2 Samuel 11:1-5

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

Until this point we have been studying the rise of David’s throne.  His life has been marked with a constant move in a positive direction.  He moved from a shepherd boy, musician and minstrel to a warrior, leader of outlaws, “mafia” lord, to king of the land.  His kingdom grew from a small seed to that of a significant power in the ancient world.  This chapter marks a turning point in his life.  It marks the beginning of a decline into incredible disasters that will haunt the rest of his reign.  Just as in our lives, we learn little from the good times.  We will learn tremendous lessons as David struggles in the following chapters with the results of sin.  Join with me in journeying through David’s life and learning from him.

2 Samuel 11:1–5 (NASB95)

¹ Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. ² Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. ³ So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. ⁵ The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am pregnant.”

The author of Samuel gave a hint to David’s original mistake in verse 1.  It was a time when kings went to battle.  David did not go to battle as he should have.  He delegated the responsibility to Joab instead.  Destroying the sons of Ammon and placing Rabbah under siege speak of significant battles that David should have been part of.  We do not know why David stayed behind.  He could have been feeling sick for all we know, this may be why he was in bed during the day (verse 2).  The stage is set that David is kicking back in his house strolling on the roof looking down on the city.

He was watching Bathsheba take a bath.  David called others to find out who she was. It seems that others were available to join him on the roof to inform him of who she was.  He ascertained that she was a married woman of known family.    Here is the progression; it is much the same as ours when we fall into sin.  I said “fall” because we are taken by surprise by our sin when all along we set ourselves up!  David looked at Bathsheba, this gave birth to the sin of lust.  He desired to have her, so he called others to find out who she was.  Her husband was a “Hittite” which is an ancient line of merchants/warriors who permeated the ancient land.  The point is that she was not a Jew.  Perhaps he justified his lust by finding out that she was a foreigner. Often we will justify our need for sin by making up stupid reasons that make our sin sound better.  David desired her and sent for her.  He committed himself to following through with the lust of his heart.  Bathsheba went to bed with him, cleaned herself up and went home.  We do not see any resistance on the part of Bathsheba.  It could be that she purposefully took a bath in view of the king hoping to tempt him.  We don’t know; but what we do know is that she seems to have been a willing participant.  Surprise, she ends up pregnant. 

James 1:12–15 (NASB95)

¹² Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

James made a note of the progression of sin.  David faced a trial.  He was tempted, carried away by his lust.  This brought forth error (sin) in his life as he considered Bathsheba. Then he acted on his lust to carry through with adultery.  The point of this is simple.  Sin was not something that snuck up on David.  The devil did not whisper in his ear that Bathsheba was appealing.  What happened was David acted upon the lust that was in his heart.  He made a decision to do wrong.  He was fully aware that she was a married woman.  By the way, David was not a single man.  He had several wives at this time. 

On a personal note, I would be willing to bet that if each one of us is honest, we follow the same progression of sin in our lives.  We desire something, lust after it.  We find out that the thing that we desire is not good for us so we look for reasons to justify getting it.  Then we move to take possession of it.  Lust covers a broad area in our lives.  It can be sexual lust as David experienced.  It can also be lust after things such as cars, computers, houses or other toys.  It can also be lust after power.  The point is that lust begins in our hearts, we seek to justify it, and then we act on it.  Nancy Reagan started a campaign a few years ago that was “just say no”.  Perhaps when we find ourselves in the justification stage after finding out that what we lust for is error in our lives, we should just say no.  Recognize that the sin generated from our hearts is leading us down the wrong road and stop going in that direction. 

The problem that we face is that our society tells us that each of us is justified to have what we want.  In a way we have become our own little gods that rule the world around us.  The narcissism that surrounds our lives sets us up to make gross errors and sins against God.  Our world does not center on our desires, it centers on God’s plan for our lives.  Let’s return to James to see what he said further concerning sin and following God:

James 1:21–25 (NASB95)

²¹ Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. ²² But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

In closing, David lived a life that centered on God.  He demonstrated that he followed God closely.  David even received a personal message from the Lord and a prophecy concerning his kingdom.  However, he stopped being a doer of the word and became a hearer who deceived himself by lusting after Bathsheba.  We also turn our heads from God’s word to follow the wickedness of our hearts to do what we know to be wrong.  It’s time that we turn our backs on the standards of society, turn our faces to God and hold His word as a higher standard in our lives.  Its time to do what we know to be true…

Father, as we consider David’s fall with Bathsheba, let each of us learn from him how to turn from sin in our own lives and follow You.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

David attempts to cover his sin with Bathsheba in this chapter.  The problem is that Uriah is not cooperating with him.  His plan is to get Uriah to spend the night with his wife so that it will appear that he made his wife pregnant.  Read the story and watch the drama unfold:

2 Samuel 11:6–27 (NASB95)

⁶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king was sent out after him.

⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ Now when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”

¹² Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ He had written in the letter, saying, “Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die.” ¹⁶ So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ The men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war. ¹⁹ He charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, ²⁰ and if it happens that the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ ‘Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ” ²² So the messenger departed and came and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ “Moreover, the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” ²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle against the city stronger and overthrow it’; and so encourage him.” ²⁶ Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Verses 6-8:  Uriah is summoned home by David.  It appears that Uriah is chosen by Joab as a messenger to carry the news of war to David.  When he is received, David receives the news from him and sends him home for the evening. David encouraged him to wash his feet, signifying taking a bath. David’s plan was to get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba.  That way the pregnancy will look like it is a result of their marital union.  David even sweetened the pot by sending a present to their house after Uriah had left.  Nothing like building a little romance for the evening.

Verses 9-11:  Uriah did not cross the street to go home to his wife.  Think about it, David was observing Bathsheba from his roof.  Instead, he went to sleep in the street outside David’s door.  Our thinking might circle around Uriah being suspicious of the easy circumstances.  It could have been that Uriah had caught rumors from others around him.  I think what happened was that Uriah was abiding by David’s rules for war.  He required his soldiers to remain pure for battle (1 Samuel 21:5); also if a man were to have sexual relations with his wife, he was unfit for war (Leviticus 15:18 gleaned from New American Commentary).  In this case, Uriah may have felt that David was testing him to see if he would violate the law.  After all, he was chosen to make the news run.

Look at the response that Uriah gave to David concerning his reasons for not going home.  First he looks at the Ark which symbolized God, then he looked at the nation of the Jews, lastly he did not want to break his bond of fellowship with his fellow soldiers.  War was seen as a holy war.  In order for victory to be won, God must be recognized and followed.  Uriah threw his words back on the character of David stating that he could not violate holiness because David was his commander.

Verses 12-13:  David attempted to get him drunk so that his resolve would be weakened.  Uriah went to sleep outside the door again.  He was a man of personal integrity.

Verses 14-27:  Not much comment needed on this section. Uriah unwittingly carried his own death warrant to Joab.  Who followed the wishes of David and placed Uriah too close to the city wall where he was killed.  Notice that other men fell along with Uriah in the battle.  In order for David to murder Uriah, he murdered other men as well.  David murdered several men in order to carry out his plan with Bathsheba.

After Uriah was murdered, Bathsheba mourned for the allotted time, which may have been as little as seven days.  David took her as his wife.  His sin was covered up because of the relatively short time between conception and David murdering Uriah.  He married Bathsheba so that the baby would appear to be legitimate.  God did not like David’s deception… little wonder.  Imagine, David murdered a man so that he could cover up his sin of adultery.  He also used Joab as his murder weapon by demanding that he place Uriah close enough to be killed.

I think that when we bring this home, we should ask how often we cover sins in our lives in order to save our reputations.  Secret sins are not uncommon.  It seems that the higher the rank, the more desperate the cover up.  Pastors, teachers, public figures, and those in the lime light are more apt to be more desperate in covering up sins than the little people. It doesn’t matter who covers up the sin, a coverup means that people are living a lie in their lives.  In today’s world, we should seek to clean up our lives so that we can live holy in order to enter into the spiritual battle that wages around us.

All comments are welcomed.

Father, as we study the sin of David, Help us to realize that each of us is only a step from falling.  Draw us to lean on You daily.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

Thoughts on secret sin, David and Bathsheba

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

After finishing the study yesterday, I was reflecting further on secret sins.  David went to extreme lengths to cover the sin with Bathsheba.  First he tried to get Uriah to go to bed with his wife so that it would look like he made her pregnant, when that did not work; he murdered Uriah and married Bathsheba.  In the end, the sin was covered because few babies are born at exactly nine months.  Some come earlier and some later. 

The secret sin of David greatly affected his spiritual life and directly affected his effectiveness as king.  We will see more on this as we look at the next chapter.  Paul addressed secret sins in his day because he was teaching Gentiles to follow God.  The Gentiles were aware of a form of godliness which came from worship of false gods.  However, they were not aware of holiness that results from following the true God.  Today we have returned to a similar place in our society.  Christianity has become watered down; false religions, cults, naturalism, homosexuality, and hedonism have moved to the forefront.  We are faced with a society that has returned to a form of godliness which is based on human effort and on human perception.  If we look good, smell good, and act good, then we must be good.  This attitude has been incorporated into the Christian life. 

2 Timothy 3:1–7 (NASB95)

¹ But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. ⁶ For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We could go through the shopping list that Paul established here to find out that our society certainly qualifies for this list.  The secret sins that are listed in these verses are tremendous.  We could look at pornography, R-rated movies, rave parties, and any other assorted number of deviations only to find out that these sins branch from the attitude of “lovers of self,…arrogant, revilers…unholy…without self-control…haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness…”  The secret sins that are crippling Christians are the sins that we want to stay secret so that we can look good in the sight of other Christians. 

Clinging to two sets of standards cripples Christians.  When we as believers try to take part in the pleasures of the world we set ourselves up for spiritual failure.  The simple reason that we want pornography, R-rated (and many PG-13) movies, partying, gambling, alcohol, drugs and such is because we find it to be fun entertainment.  You may argue that what takes place in your home in secret does not affect your spiritual life.  Yet, when you get on your knees, the sky turns to brass and prayers seem hollow.  The endless quest for spiritual knowledge is tainted by distractions that the devil uses to easily steer us away from a serious walk with the Lord. 

Matthew 6:19–24 (NASB95)

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²² “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Split personalities will not work with Christians.  Jesus said that we cannot serve God and money.  I believe that this transfers across the board.  We cannot serve God and serve any other passion that takes priority in our lives. Darkness permeates our soul when God is not priority. James made it clear, “therefore, to the one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 5:17). 

Secret sins may not be so hideous as adultery or murder.  They may be sins of neglect.  For example, how many of us are willing to sit down in the evening to spend two or three hours watching television?  Perhaps we are spending several hours on the computer playing a game.  Perhaps it is a matter of investing untold hours on a project to rebuild a car or prepare a boat for a weekend getaway.  How many hours go by when engaging in obvious sins such as internet pornography, alcoholism, or gambling?  Then, early in the morning, we squeeze in ten to twenty minutes of Bible study, a quick “thank you Jesus” and even then “speed read” to get through the requirement.  Often this may be put off because we have overslept, only to be pushed by the wayside during the day as more important things come up.  We call ourselves Christian, but in reality we are playing a game.  God is a hobby compared to the other priorities in our lives.  I am not interested in bringing you under condemnation.  My point in this is simply that many of us are living a lie.  We claim to be Christian, and treat Christ as if He is a novelty.  Our thinking is upside down. 

Another aspect of secret sins is that most often we drag others into the sin with us.  I believe that each one of us are preachers.  We preach what our heart follows.  If we follow sports, cars, or a myriad of other things, we will tell others about them.  With secret sins, we may involve our family, loved ones, fellow believers, or outside people who support us in our sin. Our natural tendency is to justify our sin so that others will see things the way that we do.  David involved his house staff, Joab, and Bathsheba. 

Perhaps it is time to look at the secret sins in our lives.  Consider David and Bathsheba and the way that both of them covered the sin of adultery.  Then consider that we have sinful passions that hold a priority in our lives which surpass God.  Are we living a lie?  Is our Christian life genuine?  Are we rooted in the Scriptures through reasonable Bible study and prayer time?  Do we think about God outside of our quiet times and prayer times? 

I am going to shut up now.  Last night this was weighing heavy on my mind as I reflected on David.  If you have thoughts or comments, write in.

Father, lead each one of us to purity.  Show us how that our lives match up to following You and draw each of us into close fellowship with You.

In Him,

Joe Turner.