The Prophet Nathan Rebukes King David
by Eugène Siberdt (1851-1931)
Wikimedia Commons

David’s affair with Bathsheba is a story of temptation and sin. The affair occurred because David was in the wrong place at the right time. According to the writer of 2 Samuel, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, . . . David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1).

The biblical writer describes in detail what happened that spring evening between David and Bathsheba. This shameful event in David’s life reveals how David, a man after God’s own heart, yielded to temptation and committed adultery with the wife of a man who served as one of the warriors in his army.

The affair of David with Bathsheba is a story of adultery, infidelity, treachery, and murder. But, it is also a testimony of the power of repentance and the amazing grace of forgiveness. David’s sin brought inevitable consequences to his life and to his kingdom. This affair and its aftermath explain the sorrows and the failures that David experienced during the remainder of his reign as king of Israel.

David and Bathsheba

While David was at home, one spring night, while he was walking on the roof of his palace, he saw a beautiful woman bathing. David sent one of his servants to find out who the woman was. The servant came back and told David that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, who was one of David’s mighty men (2 Samuel 23:39).

David sent his servants to bring Bathsheba to the palace. The NIV says that “she came to him,” indicating that Bathsheba did not offer any resistance when she was summoned to come to David. However, the Hebrew text says that David’s servants “took her,” indicating that Bathsheba was probably forced to come before the king.

As a result of the affair, Bathsheba became pregnant. When Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant, David panicked. At the time of the affair, Uriah was at Rabbah, fighting against the Ammonites. David asked Joab, the commander of the army, to send Uriah to him with the news about the war with the Ammonites.

After Uriah came before David, David urged Uriah to go home and have sex with his wife. David wanted Uriah to go home to his wife so that the pregnancy could be attributed to him. Uriah did not go home to Bathsheba because the Ark of the Covenant was with the army of Israel at Rabbah, and he did want to enjoy the benefits of home while his fellow soldiers were at war against the enemies of Israel.

After David’s plan failed because of Uriah’s refusal to go home, David sent Uriah back to the battlefield with a letter to Joab telling him to put Uriah on the front line where the fighting would be the heaviest. Then David commanded Joab to abandon Uriah so that he could be overcome by the enemies and be killed (2 Samuel 11:15). Joab did as David had commanded and Uriah was killed in battle.

David and Nathan

When Bathsheba “heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son” (2 Samuel 11:26–27).

During the months of her pregnancy, David hid the truth from the people. For nine months David was able to cover up his sin. He believed that no one knew that he had an affair with Bathsheba. David was unrepentant for his action. He was living with an unconfessed sin.

Although David was able to deceive the people of Israel, he was not able to hide his sin from God, “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:1). Because David did not repent, Yahweh had to intervene and confront David with his sin.

Yahweh sent the prophet Nathan to David. When the prophet came before David, he told him a story about two men.

Nathan said, “There were two men in a certain city, the 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. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him” (2 Samuel 12:1–4).

When David heard what the rich man had done, he was incensed. He said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die” (2 Samuel 12:5). In response to David’s anger against such a cruel act, Nathan rebuked the king: “That man is you” (2 Samuel 12:7 TNK).

Through Nathan’s parable, God was trying to make David see the severity of his sin. Because he was the king, David believed that he could minimize his sin. David tried to justify his sin by marrying Bathsheba and becoming the father of the baby. But God said that his justification was unacceptable because his sin was a violation of the standards he had set for his people.

David followed a human tendency to justify sinful actions and forget the ugly moral consequences of sin. David had violated the dignity of a married woman. From his perspective as a king, his actions were acceptable because he was the king and because he had married the woman. But David’s behavior was not acceptable to God.

In his affair with Bathsheba, David violated four commandments as expressed in the Decalogue:

1. David violated the tenth commandment: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” (Exodus 20:17).

2. David violated the seventh commandment: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14).

3. David violated the eighth commandment: “ You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Nathan said to David, “you have stolen his [Uriah’s] wife” (2 Samuel 12:9 NLT).

4. David violated the sixth commandment: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Nathan said to David, “You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword” (2 Samuel 12:9).

The adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah was premeditated. David had a plan, he executed his plan: he murdered Uriah and stole his wife. From the perspective of David, the whole affair was due to temptation. To God it was a sin of high hand. Nathan asked David, “Why have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed?” (2 Samuel 12:9 NLT).

After David heard Nathan’s rebuke, David finally recognized his sin. He said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). Nathan said to David, “You have done this deed in secret” (2 Samuel 12:12). Now that his secret has been made public, David had to come before God and confess his sin before the Almighty.

David and God

David’s prayer of confession was expressed in the form of a psalm. The introduction to Psalm 51 says the following: “A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”

David’s prayer is a sincere demonstration of repentance. In his prayer, David humbles himself before God, confesses his sin, asks for forgiveness, and restoration of his fellowship with him. Until his confrontation with Nathan, David hid his sin, and refused to confess what he had done.

In his commentary on Psalms, J. Stewart Perowne, in his discussion of David’s prayer of repentance, wrote, “So profound a conviction of sin, so deep and unfeigned a penitence, so true a confession, a heart so tender, so contrite, a desire so fervent for renewal, a trust so humble, so filial, in the forgiving love of God, are what we find nowhere else in the Old Testament, but what we might surely expect from ‘the man after God’s own heart’” (Perowne 1883: 1:427).

In his prayer, David confesses his sin. He said, “For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night” (Psalm 51:3 NLT). The Hebrew word for rebellion is pesha‘. This word refers to a revolt against God’s will. The word is used when a person intentionally rejects God’s authority and deliberately breaks the laws of God.

David said that his sins haunted him day and night. Because David knew that he had sinned against God, he could find no rest. Sleep or awake, his sin was always before him. David’s greatest fear was separation from God.

David said to God, “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4 NLT). In his affair with Bathsheba, David had sinned against her, her husband Uriah, and the whole people of Israel because they trusted him to uphold God’s law. But when he came into the presence of God, David acknowledged that by violating God’s law, his sins were a great offence to God. Because of the nature of sin, all sins are against God.

David recognizes the magnitude of his sin, He said, “I have done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4 NLT). The Hebrew word for evil refers to any activity that is contrary to God’s will. David’s confession reveals the magnitude of his humiliation and shame as he confessed his sins to God.

In his prayer, David seeks forgiveness from the only one who truly could forgive him, “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7 NLT). In the Hebrew text, David said, “Cleanse me with hyssop” (Psalm 51:7 NIV). This expression reveals the magnitude of David’s sins. Hyssop was used to cleanse a person with leprosy (Leviticus 15:1–4).

David had committed a high-handed sin, that is, an intentional sin. In Israel, when an individual committed an unintentional sin, a sacrifice was made to atone for the unintentional sin. However, there was no sacrifice for a high-handed sin.

In his prayer, David asked for restoration. A deliberate sin, in Hebrew, a sin “with a high hand,” is a sin committed in defiance and rebellion against God’s will. There was no atonement for a person who commits a high-hand sin.

The Mosaic law says that “whoever acts high-handedly, whether a native or an alien, affronts the LORD, and shall be cut off from among the people. Because of having despised the word of the LORD and broken his commandment, such a person shall be utterly cut off and bear the guilt” (Numbers 15:30–31).

David was aware that he could not offer an atonement for his sin. David said, “You do not want me to bring sacrifices” (Psalm 51:18 TNK). In order to find forgiveness for his sin, David had to appeal to God’s hesed, his compassionate love. With a broken spirit and with a broken and a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17), David appeals to the grace and mercy of God. David prayed, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love (hesed)” (Psalm 51:1).

Although David did not deserve to be forgiven for his crime. God’s hesed, God’s compassionate love, gave him a second chance: “ I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19). The gracious God had mercy on a repentant sinner.

David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NLT). David needed a new heart, a heart which would allow him to enjoy a special relationship with God, a heart which would allow him to be a faithful and loyal servant, a servant who would not allow temptation to sever his relationship with God.

Application

My pastor, Jeff Griffin, Senior Pastor of The Compass Church in Naperville, Illinois preached a sermon on June 11, 2023 titled “David: “Facing the Truth.” The sermon was based on 2 Samuel 12:1–31. Many of the ideas and concepts mentioned in the post above are based on Jeff’s sermon.

In his sermon Jeff emphasized that David’s prayer is an example of the power of repentance. People who hide their sins have relationship problems which will have a great impact on their emotional lives.

Jeff acknowledged that the work of repentance is difficult, but in repentance, one encounters freedom. Since the work of repentance is hard, we have to learn how to repent. David sets an example for people seeking repentance.

David’s prayer gives us the words we need to confess our sins to God in order that we might experience forgiveness. Jeff exhorted people to follow the example of David. With repentance and confession of sins comes the restoration of relationships with family, friends and others.

Video Presentation

“David: “Facing the Truth.” – A Sermon by Jeff Griffin

For the complete list of sermons of the life of David, read my post, David – The Life of a King.

For a complete list of posts based on Jeff Griffin’s sermons, visit my post The Sermons of Jeff Griffin.

Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Perowne, J. Stewart. The Book of Psalms. Volume 1. London: George Bell and Sons, 1883.