King David, “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22), lived a life full of commendable actions. Yet, David did not always act or think like a man after God’s own heart. 2 Samuel 11 records one of the most selfish and hypocritical series of actions in the Bible. The man responsible for these actions was none other than David.
In the chapter, David lusted after a woman named Bathsheba. He sent a servant to ask about her and, upon finding out she was Uriah’s husband (verse 3), David sent for her to commit adultery with her (verse 4). Bathsheba became pregnant after this (verse 5). David then tried to deceive Uriah to make it look like Uriah was the father. When David’s deceitful plans failed, he wrote a letter to Joab saying, “Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die” (verse 15). Joab did as David requested, and Uriah died.
Instead of being sorrowful for how he treated Uriah, David tried to justify his actions by treating Uriah’s death as if it were by chance (verse 25). Bathsheba mourned the death of Uriah, but once her “mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son” (verse 27).
God was displeased (verse 27), and sent Nathan the prophet to David to help David see what he had done. Nathan told a story of a rich man who oppressed his poor neighbor (2 Sam. 12:2-4). David became angry with the man in the story (verse 5-6).
Nathan then told David, “Thou art the man” (verse 7). What the rich man did to the poor man symbolized what David had done to Uriah. This story caused David to finally acknowledge his sin, as he said, “I have sinned against the Lord” (verse 13).
David’s sins in this passage illustrate numerous principles taught in Scripture about sin. For instance:
Sin is Not Hidden from God – After David committed adultery, instead of seeking God’s forgiveness, David tried to “sweep it under the rug.” He told lies and eventually ordered an innocent man to be put to death, all in an attempt to “hide” sin that was never hidden from the One whose judgment matters most.
After detailing David’s attempts, the end of 2 Samuel 11 states “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (verse 27). God was never fooled. He sees all (Heb. 4:13).
David’s thought process seems similar to the mindset of, “as long as people who would give me a hard time about my sin don’t know about it, it’s OK.” Such hypocrisy is short-sighted, and misses what serving God is about.
While trying to hide his sin, David made his situation worse than it needed to be. He “threw fire on the fire” by responding to his sin with more sin, instead of repenting from the start.
One’s Own Sin Can Be the Hardest to See – David saw the selfishness and greed of the rich man in Nathan’s story. Yet, he failed to realize the rich man was symbolic of himself until Nathan told him “Thou art the man.”
The hardest sin to spot can often be one’s own (cf. Matt. 23:4). Jesus taught that it’s sometimes necessary to point out sins in others, but He also taught “first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5).
Sin is Foremost Against God – When David did recognize his sin, the words he spoke were “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:13). There may not be a clearer example in the Bible of one man treating another man horribly than David’s treatment of Uriah. Yet, the One who David wronged foremost was God.
Looking at this from another angle, consider that no one has ever mistreated any of us as much as any one of us as has mistreated God. This shows the seriousness of sin, and how proper it is to have godly sorrow when sin is in one’s life.
God is Willing to Forgive Sin – God was not bitter against David for treating Him so horribly. Instead, when David did what was needed to receive forgiveness, Nathan told him, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shall not die” (2 Sam. 12:13b).
This statement had some unique application to David as one who was subject to the Old Law (cf. Lev. 20:10), but the principle of God’s mercy applies to people in every dispensation. Though God punishes sin severely, He offers forgiveness to those who are willing to submit to His terms. This does not give us a “license” to sin in the future, but it should encourage us to seek forgiveness of past sins, instead of allowing them to tear us down.
– Michael Hickox