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King David and Bathsheba, I’ve been thinking about these 2 lovebirds for a couple of weeks now and I still wonder:
Now, what was David thinking? Maybe things were getting too good for David. He was King of Israel and Judah. The kingdom was prospering. God seemed to bless everything that David touched. This is DAVID! King of Israel! Psalm writer! “A man after God’s own heart”! (Acts 13:22)
2 Samuel 11:1 says: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”
Right away, there’s something wrong. The verse tells us that in spring, kings go to war. But David’s not going. In the previous chapter David had just led his army over the Jordan River and on to victory over the Arameans.
Why the spring? Because the winter was a rainy season and it was just too difficult to move horses and chariots through the mud and water. So they didn’t go to war in winter, but waited ‘til spring. It was customary for the King to lead his troops into battle. But King David must have decided that the army didn’t need him…he was taking it easy. Of course, in springtime, a young man’s fancy might be turned to other things besides war, if you know what I mean.
The story continues: “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said: “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant”.
Now, David getting up from his bed in the evening is not that unusual. It is normal in the east to take a nap in the afternoon, during the hottest part of the day. But getting up in the evening does make it sound like he’s really taking it easy! He must be getting bored, sleeping in like that.
David sent messengers to find out who she was.
This is the part I don’t get.
1) She’s married, for heaven’s sake! That should have put a stop to it right there! David’s had at least 10 wives that I know of and concubines, too. And the penalty for adultery was death back then, (Although I suppose Kings had some immunity from punishment for that crime since they were already allowed all the wives they wanted!)
2) Not only was she married, Bathsheba is the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Now, these names are important. 2 Samuel 23 tells us about David’s “Mighty Men”. These are loyal men, David’s bodyguards and heroes of the army. There are 37 “Mighty Men” listed in 2 Samuel 23. Eliam and Uriah are two of these 37 mighty men.
So, even knowing all this, David sends for Bathsheba.
Now, some make a big deal out of the fact that she didn’t put up a fight, didn’t resist. I don’t think she had much choice in the matter. This was the great and powerful King David asking for HER! What an honor! What a privilege!
But again, I have to ask: What was he thinking? He must have gotten used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it. If he already had at least 10 wives plus concubines, I don’t think he was so deprived that he needed to add another notch for Bathsheba.
Here’s what David did wrong:
1)Bathsheba was married to someone else.
2) David knows whose wife she is, but selfishly has his way anyway. Then he attempts to deceive everyone by trying to get Uriah to spend the night with his wife. Then it will seem like she’s pregnant by her husband!
(Uriah shames David because Uriah is too honorable to sleep at home while his army is out fighting! He sleeps at the door of the palace, with the servants.)
David arranges for Uriah’s death. A total abuse of power. He can’t face Uriah, after what he’s done, so he has him killed, rather than admit his sin.
I think the headlines might read:
God’s favorite king in illicit affair!
Hero of the Bible implicated in adultery and murder!
King David steals generals wife then has him executed!
So, basically, this King, Psalmist, leader of the army is now an adulterer and a murderer. This is the same man that wrote so many of those beautiful, tender Psalms. One of which is Psalm 51, a Psalm of repentance written shortly after his affair with Bathsheba.
It’s stories like this that add authority and authenticity to the Bible. Don’t you think that if you were writing the Bible, you might try to cover up this blemish on the Royal Line?
David eventually marries Bathsheba and they have a son named Solomon. It was Solomon who had the Temple built and wrote the Proverbs. The one of whom it’s written that when God asked Solomon what he wanted most, Solomon asked for wisdom.
David, Bathsheba and Solomon are all in the family tree of Jesus as revealed in Matthew’s genealogy. Solomon being listed as “the son of Bathsheba, who had been Uriah’s wife”
So, it’s there in 2 Samuel and in the Gospels! Talk about skeletons in the closet!
What, you may be asking, is my point? My point is, the story doesn’t end here. David doesn’t get away with it as far as keeping his dirty little secret. He certainly can’t keep it a secret from God. And God won’t let David get away with it either. Even though David commits a callous and heartless act in stealing another man’s wife and then having that man murdered, he is still Israel’s king and after he confessed it, he is forgiven. Even God’s chosen one, King David, had spiritual weaknesses, and we all do.
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