David’s Story: Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY
Creation. Abraham. Moses. DAVID. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to-Come.

Every person is one step away from a life-altering decision—one instance that can change the course of a life. That moment is often shaped by previous actions and emotions we either embraced or avoided. But in the end, it all culminates in a choice that leads us in the right or wrong direction.

Today’s passage focuses on an incident that will always be part of David’s story. There will always be David and Goliath and there will always be David and Bathsheba. So the question is this: Was David’s sin with Bathsheba simply an inappropriate impulse at a weak moment, a one-time regrettable event? Or was it driven by something more than lust? Were there circumstances in David’s life that led not just to one sin, but to a series of sins? 

Let’s delve in and see what we can learn from this account. 

It was the “spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle” (2 Sam. 11:1). Spring was the ideal season for military campaigns. Winter rains caused such muddy conditions that it was impossible to effectively drive chariots or establish adequate footing for soldiers on the battlefield (Judg. 4:15; 5:19-21). Also a factor, was that the beginning of harvest season wasn’t until late summer. With drier ground and young men available to fight, spring was the optimal time to wage war.[1] 

The king sent his men to fight the Ammonites, “but David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Sam. 11:1). Alone and removed from the battle, David walked on his rooftop late one afternoon and saw a “very beautiful” woman bathing (2 Sam. 11:2). Some may argue that Bathsheba should not have been bathing in a visible place, but what follows next is entirely David’s fault. 

David learned that the woman was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Since Uriah was one of David’s “mighty men” (2 Sam. 23:29) it seems unlikely that David wasn’t already familiar with Bathsheba and her husband. Perhaps he was only feigning ‘innocence’ in front of the messenger he sent to summon her. 

Cliff Graham has spent his life studying and writing about David. In a recent podcast, I asked Graham to comment on this incident. He believes the affair involved lust, but was about more than that. David was likely in his fifties at the time, a middle-aged king and a warrior at heart, yet here he was, absent from the battle. Graham suggests that David was indulging in the comforts of his palace, sleeping on a soft bed rather than the hard ground of the soldiers’ camp, and enjoying all he had built for his kingdom. 

Given this scenario, David may have begun to develop a sense of entitlement. He was becoming accustomed to luxury, maybe even believing he deserved whatever he wanted. On that particular day, he wanted Bathsheba, another man’s wife.

Comfort is always a dangerous place. We begin to think that we deserve what we want, that we have earned the right to fulfill our desires. When a Christian leaves the spiritual battlefield, alarms should sound. Once we retreat into the comforts of our “palace”,  self-counsel, compromise, and regrettable actions are never far behind! 

Bathsheba was brought to the palace and David slept with Uriah’s wife. When Bathsheba later sent word to David, “I am pregnant” (2 Sam. 11:5), David immediately sent word for Uriah to return home from the battlefield. He was certain that Uriah would sleep with Bathsheba so the evidence of David’s adultery would be quietly “resolved.” But Uriah refused, saying, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” (2 Sam. 11:11 NIV).

So, David did the unthinkable. He wrote a letter to his commanding officer outlining a diabolical plan: “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die” (2 Sam. 11:15). He then placed the letter in Uriah’s hands and sent him to deliver it to Joab (1 Sam. 11:14). Unknowingly, Uriah delivered his own death sentence. 

After the time of mourning had ended, David married his pregnant lover, and she gave birth to a son. “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD” (2 Sam. 11:27). 

This story always makes me stop and ponder. David was anointed by God, and because God’s Spirit was upon him, he achieved tremendous success. God himself called David “a man after his own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). He led Israel in worship through the many songs and prayers he wrote. And yet he sinned greatly, setting off a devastating chain of consequences.

One of the striking lessons in David’s story is unmistakably clear: if sin was only one step away for the man after God’s own heart, then it is only one step away for all of us. What a sobering warning for every believer.

Still…even after our sin, God provides a path forward to forgiveness. That is where we will begin next time. 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on 2 Samuel 11.  Where in your life might comfort or disengagement be making you spiritually vulnerable?

Talking to God: What will you do to guard against a spiritual lapse?

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