The Fall Of King David

This is one of my favourite stories in the Bible but it's actually deeper than that. Let me tell you about David. He was a righteous man, a man after God's own heart. A man who wrote and composed music about God, His goodness, His love, His mercy. This is a man who was so supposedly perfect; and committed to God, but he committed some serious sin (which shows that even He fell short and wasn't perfect). I read this again and it was like my eyes were opened. I've learnt something.

Let's see it from Bathsheba's perspective. She was just minding her own business, washing off on a warm night when a messenger from King David told her that the King had seen her bathing from his rooftop...oh, and he wanted to meet her. But, we don't know how she felt. I can only imagine that she was probably glad to have to be in the presence of the King. Her husband, Uriah, was off fighting for WAR FOR David himself in the army, so maybe she couldn't exactly refuse to go.

Anyway, we don't know what she was thinking, but she and David slept together. At the end result of that night, she got pregnant.

From David's perspective; David, one evening, was chilling in his palace, and he saw a woman bathing. He was overcome by LUST and he instantly wanted her. The Bible says, this woman was so beautiful and obviously, David was so intrigued that he sent someone to find out about her. He was told the woman was 'Bathsheba' and she was 'the wife of Uriah'. So, at this point, he knew she was a married woman. That's the first mistake he made.

He then sent his messengers to go and get her, she came to HIM and he slept with her. She got pregnant and informed David that she was pregnant. You can only imagine how David felt. Well, let me guess. He slept with one of his soldiers' wives. He must have felt ashamed, embarrassed, anxious...I can only imagine.

After this, we see a series of events. This GODLY man continuously tried to hide his sin. He sent word to Joab saying 'send me Uriah', he was obviously under the pretence of seeking information about the course of the war, but his main thing was to bring Uriah back to Jerusalem.

When Uriah came to him, he tried to convince him to to back to his house and relax. I mean, seriously, he tells Uriah to go home and relax, he obviously wanted Uriah and Bathsheba to enjoy their evening together. He wanted to hide deeper into his sin and pretend he hadn't fathered Bathesheba's child. BUT Uriah was so loyal to him, he slept outside the palace and did not go home.At one point, he ensured that Uriah got drunk so that he could go home and sleep with his wife. He woke up after that BUT Uriah continued to be loyal and faithful to David and did not go home.

He must have felt guilty, because I know I would, but there is no evidence of guilt here. David, at this point, hadn't even confessed his sins to God, he hadn't even recognised that he had sinned. He wanted to cover it up more and more. This led to him getting Uriah drunk in the hope that Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife, but nope, this still didn't happen.

In the end, he just decided to have Uriah killed by putting him at the front of the war line where the most dangerous and strongest defenders were. He planned all this so that he could marry Bathsheba himself as quickly as possible. Jeez, this guy is bad. LOL. But, it's honestly hard to imagine a man so close to God, so intimate with Him to fall so short. It's hard to imagine a man who composed such beautiful psalms, such great morals, such LOVE for God, so passionate about Him...yet he fell so deep into it.

Later on, Bathsheba's child dies. Bathsheba mourned for her husband for 7 days; but he later made her his wife. At this point, he probably had I think 5 wives...but later had Solomon after marrying him. Anyway, David showed no remorse, no guilty for his sin and God did not take it lightly.

Man, you can obviously see how this built up. David got someone else's wife pregnant and decides to hide it and cover it up. But GOD knew. And, if you read the rest of it, you will see that what He had done had DISPLEASED the Lord. Not only had he broken God's laws, he had shamelessly abused his royal power, which God trusted him with.

David can be seen as a total failure but God called David 'A Man after His OWN heart' in 1 Samuel 13:14. You can see his anguish in the Psalms, particularly Psalm 6, Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. 

What I learnt (with notes from David Wilkerson's Podcast):

• It does not matter what your sin is or may be. But no sin will cause God to give up on you. You are still his purchased possession. Even though David despised God by committing adultery, the Lord did not give up on HIM. 
• God even sent a PROPHET to David - he sent Nathan - to tell David what he had done wrong. He was confronted by a Prophet of God (I think in those days, God sent messengers to warn people). 
• Also, his fall caused him to write some beautiful words (as seen in Psalms). I can only imagine what David felt at that point, embarrassed? Ashamed? I mean, imagine if you did something like that and a Man of God comes and tells you that God knows what you have done.
• It took 40 years to get fear out of Moses and to make him listen to the words of God - but Moses because one of God's greatest heroes. David had to run back to the house of God and cried out for forgiveness and peace. 
• "Jonah retraced his steps and did exactly what he refused to do at first, bringing the City of Ninevah to repentance and deliverance."
• "So DESPITE their failure, these men became great men of God. They kept moving on. It's always after a failure that a man does his greatest work for God.

The bottom line is...FAITH. And faith rests on this one - "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." - Isaiah 54:17.

Even Paul said in Romans 7:14 - 25:

"My own behaviour baffles me. For I find myself doing what I really LOATHE but not doing what I really want to do...I often find that I have the will to do good but not the power. When I want to do good, only evil is within my reach..."

The message is...stay in God's presence. I'm sure you know what happened to Saul. - Read it in 1 Samuel 13 and onwards...

Hope you enjoyed...x