David Confesses His Guilt
Lots of repetition of Biblical principles we have already discussed. (Repetition is good.)
A story of God’s grace and mercy.
Justice gives what is deserved (reward or punishment).
Mercy withholds what is deserved (punishment).
Grace gives what is not deserved (blessing or favor).
2 Samuel 12:13-25 NLT
13 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. 14 Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord by doing this, your child will die.”
15 After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife. 16 David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. 17 The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
18 Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?”
19 When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David 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 ate.
21 His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”
22 David replied, “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.’ 23 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.”
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.
Examine the Scriptures
2 Samuel 12:13-25 NLT
David Confesses His Guilt
13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
- David recognizes his guilt and confesses his sin in response to Nathan’s rebuke.
David displayed genuine and contrite repentance.
Read Psalm 51.
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you,
- The Lord forgave David.
God’s grace was more than sufficient to forgive and restore David.
1 John 1:9 NLT
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
- David experienced the joy of knowing his sin was forgiven.
Psalm 32:1-5 NLT
A psalm of David.
1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
and you won’t die for this sin.
(From previous lesson.)
Leviticus 24:17 NLT
17 “Anyone who takes another person’s life must be put to death.
Leviticus 20:10 NLT
10 “If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death.
God does not give us what we deserve. He gives us what we least deserve (grace) and withholds what we do deserve (mercy). While God may not grant every desire or wish, He remains faithful to His promises.
14 Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord by doing this, your child will die.”
- Forgiveness does not always remove all of the consequences of sin. (From previous lesson.)
-
- David’s sons Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah will all die by the sword.
- David’s family will turn against him.
- David will experience public humiliation.
15 After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child
- David did experience painful consequences for his sins.
of David and Uriah’s wife.
Note: Scripture says this was “the child of …Uriah’s wife”
16 David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground.
- David begged God to spare the child.
17 The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
18 Then on the seventh day the child died.
“When David slept with Bathsheba and created new life, Bathsheba did not belong to him but to Uriah. The child cannot belong to David. He cannot enrich himself through his sin, and in a sense, justice is done to Uriah.” (Constable)
David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?”
19 When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord.
- David accepted the Lord’s discipline.
Referring back to verse 14, David would have viewed the death of the child as an act of God.
Jews associated seven days with divine acts.
After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.
- David resumed normal life activities.
21 His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat.
16 David begged God to spare the child.
But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”
When David resumed his normal life activities, his advisors were amazed.
22 David replied, “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.’
23 But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again?
David accepted the Lord’s discipline.
David understood the principle of Galatians 6:7 NLT
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”
Reflect on the following passages of scripture.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NLT
The Hope of the Resurrection
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
John 14:1-3 NLT
14:1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
Revelation 21:4 NLT
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
Philippians 3:12-14 NLT
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife,
See Matthew 1:6 (second part of this verse)
and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon.
1 Chronicles 3:5 NLT
5 The sons born to David in Jerusalem included Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. Their mother was Bathsheba, …
Genealogy in Matthew (Matthew 1:1–17)
Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah). (Matthew 1:6 NLT)
Genealogy in Luke (Luke 3:23–38)
Mattatha was the son of Nathan. Nathan was the son of David. (Luke 3:31 NLT)
- The birth of David and Bathsheba’s second son, Solomon was a blessing from the LORD. It demonstrates that God’s grace is greater than all our sins.
The fact that God allowed him to live—and even made him David’s successor on the throne—is testimony to God’s great grace to David.
Romans 5:20 NLT
20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.
- God had previously revealed to David that He would give him a son, and that he should name him “Solomon,” and that this son would succeed David on his throne.
1 Chronicles 22:6-10 NLT (2 Samuel 7 – previous to David’s sin with Bathsheba)
6 Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 “My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God,” David told him. 8 “But the Lord said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
1 Chronicles 28:4-7 NLT
4 “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, has chosen me (David) from among all my father’s family to be king over Israel forever. For he has chosen the tribe of Judah to rule, and from among the families of Judah he chose my father’s family. And from among my father’s sons the Lord was pleased to make me king over all Israel. 5 And from among my sons—for the Lord has given me many—he chose Solomon to succeed me on the throne of Israel and to rule over the Lord’s kingdom. 6 He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon will build my Temple and its courtyards, for I have chosen him as my son, and I will be his father. 7 And if he continues to obey my commands and regulations as he does now, I will make his kingdom last forever.’
The Lord loved the child
- The Lord loved Solomon.
25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.
Solomon means “peaceful” or “man of peace.”
