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More II Samuel commentaries
II Samuel 8:1-18
David’s Consolidates his Kingdom
II Samuel 9:1-13
David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth
II Samuel 10:1-19
The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated
II Samuel 11:1-17
David’s Sin with Bathsheba
II Samuel 11:18-27
Uriah’s Death Arranged
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David’s Sin with Bathsheba
II Samuel 11:1–17
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
“When Christians are tempted they should not be discouraged. It is not a sin to be tempted; the sin is to fall into temptation.” (D.L. Moody in “Who said that by George Sweeting,” p. 420). … More
After restoring Israel to peace and military power, David’s personal life becomes entangled in sin. After the first step he allows himself to fall deeper and deeper into sin. The progression was:
1. David abandoned his purpose by staying home from war (v.1).
2. He focused on his own desires (vv. 2-3).
3. When temptation came he yielded instead of turning away from it (vv. 4-5).
4. He sinned deliberately (v. 4).
5. He tried to cover up his sin by deceiving others (vv. 6-15).
6. He committed murder to continue the coverup (vv. 16-17).
The sin of David and Bathsheba (chaps. 11-12) changes the tenor of the story from David’s triumphs to his troubles. David sent Joab and his soldiers to battle but he stayed behind. The author implied that David should have been at war, rather than remaining behind (v. 1). When David looked from the roof of his palace he saw a beautiful woman bathing and he was filled with lust (vv. 2-5). He should have left the roof and fled the temptation but instead he pursued the temptation by inquiring about Bathsheba and then spending the night with her.
When Bathsheba learned of her pregnancy, David attempted to cover up his sin. He sent for her husband, Uriah the Hittite, who was in the field of battle (vv. 6-13). Uriah refused to go home to his wife, even at David’s insistence. Uriah did not want to enjoy his wife and his home when the armies of God were on the battlefield. David was driven by Uriah’s obstinate refusal to visit his wife to a desperate scheme. He drafted orders for Joab to assign Uriah to the front line where the battle was most fierce. Then he was to order the supporting troops to withdraw leaving Uriah to be struck down and killed by the Ammonites. (vv. 14-17).
Application
To flee temptation I must: (1) Ask God in prayer to help me stay away from people, and places that tempt me. (2) Memorize and meditate on portions of Scripture that will combat my specific weakness. (3) Keep in the Word of God on a daily basis and apply the things I’m learning.
II Samuel 11:1-17 (English Standard Version)
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant." So David sent word to Joab, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?" Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing." Then David said to Uriah, "Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die." And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
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