We all see it. Many have gossiped about what they saw and heard. We watched as the leader we adore is “caught in the act.” We are dismayed, disillusioned and oh so disappointed. Our first reaction is shock because we didn’t see that coming. The words that first come to mind might be, “what just happened?” Followed by, “how long as this been going on?” And “how did we miss this?”
Max Lucado give us some perspective of David’s rise to heights of fame and glory as King of Israel and Judah being one of the reasons for falling into temptations to want even more. Consider this—
“David “sends” many times in this story. He sends Joab to battle (see 11:1). He sends the servant to inquire about Bathsheba (see 11:3). He sends for Bathsheba to have her come to him (see 11:4). When David learns of her pregnancy, he sends word to Joab (see 11:6) to send Uriah back to Jerusalem. David sends him to Bathsheba to rest, but Uriah is too noble. David opts to send Uriah back to a place in the battle where he is sure to be killed. Thinking his cover-up is complete, David sends for Bathsheba and marries her (see 11:27).
We don’t like this sending, demanding David. We prefer the pastoring David, caring for the flock; the dashing David, hiding from Saul; the worshiping David, penning psalms. We aren’t prepared for the David who has lost control of his self-control, who sins as he sends.
What has happened to him? Simple. Altitude sickness. He’s been too high too long. The thin air has messed with his senses. He can’t hear as he used to. He can’t hear the warnings of the servant or the voice of his conscience. Nor can he hear his Lord. The pinnacle has dulled his ears and blinded his eyes. Did David see Bathsheba? No. He saw Bathsheba bathing. He saw Bathsheba’s body and Bathsheba’s curves. He saw Bathsheba, the conquest. But did he see Bathsheba, the human being? The wife of Uriah? The daughter of Israel? The creation of God? No. David had lost his vision. Too long at the top will do that to you. Too many hours in the bright sun and thin air leaves you breathless and dizzy.
Sometimes we can find ourselves blinded to what is right. We justify our actions or simply refuse to listen to our conscience. We are not immune to sin, but we can ignore the warning signs. What can you do to keep from falling as David did?” Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible
As we read this passage and pass judgement on David; we must look inside and ask ourselves, what sin are we ignoring, setting aside as being not as bad as our friends’ sin, or justifying our sin as what we deserve because of our good service to God and others? What sin is blocking our view of God and all He wants to do in and through us for His glory and His best in us? Who is our Nathan? Will we listen to the Nathan in our lives whom God has sent to us? God does the sending; we do the trusting and obeying. This is walking humbly with God which is what is required of us. (Micah 6:8)
2 Samuel 12
Nathan Rebukes David
The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
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. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.
26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28 Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”
29 So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30 David took the crown from their king’s head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Our sin will find its way to the surface after all efforts to cover it over or cover it up with more sin. God knows our hearts. His prophets warned people, “Your sins will find you out!” The phrase “your sin will find you out” is found in Numbers 32:23. It means that those who commit sin will eventually face the consequences of their actions. The verse is a warning from Moses to the tribes of Gad and Reuben, who had requested land on the east side of the Jordan River, reminding them that if they failed to fulfill their promise to fight alongside their brethren in conquering Canaan, their sin would be exposed and they would be held accountable.
But do we listen and most important, do we repent? God already knows our sins and our propensity to sin. “While were yet sinners; Christ died for us.” This was a demonstration of God’s love us! Our loving, faithful God provided His Son, Jesus, to come to earth to seek and to save the lost from our sins. But before Jesus came, God dealt with the sins of His people specifically through His prophets, like Nathan, who spoke His words directly into the hearts of those called to serve God and His people. David is one of those hearts who needed God’s conviction of sin with the reminder of the consequences of sin. God disciplines the one He loves, David, with a course correction for his behaviors that resulted from sins committed. David repents but a price had to be paid for his sin—his first born son with Bathsheba. But God wasn’t finished with David yet…
God sent HIS Son to save us from our sins. It was Jesus, who never sinned, who paid that price for our sin for us! The perfect, without blemish Lamb of God, willingly and obediently laid down His life so that our lives could be spared. Yes, pause and think about this truth—take all the time you need. I am. Jesus Christ paid for all the sins of the world God loves; once and for all eternity. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
There is nothing we have done that will shock God who knows our hearts and seeks to turn our focus back to Him. God’s wants to us to be honest as we repent of our sins. Then God does His work of restoring a blessed, loving, intimate maturing relationship with Him. We will grieve God’s Holy Spirit when we sin; but God is not shocked by our sin.
There is no sin that God will not forgive. Don’t take this on as a challenge, but repent and be filled with His love while accepting his gentle mercy and unending grace! Then love others like Jesus loves us—without conditions. People need to know that salvation is obtainable and freely given by our God/Jesus/Holy Spirit who loves us most! A relationship with God is the most important relationship we will ever have!
God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. God does not cover our sins but removes our sins forever—to be remembered no more!
Upon repentance; the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul”, by Horatio G. Spafford comes floating into my mind with harmonies of peace. A phrase of this hymn, “My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross” is not a direct Bible verse, but rather a poetic expression of a believer’s heart who trusts in the completeness of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The hymn reflects the truth: Jesus Christ’s sacrifice covers all sin, not just a portion of it.
My sin, oh, the bliss
Of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross,
And I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Lord,
I surrender. I offer my life as an offering, holy and pleasing to you. Guide me in all I think, say, and do. Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. You are my Shepherd; I shall not want—for anything or anyone else! I’m yours and I’m listening.
In Jesus Name, Amen
“Though Satan should buffet,
Though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded
My helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 