This chapter describes the prophet Nathan rebuking David’s sin, and David’s repentance.
“And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead… But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.” (v15b-20b abr)
The consequence of David’s sin was steep – not only would this son die, God also promises “the sword shall never depart from his house” (v10). That promise, combined with David’s demand for fourfold restitution for his crime (v5-6), means that three more of David’s sons will die (stay tuned in later chapters). David would lose a total of 4 sons for the life of Uriah. Despite the cost, David understood, and could not be angry with God, only with himself.
David repents of his sin, and mourns his choices, as well as his son’s decline in health, hoping God would change His mind. Once his son dies, David cleans himself up and worships God. He knows it wasn’t God’s fault his son died, and he also knows that the consequence is set and cannot be undone. Yet there is great hope after his repentance, because David and Bathsheba have a second son known as Solomon (also named Jedidiah by God).
I’m sure sin and consequence are well-known concepts to us, but let’s not forget the powerful attitude of repentance. True repentance is turning from our past sin by humbling ourselves before God, asking for heartfelt forgiveness, and reaffirming our allegiance and obedience to Him. In my experience with the process, I agree with David’s approach of worshiping God – when we fixate on not sinning, we think about sin, and we are more prone to sin again; when we fixate on God and worshiping Him, we don’t think about sin, and are therefore less likely to sin again.
I encourage us to turn to God consistently whether we have sinned or not. The more we focus on Him, the less likely we are to fall prey to temptation again, because God will never tempt us to sin. If David had stayed near to God and loyal to his army, he may not have seen Bathsheba bathing in the first place. Let’s strive to remain close to God so our obedience to Him will naturally follow, and sin will naturally fall to the wayside.
Father God, our Majestic Lord and King, holy, holy, holy is Your name. You alone are worthy of our praise and worship. May we learn to focus on You more and more, so that we are open to temptation less and less. Father we love You, and long to obey You, so please gently teach us how to consistently remain rooted in You. All honor, praise, glory and thanksgiving be unto You, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training