2 Samuel 11:4-17 – The Sin and the Cover Up
The third step in this path to death is the outward sin. The act that will cast such a long shadow over the rest of David’s life is quickly over. He uses Bathsheba and sends her on her way. It’s not love, it’s just lust. We kid ourselves if we think we’re alright because we don’t actually reach this stage. Maybe we don’t have the opportunities David had, but whether we commit the sin outwardly or not, if we do in our minds, we’re already guilty of it. Jesus said: If you look lustfully at a woman, you’ve already committed adultery in your heart. He said if you’re angry with your brother, you’re guilty of murder. So even though David’s sin seems to come out of nowhere in this chapter, there’s still a path by which he ends up there. And sin can take you down paths you would never have dreamed of walking.
This chapter should scare us. And it’s not over yet. Because David keeps walking further and further down that path. The fourth step is covering it up. Bathsheba only speaks three words in this whole chapter: ‘I am pregnant’. At this point, the chapter gets even scarier, because when David hears it, the only thought in his mind is how he can cover it up. He’ll stoop to murder if he has to. Verse 11 really contrasts Uriah’s integrity with David’s. Uriah’s conscience won’t let him go home to Bathsheba, despite the fact she’s his own wife. Whereas David has had no qualms about going to her, despite the fact she wasn’t his wife. The contrast is even greater because Uriah is a Hittite. That means his family didn’t originally belong to the people of God. But here he’s proving to be a better Israelite than the king of Israel. David sends Uriah back to the battle – unknowingly carrying his own death warrant. One sin has led to more and more. The David of this chapter is almost unrecognisable from the David whose life we’ve been following from way back when he was a shepherd boy in 1st Samuel 16.
If this chapter doesn’t scare us, then there’s something wrong. If we can read this chapter and say, ‘I would never do those things’, then we don’t realise that the seeds of every sin are found in the human heart. Even the strongest believer can fall terribly. The best people who have ever lived are capable of doing what David did here.
Question
- How does Uriah have more integrity than David?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would always be on guard against sin in our life.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.