The story of King David and Bathsheba has been written and spoken about on numerous occasions over the years, but I am interested in expanding a little on one of King David’s encounters with Nathan the Prophet, which I believe took place some time after David’s relationship with Bathsheba and his disposal of her husband Uriah, David could have thought he had got away with the perfect crime. But, God sees all things, nothing escapes his notice and one day we are all called to account, regardless of who we are, what position we hold, and our own personal opinion as we will see in this narrative.
In those days all Kings and people of note had their own special Prophets and King David was no exception, in fact the Prophet Nathan, as we read in earlier chapters of Scripture, had a long running relationship with David. However that didn’t give the Prophet many special privileges, but, the right to approach the King with messages from God was one of them. So, when Nathan did appear before him, the King, could have possibly been expecting some sort of good news from God, In the light of all the battles, cities and towns he had recently conquered.
The Prophet on the other hand probably wondered if his head would still be on his shoulders after this audience with the king. However,God had given him a message for the king and he had to deliver it. Thus deciding to tell the story of David’s relationship with Bathsheba in parable form was a really wise one.
Knowing He had to get to David’s shepherd heart, and his love of justice; Nathan approached the prophecy with this Parable;--
“In a certain town there was a rich man with a large number of sheep and cattle. Next door was a poor man, who only had one ewe lamb, he looked after this lamb like one of his own family, he fed it and cared for it and often had it on his knee where he allowed it to sleep while he stroked and cradled it, thinking, soon this little ewe would have her own little lamb, or maybe twins and his little flock would start to grow.
However this poor man’s dream came to nothing.
Because one day the rich man had a visitor, and not wanting to take one of his own sheep for the dinner table, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb instead. Of course, the poor man was greatly upset and on two counts, first he was out of pocket, and secondly he had lost his one and only treasured pet lamb.”
Scripture is very explicit here, it says “David burned with anger (v 5) when he heard the story and said “As surely as the Lord lives this man must die. He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
Then Nathan said to David “You are that man.”
Nathan went on to enumerate in Gods name all that the Lord had done for the king “(1) I anointed you king over Israel, (2) I delivered you from the hand of Saul, (3) I gave your master’s house to you, (4) and his wives in to your arms. (5) I gave you all Israel and Judah and if all this would have been too little I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord, by doing what is evil in His sight?”
So often when we are tempted it’s because we are in the wrong place at the wrong time, King David should have been at war at that time of year see Chap 11. 1, and not in his palace in Jerusalem. If he hadn’t been wondering around on the palace roof he would not have seen Bathsheba, Satan takes every opportunity and occasionally he wins Big time.
The Prophet was now in full stride and delivered the rest of the prophecy “You struck down Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) with the sword, and took his wife to be your own. Now therefore the sword will never leave your house, because you despised me and took the life of Uriah and took his wife to be yours.’
Sometimes our sins have generational consequences, as David heard from the Prophet.”This is what the Lord says, Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do it in broad daylight before all Israel.
Then David said to Nathan “I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD”.
Nathan replied “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. (There are times we think we’d rather disappear from the face of the earth than face the consequences of our sin but God doesn’t usually work that way.
And that’s what it’s all about, When we sin the damage or consequences of what we do cannot be removed. Almighty God is eager and ready to forgive but what we may have done to our families and fellow human beings is often reprehensible, and could even cost them their eternity.
David had to pay dearly for his sin, The son Bathsheba bore him died and he had major conflicts in his family which are worth reading about to see how the prophecy of Nathan was carried out to the letter read 2 Samuel.
Yet God called David “A man after God’s own heart”, why? Because he repented immediately, David realised that although he had hurt Bathsheba and, her family, His own family and future generations , He had seriously damaged his relationship with his God whom he truly loved, evidenced by the many psalms he wrote.
Our relationship with God is the most precious gift God has given us and is to be protected under all circumstances. That is what our eternity depends on.
From the time of Adam and Eve until this present day Satin has used the very same temptation “The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life” to lure us into sin.
If David had been on the battlefield with his men where he should have been and not wondering around on the palace roof he wouldn’t have seen Bathsheba and entertained the lustful thoughts and ambitions which cost him so dearly. Even after he was told she was another man’s wife, He pursued his lust, by then it was too late, sin had taken hold. (so often we think we are in control and can handle our feelings, but that is seldom the case, we can and do justify our feelings and that’s the very reason feelings, though real, are NOT reliable. why? Because feelings can and do change very quickly.)
King David then used his position as King to get what he wanted. “the pride of life” took over, which eventually led King David to get Bathsheba’s husband Uriah, murdered.
Thank God for His Grace, mercy and forgiveness which David sought and received from our God and we too have that same opportunity if we humbly seek it as he did. It’s never too late to come back to the God who loves us and is always ready to take us back
Thank you for reading this, God’s Blessings
Phaline.
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