Nathan replied to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword. Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife.’
2 Samuel 12:7–10 (HCSB)
We can be so blinded by our selfishness and self-importance. David had been headed down this road for a long time. He had disobeyed God’s specific instructions that kings not accumulate a number of wives. He was feeding his lust, and his ego. He thought that because he was the king he deserved special treatment. He was above the rules. No one is above God’s rules—especially leaders! People follow the example of their leaders. They do what their leaders do. Therefore leaders should strive to live more pure, more holy, more godly.
David was not only an adulterer and a murderer. He was also a thief! He had stolen something from Uriah other than his life. He had stolen his wife.
Wasn’t Bathsheba somehow culpable? Yes. I think we all are. But remember, before she was a wife to her husband she was a subject to the king. This is always the way it is with monarchies. Watch out America!
There are a lot of things about this story we don’t know. God does give us all the details because they’re not important. This story is not about Bathsheba’s sin. It is about David’s. It takes two to tango, but David shouldn’t have been looking for a partner to dance.
David learned a hard lesson—and we should learn from his example: there are consequences for our sin—even kings. Sin will always take you further than you ever wanted to go, keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay, and make you pay a price higher than you ever wanted to pay. Sin always leads to a lifetime of regret. Don’t go down this road.
“It’s too late! I’ve already messed up.”
God’s good news is that there is forgiveness. God forgives and cleanses. Confess your sin to God and receive His cleansing. Turn from your sin now! But remember, there are still consequences even for forgiven sin. The baby died and hell came to David’s house.
If you are headed in that direction, stop now!
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