David and Bathsheba
This lesson shows the bad part of David: he took a woman that was not his, David killed Uriah, lied about what he had done, and David hid his sins. This lesson shows us that everyone sins, but we cannot hide from the LORD God. Just like David repented we must also repent of our sins. 2 Samuel 11-12.
One evening King David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. She is the wife of one of his generals, Uriah, the Hittite, who is away at war.
David sends for Bathsheba and spends the night with her. When she becomes pregnant, David commands that Uriah be placed on the front lines, where he dies in battle. When Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
When the mourning period was past David was then free to marry Bathsheba. Bathsheba delivered a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
The LORD sent Nathan, the prophet, unto David. Nathan said unto him, “There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, this little lamb was as a daughter to the poor man. And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.” (2 Samuel 12:1-4).
David was angered against the rich man. David said to Nathan, the man that had done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
Nathan said to David, You are the man. Nathan reminded David all that the LORD God had done for him and the LORD God was replayed by David killing an innocent man with the sword of the children of Ammon. Because of this the Ammonites will always war against King David.
The LORD God was really mad at David He also said he would raise up evil against David out of his own house, and take his wives before his eyes and give them unto his neighbor.
David told Nathan he had sinned against the LORD God and repented. The LORD had taken away David’s sin and David did not die. However, because of the sin of David the LORD did take the life of the child that was born during that sin.
David fasted while the child was alive and wept for the child. Seven days later the child died of an illness. Then David ate and comforted Bathsheba his wife. Later Bathsheba had another son and his name was Solomon; and the LORD loved him.
What Can This Story Teach Us?
David makes his worst mistake yet. He takes his neighbor’s wife, and tries to cover it up. He kills the woman’s husband when he can’t conceal the error. But God knows the truth.
David repented and was sorry for sinning before the LORD. David humbled himself before the LORD. The child had become deathly ill just as Nathan, the prophet, had predicted. David prayers and fasts, which means he goes without eating, to show the LORD he had repented for his sin and was sorry. The child died after seven days.
We need to remember that sin is the disobedience to the LORD God. It is completely impossible for a person of this world to be free from sin. A person is born a sinner, and must die because he is a sinner.
We have good news through Jesus Christ. It is because of His sacrifice on the cross that our sins are forgiven. It is because Jesus was crucified and died for us. Jesus was innocent and did not sin yet He died for our sins. He paid the ultimate price for us.
It is very important that we understand that when we sin we must acknowledge that we did sin within ourselves and then take it to Jesus in prayers. Then we have to be sorry for the sin and change our heart so we do not commit that sin again. We have to have faith that our sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ and through His Grace we are washed clean of sins by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “David and Bathsheba:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1981,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, January) “David and Bathsheba:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1981,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “David and Bathsheba:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1981, (accessed).
