I Chronicles 17; II Samuel 8-12:15a; Psalm 51
In case you missed II Samuel 7 (and the April 3 post), I Chronicles 17 offers the replay, nearly quoting the Samuel passage. (But not quite — I’ll let you find the differences.) We then move back to II Samuel to pick up where we left off. We see David ruling marvelously, with military victories all around. (II Sam. 8,10) He shows compassion and honor to Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, treating him kindly for the sake of Jonathan. (II Sam. 9) David administers justice and equity to all his people (II Sam 8:15), until…Bathsheba.
David sees this beautiful woman bathing. He desires her, takes her, commits adultery — at exactly the wrong time of the month (II Sam. 11:4) — and she becomes pregnant. In an effort to cover up his sin, he invites Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite — David’s loyal friend and one of his elite mighty men (II Sam. 23:29; I Ch. 11:41) — to come home and sleep with his wife. But Uriah honorably and humbly does not indulge himself. So David murders Uriah by proxy in order to take Bathsheba as his own wife.
But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
II Samuel 11:27
The prophet Nathan — the same man through whom the LORD had promised to establish David’s kingdom forever — confronts David with a parable of a rich man treating a poor man unjustly. David, whose heart normally aligns with the LORD’s, immediately and rightly condemns the rich man. But Nathan says, “You are the man!” That cuts David to the quick, and he realizes his sin. He repents and writes Psalm 51 in response. The LORD forgives David (II Sam. 12:13), but David’s sin is not without consequences. We shall see those consequences in the days ahead.
But let’s back up. What is David’s big problem here, and how might he do things differently? Of course, the obvious first answer is that he should immediately turn away from Bathsheba, not invite her over, never touch her, etc. — entire problem avoided. But failing that, then what? How about immediate repentance after his tryst? When he calls Uriah home for a little time with his wife, what if David instead confesses his sin to Uriah then and there? What prevents David from this proper course of action? I’m guessing David faces the same goblins that prevent us from promptly confessing our sins: pride and fear — pride in a good reputation and fear of losing that reputation. But those goblins are liars, and rather than protecting David’s reputation (or ours), they drive him (and us) to greater sin and even worse damage to the reputation.
I cannot count the number of times I have delayed confessing some sin or have compounded my sin by lying about it, trying to cover it up. I fear rejection. I fear that people whom I count as friends will turn away in disgust, and with people there are no guarantees that they will not do so. And so my fears of rejection persist, and I hide behind a mask of uprightness. But the other person’s reaction never justifies failure to repent on my part, so I eventually break down and take off the mask. And when I do, the imagined rejection almost never materializes. It is usually just the opposite. I find acceptance and forgiveness — and often even respect for having come clean. Better yet, with the Lord, we do have a guarantee:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I John 1:9
So don’t let fear hold you back. If you need to confess some sin, do not wait. Make that confession — not just the general confession that we all might pray in church as a group, but a real confession of that specific sin. In the process, difficult as it might be, you will find freedom.
See also: