YOU ARE THE MAN! - 2 SAMUEL 12

 

David And Nathan The Prophet

12:1-15

If we read the last verse of chapter 11 with the first verse of chapter 12, it reads: “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. And the LORD sent Nathan to David” 

David may have thought he had gotten away with his sins, or at least put them behind him. But, he had not dealt with his sin, confessing and repenting. So, the Lord came to him through the prophet. 

The passage does not specifically how long David had gone without repentance, but if we interpret verse 14 to mean the child had already been born when Nathan came to David, it had been at least 8-9 months. That is a long time to be out of fellowship with God. 

So, God’s sending Nathan to David was an act of grace. God did not allow his servant remain in sin, but sent conviction to David via the prophet. Certainly, there was judgment. But, God cared about David’s sanctification and worked in David for it. He does the same for us, sometimes through the Holy Spirit bringing conviction of sin through God’s word. Sometimes it is by a person bringing a sin to your attention. 

God constantly works in us for our sanctification. (Philippians 1:6)

Nathan told David a parable about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had many sheep. the poor man only had one and he loved her. But the rich man took it from the poor man to feed a guest at a feast.

David was incensed. He ordered the rich man to restore four times as much as he had taken. This was the law. (Exodus 22:1) He also said the rich man deserved to die for his actions. (5-6) This was the punishment for adultery under the Old Covenant law. (Leviticus 20:10-12; Deuteronomy 22:22)

Nathan famously replied: “You are the man!” (7) David had condemned himself. 

David had many wives and  concubines. God said he gave David everything. He made him king, delivered him from Saul, gave him Saul’s possessions and wives, and, if this were too little, He would have added much more to David. (7-9)

Uriah had only one wife. David had taken her just as the rich man had taken the poor man’s lamb. 

God described David’s sin as despising God and his word. (9-10) He also said David had utterly scorned him. Certainly, he had despised God’s word by ruthlessly violating the commandments against covetousness, adultery, and murder. He had also despised God’s words of promise and blessing by considering them insufficient.By despising God’s word, David despised God. (10)

To his credit, David admitted (confessed) his sin when confronted. (13) And  God put away, or forgave David’s sin. That is in accordance with what 1 John 1:9 tells us. But, God did impose consequences. He did not give David a pass even though he loved him and anointed him as king. 

The consequences were severe.

First, because David killed Uriah, David’s house would be continually subject to violence. That is what he means by “the sword shall never depart from your own house”. (10)

This was fulfilled repeatedly. David’s son Ammon raped his sister, Tamar. Then Absalom murdered Ammon. Absalom was later killed after rebelling against David. Solomon executed Adonijah, the oldest son, for attempting to take the throne. (1 Kings 2) In succeeding generations, more violence came to the house of David.

Second, because David took Uriah’s wife, another would take David’s wives and concubines. Although David did this in private, God would do this in public. This was fulfilled by Absalom during his revolt, when he had sex with David’s concubines in a tent on the roof of the king’s house. (2 Samuel 16:20-23)

Third, and finally, the child of David born to Bathsheba, would die. (15) David was excused from death, but a son of David died because of David’s sin. This pattern is repeated with Jesus. 

The Child Dies

12:15-23

The child soon became ill. David fasted and slept on the ground. He wept. The thought it possible that God might, in return, give him grace and let the child live. But, the child died as the Lord had said he would. 

When the child died, David got up from the ground, ate food, and cleaned himself up. His advisers were confused. David explained that once the child died, he could do nothing else to try and help him. 

But then David did a remarkable thing. He went to the place where the ark was kept and he worshiped God. He had accepted the consequences of his sin and the sovereignty of God to impose them. 

God did extend further grace to David, though. He gave him a son with Bathsheba. This was Solomon, who would succeed David on the throne. God gave him his own name, Jedidiah. It meant “beloved of the LORD”. God would love him and make him king. 

Takeaways

God cares about our sanctification and works with us for it. 

God forgives sin.

He may, however, allow us to experience the consequences of our sin.

This is God’s discipline of his sons - designed to make us holy. (Hebrews 12:3-17) I encourage you to read the passage in Hebrews. 

Godspeed.

DAVID & BATHSHEBA: 2 SAMUEL 11

David’s Sin

11:1

This chapter tells the grim story of David’s greatest sins. The story begins with David staying home while Israel went to fight the Ammonites. Remember that chapter 10 told the story of the Ammonites dishonoring David’s messengers. In response, David sent Joab and the army to fight them. David did not go. The events of chapter 11 may have occurred at this time. 

1 Corinthians 10:13 says: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.” 

Let’s read this story with this verse in mind. 

So, the first thing we see in this episode is that David was not doing what he was supposed to do and what he normally did. He did not lead his troops into battle. He stayed home in Jerusalem. 

Temptation often arises when we step outside of our normal routines and neglect our duties. When we stop going to church or stop reading our Bibles, for example, we can experience temptations we would not normally experience, and which we may not be strong enough to handle.

1 Peter 5:8 warns us: “Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Up On The Roof

11:2-5

David had been lying on his couch in the late afternoon. He was taking a nap. Notice the contrast: his soldiers are in battle; he is napping. They are suffering; he is luxuriating. Having excused himself from what he should be doing, he is the picture of a man with nothing worthwhile to do. 

From the couch, David went to the roof of his house. he started looking around. He is the picture of boredom. The modern day equivalent is endless scrolling on social media. Or, many people watch porn when they are bored. 

David could have occupied himself with kingdom matters. He had a nation to manage even if he did not go to war. Instead, he is prowling around on his roof. 

David saw a woman bathing. She was beautiful. He inquired about her. He found out she was married. That should have stopped David (way of escape). But, undeterred, he had her brought to him and had sex with her. 

She got pregnant. The reason the writer tells us she had been purifying herself is that it shows Bathsheba could not have been pregnant with her husbands’s baby. The law required a woman to purify herself after her period. 

David had access to many women. He first wife was Saul’s daughter, Michal, though they evidently were not getting along. While in Hebron, to took several wives: Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah. (2 Samuel 3:2-5; 1 Chronicles 3:1-3). He also had concubines. 

Then, at Jerusalem, he took more wives and more concubines. (2 Samuel 5:13) He had more sons and daughters, so he was having sex with them. Yet, he was not satisfied with them and sought another man’s wife.

David thus broke two commandments. First, he coveted another man’s wife. (Exodus 20:17) Second, he committed adultery. (Exodus 20:14) 

David also betrayed a loyal subject, Uriah. Uriah was one of David’s “Mighty Men”. He was one of the “30”, a group of the top warriors. (2 Samuel 23:39) 

In addition, Bathsheba’s father, Eliam, was also one of David’s mighty men. (2 Samuel 23:34) Eliam was also the son of Ahithophel, a respected advisor who later became hostile to David.

David Attempts A Cover Up

11:6-13

David decided to get Uriah to sleep with his wife so that it might look like Bathsheba’s child was Uriah’s and not David’s. 

For the first attempt, David had Uriah brought from the battlefield to give him news on the progress of the war. He then told him to go home, expecting him to sleep with his wife. “Wash your feet” seems to have this connotation. However, Uriah slept at the door to David’s house with the servants. 

When David found out, he questioned Uriah. Uriah told him that as long as his fellow soldiers camped out in the fields, he would not go home and sleep with his wife. (11) He was very emphatic, swearing on David’s life. For him to respond vehemently to the king shows how strongly he felt about the matter. 

There is an additional element to this for Uriah. Sexual intercourse resulted in ceremonial uncleanness, so soldiers fighting for Israel avoided it, since they were serving the Lord. (Leviticus 15) We see this when David told the high priest, Ahimelech, that his men had kept themselves from women so that Ahimelech would give him the Bread of the Presence (“holy bread”) to feed them. (1 Samuel 22:4)

Next David invited Uriah to dinner and got him drunk, thinking that would make him amenable to going home to his wife. But, again, Uriah slept with David’s servants and did not go home. (13)

The contrast here shows Uriah as principled and David as unprincipled and conniving. 

David Resorts To Murder

11:14-25

David sent Uriah back to the battle with a letter to Joab, instructing Joab to place Uriah where the fighting was the most intense. Then, he was to withdraw the other fighters and allow Uriah to be overcome and killed. 

Joab obeyed David. When Uriah was killed, Joab sent a messenger to David with the news. David then sent a message back to encourage Joab in this setback. But the real message was: thanks for doing this for me. 

Now David has broken another commandment: you shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13)

David Marries Bathsheba

11:26-27

Once Bathsheba completed the mourning period for her husband, David married her. She had the baby, a son. Notice that the author does not name her, but calls her “the wife of Uriah”. 

But, God was displeased. 

Takeaways

David had many opportunities to avoid these sins as 1 Corinthians 10:13 says will occur. But he did not take them. 

James 1:14-15 says: “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.”  

David should have confessed and repented for his sin with Bathsheba. If he had, God would have forgiven him. (1 John 1:9, Numbers 14:18) Instead, he tried to cover it up. 

We do not know Bathsheba’s mindset in all of this. But, the point of this story is David’s fall into sin. Attempts to blame Bathsheba to make David look better are inappropriate. 

Matthew recognized this. In his genealogy of Jesus, he states that: “David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah”. (Matthew 1:6) 

Knowing Jesus

 "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. 

He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... 

Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God."

C. S. Lewis 

Mere Christianity

DAVID'S KINDNESS - 2 SAMUEL 9-10

 

David’s Kindness

2 Samuel 9

With Israel at peace and the administration of the country established in justice and equity (8:15), David could turn to other matters. So, he asked if there were any relatives of Saul to whom he could show kindness. He wanted to do this to honor Jonathan. And so he goes even beyond his oath not to terminate the line of Saul. (1 Samuel 24:21-22) 

He honors his covenant with Jonathan, which included a bond between their offspring. (1 Samuel 20:42) He does this even thought 15-20 years have passed. 

But, David was also likely to be acting out of love for Jonathan, giving him a desire to take care of any of Jonathan’s children. 

David’s servants found a man who had been the servant of Saul and brought him to David. His name was Ziba. He informed David that there was a son of Jonathan who still lived. His name was Mephibosheth. He was crippled.

David brought him to Jerusalem and told him he would show him kindness for the sake of Jonathan. Mephibosheth probably feared that he was brought in for execution. Normally, a regime change results in a purge of the old regime, including any rivals to the throne. 

Instead, David gave him all of Saul’s land, that had evidently been forfeited. (Or, Ziba acted as a steward of the land and paid the profits to David.) And he provided for Mephibosheth to stay at in Jerusalem and eat at David’s table, along with his son, Mica. (12) This was a substantial honor. 

David also instructed Ziba to serve Mephibosheth as he had served Saul. He and his sons and his servants were to farm the land David restored to Mephibosheth. The lands must have been extensive if 35 men were needed to farm it. The profits from the farm would be paid to Mephibosheth. 

Ziba was obviously a man of means if he had 15 sons and 20 servants. (10) Nonetheless, Ziba agreed without hesitation to do what David instructed. (11)

We might see in this story a connection to our own lives. Before we came to faith in Christ, we were his enemies. (Romans 5:10)Yet, God loved us and sent his son to reconcile us to himself. He gave us the gift of eternal life. He lavished his grace on us. (Ephesians 1:8) We are the Lord’s Mephibosheths. 

The Ammonite & Syrian Wars

2 Samuel 10

The Ammonites Disrespect David

10:1-5

David had already subdued the Ammonites. (8:12) When the king (Nahash) of the Ammonites died, David honored him by sending a delegation to express consolation. He did this because the king had paid his tribute and had not rebelled, he “dealt loyally” with David. (1)

However, the Ammonite leaders believed the visit was a ruse to spy on the capital city in order to invade it. So, they mistreated the delegates. They shaved off half their beards and cut their garments to expose them. These actions were meant to humiliate them. 

David was compassionate to his men, having them remain at Jericho until their beards grew out and they would not be embarrassed at home. 

The Ammonites Hire Allies

10:6-8

The Ammonites realized their error. It was a stupid thing to do. So, they hired mercenary Syrians to bolster their army, figuring David would attack them. And, indeed, David sent Joab, the commander, with his mighty men. 

The Ammonites and their Syrian fighters arranged themselves in front of the gate of the city to protect it. They also placed the Syrians in the open country to engage the Israelites. 

The Battle

10:9-14

When Joab saw there were two fronts to fight on, he divided his army. He sent the best men to fight the Syrians in the open country and took the rest to engage the Ammonites with his brother, Abishai, to led them. They agreed to help each other if the enemy prevailed against one of them. 

The Syrians fled. When the Ammonites saw this, they retreated behind the city walls. So, Joab returned to Jerusalem, thinking the battles were over.

David Gets Involved

10:15-18

It was not over, however. The Syrians regrouped and called other Syrians to join them. They came out to confront Israel. In response, David gathered all the fighting men of Israel together and engaged the Syrians in battle. The Israelites defeated the Syrians, and killed many of them, including their commander. 

Peace Is Restored

10:19

After being defeated in battle, the Syrians made peace and became subject to Israel. They also were too afraid to fight for the Ammonites any more. So, peace was restored to Israel. 

At this point, God is still blessing David with victories and Israel with peace. This is because David is still serving God and serving Israel. And because David is God’s Anointed.

Because of that, let’s look at Psalm 2. It is attributed to David in Acts 4:25. We see it as a Messianic Psalm, completely fulfilled by David’s Greater Son, Jesus. But it seems to also apply partially to David himself. For the nations around Israel plotted against him, but God subdued them under David, his anointed king. 

However, the Ammonite war sets the stage for the next big episode of David’s life. And it is a bad one.