WWUTT 369 David and Bathsheba?

Psalm 51 as the Prayer of Repentance

Psalm 51, 18, and 19, do good to Zion in your good pleasure, build up the walls of Jerusalem, then you will delight in right sacrifices. It is the Lord who purifies us so that we might offer right sacrifices to God when we understand the text.

You're listening to When We Understand the Text, committed to sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. And don't forget our website, www .tt .com.

Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky, and greetings, everybody. We are in our Old Testament study today, 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12, and also Psalm 51, which is the corresponding psalm that goes with what we will be reading today.

Book Donation Update and Ministry Support

Before getting to that, I want to thank those who have donated books to our small library at church. A few weeks ago, I said that we're putting together a small library, and if there's something that you wanted to do to benefit our ministry, contributing books to that library would be a great way to do that.

And we are still taking donations, new or used books. Most of the books that we've received have been brand new, and that has been awesome. We thank you so much for that. That's not to say anything less of those who have contributed used books, because they will be just as cherished as the brand new ones.

So if you have books that you would like to donate, our address is 1 Southern Baptist Church, 1220 West 8th Street, Junction City, Kansas, 66441. We have not gotten anything about it on our Facebook page, so look for maybe Friday, something like that.

We'll have some info on the Facebook page about it and make sure other folks know about the book donation or book contribution that can be made to our small library at church. It's to help further an education of deep gospel truths within our own congregation, the church from which, when we understand the text, was born out of.

David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11

All right, let's continue with our study today. Second Samuel, chapters 11 and 12. This is the story of David and Bathsheba. In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.

But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful.

And David sent and inquired about the woman, and one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.

Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I am pregnant. So when David saw her from the roof of his house bathing, what she was doing was according to the law of Moses and cleansing herself after a period of uncleanness, meaning that she had just come off her period.

So David slept with her during a time of ovulation, and she conceived, and David received word that she was pregnant. So then in verse 6, So David sent word to Joab, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.

When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and wash your feet. And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king.

But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house. When they told David, Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey?

Why did you not go down to your house? Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house and eat and drink and to lie with my wife?

As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing. Then David said to Uriah, Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.

And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

So David here is trying to cover up the fact that he got Uriah's wife pregnant in an act of adultery by getting Uriah to lie with Bathsheba. And so then it would seem to Uriah that the baby she was expecting was his and not somebody else's.

His encouraging of Uriah to go home and wash his feet, OK, this would have been an intimate thing between a soldier coming back from war and his wife washing his feet so that he would be clean and be able to lay in the same bed with her.

But Uriah refuses, and he says that the ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house and eat and drink and lie with my wife as you live and as your soul lives?

I will not do this thing. So in Leviticus chapter 19, it says that when a man has a discharge of semen, he is ceremonially unclean until the next day. Since during military campaigns, the ark of the covenant, the ark of God would go with Israel to war, then it was considered that the soldiers needed to be ritually clean.

And so Uriah here is saying, I'm not going to make myself unclean and thus not be able to fight or bring some sort of condemnation even upon my fellow soldiers. So he's a very noble man. Uriah is a man of honor who fears the Lord and keeps his law.

David has disobeyed the law by having an affair and is now attempting to even cover it up with his lies. So continuing with the story, verse 14, in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

In the letter he wrote, set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him that he may be struck down and die. And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men.

And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting.

And he instructed the messenger, when you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, why did you go so near the city to fight?

Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech, the son of Jerubasheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebes? Why did you go so near the wall?

Then you shall say, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, the men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.

Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. David said to the messenger, thus shall you say to Joab, do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another.

Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it and encourage him. So David is saying that Joab did exactly what it was that he requested him to do. So then in verse 26, when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband.

And when the morning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. And that's the way chapter 11 ends.

Nathan Rebukes David for His Sin

So here we are in chapter 12, where the prophet Nathan rebukes David for what it is that's happened, for the affair and then covering it up by having a man murdered. And the Lord sent Nathan to David.

He came to him and said to him, there were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought.

And he brought it up and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms. And it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him.

But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.

And Nathan said to David, you are the man. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.

And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor.

And he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this son for you did it secretly. But I will do this thing before all Israel and before the son. David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin.

You shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die. Then Nathan went to his house. So Nathan brings a curse upon David. Here's what is going to happen to your home because of the sin that you have done.

But though David in his lament realizes the sin that he has that he has done against God, he thinks that he is going to die, that the Lord is going to destroy him along with the sword that's going to come against his house from his own house.

Nathan says to him that he won't die. So there is grace of God upon David. But at the same time, there will be ramifications for this sin. As much as the Lord had given to David, the house of Saul, many other wives, the master's wives into your arms, gave you the house of Israel and Judah.

Nathan says, and if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. In other words, this was Nathan referencing the Davidic covenant, the covenant that God made with David, that on his throne, he would establish his kingdom forever.

God had given to David more than he had promised any other servant in Israel at that time. And yet David had done this sin, this thing against the Lord. And so as we continue in chapter 12, we read that what Nathan has said to David begins to come true.

And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

On the seventh day, the child died and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead for they said, behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to us.

How then can we say to him that the child is dead? That he may do himself some harm. But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, is the child dead?

They said he is dead. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate.

Then his servants said to him, what is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food. And David said, while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept for I said, who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live, but now he is dead.

Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. So then in verse 24, then David comforted his wife Bathsheba and went into her and lay with her. And she bore a son and he called his name Solomon.

And the Lord loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah because of the Lord. Jedidiah means beloved of the Lord. And it was two names. Solomon had the name Solomon and he had the name Jedidiah.

But this is merely to recognize a divine acceptance of Solomon, though he was born from a woman that David acquired from an unholy union and had her husband killed. Now when you read in Second Chronicles, it suggests or I think it's First Chronicles rather.

It suggests that Solomon was the fourth son of David by Bathsheba. So in the timeline of events here, we don't have every son of Bathsheba recorded in Second Samuel chapter 12. That would be left up to First Chronicles chapter three, I believe is the chapter where we read about that.

So here, at least as far as the events are concerned, as recalled in Second Samuel, Solomon was born to Bathsheba and the Lord had favor upon Solomon. Of course, Solomon is going to be the one that will assume the throne after his father David and Israel will experience peace under Solomon's reign.

Solomon also becomes one of the ancestors of Christ, as we read about in Matthew chapter one. So from this union and from this sin that was committed by David, the Lord is still working his sovereignty to bring about the coming Messiah.

David Takes Rabbah and the Consequences Continue

So then verse 26, let's go ahead and finish off the chapter here. We'll go to Psalm 51. Now, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah.

Moreover, I have taken the city of waters. Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name. So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it.

So this is Joab, I mean, really giving to David, hey, it's your right to be able to take it. You're the king. And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent of gold and in it was a precious stone and it was placed on David's head.

And he brought out the spoil of the city a very great amount. And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at the brick kilns.

And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. So David is still finding success in his military conquests. But what we'll get to next week is the beginning of the fall of the house of David.

And we'll read about that in chapter 13, just as Nathan prophesied would happen to David's home because of his sin, though David himself would not be destroyed. There would be ramifications because of his sin.

David's Repentance in Psalm 51

Now we know that David was remorseful, that he was convicted and that he repented before the Lord. We know that not just because of the way that David responded to Nathan, but because of what David wrote in Psalm 51 in response to this conviction that was brought to him by the prophet Nathan.

So here we read in Psalm 51, one of my absolute favorite psalms. But this is this is a psalm of repentance. And anyone that is feeling any kind of conviction or grief before the Lord because of their sin should should come to Psalm 51.

May this be the cry of every one of our hearts that we would be grieved over our sin and desire the righteousness of God. Psalm 51, beginning in verse one, have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against you. You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.

Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise, for you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.

You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure. Build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will be offered on your altar. So it is not us that makes ourselves right before God, but it is God who makes us right by cleansing us from our unrighteousness.

And then and only then, he opens our lips, our mouths declare his praise, and then when the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, God will not despise and then God will do good in his pleasure.

Then he will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings, and then bulls will be offered on your altar. It is only when God makes righteous is it when we offer something to God that it will be received by him as righteous.

Let us pray. Lord God, I pray that our hearts would be convicted over our sin, that we would lament just as David has done, that we would weep and mourn and desire the righteousness of God, that we would be cleansed, we would be forgiven by the sacrifice of Christ if we come with a humble and contrite heart.

It is promised us in the scriptures, 1 John 1, 9, that if we ask forgiveness for our sins, you are faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So let the cry of our heart be as it was for David.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Renew a right spirit within me. In the name of Christ we pray, Amen.

Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.