army went forth, “But David tarried still at Jerusalem.” Ominous “But,” noting the Spirit’s disapproval at the king’s conduct.
Here is the first key which explains what follows, and we do well to weigh it attentively, for it is recorded “for our learning’ and warning. Reduced to its simplest terms, that which is here signified is David’s failure to follow the path of duty.
It is obvious that at this time the king’s place—his accustomed one hitherto—was at the head of his fighting men, leading them to overthrow Israel’s enemies. Had he been out fighting the battles of the Lord, he had not been subject to the temptation, which soon confronted him. It is never a trifling matter to forsake the post of obligation, be that post the most menial one. The fact is that we cannot count upon divine protection when we forsake the path of duty.
David relaxed when he should have girded on his sword: he preferred the luxuries of the palace to the hardships of the battlefield. It is indeed easy to follow the line of least resistance. It requires grace to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
The important principle here for we Christians to take to heart is, David had taken off his armor, and therefore he was without protection when the enemy assailed him. This world is no place to rest in; rather it is the arena where faith has to wage its fight, and that fight is certain to be a losing one if we disregard the exhortation of Eph. 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
The second thing for us to observe is that not only had David shunned the post of duty, but he was also guilty of slothfulnIt was not the slumbers of nighttime which the Spirit here takes notice of, for it was eventide when he “arose”---it was the afternoon which he had wasted in self-luxuriating. David had failed to redeem the time: he was not engaged either in seeking to be of use to others, or in improving himself. Laziness gives great advantage to the tempter: Matt 13:29 points out, that, “it was while men slept” that the enemy “came, and sowed tares among the wheat.”
“And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.” Here is the third thing: a wandering eye. In Isaiah 33:15 and 16 we are told concerning the one that “Shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on the heights, his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks.” Alas, this is what David did not do: instead, he suffered his eyes to dwell upon an alluring but prohibited object. Among his prayers was this petition in Ps. 119:37, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity”, but we cannot expect God to answer us if we deliberately spy upon the privacy of others. We turn now to consider the actual steps in this fall.
In Vs. 3, “And David sent and enquired after the woman.” He purposed now to satisfy his lust. He who had once boasted in Ps. 101:2-4, “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when will Thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me, “I will not know a wicked person.”
In Vs. 3 we see a calm deliberation and premeditation on the part of David. Here too was a merciful interposition on the part of God, for one of the king’s servants dared to remind his royal master that the woman he inquired about was the wife of another. How often does the Lord in His grace and faithfulness place some obstacle across our path, when we are planning something that is evil in His sight! O that we may draw back with a shudder when such obstacles confront us, and not rush blindly like an ox to the slaughter.
“And David sent messengers, and took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her.” The order is very solemn: first he saw, then he sent and inquired, and now “he lay with her.” Yet that does not give us the complete picture: we need to go back to Vs. 1 in order to take in the entire scene, and as we do so, we obtain a vivid and solemn illustration of what is declared in James 1: 14,15. First, David was drawn away of his lust”—of fleshly ease and indolence; second, he was then “enticed”—by the sight of a beautiful woman, third “then when lust had conceived it brought forth sin”—that of premeditated adultery, and, as the terrible sequel shows, “sin when it was finished brought forth death”—the murder of Uriah her husband.
The aggravations of his sin were marked and many. First, David was no longer a hot-blooded youth, but a man of some 50 years of age. Second, he was not a single man, but one who already had several wives of his own—this is emphasized in Ch. 12:8, when God sent the prophet to charge him with his wickedness.
Third, he had sons who had almost reached the age of manhood: what a fearful example for a father to set before them! Fourth, he was the king of Israel, and therefore under binding obligation to set before his subjects a pattern of righteousness. Fifth, Uriah, the man whom he so grievously wronged, was even then hazarding his life in the king’s service. And above all, he was a child of God, and as such, under bonds to honor and glorify God’s name.
“And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.” Sooner or later the man or the woman who deliberately defies God and tramples His laws underfoot find from painful experience the truth in Prov. 132:15, “the way of transgressors is hard.” God’s government is such that even in this life, they are usually made to reap as they have sown. Heb. 11:25 says, the pleasures of sin are but “for a season”, and a very brief one at that: nevertheless Prov. 23:32 says, “at last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.” Make no mistake on that point. Numbers 32:23 says, “Be sure your sins will find you out.” It did with David, and Bath-sheba, for now the day of reckoning had to be faced.
The penalty for adultery was death. Lev. 20:10 says, “And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death.”
Bath-sheba now had good cause to fear the righteous wrath of her husband, and the enforcing of the dread sentence of the law. David, too, was faced with serious trouble: the one with whom he had had illicit intercourse was pregnant, and her own husband had been away from home for some time. The hidden works of darkness must soon be forced into the light for when Uriah returned the unfaithfulness of his wife would be discovered. This would give him the right to have her stoned, and though David, by virtue of his high position as king, might escape a similar fate, yet it was likely that his guilt would be proclaimed abroad and a general revolt be stirred up against him.
But sad as was he predicament in which David how found himself, still sadder was the measure he resorted to in seeking to extricate himself.
Let’s just take a moment to summarize what transpires in 2 Sam. 11: 6-13
After hearing about Bath-sheba’s pregnancy, David called Uriah to come to Jerusalem under the pretense of bringing a report of the war. David urged Uriah to go home that night to his wife and spend the night with her. That way Bath-sheba’s pregnancy would be attributed to Uriah. He even sent gifts to their home, which might have been food and wine. Uriah chose to spend the night with the palace guards. His reasoning was he didn’t want to enjoy a night with Bath-sheba when the other military men were away from their wives in battle.
The next evening David even tried to get Uriah drunk, hoping that would drive him to Bath-sheba. Nothing worked. Uriah stuck to his principles each night he was in Jerusalem. Uriah the Hittite showed greater integrity than David the king.
PLEASE READ 2 SAMUEL 11: 14-17.
There was no thirsting for Uriah’s blood on the part of David. It was only after his cruel efforts had failed to use Uriah in covering his own sin, that the king resorted to extreme measures.
What was it that caused David to sacrifice Uriah in order to shield himself? It was his love of the world, his determination to preserve his place and reputation among men at all costs. Love of his fair name in the world, resolved that under not circumstances would be branded as an adulterer, so whatever stood in the way must be removed. He contrived various expedients to preserve his character, but these were baffled: so just as the lust of the eye led him to adultery with Bath-sheba, now the pride of life goaded him to the murder of her husband.
Refusal to put things right with God, and our fellows, by confessing our sins to the One and (so far as is in our power) making restitution to the other, gives Satan a great advantage over us. A guilty conscience estranges the heart from God, so that it is no longer able to count upon His protection; the Spirit is grieved and withholds His grace, so that the understanding is unable to see things in His light. The soul is then in such a state that Satan’s lies are acceptable to it, and then the whole course of conduct is more or less regulated by him.
David’s fearful fall into committing adultery with Bath-sheba was now followed by a crime yet more odious. His unlawful child, soon to be born, he had sought to father upon Uriah; but his efforts had failed. A desperate situation now confronted him. He knew that if Uriah lived, he must discover his wife’s unfaithfulness, and this, the king was determined to prevent at all costs. Even though it meant adding sin to sin, and sinking more deeply into the mire of evil, David must preserve his reputation before men.
Once a man, even though he be a believer, disregards the claims of God, he is quite liable to ignore the claims of human friendship. It was so in the sad case here before us. David now shrank not from going to any length. First, he had tempted Uriah to break his vow. Second he had endeavored to make him drunk. And now he deliberately plotted the death of his devoted subject. He had rather that innocent blood be shed, and his whole army be threatened with defeat, than that his own good name should be made a scandal. See to what incredible lengths sin will urge even a child of God once he yields to its clamorings: adultery now occasioned murder. Sin will always take you farther than you want to go; keep you longer than you want to stay; and cost you more than you want to pay.
When a man has so far given place to the devil as not only to commit scandalous sins, but to use disingenuous and base means of concealing them, and with sure prospect of having the whole exposed to public view; what would prevent his being pushed forward, by the same influence and from the same motives, to treachery, malice, and murder, till crimes are multiplied and magnified beyond computation, and till every nobler consideration is extinguished.
Thus it was here: no matter what happened, David was resolved to maintain his own reputation. Sure proof was this that, at the time, he was completely dominated by Satan, as is shown by those words of Paul in 1 Tim. 3:6, “Lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” How we need to pray that God would mercifully “hide pride from us.” (Job 33:17.
Further proof that David was then thoroughly in the toils of Satan, may be seen in the subtle and vile tactics to which he now resorted. Thoroughly determined to cover his awful sin of adultery by committing still greater wickedness, he resolved to have poor Uriah put out of the way. “That innocent, valiant, and gallant man, who was ready to die for his prince’s honor must die by his prince’s hand.”
Yet, but not directly; David was too cunning for that, and too anxious to preserve his own good name before men. He would not kill Uriah by his own hands, nor even bid his servants assassinate him, for his reputation might be destroyed by such a step. He therefore resorted to a more serpentine measure, which, though it concealed his own hand, was nonetheless heinous. The bravery of Uriah and his zeal for his country, suggested to the king the method of dispatching him.
With cold-blooded deliberation David penned a note to the commander of his army, commanding him to station his faithful soldier in the place where he would be the most exposed to the assaults of the foe, and then leave him to his cruel fate. The king’s letter, decreeing his death, was carried by Uriah himself, and delivered to Joab. The general did as his master had bidden, and Uriah was slain.
In 1st and 2nd Samuel I counted 7 vile, sinful acts of David, yet this terrible sin was more laid to his charge by God than any other he committed: not only because of its gravity, and because it has given occasion to so many of his enemies to blaspheme, but also because it was more a deliberate and premeditated crime than an involuntary infirmity acting suddenly.
There were many failures left on the record of David, yet after his death God said in 1 Kings 15:5, “David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that He commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”
When he received the tidings that his vile plot had succeeded, David callously said to the messenger in Vs. 25, “Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another.”
David had no grief that others besides Uriah had been sacrificed for his crime, instead, he pretended that it was but “the fortunes of war,” and to be taken stoically.
“And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.” When the mourning was passed, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing displeased the Lord. David had pleased himself, but he had grievously displeased the Lord!
PLEASE TURN TO CH. 12 OF 2 SAMUEL.
An interval of several months elapsed between what is recorded in 2 Samuel 11 and that which is found at the beginning of Ch. 12. During this interval David was free to enjoy to the full that which he had acquired through his wrongdoing. The one obstacle which lay in the way of the free indulgence of his passion was removed; Bath-sheba was now his. Apparently, the king, in his palace was secure and immune. So far there had been no intervention of God in judgment.
But if David was pleased with the consummation of his vile plans, there was One who was displeased. The eyes of God had marked his evil conduct, and the divine righteousness would not pass it by. Ps. 50:21 says, “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence,” yet He adds, “but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.”
God may suffer His people to indulge the lusts of the flesh and fall into grievous sin, but He will not allow them to remain content and happy in such a case; rather are they made to prove that “the way of transgressors is hard.” Read Job 20 if you wish to read how the Holy Spirit has painted a graphic picture of the wretchedness experienced by the evil-doer.
The coarse pleasures of sin cannot long content a child of God. It has truly been said that “Nobody buys a little passing pleasure in evil at so dear a rate, or keeps it so short a time, as a good man.” The conscience of the righteous soon reasserts itself, and makes its disconcerting voice heard. He may yet be far from true repentance, but he will soon experience keen remorse.
The saint has to pay a fearfully high price for enjoying “the pleasures of sin for a season.” Prov. 20:17 says, Stolen waters may be sweet for a moment, but how quickly his “mouth is filled with gravel.”
Even a palace can afford no relief unto one who is filled with bitter remorse. A king may command his subjects, but he cannot quiet the voice of outraged conscience. There was no escape for David. “Day and night” God’s heavy hand weighted him down.
Probably about a year had elapses from what is recorded in the beginning of the 11th chapter, for the adulterous child was already born in Vs. 14. We then read “And the Lord sent Nathan unto David.” Though God may suffer His people to fall into sin, He will not suffer His people to lie still in it. No, God will exhibit His holiness, His righteousness, and His mercy in connection therewith.
Nathan the prophet’s task was far from being an enviable one: to meet the guilty king alone, face-to-face. As yet David had evinced no sign of repentance. God had not cast off His erring child, but He would not condone his grievous offences: all must come out into the light. David must judge himself, and then discover where sin had abounded grace did much more abound.
Yes, Nathan might well have quailed before the commission which God now gave him. It was no easy matter to have to rebuke his royal master. Yet he did not decline the unwelcome task, but executed it faithfully. Not only was his mission an unenviable one, but, it was also far from ea
PLEASE READ 2 SAMUEL 12: 1-6.
Nathan did not immediately charge David with his crimes: instead, he approached his conscience indirectly by means of a parable—clear intimation that David was out of communion with God, for God never employed that method of revelation with those who were walking in fellowship with Him.
The method employed by the prophet had the great advantage of presenting the facts of the case before David without stirring up his opposition of self-love and kindling resentment against being directly rebuked; yet causing him to pass sentence against himself without being aware of it—sure proof that Nathan had been given wisdom from above.
Yet obvious as was the allusion in Nathan’s parable, David perceived not its application unto himself--- this shows that when one is out of touch with God, he is devoid of spiritual discernment: it is only in God’s light that we can see light!
In vs. 5 David supposed that a complaint was being preferred against one of his subjects. Forgetful of his own crimes, he was fired with indignation at the supposed offender, and with a solemn oath condemned him to death. In condemning the rich man, David unwittingly condemned himself. What a strange thing the heart of a believer is! Often filled with righteous indignation against the sins of others, while blind to its own!
Having brought David to pronounce sentence upon a supposed offender for crimes of far less malignity than his own, the prophet now, with great courage and plainness, declared in vs. 7, ‘Thou art the man,” and speaks directly in the name of God.
First, in vs. 7 & 8 David is reminded of the many favors which had been bestowed upon him. Among them the “wives” or women of Saul’s court, from which he might have selected a wife. Second, in Vs. 8 God was willing to bestow yet more favors had he considered anything was lacking, he might have asked for it, and had it been for his good the Lord had freely granted it. Third, in view of God’s tender mercies, faithful love, and all sufficient gifts, he asked in Vs. 9 “wherefore hast thou despised the commandments of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?
In vs. 10-12 Nathan showed David that he would suffer the consequences of his sins for the rest of his life. The rest of 2 Samuel shows how this prophecy came true. Amnon raped his sister Tamar. His brother Absalom took revenge by killing Amnon. Absalom rebelled against David. General Joab killed Absalom. When David heard of Absalom’s death he cried out in grief in 2 Sam. 18:33. Part of David’s anguish was the knowledge that his sins had set all these sins in motion. When God forgives the guilt of sin, the seed of earlier sins often has a crop of misery in this life. This was certainly true in David’s life.
PLEASE READ 2 SAMUEL 12: 13-14.
David’s slumbering conscience was now awakened, and he was made to realize the greatness of his guilt. The piercing arrow from God’s quiver, which Nathan had driven into his diseased heart, opened to David’s view the awfulness of his present case. Then it was that he gave evidence that, though woeful had been his conduct; nevertheless, he was not a reprobate soul, totally abandoned by God. The dormant spark of divine grace in David’s heart now began to rekindle, and before this plain and faithful statement of facts, in the name of God his evasions vanished, and his guilt appeared in all its magnitude. In deep humiliation of heart, David confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord.” The words are few; but the event proved them to have been the language of genuine repentance, which regards sin as committed against the authority and glory of the Lord, whether or not it have occasioned evil to any fellow creature.
Nothing is recorded in the historical account of Samuel about the deep exercises of heart through which David now passed; nothing is said to indicate the reality and depth of his repentance. For that we must turn elsewhere, notably to the penitential Psalms. The two principle Psalms, which give us a view of the heart exercises, through which David now passed, are the fifty-first and the thirty-second. Please read the Psalms in that order as the 51st is evidently the earlier one.
NEXT SUNDAY FROM 1 SAMUEL 26: 7-15 WE FIND DAVID AND SAUL RECONCILED. A.V. DAUGHERTY 1-18-04.