David and Bathsheba - The Book of 2 Samuel - Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. And it came to pass in an
evening tide that David arose from off his bed and
walked upon the roof of the King's house. And from
the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the
woman was very beautiful to look upon. Second Samuel eleven two.

(00:21):
Heavenly Father, as I rest in the finished work of
your hand, I will not drop my guard because I
am now enjoying a life of abundance. As David did,
I will remain diligent to continue the disciplines that insure
my success and peace. When entitlement and complacency try to

(00:43):
occupy space in my mind and heart, I will be
quick to evict them before they do damage to my destiny.
When distractions try to entice me, I will not become
enamored and emotionally connected, because, like Bathsheba, they don't belong
in my life. I declare that I am focused on

(01:05):
my mission. I declare that I am determined to honor
God in all that I do. And I declare that
deceit and deception are not chapters in my book called life.
Thank you God for protecting me from calamity and wrong options.
I only want your best for my life in Jesus name. Amen.

(01:30):
Thank you for praying with us to day. Continue your
time with God by listening to today's Bible story, brought
to you by Bible in a Year dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
David and Bathsheba. In our last story, we witnessed the
triumph of David over the Syrians and Ammonites. David's bravery
and skill was rivaled by no one. He claimed victory
after victory in battle and brought Israel into a place
of peace with many surrounding nations. Now we see David

(02:13):
growing complacent in victory. David lets his guard down, and
what happens next in an anchor to David's soul for
the rest of his life, as inspired by the Book
of Second Samuel.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Hello, I'm pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. In our previous reading, we
heard of the Ammonite king Hanoun, who disgraced David's men
and paid a high price for his abuse. We also
saw David's heart of service and kindness to those under
his leadership and attitude that God blessed and always blesses greatly.

(02:48):
But even the greatest leaders can fall to temptations when
their attention drifts from the calling of God upon their life.
And in today's passage, we'll see what happens when David
takes his eyes off the vision that God had given
him and allows his gaze to settle on a married woman,
the wife of one of his mighty men. He will
give in to this temptation, and it will change the

(03:10):
course of his life forever. So let's listen to today's reading.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Now, spring flowers were blooming all throughout the land of Israel.
David was walking the courtyards of Jerusalem, turning his face
towards the sunlight. He strolled among the city, pleased with
himself and the state of his country. Still soar from
his battle with the Syrians, and content with his work

(03:35):
as king, David sent joe Ab into battle against the
Ammonites to finish the job. David remained in the sun,
smiling with the foggy mind of a warrior. Returned home
from victory. He napped until the late afternoon. The sun
was a few hours from setting, and the evening spring
landed gently on his skin like a feather. David arose

(03:58):
from his nap and rubbed his eyes. He looked out
the east window into the distance, wondering how joe Ab
and his men were doing in battle. He knew that
it was a king's duty to go into a battle
such as this. However, David felt entitled to some rest.
After all, he single handedly defeated the Syrian general and

(04:19):
sent them scattering. David smiled, content with his decision to
send his army away. As David was looking out the window,
a figure down below caught his eye. David looked closer
to see a woman bathing through her window. David watched
as water trickled down her intoxicating figure. She was incredibly beautiful,

(04:41):
and David could not take his eyes off her. David
was lost in the moment, admiring her naked body bathing.
As the sun began to set, David beckoned one of
his servants and said, find out who that is for me.
So the servant left for a few moments. Since the
woman was close by, it would not be hard to

(05:01):
find out which household she was a part of. The
servant returned and said, that is Bathsheba. She is the
daughter of Elia and the wife of Yuria, the Hittite.
David winced in frustration, Yuria was one of David's mighty men.
He was loyal, trustworthy, and a noble warrior. David covered

(05:21):
his face. He let too many moments go by, enough
moments to allow the temptation to poison his blood. David's
heart was close enough to God's to know how to
flee the situation. He had options, Yet David ignored the
spirit within him and said, send for Bathsheba, Bring her
to me. A little under an hour had passed. David

(05:45):
was pacing his room in anxious anticipation. Then the door
opened slowly. David saw Bathsheba enter in with nobody behind her.
He could not take his eyes off her. The two
of them spoke for a little while, eye candlelight, they
flirted and whispered.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
To one another.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
David touched her face, and the two of them began
to kiss. The two of them were together all night.
Sighs filled the room as David and Bathsheba embraced one
another in secret. It was a night of passion, intoxication,
and betrayal. A few weeks had passed since that night.
David often thought about Bathsheba. He thought about her body,

(06:26):
the smell of her hair, and the sound of her breath,
yet afterwards David would feel a pang of guilt for
the sin he committed. He knew he could not see
her again. His men were still at war, slowly defeating
the Ammonites, and David remained in the city, tending to
a few political duties. One afternoon, David was working in

(06:47):
his room when the door opened slowly. David looked up
and saw Bathsheba poking her head through the door. Surprised
and afraid that she would be seen, David quickly had
her come in and shut the door. Confused, David greeted her.
He wondered if she had come back for another night
of passion, or perhaps Yuria had somehow known about them.

(07:08):
Bathsheba looked up at David, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Her lips quivered as she said, David, I am pregnant.
David sprang into action immediately. He knew he could cover
up his sin if Yuria would sleep with his wife again,
then Yuria could raise David's child as his own and
be unaware of her betrayal. So David sent for Uria

(07:31):
to return from battle. A few days passed, and David
was anxious to see Euria again. The door opened slowly,
and Yuria greeted his king with a hug. The two
spoke of the war, the state of the men, and
how the Ammonites were taking longer to defeat than expected.
David smiled at Uria and said, my friend, you should

(07:52):
go home and relax. Before you return, see your wife,
wash your feet, and then rest before leaving. Yuria returned
the king's smile. David's stomach turned when he looked at
his innocent gaze. Euria put his fist to his chest
and said, the ark of God is still in a tent,
and my fellow soldiers are sleeping on the ground beside

(08:14):
a battlefield. Shall I go home to sleep with my wife, eat, drink,
and lie in a bed. No. I will not do
that to them until the battle is won. David did
his best not to slap Yuria. His honor was making
David's lies more difficult to cover. Very well, David said,
at least stay the night here and drink with me.

(08:36):
Surely you can do that. Uria agreed, and David did
his best to get Uria drunk so that he might
sleep with his wife. Yet Euria maintained his composure and
his honor. He gave David no choice. The next morning,
David sent Yuria back to the battle. David also sent
word to Joab, saying, send Yuria to the forefront of

(08:58):
the battle. Of him be the spearhead of the army,
draw back just slightly as he goes in, so that
he dies in battle. Joab had betrayed David before, and
David showed him mercy, so Joab did not question David's orders.
As Joab and his men were making their final push
to besiege the city, Joab sent Yuria to the front

(09:20):
to storm the gates. Yuria agreed and roared valiantly. He
flung himself into the Ammonite army, expecting his men to
be behind him. Instead, they held back for a few moments,
and Yuria was overcome by a fury of swords Bathsheba
stood still as a messenger delivered the news that Yuria
had been killed. Her knees began to shake, and her

(09:43):
eyes began to fog up with tears. Then she crumbled.
She wept bitterly on her knees, knowing full well what
it transpired. Guilt, grief, and conviction filled her heart. She
mourned for weeks when weeks had passed, and the of
Yuria's death was now a dull pain. David sent for Bathsheba.

(10:04):
The two became married, and Bathsheba bore his son. David
sighed in relief that his sin had been successfully covered up. However,
he overlooked a simple yet frightening truth. God knew. God
had called David to be a king of honor and conviction.
David's sin would find him out soon enough, and he

(10:26):
would be met with God's rebuke, correction, and kindness all
at once.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Today's passage begins with David's army going into battle, led
by his trusted commander, joebb as King of Israel. It
was David's calling to join his men, leaving them in
the fight, but he decided to stay in Jerusalem, and
with that choice, David opened the door to temptation. Second
Samuel eleven, verse two records the moment temptation came upon

(11:01):
the scene. It happened late one afternoon when David arose
from his couch and was walking on the roof of
the King's house that he saw from the roof a
woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. Rather than
joining his men in the battle where he belonged. David
was lounging at home, and he stood atop his house,
surveying his kingdom and all that he had accomplished, and

(11:22):
his eyes began to wander from his God given purpose,
and he began to look with lust upon a woman
who was beautiful, enticing, and not his wife. David should
have recognized the temptation the danger of that moment. He
should have turned around, walked away, and obeyed God. Instead,
he sent his servant to find out who this woman was.

(11:44):
Her name was Bathsheba, and not only was she married,
but she was the wife of Uriah, one of David's
mighty men. So clearly, David is already treading into dangerous
territory and he is in trouble. His complacency and curiosity
led him into this situation. Yet there was still time
to turn back. David could have walked away from the

(12:07):
sexual immorality that was knocking at the door of his life,
but sadly, that's not what happened. He sent for Bathsheba
to be brought to him, and the two slept together.
It wasn't long before David's sin caught up to him.
Shortly after their night of infidelity, Bathsheba became pregnant and
sent word to the king that she was carrying his child.

(12:30):
For some moments of stolen pleasure, David's whole life and
even his kingdom was now in jeopardy. If his sin
was discovered, David, the mighty godly King would be disgraced.
But instead of owning his mistake, repenting and showing the
nation an example of someone seeking God's forgiveness, David hashed

(12:51):
a plan to cover up his sinful deeds. He called
for Uriah to be sent home from battle in hopes
that the man would sleep with his wife and assume
that the baby would be his own baby. Uriah, however,
proved more honorable than the king. He refused to go
to bed with his wife, knowing that there was a
battle to be fought, and despite David's attempts, Uriah never

(13:13):
lay with Bathsheba. But now David was in way too deep.
He was committed to the lie, to the cover up,
so he concocted an even more devious plan, a deadly plan,
one that would break yet another commandment. He sent Uriah
back into the battle along with a note to joe
Ab instructing him to place Uriah on the front lines

(13:34):
and draw back so that the enemy was sure to
kill Uriah. Joe Ebb, ever, the loyal commander, did as
David instructed. Now David was not only guilty of complacency
and lust and adultery and dishonesty, he was guilty of murder,
all to save his own reputation and to hide his sin.

(13:57):
Bathsheba was now a widow to her mourning period. David
brought her into his home and married her. It seemed
to him like he had gotten away with all of this.
But God knew. God always knows, and God was deeply
grieved by David's sin. And in our next reading we'll
see how God deals with David and how his mercies

(14:20):
persist even in the midst of David's sin and its consequences.
Dear God, may we always be reminded that you have
provided a way out of temptation. We asked that you
would deliver us from evil, and that we would overcome
every sinful temptation in our lives. Help us never to

(14:41):
cover our sin, but to always turn to You and
to seek repentance and forgiveness with you. Thank you for
your love and your grace, your mercy, and the power
of your cross to change our lives. For we pray
in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you for listening
to Today's Bible in a Year podcast. I hope you
are enjoying it as much as I am. This is

(15:03):
Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the
Prey dot com app and make prayer the priority in
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(15:23):
and we are celebrating the fact that God's word is
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visit Jack Graham dot org. God bless you.

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David and Bathsheba - The Book of 2 Samuel

Episode Transcript

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Jack Graham

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