David: the Trials of a King

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. 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, “She is 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. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” (2 Samuel 11:1-5 NIV)

God used David to unite the tribes of Israel into a nation. Under his leadership, Israel went from a loose confederation of tribes to a kingdom.

David was a poet and musician. He is identified as the author of 73 of the 150 Psalms, and scholars believe he may have written up to 85 of them. David was also a warrior and a leader. He was King Saul's most effective general and won many battles for the new nation. Most importantly, David was a man after God's own heart. He was Israel's greatest king.

David also received his own covenant with God. Yahweh promised David he would have a son who would reign on his throne forever. (See 2 Samuel 7:7-16) We know that none of David's "sons" in his royal line had a kingdom that lasted forever. That part of the Davidic covenant referred to the coming Messiah - the anointed One of God who would take David's throne and reign there in a kingdom of justice and peace that would be eternal.

And yet, David was a man with the same fallen nature as all of us. David commits a grave sin with Bathsheba that becomes the greatest trial of his kingdom. He makes the mistake of people in power. He wants what he sees and takes what he wants. Taking Bathsheba and sleeping with her, knowing she is another man's wife, is the action of a man who thinks he is above the law - that the rules don't apply to him.

When Bathsheba turns up pregnant, David is in deep trouble. Faced with his personal failure, David's first response is to try to conceal it. But concealment never works. David sends for Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, on the pretext of finding out how the battle is going. He hears the report and sends Uriah home, thinking he would sleep with his wife and her pregnancy would be attributed to Uriah's shore leave. But Uriah is a man of deep honor, and he refuses to go home and sleep with his wife while his fellow soldiers sleep in tents on the battlefield.

Finally, David sends Uriah back to his general, Joab, with secret orders for Joab to put him in the hottest heat of the battle and withdraw to allow Uriah to be killed. With Uriah dead, David takes Bathsheba as another of his wives and thinks he has covered it all up.

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD. The LORD sent Nathan to David. (2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:1 NIV)

God called David to accountability through the prophet, Nathan. Nathan tells David a story about a rich man with many flocks who has a poor neighbor with only one ewe lamb. When a traveler appears at the rich man's home, he fulfills the expectation of hospitality by making a meal for him, using the neighbor's lamb instead of one of his own sheep as the main course. David is rightly enraged, and declares the rich man must die for doing such an unrighteous thing to the poor neighbor. At that point, Nathan declares, "You are the man!"

David has tried concealment for nine months. He has, in that time, built a wall between himself and the God he loves. The encounter breaks David's heart. We see and hear the result in Psalm 51, which specifically says it was written when Nathan confronted David over his sin with Bathsheba. Concealment gives way to confession. David repents, confesses his sin, and receives forgiveness from God. This is grace. This is the heart of God - to forgive and restore us to right relationship with Him.

Make no mistake, David received grace, but he did not escape the consequences of his sin. The baby conceived with Bathsheba dies. David's family crumbles, with his son, Absalom, eventually leading a revolt that nearly destroys his kingdom. And yet God sustains David through it all. David stops hiding his sin, and finds a hiding place in his God.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:13-17 NIV)

David ends up in worship, bringing God a broken hallelujah. He humbles himself before the only One who can lift him up. David's sin is redeemed by his confession and worship. That is the way back to God from whatever mess we find we have made with our lives. Concealment is the wrong strategy. Confession and worship in a humble, broken spirit becomes the place of true freedom. We can go from "what a mess I've made of my life" to "Jesus is redeeming my mess, and making it into a message of grace." He can turn a test into a testimony.

Unconfessed and hidden sin become a barrier to fellowship with the God we love. Instead of concealment, move to confession. Pray Psalm 51 with your own hidden sin in mind, and with a humble heart, and Jesus will pardon and restore you. This is the hiding place of refuge in the God who loves you more than you can ever know.