God's Favor Lasts A Life Time

2 Samuel 12:1-15

David Committed Adultery with Bathsheba

David succeeded King Saul as the second king of Israel. In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David instead remained behind in Jerusalem.

After his afternoon nap, David got out of bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a very beautiful woman bathing. He sent someone to find out who she was. She was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, who was a Hittite soldier. 

Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, David slept with her. Now she was just becoming ceremonially clean after the impurity due to menstruation (11:4). When David laid aside his fighting armour, he took the first step of moral defeat.

Bathsheba returned home and later discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”

Then David asked for Uriah to return from the battlefield and told him to go home. Uriah did return but refused to go home. Although David persuaded him repeatedly, Uriah chose to sleep at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guards.

Was Uriah being so loyal to King David, or for other reasons that he had refused to go home?

Then the next morning, David wrote a letter to Uriah’s master, Joab, and instructed him to position Uriah at the front line of battle where fighting was fiercest. Then he ordered Joab to withdraw the support from Uriah so that Uriah would be killed by the enemies. Joab acted accordingly and so Uriah was killed.

David then brought Bathsheba to the palace, and made her one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. The Lord was displeased with what David had done, so He sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story (12:1-4):

“There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle.  The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.  

One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, the rich man took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”

We can recall this poor man must be Uriah and he has a wife, Bathsheba. Who is this rich man? He is King David. The King has many properties. And the guest is the lustful and greedy desire that lure man into sin. When man opens door to let this ‘guest’ come in, sin will henceforth control him.

David was furious, “As surely as the Lord lives, any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

Then Nathan rebuked David, saying, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife?”

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Nathan replied, “Yes, but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.”

We may think such a grievous sin that David had committed will not apply to us. But there is a fundamental aspect of David’s sin which all of us may be guilty of.

Do Not Be Contemptuous of God’s Grace

Verses 7-10 stresses that David despised the Lord for he forgot the goodness of the Lord who had given him everything he had and would have given him more. But in return David sinned against God’s word, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife and you shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14.17)

Despite being greatly blessed; David was not contented. He wanted to have something that God did not give him, which is Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. He unscrupulously robbed Uriah of his wife and conspired to have Uriah killed.

David’s fall reveals to us that no matter how one is overwhelmingly blessed, he could still find something lacking. Human being is inclined to overlook all the good things he possessed, but focuses at the minor imperfections or weakness. He covets for the felt-need and becomes ungrateful to God. Finally, he gets it through ways that displeases to the Lord.

This is an attitude contemptuous of God's grace. It is a sin each of us may be guilty of today!

Today, God has blessed us abundantly with a blessed family and career successes; do we then love the Lord even more? Or do we take to heart the little imperfections, lacking, and then complain against God, and try to make it up through our own ways?

While we were still sinners, God sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross to save us. We have no chips to bargain with God; we have no right to complain to God for losing some things we treasure, or for not making us very wealthy.

If we grumble against God; it shows that we have not realized that we are just sinners saved by His grace.

No one possesses a perfect life. Each life has some areas lacking, a thorn or some regrets. God created us and gave us life. He has a plan for everyone and He knows what is best for us. And he wants to bring the best out of us.  

We just need to trust in the Lord in all things, stay obedient to His will and His leading, giving thanks to God in every circumstance, for His grace is sufficient for us. Let the weak say I am strong in the Lord!

Accept Moments of ‘Grace Declined’

God establishes marriage and puts down the rules that govern marriages. Adultery is a grave sin that breaks marriages. In Israel both the adulterer and the adulteress were to be led out and be stoned to death.

After David confessed his sin, God forgave him. This is God’s grace given to David. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9).

Although God in His grace had forgiven David’s sins, God in His government had to permit David to experience the consequences of the sins he committed. This is the chastening from the Lord to make his children obedient. Thus the Lord sent a deadly illness to their new born child.

David pleaded with God to spare his child. He fasted and lay all night on bare ground. The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but David refused. His mourning witnessed acts of faith in God and his love for Bathsheba and children.

Then on the seventh day the child died. When David realized what had happened, he got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and he ate.

Why was there a big turn in David’s action?

David explained, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”

David is able to accept that sometimes divine grace could be ‘declined’! He submitted himself to God’s sovereignty.

God’s Favour Last a Life Time

Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. Earlier on, Bathsheba was addressed by the narrator 'the wife of Uriah', and now she was called 'David's wife' (v. 24). So she has a new beginning.

Earlier on, Bathsheba gave birth to a son and he died seven days after birth. He has no chance to be circumcised and named. Now she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son, and David named him Solomon, means ‘peaceable’.

The Lord loved the child and named him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”). God has a plan that Solomon will build the temple one day. God's peace, delight and divine plan come again to David and Bathsheba, despite the sins committed.

God is gracious and merciful, He forgives and provides us a way so that we can make a new beginning in his divine plan.

David is said to be a man after God’s own heart not because David is flawless. He had committed adultery and murder but when God spoke to him, he immediately confessed his sin and submitted to God’s sovereign will. As a result, God forgave his sin and gave him grace for a new beginning.

Conclusion

Let’s be true to ourselves and confess our sins before the Lord for He knows all secrets. We are to accept some imperfections, regrets and thorns in life and be contented with what God has blessed us. Let’s give thanks to the Lord in all things and all circumstances. We also are to submit to God even when His grace is perceived to be declined.

We will soon realize that God’s favor lasts a life time, and surely goodness and mercy of God shall follow us all the days of our lives. And we are able to make a new come-back in His divine plan.