In this compelling episode, we delve into the dramatic story of King David. Known as a man after God’s own heart, David did not always live up to this high commendation. We explore the profound ripple effects of his sin with Bathsheba, detailing the cascading consequences that affected many around him. It’s a narrative of power, betrayal, and divine judgment, revealing the complexities of David’s life and leadership.
The Ripple Effect of David’s Sins He was the only man in the Bible of whom God testified, I have found David to be a man after mine own heart. Yet he willfully committed the sin of adultery, using his kingly authority to steal another man’s wife. But what was worse was the cover up and the collateral damage that created many victims in the ripple effect of David’s sins. So now this has occurred. There’s another ripple I want you to see that happened this same time. What other person was affected now by David’s plan of cover-up? Joab. Because now Joab is forced to participate in murder. David had said, you put him out there where he will be smitten and die. Can you imagine when Joab got that letter? He must have went, what? Uriah? He’s one of our captains. He’s one of our best men. Now, we don’t know. I sort of doubt, seriously doubt that David said, because I got his wife pregnant. Amen? So I don’t think Joab even knew what was happening. He could only imagine or try to imagine. Maybe he thought that when Joab went there in the beginning, the ruse was to get news of the war, send him this so I know what’s going on. But maybe he thought that Uriah did something terrible, that now the king says he’s got to die. But whatever, Joab… was forced again because of David’s authority and power and being the king. And he said, put him there where he will die. But you see, Joab couldn’t just send Uriah all by himself and say, you all by yourself go and attack the city wall. Right. He couldn’t do that. He had to send at least a group of men to make it even look sensible. Because if he had sent Joab by himself, then it would have been obvious that they set him up to be killed. So he sent a group of men and made it look like they were special ops. That they were going to go somehow and maybe they thought the men might have thought we’re going to be special ops and we’re going to get there and we’re going to pick off some of these people. But… They were no match. They were no match for a fortified city with men on the wall shooting down at them. With no backup. Because Joab retreated. So the ripple effect. Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab, other righteous men are now collateral damage of David’s sin. So now Joab has to send a message back to David to tell him what’s going on. And he told the messenger, he says, when you go see King David and you tell him that we lost a lot of men in battle and the king will get angry at you, he will get angry and he might say to you, why did you approach so near to the city? Didn’t you know that they would pick you off, that they would shoot at you from the walls? Why did you go near the walls? Listen to this. Joab said to the messenger, if the king gets angry and asks you those questions, here’s how you answer him. Your servant Uriah the Hittite died also. Because he knew that that’s all that David cared about. He was reckless, careless. He didn’t care about the collateral damage. And he didn’t care about those righteous men. He only wanted to know Uriah is dead. And now that he’s dead, my sin will be covered and nobody else will know about it. So he forced Joab to participate in murder. And then he forced Joab to participate in the cover up. Amen. He sent valiant men to their deaths just so he could get Uriah killed. Amen. There were grieving widows and orphaned children weeping in the towns of Israel and Judah because valiant men died that day to cover up David’s sin. Now, David’s going to try to assuage Joab’s guilt. David knew that Joab had to be riddled with guilt and not even understanding really what the whole plot was about. And so he told the messenger, we’re going to read this part. Let’s look at verse 22. So the messenger went and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us and came out unto us in the field and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. And the shooter shot from off the wall upon thy servants and some of the king’s servants be dead and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David said to the messenger, You shall say unto Joab, let not this thing displease you. For the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle more strong against the city and overthrow it. And encourage him. So now David is instructing this messenger, when you go back, tell Joab, do not let this thing displease you. For you know, the sword devours one as well as another. Don’t feel bad, Joab. And don’t feel guilty. And don’t be displeased. And this Hebrew word means to be grievous, to grieve over something. Don’t be grieved over these men’s deaths. We have no control over who gets killed in the battle. This is part of being in the military. Now I want you to strengthen yourself and strengthen your troops and go against that city and overthrow that city. And then he said to the messenger, he probably patted him on the shoulder and said, now when you go back, encourage Joab. Make sure you encourage him. Can you see how that David was falling deeper and deeper into this snare? Amen. He wanted the messenger to encourage Joab because David already knew that Joab had to be encouraged. In a bad place. Let’s look at verse 26. And when the wife of Uriah Bathsheba heard that Uriah, her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. As I said a moment ago, we should not even think that she wasn’t in love with her husband. She loved her husband. And imagine the emotional state that she was in. She loved him. When she heard he was dead, she had to be brokenhearted and grieve over the loss of her husband. Amen? He was a good man. He was a righteous man. I won’t have time to go there today, but further on in 2 Samuel, when David’s dying on his deathbed, and it gives you sort of a synopsis of his military life. And it tells you that he had, I think it was, I believe it was 38 or 39 men that were his closest, best companions in war. And how many know David had many, many over the years. Even when he was writing from Saul, way back when, before he was king, he had 600 men. that helped him and so he had many great men and it names them all and guess what is the last one it names uriah the hittite he was a good man he was a righteous man of course his wife would have been brokenhearted and grieved over his death Amen? And she did not initiate this sexual thing that they had. It was David who took her and seduced her. Now she could have been partially relieved that her pregnancy, now her husband would never know about it and not be brokenhearted over it because the guilt of breaking his heart with this was probably very heavy upon her. Nevertheless, she was still pregnant and people knew her husband wasn’t home. Amen. What was she going to do about that? But she would have been broken hearted over the death of her husband. Verse 27. And when the morning was passed, David sent and fetched her to his house and she became his wife and bear him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. When I read that word displeased, it jumped out at me because it’s the same word that he told the messenger to tell Joab, don’t let this thing displease you. Don’t let it grieve you. Well, he might’ve been telling Joab that he forgot God was displeased. God was grieved over what David did. I think that God had two things going on. He was angry. He was angry over this. But I think he was brokenhearted too. Because remember, David was a man after God’s own heart. And God had lavished his love on David. From the time he was a child because David had lavished his love on God from his childhood. So I will paraphrase here at this point for time. So God now sends his prophet Nathan to confront David over his sins. And Nathan started off. very tactfully telling him a story. David, I want to tell you of a situation that I know about. Because remember, the king was the ultimate counselor. And so Nathan said, There was in a particular town a rich man and a poor man. Now the rich man had exceeding flocks and herds, while the poor man had only one little female lamb. And he loved and treated that little lamb like a member of the family. She grew up with his children. You know how like you get a puppy dog, grows up with your kids. That’s how the lamb was. He said she ate and drank with them. They treated her like part of the family. Says that this little lamb would lie on his bosom. Just like your little puppy will do or your little kitty will do. Amen? And then one day a traveler came to visit the rich man. And the rich man wanted to provide for him a great meal. But instead of him going to his many flocks and choosing a lamb out of his many, many flocks of sheep, he went and took that poor man’s one and only lamb. And he killed it and dressed it and prepared it as a meal for his guest. Now, when David heard this, he was furious. He said, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die. He pronounced a strong judgment. He shall surely die. Amen. Nathan said, you are the man. My God, that must have hit David like an arrow, boom, right in the bullseye of his heart. Amen. And I know in a nanosecond, David understood exactly what he meant. He knew in that moment what he meant. Amen. David thought that he had covered his sin and covered his tracks. He married Bathsheba. No one now would question anything about anything. And he didn’t think a soul knew about it. But the thing displeased the Lord. And he revealed it unto his servant Nathan and sent Nathan to him. And now he proceeds to pronounce the judgment over David. I anointed you, king, because Nathan is now speaking in the voice of God. And I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. I gave you his house. I gave you wives. I gave you everything that you wanted. I made you king over Israel and Judah. And if you would have wanted more, I would have given you those things too. But you have despised me. the commandment of the Lord to do such evil as to kill Uriah and take his wife to be your wife and have slain him with the sword of Amnon. Think about that. They had gone up against the Ammonites. God said, you use the Ammonites to kill Uriah, but I hold you responsible. I hold you accountable for his death. Amen? See, God saw David as the killer. And notice that as Nathan is given this strong words about David, what he has done in the judgment, he never once mentions Bathsheba. He never says, so she sinned and the wicked things she’s done and the evil she has done. God did not hold it against Bathsheba because David is the one who contrived the whole thing from the get-go. From the moment his eyes laid upon that beautiful naked woman, from there on, he allowed the lust of his flesh and the lust of his eyes to carry him through. And the ripple effect was getting bigger and bigger. And God did not blame Bathsheba. Because the position that she was in, it was as though he had forced her. Amen? Okay, let’s look in chapter 12, verse 10. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them under your neighbor. And look at this. And he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. For you did it secretly. But I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. My God, I just got cold chills. Amen? I’m telling you, God told him, payback is coming and it’s going to come out of your own house. The sword will never leave your house. And you did this thing in secret. But I’m telling you that someone else is going to lie with your wives publicly in front of all. And saints, do you know this literally came to pass? David’s favorite son, he had many, many sons. His favorite son was Absalom. And at one point, Absalom rebelled and tried to steal the throne off of David. And when he tried to steal the throne off of David, he actually made it all the way into Jerusalem. And David had to flee the palace. And he fled the palace, but he left behind ten… his concubines so that they could keep the house and hold your place in chapter 12 but flip over to 16 and we’ll read a couple verses and see what happens in chapter 16 looking at verse 20 then said Absalom to Ahithophel he was a counselor He was one of David’s closest advisors and counselors. Give counsel among you what we shall do. He has now deserted David and gone on Absalom’s side. And Absalom is asking him, they’ve arrived at the palace. He’s saying, what should we do now that we’re here? And listen to this. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto your father’s concubines, which he hath left to keep the house. And all Israel shall hear that you are abhorred of your fathers. Then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house. And Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. Oh, those rooftop sins. See, the rooftop is the place of ease and comfort. You go up there to rest, relax. So he says, I’ll tell you what, you want to really, really get your dad, go get his 10 concubines he left behind, take them up on the rooftop and have sex with them up there in front of everybody. Boy, that’ll really do it. Amen? Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Why in the world would Ahithophel tell Absalom to do something so vile? Well, remember when I told you up front, remember that Bathsheba is the daughter of Eliam? Well, Eliam is the son of Ahithophel. So Ahithophel is Bathsheba’s grandfather. And he was one of David’s closest counselors and advisors during the time that David seduced his granddaughter, Bathsheba. Oh, I tell you what. It’s coming back home, isn’t it? It’s coming home. So… Not only that, but he was angry over what happened to his daughter. And then he was angry what happened to Uriah. That was his daughter’s husband. And so… Absalom did this. He did what he was told. He went up there. He had sex with all these women in front of everybody. Now, eventually, David is going to conquer and Absalom is going to run and they’re going to have a battle. David’s going to get to come home and he’s going to come back to the palace. And when he does… He takes those ten women that have been molested, you might say, by Absalom, because, you know, to have your mate’s son violate you, how humiliating is that? And he took those ten women who have already been wrongly humiliated and… He, as it were, allowed them to stay in the palace. He gave them a place to stay, but he forced them in what we would consider to be widowhood. For the rest of their lives, they lived as widows. Oh, we just got another ripple, didn’t we? We went out from Bathsheba to Uriah, to Joab, to the men that were killed with Uriah. Now to the ten concubines who were molested and forced to live as widows for the rest of their lives. Oh, the collateral damage. The collateral damage of that sin. Amen? Okay. Now, so let’s go back where we were in chapter 12 and look at verse 13. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. Remember, David said the man who’s done this shall surely die. Nathan says, you shall not die. How be it? Because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto you shall surely die. Oh my, there goes another ripple. So let’s think about this for a moment. First of all, David knew, yes, he had sinned against Bathsheba, made her an adulteress. He had sinned against Uriah and murdered him. He had sinned against Joab and forced him to be complicit in his terrible plot of evil, of murder and cover-up. He saw all the things that he was complicit in, what he had done. And yet, he realized at the very core of everything, I have sinned against God. I have sinned against God. Amen? Had he allowed just the fear of the Lord and or his love for God… To conquer that lustful temptation. He would not have executed his evil plans. Now what about this innocent baby? Now we got another ripple. We’ve got an innocent baby. And always remember that. Whenever there’s an adulterous affair. There’s some other kind of awful thing. A rape. A molestation. And a child is born under terrible circumstances. Right? The baby is not at fault. The baby is innocent. But God says the baby is going to die. Now remember, we’re under the old covenant. Life for life, blood for blood. Remember? David should have died for this sin. The double sin of adultery and murder. He should have died. And he said out of his own mouth, the one who’s done this shall surely die. But at this time, none of David’s sons… in god’s mind were fit to be king none of them were fit to step into david’s shoes and be king so in spite of his gross sins david did have a heart for god and he was god’s choice to be king but god said life for life the child shall surely die now put yourself in bathsheba’s shoes for a moment this never was her doing She never initiated it. She was seduced into this sin. She committed adultery against her husband. Her husband was killed. And now she’s going to lose her first baby. She is going to lose her firstborn son. Imagine what she’s going through. Verse 15, and Nathan departed unto his house and the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bear unto David and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. If we would read on, we will find out that this took place for seven straight days. David would not eat. He would not even get up and get washed or get dressed. He would not do anything but lie before God with his face to the floor, beseeching God to have mercy on the baby. It was to the point that the servants were walking around whispering, thinking, what are we going to do? He’s going to lose his mind. We got to stop this. We got to do something. He’s going to have to eat. But you see, the child was lingering between life and death. And David was imploring God and beseeching God to have mercy and not let the innocent baby be the collateral damage of his sin. But on the seventh day, the child died. Now, the servants thought, oh my goodness, we cannot tell him the child’s dead. He was already ready to break over the child being sick. If we tell him that the child’s dead, he will absolutely lose his mind. he saw them whispering and acting funny and he knew he said did the child die and they said yes he goes and gets a shower gets dressed fixes himself puts his oil on and goes and said prepare me a meal and they were like what when the child was still living you wouldn’t eat you wouldn’t drink and now that he’s dead now you’re going to get dressed and now you’re going to eat he said as long as the child was alive there was maybe a possibility that god would have mercy and raise him up But now that he’s dead, he is not coming back. I will go to him. Amen. And that is a little glimmer of hope for those who have lost loved ones, especially a child. Amen. They’re not coming back. Yes, I know. And it breaks your heart and you’ll never get over it. But you know, you’ll go to them. You will see them again. Amen. Amen. I hope you are being enlightened by this intriguing message, the ripple effect of David’s sins. This larger-than-life king was a man after God’s own heart. He was Israel’s heroic giant slayer, but he did not slay the giant of sexual lust that spurred him to commit adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his righteous captains in the army. He took an innocent woman and made her an adulteress. When she became pregnant, he devised a cover-up. When it failed, David’s unrepentant heart deceived him to commit the murder of the innocent husband Uriah. The ripple effect of this evil deed forced his general Joab to participate in the murderous scheme. It took the lives of other valiant soldiers who were sent to die on the battlefield with Uriah. And when judgment was pronounced on David, the baby born in adultery died. Ten of his concubines were publicly sexually molested by his own son and forced into a state of secluded widowhood. And the sword of death took three more of his sons. But thank God for second chances. David got right with God, and we have his recorded words that reveal what true repentance is and the extent of God’s merciful forgiveness. There are many nuggets and nuances in this message, so order your CD today for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request offer SK206. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or go online to our e-store at soundoffaith.org, where MP3s are also available. But to order The Ripple Effect of David, send by mail. Send a minimum love gift of $10. Request SK206 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Until next time, this is Sharon Ott saying, Maranatha.
