Our Sin Will Find Us Out

When we do not receive immediate consequences to our sinful behavior, do we really get away with it? King David's adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the horrible series of events afterwards answers the preceding question with a resounding "NO!"

First, we need to provide a little back-drop to this scenario. 2 Samuel 11 describes in detail how this tragedy began. While King David was on a little midnight stroll on his castle roof, he spotted a beautiful woman bathing. David inquired about her to his staff. The woman ended up being Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's soldiers. David had Bathsheba brought to him and had an adulterous affair with her. The affair resulted in Bathsheba getting pregnant by David. To cover up the shameful conduct, David called Uriah from the field during war-time in the hopes Uriah would sleep with Bathsheba, so that the pregnancy would be attributed to him instead of David. But Uriah was so faithful to King David, he slept outside of David's house, instead of spending time with his own wife. David then sent Uriah back into battle, and ordered one of his commanders to send Uriah to the front line, but withdraw support so that he would be killed. The plan worked. Uriah was killed in battle. After allowing Bathsheba the customary time to grieve, David took her as his wife. She eventually bore David a son. In short time, God would send His prophet Nathan to rebuke David and announce God's judgment of his sin.

So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. 2 Samuel 12:13-18 (New King James Bible)

David's first son he fathered with Bathsheba died as an infant, even as he pleaded with God to spare the life of the child. But God's punishment of David's sin did not end there. God's judgment that David's household would be filled with strife would come to fruition. His son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar. David's son Absolom would later kill his brother Amnon. Absolom would also attempt a coup against David, to become king of Israel. As a result of this treasonous activity, Absolom would be killed in battle by members of David's army.

While David is called " a man after my own heart" by God Himself, and is considered by many to be the greatest king in the history of Israel, even he was not immune to the harmful effects of his sinful acts on his own life and on the lives of his loved ones.

The Best Advice A Father Could Give to His Son

1 Kings 2 (New King James Version) - "1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2 “I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. 3 And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4 that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel." - King David to his son Solomon, shortly before David's death

David was not only a king, a warrior, and a prophet; He was also a father to several sons. And like all good fathers, David wanted to impart his sons with some guidance they could apply to their lives. As the king of Israel for over 40 years, David had lived a life full of triumph and tragedy. At the end of his life, he had a lot of personal experience to offer his son, Solomon, as an example of how to conduct himself as the future king of Israel and as a man. Instead of putting the focus on himself as the example to follow, he pointed Solomon towards God. He extolled the virtues and benefits of following God, letting the tragedies of his life speak as examples of the consequences for not following God.

David understood that proving one's self as a man was not based on lustful conquests, being victorious in battle, or having others fear him. Proving one's self as a man could only be accomplished by committing one's way to God, and following His precepts. Today, we often seek to manifest our manhood or womanhood by exalting ourselves, or reducing ourselves to the behavioral least common denominator of the masses. In truth, many of us are really seeking The Right Path to take, as well as The Right Person to follow and emulate. We just don't realize it. How wonderful it is that David's advice to his son Solomon is as applicable today to all of us, as it was 3000 years ago.

Given the opportunity to elevate himself in the eyes of his son, Solomon, David deferred to God as the source of peace and abundant living. As a father, no greater advice could be given to my children, whether son or daughter, than to counsel them to commit their way and life to God in Jesus Christ. While I could try to have my children follow my life's examples, I love them too much to do so. While my life has been filled with triumphs and accomplishments, like David's, it has also been filled with sin, heartache and tragedy. The model of my life is flawed and distorted. But the advice of David to follow God, manifested in the person of Jesus Christ, is the gold standard to follow. This is the example I will put before my children to follow. I will counsel them to do so, and pray they take heed. Their very lives depend on it.