David: A story of Sin, Repentance, and Restoration
David – when I thought about covering this topic of studying different men of the Bible, David was considered one of the big guns. So far the people we’ve studied have been more obscure, but every person in the world knows who David is from the story of David and Goliath. There’s a whole bunch written in the Bible about David, but we are going to focus on one story. It’s the story of David and Bathsheba.
We will break it up into four parts with these titles :
The sin – we examine how David and Bathsheba got into this mess in the first place
The cover-up – we will look at the fantastic effort of David to hide his sin
The condemnation – this is how God steps in to show David the path he is on
The restoration – we will show God‘s grace and restoration in the lives of both David and Bathsheba
Before we begin: I know you all know the story of David and Goliath, but has anyone here ever studied the story of David and Bathsheba?
Part one: The Sin
2 Samuel 11:1-5
- In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3. and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4. Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
Any thoughts before we tear in?
V1. In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
What is something that we see from the very first line of this story that contributes to David’s problem?
At the very root of David‘s problems, we find a King who wasn’t where he belonged. If David had been out in the battlefield, where the king was supposed to be, instead of hanging around the palace, this whole incident would’ve never happened.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
It was customary at this time for the king to lead the army and battle. Also, back in 2 Samuel 10, David’s men were off, fighting without him (not because David wasn’t in war, but he was on a different front), and they were just kind of holding their own. When David heard about this, he came to help them and took his army and went through the enemy with these. This shows the difference with and without the army “leader” present.
So the local Custom plus David’s own personal, recent history showed him that God‘s plans for him were to be with his army.
Galatians 5:16-17
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
So while David’s men (without David) are out looking to destroy the enemy, Satan is ready to attack David.
1 Peter 5:8
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Do you think this one incident of not being where he is supposed to be started David on the path to an affair?
Not so. It’s unlikely that we would wake up one day fully in love with our wife and then the next day being an adult and adult affair. That’s not how Satan works. He starts slow and adds to our destruction little by little.
1 Samuel 25:42-43
“Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.”
2 Samuel 3:2-5
- Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3. his second, Kileab the son of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; 4. the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5. and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.
David showed his disregard of God’s plan for marriage many years before when he took more than one wife. David’s practice of adding wives showed a lack of sexual restraint and an indulgence of his passions. This corrupt seed, sown long ago, grew unchecked long enough and would bear bitter fruit.
Therefore, staying home from the battle merely provided an opportunity for the long-standing lack of sexual restraint and indulgence of passion to display itself.
Does anyone have a story that involves this? Any time when you could have avoided sin by being “where you were supposed to be?”
V2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
(the Hebrew word for walked here, means to pace back-and-forth)
So it’s bedtime, yet David can’t sleep, and he’s pacing back-and-forth around on his roof. Why do you think he’s doing that?
Do you think he is uneasy and can’t find rest because he knows that he is not doing what God wants him to be doing?
He saw a woman bathing –
It says David saw the woman bathing. Do you think she is being immodest?
We don’t really know if she is being immodest or not. It could be that people are expected to be sleeping, so this is a time when she can bathe and assume that nobody is watching. It could be that she also is sinning by not following 1 Timothy 2:9
1 Timothy 2:9
“I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,”
If David is standing on, his roof glance is down and sees a woman bathing and looks away. Has he sinned?
The woman was very beautiful –
This part of verse is different from the first part that he “saw” her. This shows he was “checking her out”
Christian man must learn to never let their eyes (or their mind) rest on aluring images, except for what God has given to them in marriage. Our eyes must not remain on aluring images that come into site.
It is not a sin to “see“ something. It becomes a sin when we take ownership of it, and focus on it.
1 Kings 11:3-4
“He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”
This is David‘s son Solomon. He had 1000 women at least. David’s many wives did not satisfy his lust. His son Solomons 1000 plus did not satisfy him. This is because you cannot satisfy lust of the flash. They are primarily rebellious assertions of oneself. This shows us if we’re not satisfied with one woman, we won’t be satisfied with 1000 women either.
Proverbs 5:18-23
“May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.”
Obviously, this is God‘s plan. He gives you your wife. If you want to lust after other women, it is going to be bad for you. Remember, God doesn’t give us rules to be a slave master, he gives us rules for our own good.
Philippians 4:11-12
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
V3 …and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
Is it too late for David to get on the right path here?
He has sinned by making the lust his own, but he can still walk away right here.
1 Corinthians 10:13
“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.”
He had the chance to “turn” away, when he first saw her…
He had a chance to change his thoughts when he first started dwelling on her…
He has a chance to walk away after he asks about her…
Any certainly has a chance to walk away when he hears that she is married…
… the daughter of Eliam…
2 Samuel 23:34 (list of Davids mighty men)
Eliphelet son of Ahasbai the Maakathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
David had what he called his 30 Mighty Men. These were like his inner circle. The toughest soldiers. His best buds. Bathsheba is the daughter of one of these men. Imagine lusting after and taking into your bedroom one of your best buddies daughters, because this is what David did.
What is happening with David’s sin?
It seems to be multiplying, exponentially, and we’re not even breaking the surface yet…
… The wife of Uriah, the Hittite…
2 Samuel 23:39
- and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.
So here David hears that she is married. Not only is she married, but she’s married to another one of David’s mighty men.
He also learned that her husband was away, because the mighty men were in battle against the ammonites. This of courses is where David was supposed to be also.
What do you think of David’s honor right here?
First, David committed adultery in his heart, while he was on the roof. Now he knows he has the opportunity to commit adultery and practice. When David received the news of the woman’s identity, he should have taken that as a warning, and changed the course of his path.
Can you think of a time when you were choosing to sin, and we’re getting warned, and changed your course, or did not change your course?
David is about to sin against:
Bathsheba, the wife of one of his mighty warriors
Uriah, one of his mighty warriors, who protects David’s life
Eliam, the son of one of David’s best buddies and 30 mighty men
Ahithophel, the father of Eliam and grandfather to Uriah.
V4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
Do you think that she voluntarily came to him, or was forced to?
The Bible does not mention her resisting in anyway. However, in this time, to say no, to the king, would be an offense punishable by death. It is not really known if Beth Sheba is innocent here, or if she participated in the affair of her own volition.
Why do you think David wants this specific woman so badly? He has several wives already. Plus he could have any woman he wants that isn’t married. Remember this all started when he wasn’t “going to work” the way he was supposed to be.
Have you heard the phrase “idle hands are the devil’s workshop?”
This is said to have been inspired by proverbs, 16:27
Proverbs 16:27
“A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.”
Proverbs 18:9 ESV
“Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.”
Genesis 2:15 ESV
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
God designed the man to work. When he does not work, he becomes lazy. When he becomes lazy, he lives off of other people work. When he is lazy, he gets into sin.
…She was cleansed from her impurity:
Why do you think this line is in the Bible?
This verse is in there to show that Beth, Sheba recently had her period. Which means she wasn’t pregnant already. Her husband was off at war. So the baby is David’s.
V5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.””
David might think he has committed the perfect crime, because he got what he wanted. The husband was gone, nobody’s any wiser. But you can never hide a sin from God. This one sin is going to start an avalanche of cars and effects.
When we send, someone always gets hurt. We get hurt, others can get hurt, and in some cases like this one, the effects will go on for generations, and be quite severe. But no matter what, God is always hurt when we choose to sin.
enduringword.com/bible-commentary/2-samuel-11/