God’s grace is greater than all our sin

2 Samuel 11:1 - 12:14

These chapters describe David's sin with Bathsheba and the aftermath.

THE FALLEN SERVANT

Things were going well with David. [So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 2 Sam 8:15]. In Chapter 10, we see Israel at war with the Ammonites. David is now about 50 years of age, with many wives and sons, and obligated to live as a model of righteousness before his subjects and sons.

Two battles are going on, one is a military battle where the Ammonites have taken a beating but are still a threat and the other is a moral battle where the king is about to fall.

2 Sam 11:1-4 The verbs used here are “saw,” “sent,” “took,” “lay.” The vantage of David's palace from where he SAW below into another's space proves to be his disadvantage. He is safe from the street but not safe from himself. He was not like Job who made a covenant with his eyes. Job 31:1. He did not need to go down, he SENT someone to find out about this woman. The Lord intervened mercifully and David is told that it is Eliam's daughter and Uriah's wife. But David who would have known the commandments (Don’t commit adultery. Don’t covet your neighbour’s wife) did not use this information that she is another's wife as a way of escape. The words TOOK and LAY do not give any indication that Bathsheba had any choice in the matter.

2 Sam 11:5 Bathsheba was pregnant. When Uriah returned from battle, the adultery would be discovered.

2 Sam 11:6-13 David's plan A fails when David has Uriah called home from battle for a briefing, but Uriah would not enter his house but camps with the palace guards. David's plan B fails when David tries to get Uriah drunk, but a drunk Uriah is better than a sober David and does not go home. David gave no thought to his wickedness but was only determined to avoid public shame. We do not know what would have happened if David had trusted God and come clean; but doing what is right is about trusting God and not about being in control of what then happens.

2 Sam 11:14-27 David's plan C is to have Uriah killed by ordering for him to be put in the front of the battle. Uriah is killed. The Lord is not mentioned in all of Chapter 11 except in the chilling last sentence: "But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord." David himself may have convinced himself that it was all behind him. But the Lord’s eyes were watching. They always are. As we see David’s deceitful, sick heart, we recognize that our own hearts share the same disease

THE GIFT OF REPENTANCE

2 Sam 12:1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. The verb send (salah) was used 12 times in chapter 11. —David sends, Bathsheba sends, Joab sends. Now the Lord sends. Not that God’s pursuing grace is enjoyable. But what would become of us if Yahweh abandoned us when we succeed at sin? That day David was broken and said, “I have sinned against the Lord,” because the Lord who pursued gave David the gift of repentance. Rom 2:4, Acts 11:18, 2Tim 2:25, Rev 3:19, 2 Peter 3:9. David articulated his repentance in Psalm 51, appealing to God's grace, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love." no one who has ever made the mercy of God the sole basis of their plea has ever been turned away. This is the heart of the gospel. Nathan declares: “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2Sam 12:13). God's forgiveness included 1. judicial forgiveness, setting aside the requirement that murderers and adulterers be put to death, sparing his life. 2. Spiritual forgiveness where God reconciled David to Himself. Ps. 32:1–2.

PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES

“The sword shall never depart from your house” (2 Sam 12:10), “I will raise up evil against you out of your own house” (2 Sam 12:11-12) and “The child . . . shall die.” (2 Sam. 12:14)

David lived to see these words come to pass. God shatters peace and stability. His sons Amnon and Absalom openly reenact David's secret sin. Bathsheba's baby, conceived by David's sin died. Forgiven sins still have consequences.

CONCLUSION

The natural man is fallen and depraved. But the regenerated man is also liable to fall and prone to wander.

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be;

Let that grace now, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to thee.