Last week I had the chance to study this passage more thoroughly and prepare some thoughts to share with our small group leaders. So, I spent some extra time reading the passage and commentaries and articles about this event and the characters that were involved.

If you are churched at all you’re most likely familiar with the David and Bathsheba story. David the King takes advantage of his authority, does quite a bit of damage through a string of decisions he makes, and in the end as verse 27 wraps up it says, “but the Lord was displeased with what David had done.” As we read about it today, in one chapter David has plummeted from “a man after God’s own heart” to a man whose actions are punishable by death.

So many questions come to mind as I re-read this passage again today. Why did he stay home? Why did God even allow that? Why did he fixate on this woman? In my deeper study I learned that David was really a long time family friend of Bathsheba’s dad and husband. Both of these men had fought with him since before David had ascended into the role of King. That adds a further twist to the whole story, at least it did for me. Why did she agree to meet him and sleep with him? Why didn’t he repent and seek God’s help at any point through this? Why didn’t Uriah comply? (That is fairly simple. Uriah made a pledge to stay laser focused during his time of battle as had all of the men who were fighting for the Lord and for His people which included no women!). That leads me back to the question of why didn’t David go and join the battle as he had for many many years and many many battles before this? And the biggest question of all, why did God insist that this story was written?

After all, David was nearly perfect! He was hand – chosen by God to rule as King over His people. He was a “type” of Christ, meaning that David was a picture of Jesus long before Jesus was born as a shepherd, born in Bethlehem, who became King. (Jesus being also born in Bethlehem and was the Good Shepherd who became the King of Kings.) Why would God want this part of David’s life to tarnish his perfect record? He could have just left that “incident” out.

Here are a few suggestions.

1. David’s throne is prophesied as the line from which the Messiah would come. Next in line after David’s death was Solomon, Bathsheba’s son. It’s historically good to have the traceable facts about David’s family.
2. There are consequences to the decisions that we all make. Even when forgiveness is given (I’ll get to that in a moment) David’s choices didn’t just affect him. They didn’t even just affect he and Bathsheba, or the baby. What about the group of men of which Uriah and Bathsheba’s father were a part? What about the kingdom in general? (If you take a look at Israel from that point you see the beginning of the decline.) What about their extended families? What about the palace? Our choices have a ripple effect and we don’t recognize that often, when we are worried about what we want, right now.
3. We are all susceptible to temptation. Moses who was a wonderful leader, Abraham, and even David were great examples for us, but they did not live a sinless life. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) It doesn’t excuse my sin, it just helps me to know that temptation is real and even those who walk very closely with the Lord can fall very quickly.
4. God forgives! In chapter 12 we read the rest of the story. David is repentant. His relationship with the Lord is restored. His relationship with Bathsheba is blessed. Our sins are covered by the blood Jesus shed, but we need to remember that the relationship is harmed when we turn from God and act sinfully. Repentance is what the Lord is looking for to restore our relationship with Him again.

These are just a few of the lessons we can learn from David. Why did God tell us this story? So we can learn something about God and ourselves, and respond well.