“For Whom the Lord loves, he disciplines.” Hebrews 12:6
Re-phrase: Discipline in our lives is evidence of God’s love for us.
In the past couple weeks, I have learned more details concerning the life of David than ever before. The text is so RICH with practical application and lessons for my life. Last week, we went over 2 Samuel 11:1-27, paying attention to the smallest details of the story. If you haven’t read it before, I would encourage you to do so. Here is my paraphrase of this particular portion of scripture:
It begins by stating that David (being King) was scheduled to go out to battle during this time of year, BUT did not go. Once evening came around, he went on his rooftop to walk around and began lusting after a woman who he saw bathing down below. This woman’s' name was Bathsheba, and she was the wife of one of David’s best soldiers (Uriah).
NOTES: We may not know the exact reason David stayed behind, but we can be sure that is was not honorable. Kings were suppose to fulfill their duties, and failure to do this was his first act of sin in this story. Secondly, he sinned by lusting after a woman that was not his wife, and then sinned again by sleeping with her.
Question: How do I react to the temptation to sin. Have I ever responded the way David did? I should I respond instead?
David sent some of his messengers to retrieve Bathsheba, and when she came to him, he had sex with her. We find out here that her previously mentioned bathing was to cleanse herself from her monthly period which had just finished. Bathsheba discovered she was pregnant, and sent word to tell David.
NOTES: Because Uriah was off at war, Bathsheba’s pregnancy would obviously not have resulted from relations with her husband, but from David. There would have likely been at least a few people that knew she had gone to be with the King that evening, and news of this adulterous occasion would have spread like wildfire.
Learning of this, David then pulled Uriah out of war and had him return home. David tries to coax Uriah to go home and sleep with his wife on 3 separate occasions, but with no success. The reason David wanted Uriah to sleep with his wife was because he wanted Uriah to believe the child was his. He wanted to cover up the result of his sin, and be done with the whole situation. However, Uriah was devoted to his duties of the kingdom, and would not forsake them in order to go rest at home. He knew he had responsibilities, and was going to remain faithful to them.
NOTES: David sins again by attempting to cover up his sin of sleeping with Bathsheba and getting her pregnant. He attempts this 3 times, unsuccessfully. By this time, David would have been getting desperate to hide his sin. No doubt he was anxious, and overwhelmed with the situation he had gotten himself into. Every time David sinned in this portion of scripture, he did not turn to God in repentance, but continued to dig himself deeper into a pit of sinful self-sufficiency.
Question: Have I ever attempted to cover up my sin with more sin? What should I do instead?
With David’s first attempt at covering up his sin failing miserably, he resorted to plan “B.” David wrote a letter addressed to Joab (battle commander of David’s army) which instructed him to put Uriah at the front lines of war, and then abandon him so that he would be overtaken and die. Ironically, this letter was delivered to Joab by the hands of Uriah himself. Joab obeyed the orders, and Uriah died in war.
NOTES: Murder. David was so desperate to cover up his sin and fix this situation himself that he resorted to murdering a man. If Joab died, then at least he wouldn’t have to face the man whom he betrayed by sleeping with his wife. The pit in which David had dug himself was deep, but it goes even deeper still.
Question: Have I ever dug myself a pit of sin so deep that I feel like I can never get out? What do I do then?
Joab then sends a messenger to tell David the news that Uriah is dead, but he gives the messenger specific instructions to go along with the message. He tells the messenger that if David becomes angry, and bombards the messenger with questions concerning how such a terrible and unlikely thing could have happened with his best soldiers, then he is to simply respond with, “Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” So, the messenger goes and tells David the news. David does not respond with frustration or anger and asks no questions. He simply requests that the messenger encourage Joab by saying: these things happen sometimes. Don’t get too get bent out of shape about it. Just dust yourself off and overtake the enemy now.
NOTES: I find this portion of the text especially interesting. Joab did exactly what David asked him to do by placing Uriah in a “sure-to-die” positon in war, yet he tells the messenger that David will likely become angry and ask questions as to how such a thing could have happened. Any good King would have responded in this way. But David responds with relief, basically saying , “lets not think about this anymore, but move forward. These things happen.” In this moment, I believe that the messenger would have either known that deceit and foul play was present, or been extremely confused by his response. Davids response is significant, because it reveals his relief. He knew that as a result of Uriah’s death, he would be able to marry Bathsheba, and cover up his sin once and for all. It took David many sins to get to this place, but he believed he was in the clear. He was wrong.
Question: Have I ever become hard-hearted toward my sin, diminishing it in my mind to mean nothing?
Bathsheba hears of her husbands death and mourns. After her mourning, David calles for her, and she becomes his wife. Bathsheba bore him a son. BUT, all the things that David had done displeased the Lord.
NOTE: ALthough all seemed “fixed” in the eyes of David, God was displeased. We cannot hide our sin from the Lord. Because God loved David, he would discipline him. David would soon begin to truly suffer the consequences of his sin.
Question: Have I ever felt as though I got away with my sin without consequence?
In 2 Samuel 12, David is confronted with his sin head on. He developed a broken and contrite spirit concerning his sin, and sincerely repents to the Lord. The Lord forgives him (2 Samuel 12:13) and washes David clean of his sin, but consequences to his sin remain. Over the years, David will suffer these 4 consequences to his sin:
1) The sword will never depart from his house.
2) Evil will stir up against David from his own household.
3) Someone close to David (his son) would sleep with David’s wives in broad daylight.
4) David’s son, born of Bathsheba will die when only a few days old.
LESSON: Sin will take you farther than you expected to go; it will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay; and it will cost you, more than you ever expected to pay. (Kay Aurthur) I bet that when David first laid his eyes on Bathsheba, he never dreamed that he would end up where he did, or pay for his sin so greatly. Sin is always diminished in our eyes to appear little and insignificant, but it is not. David belonged to the Lord, and as such, God would discipline him. Likewise, my sin is just as significant. I need to be aware that when I choose to sin, I choose to welcome some sort of death into my life, in addition to God’s righteous discipline. Thankfully, God will forgive me of my sin when I approach him in repentance with a broken heart. Thankfully, God is bigger than my sin, and will use it to glorify himself. Although David’s sin was great, and he suffered greatly, God used his sin to teach me about myself, and cause me to glorify God! I’m thankful for David, because in him I see myself. Praise the Lord for his ways are perfect!