2 Samuel 11:1-12:31

David’s Sin And Repentance

2 Samuel 11:1–12:31
Key Verse: 12:13 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 10-24-10

“’Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’”

David had won many battles and his kingdom was firmly established. He thought he deserved a vacation, so he stayed at home when his army went out to fight. Eventually, David sinned against the Lord greatly. He despised God's word and did what is evil in God's eyes. But God had mercy on David. He sent the prophet Nathan to David and called him to repentance. David repented and God accepted it. In the secular world people are considered great by how much money they make or their outer appearance or how cool they are or by the toys they own. But in the spiritual world those who repent of their sins before God are highly honored. Spiritual people are highly honored by God and are pleasing to God. Through this passage may we repent of spiritual laziness that paves the way to certain disaster. May we learn the importance of honest and clear confession before God so that God may restore us, by his grace. And finally, may we also learn what it means to be a wise servant of God, like Nathan the prophet.

Part l: David’s Sin. (11:1-5)

David took a spiritual vacation. Look at verse 1, “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.” In ancient times. Kings went off to war in the springtime and during the winter time they came back to their base camp and stationed there. They would train and reequip themselves. In the spring there would be favorable weather and new crops for the armies to eat while they are on their campaigns. One spring, David sent Joab, his army commander, out with the whole Israelite army fight, but he remained in Jerusalem. Humanly speaking, it sounded reasonable for him to do this. David had worked hard and fought hard for many decades and God raised him up to the king of Israel. He had tasted great success. But now that he was successful he thought that he could take a break and stay at home. It sounds reasonable right? Wrong. From God’s point of view David was guilty of negligence, since it was his job to unite the kingdom of Israel and expand its territory all the more. Ignoring this mission and calling from God, David decided to take a vacation. And it was a pretty cushy vacation. Look at verse 2a. “ One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace…” This implied that he was laying in bed all day long until evening. He felt it was his well deserved right to sleep in and be lazy. But think about it. His men were engaging in a bloody battle to destroy the Ammonites. Sometimes we think that we have worked hard enough and served God enough and we deserve a prolonged break. But when we think of all the servants of God who are slugging it out on the front lines of the spiritual battle we should realize that our propensity to seek ease, comfort and entertainment is not right.
It is not right for another reason. Let’s see. Let’s read verses 2-5, “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, "Isn't this 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. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant.’” One evening, David got up from his bed and walked around. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. She may have been performing a ritualistic bath designed to enable he to enter the tabernacle. She never imagined that anyone could see her. But David went for a walk on the roof. When he saw her he should have turned his head and quickly walked away regretting that he had stumbled upon this woman’s private moment. The woman was very beautiful. He gazed at her. He enjoyed lustful thoughts about her. He never turned away. He let his desires for her grow in his heart. He should have fled like Joseph in Potiphar’s house. He should have made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a woman as Job did. David found out who she was. She was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s most loyal generals. David should never even think of fooling around with the wife of such a loyal general. But he brought her to his palace and slept with her. Then she went back home. 2 Tim 2:22 reads, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
David thought it was their little secret. But God has ways of making our sin known. Bathsheba conceived and sent word to David, “I am pregnant.” (5) To a servant of God, it was tragic news. His sin was about to go public. His people would know that he sinned. The religious leaders would know. What could he do? David concocted a plan. Look at verses 6-8, “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.” David sent word to word to Joab to bring Uriah the Hittite to him. He thought that if he could make Uriah sleep with his wife, then the pregnancy would appear to be from their union. But David was even more hard pressed. Look at verse 9-13. Uriah refused to sleep with his wife. Instead he slept at the entrance to the palace with his masters servants. When David was told, “Uriah did not go home,” he asked him, “Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?” David appeared to care about Uriah. But in reality he was eager to cover up his sin. Uriah appeared to neglect his wife, but he was not. He was a man of integrity. He was very faithful to God. He was very loyal to his king and to commander Joab. He was a good leader for his men. I am sure that his wife understood his commitments, especially during a time of war. What he said to David was heart moving. Let’s read verse 11, “Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!’" Uriah’s loyalty was remarkable. How hard it must have been for David to even conceive of the plan he was about to carry through with.
David tried again to make Uriah to go home and wash his feet. But it did not work as David had planned. When David knew that he had failed to cover up his sin, he decided to destroy Uriah. Let’s read verses 14 and 15, “In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." It was no less than a plot to murder Uriah.
When David heard of Uriah’s death, he brought Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, to his palace and made her one of his wives and she bore him a son. In this way, the anointed servant of God, the great King David, became a thief, a liar and ultimately a murderer. The author comments on the ultimate tragedy in verse 27b, “…But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.” David was a man who had God’s spirit and had been a good shepherd for his people. But when he became lazy he became vulnerable to the attack of the devil, who pounced on him. All of this started out small, with a desire to take it easy and to enjoy the image of a beautiful woman in his heart. But it grew to a full blown disaster. This confirms the words of James 1:15, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Spiritual laziness is not a small matter for any person. God created us in his image to rule over and subdue the world and bear much fruit for the glory of God. (Gen 1:28) Enjoying laziness is against God’s truth. It goes against our own humanity and makes us vulnerable spiritually. It is the seed that can grow into destruction.
Part ll: David’s Repentance (12:1-12)
Because of his sin, David became very defensive and self righteous. No one could dare tell him anything. He was the king. People knew what happened, but kept this matter to themselves. Who would dare stand up against him? David could have spent the rest of his life in his self defensive pride suffering inwardly. But thank God that God did not leave him alone. God sent Nathan the prophet to David to help him to repent. When Nathan went to David he told him a parable in verses 1-4, “ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." This is a story about a rich man. The man had a large flock of his own sheep. But he did not take a sheep from among his own sheep to cook for his guest. Instead he took the ewe lamb of a poor man who had only one ewe lamb, which he loved like his only daughter. God gave Nathan wisdom how to minister the word of God. Sometimes we think we can not share the word of God with other people. We think that we are not qualified. But here we learn that if we keep our identity and stand as a servant of God, God will give us wisdom and the words to help even kings to come to repentance and saving faith in Jesus.
The word of God, given through Nathan the prophet, began to work powerfully in David’s heart. Look at verses 5-6, “David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." David’s heart burned with anger against the man. His sense of justice was still alive. But he did not make the connection, that he was the man. This is true. Sometimes we know what is right and wrong. We have a sense of justice, but we don’t make the connection that what the word of God says is actually pertaining to us. That is why we need Bible study with personal reflection. That is why we need the Holy Spirit. Concerning the conviction work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says John 16:7&-8, “7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[a] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:” Let’s pray for the convicting work of the Holy Spirit so that we may more closely follow Jesus.
Nathan served this purpose in verses 7-10. Let’s read them. “Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'” This gets down to the very core of why sin is wrong before God. The act of sin is actually an act ignoring the grace of God and also an act of despising the word of the Lord. God had blessed King David so much. God’s word revealed God’s hope for David to be a shepherd King for Israel. But David trampled on God’s vision for him. The Ten Commandments were on obvious, but David broke all five of the last commandments in attempting to cover up his sin. God has given us so much. Mostly he has given us eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. He called us into his family and given us a great and glorious mission. He has provided for our every need. We are so blessed that if some people lived the life we live, they would consider it like winning the lottery. How can we sin against the Lord, when he has given us so much grace and mercy? How can we ignore God’s great vision for our lives?
David’s response to God’s rebuke through Nathan is what made David great. In ancient times no one had the right to rebuke a king. If anyone offended a king’s pride, he could not expect to survive. Now David was the king over his people. So he could have done away with Nathan by his power and Authority. But David did not act like an ordinary man. Let’s read verse 13a, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ …” What beautiful words these are! He did not deny the facts to protect his pride. When God convicted him, he humbled himself and repented of his sin before the prophet of God.
As we know it is not easy for anyone to repent of their sin. Especially, for a king, repentance is not necessary, for the king himself is the law of the land. But David never thought that he was a law unto himself. He submitted to God’s standard and repented. He could repent of his sin, because of the mercy of God. God sent his word and his Spirit to David. God sent his servant Nathan. (We can not bypass this fact). God could have abandoned David, for David had despised his word and exploited his flock. But God, in his grace, really tried hard to restore David and he did by his power. He gave him the spirit of repentance by giving him a clear message through Nathan and David recognized God’s love through this message. God loved David so much. He took him from being a lowly shepherd boy and raised him up to the shepherd and ruler of his people Israel. God’s grace is deeper than the ocean. Even BP’s deep sea oil rigs could not tap in to the vast reserves of God’s love and grace.
David’s repentance was “thorough” and “sincere”. Look at verse 13, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’ Psalm 51 tells us how David repented. Let’s listen to an excerpt from this psalm. I will read verses 1-3, “ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. “ Beautiful words are they not? David knew that he should have been abandoned by God because of his sins. But he depended on God’s love and compassion when he asked God to blot out his transgressions and to wash away all of his iniquities. He asked God’s forgiveness. (Psalm 51:1-3) Even though he was a king he honored God as God. So he said, “Against you and against you only have I sinned.” (Ps 51:4a) David showed what it meant to be a true king, ordained by God, through his repentance.
When he repented God release David from his torment. When David took the liberty to enjoy his sinful nature, he was not happy because sin was living in him. At that time God’s hedge of protection was lifted and evil spirits came into him and tormented him. He suffered a lot, That is why he cried out in Psalm 51:10-12, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David knew that there was no method to receive the grace of forgiveness other than the repentance of sins. If his sins could be forgiven, by offering up a huge sacrifice, David would have offered up hundreds of bulls and thousands of sheep. But David knew what God really wanted. He says in Psalm 51:16-17, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” David knew that God takes not pleasure in burnt offering with no heart. He knew that God would accept his repentance only when he repented with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. And this is what David did.
Part lll: David was restored (12:15-23)
Look at verses 15-23. David accepted the consequence of his sin. Look at verses 22-23. “He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." He overcome through resurrection faith and trusting in God’s love and sovereignty.
God restored his relationship with Bathsheba. Look at verses 24-25, “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; 25 and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. Solomon as born.” They could make a new beginning in their family life together. Their son would even become the future king of Israel.
David actually repented of his laziness and got involved in matter of state, Look at verses 26-31. He fought with his armies and once again engaged in his mission to fight the battles of the Lord. His repentance was very practical. There was a clear change.
In this passage we learned why David fell into a great sin against God and how he repented of his sin. David sinned against God when he decided to have a little vacation. When he rested physically, his spirit followed suit and he became vulnerable to Satan and his sinful nature. After committing sin, David underwent unutterable troubles and distress and his soul was tormented by evil spirits. David learned that repentance before God must involve a broken spirit. Most of all David learned that the grace of God’s forgiveness of sin is truly life giving. David confessed in Psalm 32:1-2a, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him…” David became our ancestor of faith and one of the greatest men to ever live, through his sincere repentance and in his faith in the grace of God’s forgiveness of sin. Rulers for the last 3,000 have learned from his example. Their subjects have been blessed by David’s example. But we must know that he became one of the greatest people through his repentance. May God bless each one of us to experience the blessing of sincere repentance before God and the restoration and blessing it brings.

Part l: David’s Sin (11:1–27)

1. While his men went to war, where did David remain, and why? (10:13–19; 11:1) How did he come to commit the sin of adultery? (2–4; cf. Ge4:7; Ro6:12–13; 1Jn2:16) To what result? (5; Nu32:23) What can we learn here about how not to fall into sin? (Ge39:9–10; Mt6:13; 2Ti2:22)

2. How did David attempt to cover up his sin? (11:6–27a) How did Uriah’s behavior contrast with David’s? (9,13) What happened to some of David’s men? (17,24) How had David’s heart been poisoned by the power of sin? (Jas1:15) How did God view what he had done? (27b) What does the phrase “displeased the LORD” imply? (5:2)


Part ll: David’s Repentance (12:1–31)

3. How did the Lord intervene? (1a) What was Nathan’s story and what did it arouse in David? (1b–6) How did Nathan confront him, and of what did he remind him? (7–8) In what ways had David despised the word of the Lord, as well as the Lord himself? (9–10; cf. Ex20:13–17) What judgment did God pronounce on him? (10–12)

4. What remarkable confession did David make? (13a; cf. Jer36:22–26) According to Psalm 51, how did David express this repentance more fully? What assurance did Nathan give him? (13b) Nevertheless, what were the dire consequences of David’s sin? (14–15) What can we learn here about how costly sin is?


5. How did David’s actions in verses 16–25 show that his heart had been restored after repentance and God’s forgiveness? How did David resume his mission as king of Israel? (26–31)


6. What warnings does the story of David’s sin have for spiritual leaders? What can we learn about how fallen spiritual leaders can be restored? What can we learn in these chapters from God in his dealings with David?