Timeless Truth:
Sin has its consequences, but redemption is always near.
David was voted
least likely among his brothers to be anointed king. He was the last person on the battlefront
you’d pick to play the hero’s part, but David was the underdog who overcame. He
confronted lions, giants and kings with bare hands and bold faith. At last, the man after God’s own heart became
the man on Israel’s throne.
But kings who stay
home from battle are seldom at rest.
David’s eyes wandered and so did his heart. He summoned the very lovely and very married
Bathsheba to his palace and then into his bed. When Bathsheba sent word she was
pregnant, David turned his strategy tactics toward her husband, Uriah.
He called Uriah
home from the battlefield to visit his wife, expecting a night together would
position Uriah as the father-to-be. The plan failed, so David concocted a
surefire Plan B. He sent Uriah back to
the frontlines carrying his own death warrant: an order for General Joab to
engineer a battlefield “accident” and guarantee Uriah’s death. The plan worked. David married Bathsheba and went back to the
business of the kingdom.
Then Nathan, the
prophet, came to the palace. Guilty kings never fare well when prophets arrive
for a visit. Nathan told a parable and
pointed the finger of blame squarely in David’s face. He asserted, “You are the man!” and David
knew he’d met his match. The man after
God’s own heart had become the man with blood on his hands. David and
Bathsheba’s marriage feasting turned quickly into mourning the death of their
son. David repented of his sin, and God forgave him. They had a second son named Solomon, which
means peace.
Sadly, David was a
better king than father. David’s sin was
forgiven, but its aftermath was calamitous.
His son, Absalom, attempted to usurp the throne, and his rise to power
resulted in a rebellion. David
instructed his troops to be gentle with his proud son, perhaps because he
connected the dots between Absalom’s behavior and his own failures as a
father. But the clash between David’s
army and Absalom’s rebels was brutal.
When Absalom was found hanging from a tree limb, Joab seized the moment
and killed the conspirator. King David
mourned in anguish when he heard the news.
David’s closing
chapter turns the page from battles to building. He knew that his son, Solomon, would build a
house for God, so he did all he could to prepare the way. From the overflow of David’s heart came the
emptying of his bank account. Others
followed the king’s example and gave willingly to build God’s temple. King David’s story draws to a close with
poetic psalms of praise, reminders of faithfulness to Solomon and his sights
set on living “in the house of the LORD forever.”
David’s Lower Story
places the spotlight on one man’s sin and its tragic consequences. Yet it also beams with the offer of
forgiveness and redemption. God’s grand Upper Story reminds us that no one is
righteous on their own. God’s promise to
David (p.129) pointed across a millennium to a sinless King of Kings; no end of
righteousness, no end of peace, and the redemption of all things.
Questions
- What were the steps in David’s sin and cover-up? Compare David’s steps leading to sin with Eve’s (p. 4). How can your group help hold each other accountable to guard against the same pathway?
- Which Ten Commandments did David break in his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah?
- Why did God take the life of the child when it was his father who sinned? How do you feel about God’s decision?
- Does God’s punishment of David (and all his family) fit the crime if God truly forgave him?
- Psalm 32 describes what David felt before and after his confession. (p. 135) If all our sins were forgiven by Christ dying on the cross, then what value does confession have today? Why is it so important?
- Who did David sin against—Bathsheba, Uriah or God? Find examples in the text that prove your point. What does this teach us about sin?
- Compare David’s reaction when hearing the news that his baby had died to his reaction when his son Absalom had died. Discuss with your group some explanations that could account for the differences.
- Following his sin, David’s family unraveled. He was betrayed by his son Absalom and deeply mourned his death. How have you responded to betrayal?
- How did the people feel about giving to the work of the temple that Solomon would build? Why were they so willing?
- Look back at Psalm 23. Why do you think this passage continues to be so meaningful to people?
