David and Bathsheba

A story of sin, judgement, repentance and restoration

Part 1: The danger of taking your eyes off God

In this series we are going to look at the story of David and Bathsheba. The story is about adultery, manipulation and murder followed by judgement, repentance and ultimately restoration. It marks the lowest point of David’s spiritual life but it also provides one of the best examples of God’s mercy and kindness and has many parallels with the New Testament. Importantly the story gives us many practical warnings and lessons to apply to our lives today.

The first part of the story is recorded in 2 Samuel 11 verse 1 - 27 as follows:

1 It happened in the spring of the year, 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 people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.” 
6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed 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 So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 
11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 
12 Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 
14 In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” 17 Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also. 

It is important to recognise that David’s first sin was not to look lustfully at Bathsheba. His first sin was to be in the palace at all. God had called David to lead his people and to drive God’s enemies from the land. Instead of leading his army to battle against the people of Ammon, David chose to remain in the palace. This is the first record of David leaving other to fight his battles. In all previous wars he had led the army himself.

David had taken his eyes off God and was no longer at the centre of His will. David had relaxed and decided to take it easy for a while whilst others fulfilled his calling for him. 

Prior to this when David had been obedient to God he had faced incredible challenges from both Saul and from enemy peoples. He had faced continual danger and opposition but had always succeeded because he was in the centre of God’s will.

Once David stepped out of God’s will he no longer faced the physical danger of battle but was actually far more vulnerable than if he had been on the battlefield.

Let’s each consider if we are at the centre of God’s will right now. It does not matter that we were fulfilling God’s calling last year, last month or even last week – what matters is where we are spiritually today! 

Perhaps some of us have taken our eyes off Jesus – not necessarily by consciously choosing to move away from God but maybe by simply deciding we deserve a rest from serving God for a while. Perhaps we think it is someone else’s turn to run the race or fight the spiritual battles or perhaps we have let disappointments rob us of some of our vision and passion. 

If so we need to beware because “Satan walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5 verse 8)   

We need to recognise that one of the most important ways of avoiding falling in to sin is to continually check that we are at the centre of God’s will, serving him daily and putting ourselves in situations where we need to trust him. How much better it is to be in the spiritual battlefield with God at our side than at home relaxing where we are open to Satan’s tricks and where temptation can quickly lead to sin.

Remain blessed and highly favoured.
Paul Thomson (Mr.)