David and Bathsheba

Let me get this out, up front, unequivocally, without fear or favor: There is no excuse for sin. None. Period. We make our own choices, we do what we do deliberately, the devil doesn’t make us do anything, we decide our own course and we must accept the consequences of the choices we make. Oh, some might argue that sometimes people sin through ignorance. But that doesn’t work with God: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30, emphsais mine). Ignorance is no excuse. The Word of God has been on this earth for thousands of years now, Jesus died almost 2,000 years ago, and, while those with greater opportunity will be judged (and punished) more strictly (Luke 12:47-48)…there is no excuse for sin! And God will accept no excuses on the Day of Judgment (read Matthew 7:21-23).

Yet…yet…we all do sin. The world is full of examples of sin and we don't have to look hard to find them. And the Bible has many, many examples as well—including examples of great and godly people who fell short. And in one way, it is comforting to us to know that those saints of old had their weaknesses as well, and disobeyed the commandments of God.

One of the most egregious instances of a godly man sinning is David in his initial relationship with Bathsheba. Here was a man “after God’s own heart” (I Samuel 13:14), and yet he sinned in a most hideous manner. Compound sins, if you will. And it wasn’t for just one day.

The story is related in II Samuel 11. Briefly, it runs like this. David wasn’t where he should have been in the first place (v. 1). He sees a beautiful woman bathing (Bathsheba—this doesn’t speak well of her, either, for being unclothed where someone could see her). David lusts after her, sends for her, lays with her, and gets her pregnant, the latter which he obviously never intended (vs. 2-5). Now David’s got a problem because Bathsheba is married.

Bathsheba’s husband was a man named Uriah, a Hittite. He was a great warrior and he was fighting with the army. David calls him home, and twice tries to get Uriah to go home and lay with his wife so that they could say the baby was his; David even gets the man drunk one evening, hoping he’ll stumble home in ignorance. But Uriah doesn’t do it. So David must come up with another scheme (vs. 6-13).

To solve his problem, David sends a sealed letter, by Uriah’s hand, to the commander of the army, Joab. The letter said, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die" (v. 15). Joab, of course, will obey his king’s command; so Uriah is killed in a subsequent battle. David then marries Bathsheba: “she became his wife and bore him a son” (v. 27). No husband, David can have her, and the baby is legitimate. Situation resolved. Who’s going to argue with the king?

But the chapter ends with what might be the greatest understatement in all of Scripture: “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD” (v. 27).

Yes, I would think Jehovah would be displeased; David broke about half the Ten Commandments—he coveted his neighbor’s wife, effectively stole her, committed adultery, lied, murdered, and that’s just the beginning of the list. Those are just most of the outward sins David committed; it says nothing of the condition of his heart. And it all started because he wasn’t where he should have been in the first place—leading his army. But here is a very, very key point to this whole article. This wasn’t a one-day happening in David’s life. It went on for nine months! David lusted, committed adultery, and the baby was born—that takes nine months. Here, a man after God’s own heart, for nine months was living in egregious, heinous sin. He knew it, but instead of repenting, he tried to cover it up by murdering Uriah, etc. It was horrible.

Now, there was absolutely no excuse for what David did. None. There is no excuse for sin! Yet…yet, there is a degree of comfort, for us, in knowing that such an otherwise godly man could be so ensnared in sin, and for such a lengthy period of time. Now, David, when confronted with his sin (II Samuel 12), repented, as best he could. Read Psalm 51 for a beautiful song of remorse. And he suffered for his iniquity, periodically, for the rest of his life. But God forgave him. Thanks be to the Lord for His breathtaking, and wholly undeserved, mercy.

I almost hate to write this article for fear that someone who reads it might be tempted with a thought such as “well, if David sinned for nine months and God forgave him, then if I sin for an extended period of time…” It is not the goal of this treatise to encourage the readership to rebel against the Almighty. Yes, if we do sin, like David did, and truly repent, God will forgive. But there is never any excuse for sin! Reader, do NOT try to use David’s example as an excuse for your own iniquities—I promise you, God will not buy it. And if you die deep in that iniquity, don’t be surprised if mercy is lacking on the day you stand before God. I'm not going to play eternal Judge here, but you sin, you take your chances. Better never to do it. There…is…no…excuse...for sin!

But once more, it is comforting to know that the great, holy men of the Bible struggled with sin, too, just like you and I do. And that God, as long as we’re breathing, will always accept us back, if we truly repent. What a wonderful God we have, and what a marvelous Book He has given us, a Book that shows us the way to eternal glory.