And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?
And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.
And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,
And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for.
And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate.
And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.
And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
THE AWFUL LAPSE
‘The thing that David had done displeased the Lord.’
2 Samuel 11:27
David’s career thus far had been one of singular excellence and attractiveness—not without great weaknesses, and blemishes of character, and many sins. Under Divine direction, and with Divine help, he engaged and conquered all neighbouring hostile nations, and made them tributaries of Israel. During the first half of his reign all his acts and all God’s providences tended toward the ultimate culmination of his power, and of the greatness of his kingdom. And through all his constant exposures to selfish pride and vain glory David stood fast in his integrity, proved himself a man after God’s own heart. But there came a time when, through the sudden blinding power of evil passions, the pure man became vile, and under the prolonged madness of unrepented evil for nearly a year deliberately planned crime after crime, adding baseness to lust and falsehood, and murder to hypocrisy. And from that hour of his great sin began the sad contrast to his previous history. That double grievous offence against God and man shadowed and embittered the latter half of his reign.
I. Now let it be distinctly noted: these sins not only had their aggravating circumstances, but the inspired pen records them.—Not one is withheld. Not only is the crime charged upon David, but its points of special enormity are thoroughly unfolded. There is no attempt to suppress a single fact bearing upon the aggravation and guilt of these sins. Moreover, there is no concealment or suppression of the fact that these great sins were utterly displeasing to God. He did, indeed, forgive the royal penitent; but he took care that these dreadful sins should be rebuked over and over again; brought up to David’s sad remembrance; brought out in sunlight before the nation and before the world. First, the babe is smitten, and after seven days of lingering life and prolonged suffering—David meanwhile on the ground, weeping, fasting, praying—the child dies. Then came those dreadful scenes of lust and murder among his own sons and daughters—Tamar ravished; the guilty Amnon, David’s first-born, murdered by his brother Absalom—how terribly suggestive of his own example before these very children! How hot with scorching rebuke! What griefs harrowed his sensitive spirit when it became known to him and to all Israel that Absalom had outraged his father’s bed! Then he drove that father from his palace, city, and throne. Bitterest of all, Absalom dies in his sins! David could bear the vilest indignities, the basest ingratitude toward himself, the foulest treason, the sadness of enforced exile; but oh! when the tidings came that Absalom was dead—his own guilty son dead—gone—lost, amid the horrors of unpardoned sin—alas! this filled his cup of woe! Did he not then recall his own sin in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite? Alas! how does God bring the sins of men to their remembrance, and make them feel in the depth of their souls that it is a fearful thing to sin!
II. Another line of thought and feeling is fitly awakened by these scenes in the life of David.—We cannot think of him as if he were one of the fallen angels—a junior brother of Satan or of Moloch. He was one of our own fallen race, a brother to our very selves. If he had passions tempting him into awful sin, so have we. If he could so far forget his manhood, his piety, his obligations to his Infinite Benefactor, his relations to the noble warriors in the field and to their virtuous wives at home, as to fall into these most grievous sins, so, alas, may we! This fearful record lies against our own fallen nature. If we, personally, have been kept from sin so great and aggravated, let us rather honour the grace that has saved than plume ourselves on the assumption of better self-control and purer virtue. We have, then, a real though sad interest in the most tragic and painful scenes of human sinning. It were well if this interest shall move us to such a study of David’s case as will be morally wholesome. It stands on the Scripture record for the sake of its great moral lessons.
Illustrations
(1) ‘Some of the points of peculiar aggravation in this double sin of David are presented tersely and with telling force in the supposed case by which the prophet Nathan introduces his rebuke of his king. The poor man’s one lamb—his household pet; nursed in his bosom; fed at his table; to him as a daughter—this lamb is torn away by his rich neighbour, who had lambs enough and to spare—the heartless tyrant! The case kindled David’s indignation; but, Oh! how did the application of it—“ Thou art the man,” pierce his soul with daggers of self-condemnation! He felt every word as a burning arrow. Conviction brought forth confession, penitent grief, and imploring cries for mercy.’
(2) ‘It seems almost impossible to believe that one who has given us such Psalms should have fallen to such a depth of sin. But remember that the nature which is capable of supreme aspirations is sometimes capable of equal declension in the other direction. Those who have most capacity for spirituality are in some cases most liable to the temptations of the flesh.’
