Summary from last week:
2 Samuel 11:1-5
David is not where he is supposed to be.
He is outside of God’s will.
He is restless because of this.
He sees a girl bathing and does not look away, but rather takes the thought captive and commits the sin of lusting in his heart.
He calls for the girl and discovers she is married
She is also the daughter of his buddy
She is also the wife of one of his best warriors.
He uses is power/position to sleep with her.
She becomes pregnant (and it is not her husbands child)
Verse to remember:
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.”
Any thoughts from last week about this or any stories how it might have applied to you during the week?
We just left David getting the news that Bathsheba was pregnant. David has another chance to repent, but instead what does he do?
He will try to hide his sin.
Galatians 6:7
- Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
The whole concept of hiding our sin is deceptive. Our sin is never hidden before God and only hidden with difficulty from our conscience. Our hidden sin hinders our fellowship with God and others and is a barrier to spiritual life and power.
Read 2 Samuel 11:6-13
- So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. 10. David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” 11. Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” 12. Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13. At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
Davids first attempt to cover his sin…
- So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going.
What is David doing here?
Davie is trying to have a discussion with Uriah. Faking interest in the comings and goings. Have you ever had a awkward conversation like this? – something just isn’t right…
- Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
Why did David say this?
“David’s design was that he should go and lie with his wife, that the child now conceived should pass for his, the honour of Bath-sheba be screened, and his own crime concealed. At this time he had no design of the murder of Uriah, nor of taking Bath-sheba to wife.” (Clarke)
- But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. 11. Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
What is going on here?
Contrast the honor of Uriah vs David.
What does it mean that they keep calling him Uriah the Hittite?
…The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents…
Uriah is not a native Jew, but he has more passion for the glory of God than native Jew, David.
…How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
This shows Uriah as a man of great integrity. He was willing to sacrifice his own desires and ease, and he did not want to enjoy the comforts of home while his fellow soldiers endured hardship on the field of battle.
“David had expected and hoped that Uriah would prove to be like himself; instead he proved to be a man of integrity, whose first loyalty was to the king’s interests rather than to his own pleasure.” (Baldwin)
What do you think David is thinking?
How many more times has David been given to stop and confess?
James 1:14-15
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
John 8:34
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
Davids second attempt to cover his sin…
- Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13. At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
What is Davids next try?
He tries to get Uriah drunk and does, and even then Uriah will not go to his wife and stays with the servants.
Again David could stop and confess and repent. It would be bad but still right. Every day that passes he gets further down the road to destruction.
What parallel does this have for you? Any sin that you want to stop but keep getting further down the road. Answer if you want, or just pray on it.
2 Samuel 11:14-17
- In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” 16. So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
What do you think Joab thought when he read the letter?
Who wrote the psalms?
What do you think of a guy writing all the psalms and then writing a letter of murder?
… “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
Instead of David stopping and confessing, he wants to kill Uriah to cover up the sin.
… and sent it with Uriah.
Why did David send the letter with Uriah about his own murder? Is this ultra cruel? Is David now mad that Uriah would not get drunk and go to his wife? Is he blaming Uriah for the whole mess now?
- When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell
Is this just a throw away line in the Bible? Some, don’t know how many, men were killed. Killed to cover up Davids sin.
It appears that the only way Joe could arrange for the death of a seasoned warrior, such as Uriah, was to use some unwise battle tactics, which caused several good men to die with him.
Coverups are often like that – a lot of innocent people get hurt, while we are trying to hide the truth.
…Uriah the Hittite died.
Joab did exactly what David commanded. He knew it was wrong but simply followed orders and murdered Uriah at David’s direction.
What would you think now if you were Joab?
Would you be wondering about your own safety knowing the whole story?
If not immediately confronted, one sin can take a wretched course. David indulged his sensual lusts for years and ignored God’s warnings and ways of escape. He allowed temptation to turn into lust and lust to turn into adultery. When the consequences of his adultery threatened to expose his sin, he covered it first with deception and then with murder.
What does this show us about how sin/satan is used to tempt us?
Satan could never tempt David with the entire package at once, but he deceived him with it piece by piece.
2 Samuel 11:18-25
- Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19. He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20. the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21. Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth ? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’ ” 22. The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23. The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.” 25. David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
So what is happening here?
Joab, instead of going himself to report to David, send somebody else. Why would he do this?
I think that Joab is afraid that David will kill him also.
He preps this person by saying that David could get mad about his war tactics. Why do you think he says this?
I think that Joab tells his soldier this, so that the soldier doesn’t think Joab is a bad military leader. It’s like he’s prepping him for David to “act “angry.
David does not get angry though, he appears to be relieved.
Inverse 25 when David says “the sword devours one, as well as the other,” it’s like he’s saying oh well, that’s baseball…
David did all of this just so he could Mary Bathsheba, and pretend that the pregnancy was legitimate.
2 Samuel 11:26-27
- When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord .
After hearing this, do you think Bathsheba is sad or relieved?
We have no reason to believe that Bathsheba knew that David arranged the death of her husband. It is likely that David concealed all this from Bathsheba. Yet Bathsheba may have been partly relieved, knowing that the crisis of her pregnancy from David was now averted.
What do you think the people think of King David at this time? (They know nothing of the sin)
This was nothing new for David. He had added wives before, so now he simply added another.
“David is sort of a hero now, in the eyes of the people. He has taken into his harem, the poor, pregnant wife, the widow of one of his fallen captains, so that the people say, “My look at the way he stands behind his men! He takes care of their widows when they are killed in battle. My what a marvelous king!” (Smith)
… But the thing David had done displeased the Lord
This is the first mention of God in the chapter. God witnessed every event and read the intent of every heart, but His displeasure was only implied until this specific statement.
David thought the whole incident was covered. The only living person who knew the entire truth about the baby and could testify against him was Bathsheba, and her silence was probably motivated by fear for her own life. They were also some men who served the king, who had partial knowledge, but they remained loyal to the king. All of his bases were covered, or so he thought. He only overlooked one small detail. You can’t hide your heart from God.
How many sins did David commit in this saga of his lust?
David pretended to be buddy buddy with Uriah.
He tried to get him drunk so he would go home to his wife.
He brought another man into it when he ordered Joab to have him killed.
He used Uriah himself to deliver the message of his own murder.
He once again was out of God’s will as a military king, using bad tactics to put Uriah in trouble.
In the process, other men were killed along with Uriah.
He took Bathsheba to be his wife and even was heroic in the eyes of his people.
This is just what the Bible says. What other bribes and treachery did he have to do along the way when he involved other people in his actions?