Today’s passage: 2 Samuel 11
Helpful thoughts:
- David should have been out with his army. He wasn’t busy doing what he was supposed to be doing.
- David in his right mind was concocting ways to sin and try to get away with it. Uriah the Hittite showed more honor even after he was made to be drunk.
- When David told Uriah to go home and “wash his feet,” this was a polite way to encourage him to go home and go to bed with his wife. The gift David sent with Uriah would have been intended to give them a fancy date night. David was only trying to cover his sin.
- Information about Bathsheba:
- She was not a random woman in Jerusalem. Uriah and her father, Eliam, were two of David’s mighty men (2 Samuel 23:34, 39). Her grandfather was one of David’s counselors (2 Samuel 15:12).
- The language in verse 4, “and she came to him,” is a way to state that Bathsheba was willing. What we don’t know is what her motivations were for being willing. David put her in a terrible position either way. As a leader, he should have been fighting for the purity of the people, not inviting/using them to sin.
- The information about her purification from uncleanness confirms that the child was David’s. She had just completed her cycle.
- Joab trusted David’s orders…Uriah was the one who had been trustworthy. The man who was just died in an attempt to cover the sin of the unjust. This is not the kind of sacrifice that brings forgiveness and reconciliation with the holy God.
Questions to consider:
- Of all the people David sinned against, who was the most significant? (End of verse 27)
- How did David’s pride and sinful desires cause him to view other people? What kind of man did he assume Uriah was going to be when he came home? How did he treat people like Joab to accomplish his desires? Was Uriah the only soldier who died in that battle (Verse 17)? Did David lament the loss of lives?
- How can sins of omission (Not doing what we should do) lead to sins of commission (Doing what we shouldn’t)? How can you love the Lord and your neighbor today?