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DAVID AND BATHSHEBA: SIN FORGIVEN BUT NOT ALTOGETHER UNPENALIZED

05-29-11

(2 Sam 11:1)  And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle [i.e., as the season permitted], that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel [the army of Israel]; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged [Heb: assaulted, distressed] [a prolonged attack on] Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

(2 Sam 11:2-4)  And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David [Heb: loving /// beloved] arose from off his bed, and walked upon the [flat] roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah [Heb: flame of Jah] [one of David’s “mighty men”] the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness  [from her menstrual cycle]: and she returned unto her house.

(2 Sam 11:5-9)  And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered [a war report or briefing]. And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat [Heb: food] from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

(2 Sam 11:10-13)  And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he [David] made him [Uriah] drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

(2 Sam 11:14-17)  And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city [of Rabbah], that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men [“the strongest defenders” NIV] were. And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab [and his attacking army]: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

(2 Sam 11:18-21)  Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh [near] unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh [near] the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

(2 Sam 11:22-25)  So the messenger went [from Joab], and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.

(2 Sam 11:26,27)  And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

AND GOD SENT NATHAN THE PROPHET TO DAVID

(2 Sam 12:9-15)  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away [Heb: covered] thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme [by setting forth a very bad example for the kingdom of God], the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die [i.e., there will be no profit gained from your bad example]. And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

AFTER THE CHILD’S DEATH, DAVID PENNED THIS PENITENT PSALM

[penitent: Dictionary = 1. repentant; contrite; sorry for sin or fault and disposed to atonement and amendment]

(Psa 51:1-8)  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity [Heb: perversity, (moral) evil: sin], and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

(Psa 51:9-16)  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

(Psa 51:17-19)  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite [repentant] heart [“broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent” Amplified Bible], O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Amen