David's Adultery

2 Samuel 11-12

            Ah, the sordid tale of David and Bathsheba1  There is really no good way to spin this story.  We note that David sent the army into the field but he himself stayed home.  Bad sign, #1.  He had no motive other than lust in sleeping with Bathsheba—no political gain to be had, no favor to be curried, no alliances to seal.  Bad sign #2.  Finally, there is the arranged murder of Uriah.  If only he had gone home instead of being all noble!

            Things were really tracking upward for David.  He had beaten the Philistines and won a capital (ch. 5).  He had begun to restore the proper worship of the Lord (ch. 6).  The Lord had promised that his throne would endure (ch. 7).  He’s beaten his enemies and made peace with the remnant of Saul’s family (ch. 8-9).  Unfortunately, adversity had brought out the best in David and now prosperity begins to bring out the worst in him.  There’s probably a lesson there about us, too, and our proclivity to lose sight of the Lord in the good times . . .

            A couple of notes:  the Bible never flinches from showing us that even the greatest ‘hero of the faith’ is just a poor, miserable sinner like the rest of us.  Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the judges—they all fell into doubt and sin.  In some ways, the constant failures of the men of God set us up for Jesus.  Just about the time we’re thinking, “Isn’t there anyone who can do the job?” Jesus appears and honors the Father in all things.  In another way, it warns us against trusting our own spiritual resources:  if they can’t do it perfectly, we can’t either!

            A second bit in this reading is Nathan’s confrontation of David and the aftermath.  First off, notice that Nathan is a master of the parable.  Please, put away the old saw that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  A parable was a way to speak truth to power, to cloak an iron fist in a velvet glove; it was designed to make the hearer recognize his own failure.  Second, David’s repentance is genuine.  (Read Psalm 51 to prove that point.)  Third, the sin is forgiven (v. 13), but the consequence of the sin remains.  I think that probably troubles some of my readers.  But we should understand that forgiveness means the guilt of sin is taken away; it does not mean that we can walk away scot-free from the consequences of our sin.  Spread malicious stories about a friend, and that friend may forgive you.  It is unlikely though that they will trust you anytime soon.  I’m sure we’ll talk about that last point on Sunday!