When we think of King David, we most often envision him as a boy shepherding his father’s sheep while facing down a lion and a bear, a young man slaying the Philistine champion Goliath, a friend of Jonathan running from an insane King Saul, or a poet penning the words to great Psalms we have committed to memory. To most of us, Davis is an heroic figure. He was, after all, a man after God’s on heart.
But then there was the episode with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah. As you recall, Uriah was one of David’s mighty men who served as the king’s guard and who fought his battles. In the Spring of the year, David’s troops went to war but, for some unstated reason, David stayed behind. While walking on the roof of the palace in the cool of the evening, David saw Bathsheba taking a bath in her courtyard. I’m certain it was behind a wall with no thought that someone might be on the palace roof where he could see over her privacy fence. You know the rest of the story.
David had Bathsheba brought to him. Before the evening was over, they ended up in each other’s arms committing adultery. We don’t know if Bathsheba were a willing party or simply felt she could not sway not to a king. He most likely sent her home apologizing for what had happened with assurances that it would never happen again. However, she soon reported she was pregnant. David found himself in a contorted dilemma. He was responsible for what had happened. Adultery was a crime punishable by death for both the man and the woman and, in this case, an innocent child. Even if the law were not enforced, David would lose the loyalty of his men who were off risking their lives while he was at home trifling with their wives.
Satan had sprung the trap. One moment of unguarded passion had led to unthinkable consequences for David, Bathsheba, and the kingdom. In a desperate effort to cover up the sin, David called Uriah home from the front to “report on the battle.“ While there, David encouraged him to go home and be with his wife. Later, they could explain the pregnancy as a result of his brief visit in Jerusalem. However, Uriah would not go to his wife while his men slept in the field away from their families.
Finally, David devised a plan. He sent Uriah back to the front, but instructed his commander to place Uriah in jeopardy in the battle in the hopes that he might lose his life. He would not be around to deny that he had gone to Bathsheba on his trip back from the war. David’s plan worked and Uriah was killed in battle. Then, in a seemingly compassionate move, David took the grieving widow to be one of his wives. Now he had added murder to adultery. We are told that David sat on the throne for nearly a year before he was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his sin. God had given him that time to acknowledge what he had done and to repent.
We can only speculate, but David was a man like other men. Undoubtedly, he kept quiet about what had happened and what he had done both out of shame and fear. Adultery was bad enough, but if it got out that David had set Uriah up for death, he might not have an army left nor the loyalty of his people. Like most of us, he probably rationalized his silence and, perhaps, his sin. The enemy must have been whispering that Bathsheba should have been more careful with her privacy or perhaps, Uriah wasn’t the husband he should have been. He put his men ahead of his marriage and maybe Bathsheba was susceptible because of an unloving husband. Secrecy and murder was wrong but it was for the sake of the kingdom…the greater good. Besides…God had made David with his sex drive. He couldn’t help himself. The death of Uriah, though tragic, may have saved three lives as the death penalty was attached to the adultery. For months, David probably pushed back against any impulse to confess because of the dire consequences that would come from his failure. In that season he felt the absence of God because, in his heart, he was hiding from the one he had once been so close to.
Even in this state of denial, God still pursued David. His Spirit kept stirring David’s conscience and eventually he sent Nathan the prophet to confront him. As the prophet rebuked David (2 Sam.12), the dam broke and David acknowledged his terrible sin. Psalm 51 is the substance of his confession. We need to notice a few critical things in this Psalm as David sought forgiveness from his creator. The Psalm is a quick read, so I encourage you to read it now before continuing with this blog.
Importantly, David begins by trusting the character of God…especially his great mercy, his unfailing love, and his compassion. Before we go to God with a big fail (sin), we need to assure ourselves that when our heart is right, God is willing and quick to forgive. Like the father of the “prodigal son,” he waits for us and longs for us to return no matter what we have done.
Nowhere in this psalm does David minimize or justify his sin. He does not plead his case before God by blaming Bathsheba for her carelessness or Uriah for his neglect. He doesn’t try to make a case that it was only one time and he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t argue that his concern for the Kingdom demanded the coverup. He simply stated he had sinned against God and he had no excuses. He clearly was broken and remorseful and simply wanted to be restored so that he might praise God again and point sinners to salvation.
When he confessed and repented, his sin was immediately forgiven and his relationship with the Father renewed. There would be difficult consequences in the natural realm, but his walk with God had been restored and God would see him through the hard times ahead.
Too often, we feel as if we have to talk God into forgiving our sins by down playing them, excusing them, blaming others, or even declaring that God’s expectations are not fair. David declared that God’s standards were just and right. The problem was on David’s end, not God’s. God does not forgive our sins because we deserve to or make a good case. He forgives them because he is full of love, mercy and grace and we are his beloved children. Knowing all of our sins before we were ever born, he still covered them by the blood of his son.
What he wants when we fall short, no matter how short, is for us to fully own our sin…no excuses, no rationalizations, no deflecting. He wants is to trust in his love and grace rather than our ability to persuade him we are actually pretty good people who warrant him letting our sin slide. That approach suggests that God is not so good and the blood of Christ is not really sufficient. That approach brings us into agreement with Satan and opens the door to his activity in our lives. We are going to sin…sometimes in disastrous ways, but we cannot hide it from God because he knows all things. We cannot blame others because we made our choices. We should not excuse ourselves because sin will not be excused. What we should do is run to our Father, knowing he is full of mercy and quick to forgive, if we indeed have godly sorrow about what we have done. He will not keep bringing it up or rubbing our nose in what we have done because by the blood of Christ, in response to our repentance, our sin and the record of our sin are blotted out. Good news!