The Attack
David’s Sin of Adultery and His Repentance
Picture: David’s Sin of Adultery and His Repentance 1TC 494.1
This chapter is based on 2 Samuel 11; 12.
The Bible has little to say in praise of human beings. All the good qualities that people possess are the gift of God; their good deeds are performed by the grace of God through Christ. They are only instruments in His hands. All the lessons of Bible history teach that it is dangerous to praise people, because when we lose sight of our entire dependence on God, we are sure to fall. The Bible teaches distrust of human power and encourages trust in divine power. 1TC 494.2
The spirit of self-confidence and exaltation prepared the way for David’s fall. Flattery, power, and luxury had their effect on him. According to the usual customs among Eastern rulers, crimes that were not tolerated in common people were overlooked in the king. All this tended to lessen David’s sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. He began to trust in his own wisdom and might. 1TC 494.3
As soon as Satan can separate a person from God, he will arouse the unholy desires of man’s carnal nature. The work of the enemy does not begin with something sudden and startling. It begins in apparently small things—neglect to fully rely on God, the tendency to follow the customs of the world. 1TC 495.1
Before the end of the war, David returned to Jerusalem. The Syrians had already surrendered, and the complete defeat of the Ammonites appeared certain. David was surrounded by the fruits of victory and the honors of his wise rule. Now the tempter seized the opportunity to occupy his mind. In ease and self-security, David yielded to Satan and brought upon himself the stain of guilt. He himself, the Heaven-appointed leader of the nation, chosen by God to uphold His law, trampled on its precepts. By his own act, he who should have been a terror to evildoers strengthened their hands. 1TC 495.2
Guilty and unrepentant, David did not ask guidance from Heaven, but tried to disentangle himself from the dangers in which sin had involved him. Bathsheba, whose fatal beauty had become a trap to the king, was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s bravest and most faithful officers. The law of God pronounced the adulterer guilty of death, and the proud-spirited soldier, so shamefully wronged, might take revenge for himself by taking the life of the king or by leading the nation in revolt. 1TC 495.3
Every effort that David made to hide his guilt was unsuccessful. He had betrayed himself into the power of Satan; danger surrounded him, and dishonor more bitter than death loomed before him. There appeared to be only one way of escape—to add the sin of murder to that of adultery. David reasoned that if Uriah were killed in battle, the guilt of his death could not be traced to the king. Bathsheba would be free to become David’s wife, and he could avoid suspicion and maintain the royal honor. 1TC 495.4
Uriah was made the carrier of his own death warrant. In a letter sent by David’s hand to Joab, the king commanded, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” Joab, already stained with the guilt of one mur der, did not hesitate to obey the king’s instructions, and Uriah was killed by the sword of the Ammonites. 1TC 495.5
David Temporarily Becomes the Agent of Satan
David’s record as a ruler had won the confidence of the nation, but as he departed from God, he became for a time the agent of Satan. Yet he still held the authority that God had given him, and because of this he claimed obedience that would pose a threat to the soul of his commander if he cooperated. But Joab had given his allegiance to the king rather than to God, and he transgressed God’s law because the king commanded it. 1TC 496.1
When David commanded what was contrary to God’s law, it became sin to obey. “The authorities that exist are appointed by God” (Romans 13:1), but we are not to obey them contrary to God’s law. The apostle Paul explains the principle by which we should be governed: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV). 1TC 496.2
Joab sent news to David that his order had been carried out, but it was so carefully worded that it did not implicate either Joab or the king. “Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.” 1TC 496.3
The king’s answer was, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another.’” 1TC 496.4
According to custom, Bathsheba mourned for her husband an appropriate number of days, and at their close, “David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife.” He who would not, even when his life was in danger, use his hand against the Lord’s anointed, had fallen so far that he could wrong and murder one of his most faithful, brave soldiers, and hope to enjoy the reward of his sin undisturbed. 1TC 496.5
Happy are those who, having strayed from the right path, learn how bitter the fruits of sin are, and turn from it. God in His mercy did not leave David to be lured to complete ruin by the deceitful rewards of sin. 1TC 496.6
How God Intervened
It was necessary for God to step in. David’s sin with Bathsheba became known, and many people suspected that he had planned Uriah’s death. The Lord was dishonored—He had exalted David, and David’s sin brought disgrace on His name. It tended to lower the standard of godliness in Israel, and to lessen in many minds the perception that sin is hateful. 1TC 497.1
Nathan the prophet was given a message of reproof for David. Though it was terrible in its severity, Nathan delivered the divine message with such heaven-born wisdom that it caught the sympathies of the king, aroused his conscience, and called from his own lips the sentence of death upon himself. The prophet told a story of wrongdoing and injustice that simply had to be made right. 1TC 497.2
“There were two men in one city,” he said, “one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 1TC 497.3
The king became angry. “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 1TC 497.4
Nathan fixed his eyes on the king, then solemnly declared, “You are the man! ... Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?” The guilty may try, as David had, to hide their crime from others, to bury the evil act forever from human sight, but “all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13). 1TC 497.5
Nathan declared: “You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house. ... Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. ... For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.” 1TC 497.6
The prophet’s rebuke touched David’s heart; conscience was awakened, and he saw how great his guilt was. With trembling lips he said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” David had committed a terrible sin against both Uriah and Bathsheba, but infinitely greater was his sin against God. 1TC 498.1
David Punished for His Sin
David trembled, because he was afraid that he would be cut down, guilty and unforgiven, by the swift judgment of God. But the message was sent to him by the prophet, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Yet justice must be maintained. The sentence of death was transferred from David to the child of his sin. Thus the king was given opportunity to repent, while the suffering and death of the child, as a part of his punishment, was far more bitter to him than his own death could have been. 1TC 498.2
When his child was stricken, David pleaded for its life with fasting and deep humiliation. Night after night he lay in heartbroken grief interceding for the innocent one suffering for his guilt. When he heard that the child was dead, he quietly submitted to the decree of God. The first stroke had fallen of the very punishment that he himself had declared just. 1TC 498.3
Reading the history of David’s fall, many have asked, “Why did God see fit to throw open to the world this dark chapter in the life of one so highly honored by Heaven?” Atheists and unbelievers have pointed to the character of David and have exclaimed with a sneer, “This is the man after God’s own heart!” As a result, God and His word have been blasphemed, and many people, while professing to be religious, have become bold in sin. 1TC 498.4
But the history of David does not give any approval for sin. It was when he was walking with God and following His counsel that David was called a man after God’s own heart. When he sinned, this stopped being true of him until by repenting he returned to the Lord. “The thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (KJV). Though David repented of his sin, he reaped the deadly harvest of the seed he had sown. The judgments upon him testify how much God hates sin. 1TC 498.5
David himself was broken in spirit by the consciousness of his sin and its far-reaching results. He felt humbled in the eyes of his subjects, and his influence was weakened. Now his subjects, knowing about his sin, would be led to sin more freely. His authority in his own household was weakened as his guilt kept him silent when he should have condemned sin. His evil example exerted its influence on his sons, and God would not step in to prevent the result. So David was severely punished, and no repentance could help him escape the agony and shame that would darken his whole earthly life. 1TC 499.1
People who point to the example of David to try to lessen the guilt of their own sins should learn from the Bible record that the way of transgression is hard. The results of sin, even in this life, will be found bitter and hard to bear. 1TC 499.2
God intended that the history of David’s fall would serve as a warning that even those whom He has greatly blessed are not to feel smugly secure. And it has served this purpose to everyone who has humbly tried to learn the lesson He designed to teach. The fall of David, one so honored by the Lord, has awakened in them distrust of self. Knowing that their strength and safety was in God alone, they have been afraid to take the first step onto Satan’s ground. 1TC 499.3
Even before the divine sentence was pronounced against David, he had begun to reap the fruit of transgression. The agony of spirit he endured then is brought to view in the thirty-second psalm: 1TC 499.4
When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
1TC 499.5
And the fifty-first psalm is an expression of David’s repentance, when the message of reproof came to him from God: 1TC 499.6
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ...
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
1TC 499.7
So in this sacred song that was to be sung in the public assemblies of his people, the king of Israel told of his sin, his repentance, and his hope of pardon through the mercy of God. Instead of trying to hide his guilt, David wanted others to be instructed by the sad history of his fall. 1TC 500.1
More Than Pardon
David’s repentance was sincere and deep. He did not try to make his crime look less serious, nor did he desire to escape the threatened judgments. He saw the defilement of his heart, and he hated his sin. He did not only pray for pardon, but for purity of heart. He saw the evidence of his pardon and acceptance in God’s promises to repentant sinners: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17). 1TC 500.2
Though David had fallen, the Lord lifted him up. In the joy of his release he sang, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5). David humbled himself and confessed his sin, while Saul, in contrast, despised reproof and hardened his heart in making excuses for himself. 1TC 500.3
This passage in David’s history is one of the most forcible illustrations given to us of the struggles and temptations of humanity, and of genuine repentance. Through all the ages, thousands of God’s children who have been betrayed into sin have remembered David’s sincere repentance and confession and have taken courage to repent and try again to walk in the way of God’s commandments. 1TC 500.4
All who will humble themselves with confession and repentance, as David did, may be sure that there is hope for them. The Lord will never cast away one truly repentant soul. 1TC 500.5