| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
2 Samuel
Chapter Eleven
2 Samuel 11
Chapter Contents
David's adultery. (1-5) He tries to conceal his crime.
(6-13) Uriah murdered. (14-27)
Commentary on 2 Samuel 11:1-5
(Read 2 Samuel 11:1-5)
Observe the occasions of David's sin; what led to it. 1.
Neglect of his business. He tarried at Jerusalem. When we are out of the way of
our duty
we are in temptation. 2. Love of ease: idleness gives great advantage
to the tempter. 3. A wandering eye. He had not
like Job
made a covenant with
his eyes
or
at this time
he had forgotten it. And observe the steps of the
sin. See how the way of sin is down-hill; when men begin to do evil
they
cannot soon stop. Observe the aggravations of the sin. How could David rebuke
or punish that in others
of which he was conscious that he himself was guilty?
Commentary on 2 Samuel 11:6-13
(Read 2 Samuel 11:6-13)
Giving way to sin hardens the heart
and provokes the
departure of the Holy Spirit. Robbing a man of his reason
is worse than
robbing him of his money; and drawing him into sin
is worse than drawing him
into any wordly trouble whatever.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 11:14-27
(Read 2 Samuel 11:14-27)
Adulteries often occasion murders
and one wickedness is
sought to be covered by another. The beginnings of sin are much to be dreaded;
for who knows where they will end? Can a real believer ever tread this path?
Can such a person be indeed a child of God? Though grace be not lost in such an
awful case
the assurance and consolation of it must be suspended. All David's
life
spirituality
and comfort in religion
we may be sure were lost. No man
in such a case can have evidence to be satisfied that he is a believer. The
higher a man's confidence is
who has sunk in wickedness
the greater his
presumption and hypocrisy. Let not any one who resembles David in nothing but
his transgressions
bolster up his confidence with this example. Let him follow
David in his humiliation
repentance
and his other eminent graces
before he
thinks himself only a backslider
and not a hypocrite. Let no opposer of the
truth say
These are the fruits of faith! No; they are the effects of corrupt
nature. Let us all watch against the beginnings of self-indulgence
and keep at
the utmost distance from all evil. But with the Lord there is mercy and
plenteous redemption. He will cast out no humble
penitent believer; nor will
he suffer Satan to pluck his sheep out of his hand. Yet the Lord will recover his
people
in such a way as will mark his abhorrence of their crimes
to hinder
all who regard his word from abusing the encouragements of his mercy.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel》
2 Samuel 11
Verse 1
[1] And it came to pass
after the year was expired
at the
time when kings go forth to battle
that David sent Joab
and his servants with
him
and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon
and besieged
Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
After — When that year ended
and the next begun
which was in
the spring time.
When kings — Which is
when the ground is fit
for the march of soldiers
and brings forth provision for man and beast.
Tarried at Jerusalem — Had he been now in
his post
at the head of his forces be had been out of the way of temptation.
Verse 2
[2] And it came to pass in an eveningtide
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.
Arose from off his bed — Where he had lain
and slept for some time. And the bed of sloth often proves the bed of lust.
Washing herself — In a bath
which was in her
garden. Probably from some ceremonial pollution.
Verse 3
[3] And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one
said
Is not this Bathsheba
the daughter of Eliam
the wife of Uriah the
Hittite?
He inquired — Instead of suppressing that
desire which the sight of his eyes had kindled
he seeks rather to feed it; and
first enquires who she was; that if she were unmarried
he might make her
either his wife or his concubine.
Verse 4
[4] And David sent messengers
and took her; and she came in
unto him
and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and
she returned unto her house.
Took her — From her own house into his palace
not by force
but
by persuasion.
Lay with her — See how all the way to sin is
down hill! When men begin
they cannot soon stop themselves.
Verse 8
[8] And David said to Uriah
Go down to thy house
and wash
thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house
and there followed him a
mess of meat from the king.
Go down — Not doubting but he would there converse with his
wife
and so cover their sin and shame.
Verse 9
[9] But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all
the servants of his lord
and went not down to his house.
The servants — With the king's guard. This he
did
by the secret direction of God's wise providence
who would bring David's
sin to light.
Verse 10
[10] And when they had told David
saying
Uriah went not
down unto his house
David said unto Uriah
Camest thou not from thy journey?
why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?
Camest — Wearied with hard service and travel
nor did I expect
or desire that thou shouldest now attend upon my person
or keep the watch.
Verse 11
[11] And Uriah said unto David
The ark
and Israel
and
Judah
abide in tents; and my lord Joab
and the servants of my lord
are
encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house
to eat and to
drink
and to lie with my wife? as thou livest
and as thy soul liveth
I will
not do this thing.
The ark — This it seems
was now carried with them for their
encouragement and direction
as was usual.
Fields — In tents which are in the fields. His meaning is
now
when God's people are in a doubtful and dangerous condition
it becomes me to
sympathize with them
and to abstain even from lawful delights.
Verse 15
[15] And he wrote in the letter
saying
Set ye Uriah in the
forefront of the hottest battle
and retire ye from him
that he may be
smitten
and die.
He arose — So far is David from repenting
that he seeks to cover
one sin with another. How are the beginnings of sin to be dreaded! For who
knows where it will end? David hath sinned
therefore Uriah must die! That
innocent
valiant
gallant man
who was ready to die for his prince's honour
must die by his prince's hand! See how fleshly lusts war against the soul
and
what devastations they make in that war! How they blind the eyes
fear the
conscience
harden the heart
and destroy all sense of honour and justice!
Verse 27
[27] And when the mourning was past
David sent and fetched
her to his house
and she became his wife
and bare him a son. But the thing
that David had done displeased the LORD.
The mourning — Which was seven days. Nor could
the nature of the thing admit of longer delay
lest the too early birth of the
child might discover David's sin.
Bare a son — By which it appears
That David
continued in the state of impenitency for divers months together; and this
notwithstanding his frequent attendance upon God's ordinances. Which is an
eminent instance of the corruption of man's nature
of the deceitfulness of
sin
and of the tremendous judgment of God in punishing one sin
by delivering
a man up to another.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2
Samuel》
11 Chapter 11
Verses 1-27
Verse 1
The year was expired.
The end of the old year: a help to begin the new one
I. The end of the
year presents a fit opportunity to enquire how we regard the Divine government.
God governs the world according to natural and moral laws
through the medium
of the Gospel
and by the arrangements of His providence. Let us try ourselves
in relation to each.
1. Natural law
as seen in the works of His hands. That is not
religion
but fanaticism
which pours contempt on these works. Every man should
seek them out
and find pleasure in them. His eternal power and Godhead are
declared thereby. The whole year
by night and by day
has been teaching you;
“day unto day uttereth speech
and night unto night showeth knowledge.” If you
have been an attentive student of these great works
you have bowed with
lowlier reverence at His footstool
confessing
“In wisdom hast Thou made them
all.” If you have not
then go and learn with the little child.
2. Moral law. There was a law given from Sinai which has since been
repealed; but that which substantially is understood by the moral law never has
been
and never can be
abrogated. It is the law of this and all other
worlds--the law for angels and men--the law of love. “Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart
and soul
and strength; and thy neighbour as
thyself.”
3. The Gospel. First
the Gospel is free. You need nothing to qualify
you to receive its blessings; you may receive them freely
as you are. “All
things are ready.” The second thing is
the Gospel is full. You need nothing
else. “My God shall supply all your need out of His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus.”
4. God governs the world by the arrangements of His providence. These
try and determine the temper of our mind very decidedly.
5. But there are other arrangements of God’s providence which
surround us as individuals
and which try us more accurately.
II. The end of the
year suggests
the importance of trying our moral condition.
1. If we are going to heaven
we are nearer there than ever; and this
night reminds us how very soon we shall pass the portals of glory. Are we
better prepared than at the commencement of the sear for the employment of
heaven?
2. Has the experience of the year taught us our weakness and
worthlessness
and humbled us to repentance? “Wherefore I abhor myself
and
repent.” “Unprofitable servants!”
3. Are we distinctly conscious of pardon for the past?
4. Are we sure there is within us a disposition opposed to all sin?
Can we say with the holy Mr. Corbett
“Upon the best judgment that I can make
of the nature of sin
and the frame of my own heart
and course of life
I know
no sin lying upon me which doth not consist with habitual repentance
and with
the hatred of sin
and with an unfeigned consent that God should be my Saviour
and Sanctifier
and with the loving of God above all.”
5. Has the year left us earnestly and sinerely desiring the
accomplishment of all good in us and by us?
III. The end of the
year suggests the propriety of examining and revising our plans for the
employment of our time.
1. As to our devotional habits.
2. As to our walking with God.
3. As to our work. Are all our talents employed for God? “Occupy till
I come.” “The time is short.” Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do--do it.”
4. As to our amusements. “Use no recreation or delight of sense
but
thou canst at that very time desire of God
that it may be sanctified to
spiritual ends.”
IV. And lastly
the
end of the year reminds us of the “end of all things
” and bids us prepare for
it.
1. Look forward to death.
2. Anticipate the coming of the Lord and the future judgment. (T.
E. Thoresby.)
The flight of time
When Michael Faraday
the celebrated man of science
was a poor
apprentice
he used every spare moment for making experiments. In a letter to a
boy friend
after telling one of these experiments
he added: “Time is all I
require. Oh
that I could purchase at a cheap rate some of our modern gents’
spare hours--nay
days! I think it would be a-good bargain
both for them and
for me.” The youth had learned the first secret of success--not to waste time;
not to throw it away on useless persons or useless pursuits. The frivolous
think of nothing but pastimes and modes of “killing time;” but a day will come
to even the most frivolous when they will value time as much as our own
impetuous Queen Elizabeth did when she exclaimed on her death-bed
“My kingdom
for a moment.” (Quiver.)
The time when kings go
forth to battle.
A summons to battle
There seems to have been in the olden times
among the petty
sovereigns of the East
regular seasons for warfare; perhaps they marched forth
in the spring
when the grass would afford food for their horses
or possibly
in the autumn
when the troops could forage upon the standing crops. These
sovereigns of small territories were little better than the captains of hordes
of robbers
and their revenues were rather derived from plunder than from
legitimate taxation. We may thank God that we live in a happier era
for the
miseries of nations were then beyond imagination. Desolating as war now is
its
evils are comparatively little compared with those days of perpetual plunder.
But I am not about to talk of kings. I must transfer the text to some other and more practical use.
There is a time in our hearts when the inner warfare rages with unusual
violence. At certain seasons our corruptions break forth with extreme violence; and if
for awhile they appear to have formed a truce with us
or to have lost their
power
we suddenly find them full of vigour
fierce
and terrible; and hard
will be the struggle for us
by prayer and holy watchfulness
to keep ourselves
from becoming slaves to our inward enemies. I thought of using the text in
reference to Christian activities. There are times when Christians
all of whom
are kings unto God
should go forth to battle in a special sense.
I. The time for
the kings to go forth to battle is come. The special time for Christian
activities is just now. In some senses nay
in the highest sense
believers
ought to be always active. There should never be an idle day
or a wasted hour
or even a barren moment to a servant of God.
1. The time for kings to go forth to battle will be always when the
king’s troops are fit for battle; I mean
the time for spiritual work is when
the worker is especially fit for it.
2. Another season of especial work should be
when discerning
Christian men feel the motions of the Spirit of God calling them to unusual
service. “When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry
trees
then thou shalt bestir thyself
” said God to David
and then David did
bestir himself
and the Philistines were smitten. Do you not
some of you
hear
the sound of the going in the tops of the mulberry trees?
3. One other mark of the time for kings to go forth to battle is
surely when the Lord Himself works. The presence of good men with us is
encouraging
but oh
the presence of the God of good men should much more stimulate
us. Mahomet in one of his first famous battles
stimulated his soldiers to the
fight by declaring that he could hear the neighing of the horses of the angels
as they rode to the conflict to win the victory for the faithful. We speak not
so
but surely the horses of fire and the chariots of fire are round about the
faithful servant of God
and faith’s discerning eye can see the God of
providence moving heaven and earth to help his church
if his church will but
arise from the dust and put on her beautiful garments
and resolve to conquer
in her Master’s name.
II. Since the time
for battle has come
it behoves every soldier now to go to the wars.
1. All believers belong to Christ. You are His bond servants
you
bear in your bodies His brand
the marks of the Lord Christ
for “ye are not
your own
ye are bought with a price
”
2. I will add
all of you believers love Christ. Your belonging to
Him has wrought in you a true affection for Him.
3. Moreover
let me remind you that there is strength promised for
each of you. “As thy days
so shall thy strength be.” Shall I say that there is
work for all of us to do which lies very close to hand? The preacher will never
be without his. God will take care to furnish all His servants with sufficiency
of work. I remember to have read in Cotton Mather’s book upon plans of
usefulness
that he remarks that sometimes at the expense of a shilling
under
God’s blessing
a soul has been converted. Such books as Alleyne’s “Alarm
”
Baxter’s “Call to the Unconverted
” and Doddridge’s “Rise and Progress
” have
wrought wonders in years gone by; and at this hour you may have for a penny or
less
truths so set forth as to ensure the reader’s attention. Mr. Cecil says
he had to be very grateful to God for his mother
not so much because she
pressed him to read good books
as that she took care to put good books where
he was likely to take them up.
III. There are great
motives to excite us to fight earnestly for Christ. The motives gather round
five points.
1. The first is our King.
2. Remember next the banner under which we fight--the banner of the
truth
of the atoning blood.
3. Remember
next
another word--the captives whom it is your hope by
the Holy Spirit’s power to redeem from the slavery of sin. How our soldiers of
the Indian mutiny advanced like lions against the mutineers when they
remembered Cawnpore and all the cruelties to which their brethren had been
exposed! How unweariedly they marched
how sternly they fought when they were
within sight of the foe! After this sort should we fight with those who have
enslaved and injured our brethren.
4. Remember
again
and this word ought to stimulate us to fight
well
the enemy
the black and cruel enemy.
5. Yet one more encouragement
and that is our reward. “They that
turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.”
IV. The highest
encouragements readily present themselves to induce you to join the warring
armies.
1. It is quite certain that God has an elect people still upon the
earth; then see ye not that it is hopeful work to find out these elect ones by
the preaching of the word?
2. Remember
also
that God has never failed a true worker yet.
3. Remember
too
that if you did not see any souls converted
yet
God would he glorified by your exaltation of Christ
and your talking of
Christ
and your earnest prayers and tears for the good of others.
IV. The solemn
danger of inaction. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Glad response to the battle call
Even the most disagreeable duty
if done in love
may be a
means of blessing. When we come really to believe this great truth we shall
seek for no other reward for our service than Christ’s glad presence at the
goal. We shall go to every task with eager joy
because Christ will await us in
it. We shall grow to be like that English soldier in India. The doctor was
inspecting the troops to see who were fit to join in the attack of Delhi
and
passed by this youth
who looked sick. “Don’t say I am unfit for duty
”
exclaimed the young hero; “it’s only a touch of fever
and the sound of the
bugle will make me well.” Such is the ardour with which we Christians should
leap forward at Christ’s summons.
The Divine presence an incentive
“As soldiers fight best in their general’s presence
and scholars
ply their books most attentively when under their master’s eye
so
by living
always in the sight of God
we are the more studious to please him. The oftener
we consider the Lord
the more we see that no service can be holy enough or
good enough for such a God as He is.” This needs no comment
but it needs to be
realised. See
soldier of the cross
the eye of the Captain of our salvation is
fixed upon thee! Jesus cries
“I know thy works.” Will not this incite thee to
valorous deeds
and make heroes of them? If not
what will? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verses 2-24
And it came to pass in an eventide.
The fall and punishment of David illustrated
I. The
circumstances of David previous to His fall. For several years he had been in a
state of great trouble: But it was not in this state of trial and affliction
that he offended. During this period we see him exercising
in a remarkable
degree
the faith
the resignation
the humility
the patience
the meekness of
the servant of God. But now God had brought his troubles to a close. For some
years he had been the most powerful monarch in that quarter of the world. These
were his circumstances when he fell.
II. Consider the
peculiar temptation which is suffered to present itself to David
and the way
in which he encountered it. The temptation arose
a temptation sudden and
great. He gives way to the seduction. He calmly descends from his palace with a
determination to bring the evil of his heart into act
and to perpetrate the
crime which the tempter had suggested to him. This we may conceive to have been
the turning point in David’s career. Oh! had David paused but for one moment;
had he retired a while to deliberate upon his Conduct; had he put up one prayer
for Divine help; had he passed on even to the duties of his kingly office so as
to divert his thoughts into a different channel; the snare might have been
broken
and he have escaped. But
alas! David is left a melancholy monument of
what the best man may become when he forsakes his God
and when his God
in
consequence
abandons him.
III. The state of
David after his first sin
and his progress to new offences. What must David
have felt after the perpetration of the first crime? Immediately the sense of
the Divine presence
the inspiring hope of Divine favour and eternal glory
would withdraw from him. The consequences of his crime were becoming visible
and the once noble and generous David now resorts to low artifices to conceal
his guilt. He sends for the injured husband. He treats him with a subtlety
unworthy both of himself and of his loyal subject
endeavouring to impose upon
him a spurious offspring. When deceit
however
would not prevail on Uriah
a
fresh crime must compel him. Crime leads on to crime. David
therefore
urged
by a dread of detection
determines to add murder to adultery.
IV. The criminal
schemes of David had now taken effect
and Uriah could no more disturb the bed
of his seducer and murderer. But when there remained no obstacle to enjoyment
the Divine Hand suddenly arrested him in his guilty career. God sent Nathan the
Prophet to convince him in his guilt.
V. The dreadful
consequence of this transgression. Where God forgives
He does not always
wholly spare. He may so pardon the sin as not to inflict upon the sinner
eternal condemnation
and yet punish him severely. And such was the case of
David. Besides the wound his soul had sustained
and which
perhaps
might
never afterwards be entirely healed
we find the remainder of David’s life
harassed by perpetual sorrows.
1. It may teach us to guard against declension in grace
and watch
against temptation. If temptation is urgent flee from it and think of the fall
of David.
2. Charity and tenderness in judging of those who fall. Call them
not
as the world are too apt to call them
hypocrites. David was no
hypocrite--but David fell.
3. Finally
let us beware of employing the fall of David as a plea
for sin
and of presuming that such a restoration as his to favour and holiness
will be granted to ourselves. Before we can build upon the hope of a
restoration such as his our circumstances must be those of David. (J. Venn
M. A.)
David’s great trespass
How ardently would most
if not all readers of David’s life have
wished that the first verse of this chapter had been--“And David died
and was
gathered unto his fathers; and his son reigned in his stead.” The golden era of
his life has passed away; his sun has begun to go down; and what remains of his
life is chequered with records of crime and chastisement
of sin and sorrow.
What we now encounter is not like a spot but an eclipse; it is not a mere
pimple that slightly disfigures a comely face
but a tumour that distorts the
countenance and drains the whole body; of its vigour. There is something quite
remarkable in the fearless way in which the Bible unveils the guilt of David;
it is set forth in all its enormity
without an attempt to excuse or palliate
it; and the only statement introduced in the whole narrative to characterise his
proceedings are these quiet but terribly expressive words with which the
chapter ends--“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” In the
bold and fearless march of Providence
we often see the hand of God. What mere
man
framing the character of one designed to be a pattern of excellence
and
to bear the designation “the man after God’s own heart”--would have dared to
ascribe to him such wickedness as this? The truth is
that though David’s
reputation would have been far brighter
if he had died at this point of his
career; the moral of his life
so to speak
would have been less complete. In
some way that we cannot rightly explain
he does not appear to have been duty
sensible either of the guilt or of the danger of this tendency. He does not
appear to have watched against it as against other sins
nor to have taken the
same pains
through grace
to subdue it. In the passage now before us we find a
catastrophe
resulting from this state of things
which was truly the beginning
of sorrows. The king of Israel becomes familiar with sorrows and trials
compared to which any that he had suffered when flying and biding from Saul
were light indeed. The lust which he has spared and indulged
re-appearing in
his children
introduces incest and murder into the bosom of his family; it
violates the sanctity of his home; and in place of the comely order
and the
sweet tranquility of brothers and sisters dwelling together in unity
his
palace becomes an abode of brutal appetites and murderous passions--the stain
and horror of which time can neither lessen nor remove. Such a fall as David’s
could not have been altogether instantaneous. It must have been preceded by a
spiritual declension
probably of considerable duration. The likelihood is that
the great prosperity that was now flowing in upon David in every direction had
had an unfavourable effect upon his soul. For a long period the very
extremities of his situation had driven him to dependence on God--necessity was
laid upon him; but now that necessity was removed. Add to this the fact
mentioned in the beginning of this chapter
and so mentioned as to imply that
it is a significant one--that at the time when kings go forth to battle
David
allowed his army to go without him
and “tarried still at Jerusalem.” This
seems to imply that the king had fallen into a luxurious
self-indulging mood;
that he was disposed to sit still and enjoy himself rather than accompany his
brave soldiers to the self-denying labours and dangers of the field. Next
let
us notice the manner in which David was led on from step to step of sin. His
first sin was--suffering himself to be arrested by the sight of the woman; his
fall began with a sin of the heart; had he made a covenant with his eyes
like
Job
he would have nipped the temptation in the bud; he would have been saved a
world of agony and sin. Let us try to gather up briefly
first
the principal
kinds of sin of which David was guilty on this occasion; and then
their chief
aggravations.
The aggravations of these sins were great.
Transgression: its progress and
consummation
I. The origin of
David’s transgressions. Seldom
if ever
is it the case that crime
to any
enormous extent
is perpetrated by men even of the common Stamp
upon sudden
and momentary impulse. There is almost invariably to be observed a regular
gradation in sin
until it towers in all the fierce and frightful ascendancy of
open guilt. Thus was it here. Despise not the fear of extreme iniquity
as if
you were incapable of such a thing. If David fell
who once stood so high and
‘holy in Christian character
to what a depth may we yet fall
we who have
never yet attained to any thing like his early piety:
his primitive godliness.
II. The progress of
sin now opens before us. Indolence and sensuality worked out their regular and
invariable effect upon the erring monarch. He rises from his bed in the evening
time--the bed of luxury
every passion pampered
every avenue to sin wide open
nothing further necessary to bring about his ruin than some external object to move
the overt act of evil. The wife of Uriah
one of his principal and most
faithful generals
becomes the object of temptation. The temptation triumphs
and the first work of iniquity is accomplished. Sin now becomes compulsory; the
fear of detection and infamy
perhaps of personal danger from the just wrath of
Uriah
drives the royal culprit to every mean and despicable expedient in order
to conceal his transgression. Sin now drives on the soul to violence; and with
cold and unfeeling treachery Uriah is made the innocent messenger of his own
destruction. What a series of close-linked iniquities--indolence
luxury
lust
adultery
hypocrisy
falsehood
treachery
murder! And this is not all; we have
here but the single series of crimes; there is a complication likewise which we
must not overlook if we would read off the history in all its forcible and
solemn instructiveness. Bathsheba is made an accomplice in sin
a moral victim
to the guilty passion of the king
while her husband is sacrifced to his fears.
Here are souls and bodies of men
precious lives
sported away under the
hellish dominion of triumphant guilt! What complicated crime! What an awful
history!
III. The
consummation of evil. All that we have hitherto looked at belongs only to
substantial guilt; guilt branded
it is true
with atrocity
but the
consummation of evil still remains for our reflections. Many months had elapsed
since the commencement of this wretched business
and a long period of time
too
had intervened between the death of Uriah and the visit of Nathan
to
awaken the royal transgressor to repentance. Throughout this whole interval
there was no movement of remorse towards heaven in the heart of the king; he
feared the reproof of man
and the wrath of man
as we have seen
and laboured
by murderous efforts to avoid them; but there was yet no remorse towards God
no recognition of his turpitude
as viewed by the Most High
no fear of Divine
censure
of Divine indignation
no effort to arrest or even deprecate the wrath
of Jehovah. Thus
then
David had fallen into practical infidelity; every
active consideration of God’s existence
omniscience
and justice had vanished
away. What a mystery is sin; it possesses us to self-destruction
while it
diminishes nothing of our sagacity or skill in arraying and condemning the
guilt of others. It is enough for satanic malice and purpose
if the soul be
filled with every holy sentiment
and wisdom
and quality for external
occupation
provided it remain dead to its own interests
unmoved by its own
guilt! This prostration of judgment
this death of conscience
consummated the
spiritual misery of the fallen monarch. How long should such a state have
lasted
if God had not specially recalled the sinner to repentance? For ever!
There was no human power
no natural remedy left for his restoration. To
reclaim him
fear had failed
and conscience had failed
and memory of past
obedience had failed. Reason was stupified
and stupified for ever
if God had
not
in his faithfulness and mercy
sent a special waffling to his soul
calling forth repentance. Let us pause here one short moment
while we collect
together the admonition
which may be adduced from what we have now perused.
1. And first
as we saw the steady
onward progress of sin
from the
almost imperceptible germ of indolence and luxury
to the actual crime of
murder
and the utter infatuation of all spiritual sense and judgment
let us
hence
I say
beware of the least compliance with iniquity. We often trifle
with sins of small account
set limitations to our compliance with the follies
or luxuries
or harmless indulgences of the world
as they are termed.
2. Reflect with horror on the complication of sin. For our
self-gratification alone it is that we are led on to crime at first; that
gratification must have victims; aye
if the besetting evil within us be but
pride or covetousness
it must have victims. Some must suffer for our
indulgence
many will become hardened by our example in guilt; for often the
man who is called
in the false language of the world
his own enemy alone
will have to answer
perhaps
for the eternal death of others.
3. Trust nothing to your own shrewdness of discernment between good
and evil your own spiritual-mindedness and holiness
about the external objects
and other men. Our profession is worth nothing
our spiritual attainments no
proof of personal approbation with God
of personal holiness
while they range
beyond self. We must deal with self
prove self
pass judgment on self
and
live in communion
secret union with Christ
or our religion is but sounding
brass and tinkling cymbal.
IV. The return to
virtue. Mark the proof; here is a king
with all the powers of life and death
over his subjects
in his own will
in his own hands. He is confronted by a man
of humble state
of lowly lot
a man devoid of ally earthly influence. By this
man he is accused of a grievous murder
and that
too in broad noon day
before
his courtiers and counsellors
on his very throne of judgment; and so far from
yielding to resentment at so daring an intrusion
or expressing the least
displeasure at the abrupt and public accusation with which he is so assailed
he sinks at once into contrition
and confesses his iniquity--“I have sinned
against the Lord.” This is what we need
a thorough conviction of our sins now;
we shall have it certainly in the world to come
if it be not here attained.
But conviction there is too late for anything but eternal torment; we must have
it here
that under a thorough sense of our lost condition
we may apply to the
rich mercies of the Redeemer for pardon.
V. Pardon I And
may pardon be had for such iniquities as adultery and murder--for such extremes
of crime? Yes
for all transgressions; the vilest may hope; this history is for
our encouragement
to seek that grace which never was denied to suppliant
man--“Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.”
VI. No
encouragement to careless sin
and fruitless admission of criminality
with the
secret or avowed purpose of continuance in crime. That from which nature
shrinks with more alarm than all the threatenings of eternal misery can inspire
is present suffering; that was inflicted
in all its severity
upon David. (C.
M. Fleury
A. M.)
Sloth and sin
I. David at this
time enjoyed great prosperity. The promises made in adversity have not been
forgotten. His devotion to God is fervid and growing. There were no rebellions
at home. The land was quiet. The great wish of his heart had been formed into
an avenue through which the service could be rendered to God.
1. Prosperity enervated him. Prosperity is a danger to men of David’s
mould. Contrast the readiness with which he went forth in the old days when
Saul hunted him as a bird! He was standing in high places! He needed clinging
grace.
2. Prosperity induced sloth. Our inner life is very responsive to our
outward condition.
II. When
opportunity and temptation meet there is struggle. Without reserve the Bible
tells the shameful story--shows how one sin drags after it another until it
compels you to write against the name of the man (not free from the weakness of
human imperfections
yet sincere and upright)--to write against that man the
horrible list of crimes
deception
adultery
injustice
treachery
and murder.
III. The influences
which sapped the wall of his will. You feel instinctively such a fall could not
have been instantaneous--fifty years old
a devoted
upright man of God to so
fall. The tempest has not strength in it to snap such an oak if the heart of
the tree is sound. The sacred narrative shows the weakness
reveals the secret
decay.
1. Close the doors of imagination against carnal imagery; make a
covenant with your eves and keep it. There was a “prepared plate” in the camera
of David’s mind
or the beauty of Bathsheba had been as nought to him. Take
heed where you go for your recreations. Idle strolling may in some moods lead
to pitfalls. He concealed when he should have confessed. Better to have crept
to the mercy-seat covered with his filth than
as he did
wait in the palace
with his sin. (H. E. Stone.)
David and Bathsheba
After so many splendid victories achieved by David
after
such frequent triumphs over his enemies
nothing remained but the subjugation
of those passions that are excited by prosperity and wealth: but these were
enemies more difficult to subdue than the Philistines and the other powerful
nations whom this valiant warrior had vanquished. “He that ruleth his spirit is
stronger than he that taketh a city.” David was smitten with the charms of
Bathsheba
the wife of Uriah
a brave and generous soldier
who was at that
time fighting the battles of his country
and engaged at the siege of Rabbah.
Contrary to the laws of God
to every sentiment of honour
and every dictate of
generosity
he led her to violate her nuptial engagements. What shall we say to
this conduct? Shall we with some well-intentioned but injudicious commentators
extenuate the crimes of David? No; he himself
when his eyes were opened to
behold the depth of the abyss into which he was fallen
would not attempt to
diminish the horror of his transgressions. He was guilty of crimes than which
none more enormous are to be found in the black list of sins.
1. Are there any who are ready to justify their enormities from the
example of David? Who are saying to themselves
“If David
notwithstanding
these enormous crimes
was a saint of God
and obtained pardon
I am safe?” Let
such consider his habitual conduct
his splendid virtues
and his deep
repentance. In examining his habitual conduct
we behold a heart devoted to
God. He fell into acts of the greatest wickedness; but these were not
permanent
but diametrically opposite to his general walk and conversation.
Justice requires also that we should contrast his murder and adultery with the
splendid actions of his life. “David
” says the sacred historian (1 Kings 15:5) “did that which was
right in the eyes of the Lord
and turned not aside from any thing that he
commanded him all the days of his life
save only in the matter of Uriah the
Hittite.” Think of his confidence in God; of his trust in the everlasting
covenant; of the magnanimity and clemency that he so often displayed; of his
zeal for the glory of God; of his humility; of his acquiescence in the severest
dispensations of providence; of the pious emotions which glow in his psalms
and were felt in his heart; and after taking this general review of his life
say if there are many who from the bed of death can look back to more numerous
or more splendid monuments of piety and virtue. Consider
too
the depth of his
repentance. Behold him prostrate in the dust
dissolved in tears
pleading for
the life of his soul; looking back with unutterable anguish to his conduce;
bearing the agonised remembrance of it to the grave; never palliating his
crimes; fleeing for pardon to unmerited grace.
2. This subject teaches us that one sin gradually leads us to
another; that he who enters upon a criminal course knows not where he shall
stop in his course; that he who indulges impetuous passions and inordinate
appetites will shortly be deprived of the power of saying to them
“Hitherto
shall ye come and no farther;” and that
therefore
our only safety is to be
found in resisting the first approaches to crime
and “abstaining from all
appearance of evil.” Oppose
then
the beginnings of evil; beware of cherishing
one sinful thought; you know not to what lengths of guilt and shame it may
carry you; you cannot tell where its destructive consequences will end.
3. This subject addresses those who
like David
have departed from
the ways of the Lord; have violated their engagements; have wounded their
consciences; have grieved the Spirit of God and His saints. There is a
sacrifice which has sufficient virtue to expiate all your accumulated guilt. By
the application of the blood of Jesus
and the communication of his Spirit
you
shall obtain the restoration of peace with God
and strength to serve Him in
time to come; like David and like Peter recovered from your falls
you shall
again participate of his favour and love.
4. In reviewing this history
we are naturally led to ask
Why did
Providence permit this shameful fall in David? or
to extend the question
Why
does God allow sin to remain
and sometimes to break out forcibly in his
regenerate children? This question cannot easily be answered. It is not for
want of power to prevent it; for He could perfectly sanctify them. It is not
for want of hatred to their sin; it appears as odious
more odious in them than
in others. It is not for want of love to them; he regards them as his friends
and his children. Why
then
does he not render them immaculately holy? The
following are
perhaps
some of the reasons of this dispensation. These do not
at all justify the offender
though they vindicate the providence of God
and
show its omnipotence in educing good from evil itself.
David’s fall
What led to David’s great sin? He did by another what he ought to
have done himself. Notice verse l
“When kings go forth;” “David sent Joab;”
“David tarried still.”
1. The indulgence of the flesh in a little thing led to indulgence in
a greater. (Romans 13:12-14; Romans 8:12-13; Galatians 5:16.)
2. One sin leads to another
or requires another to cover it.
3. See the hardening effect of sin! The tender-hearted David becomes a
monster of cruelty! (Read
after 2 Samuel 11:26; 2 Samuel 12:26 to end.)
4. The degradation of sin! Joab taken into counsel.
5. The Lord’s unseen contemplation of man’s actions. (Verse 27. Hebrews 4:13; Proverbs 15:11.) I
the great onus of the
crime. For Christians the terrible ingredient of wilful sin is this: They
crucify Christ afresh. They cause His name to be blasphemed. (Romans 2:24.) This makes our
responsibility; hence 1 Peter 2:12; 2 Corinthians 6:3.
II. David’s
repentance. Notice immediate confession on conviction of his sin. His
confession brief
heartfelt
going to the root of the matter. (R. E.
Faulkner.)
David’s dark days
If the heart is lifted up
if pride and self-conceit take the
place of humility and manly self-forgetfulness
the soul is likely to lose its
hold upon God and its close communion with Him
and there is danger of
temptation prevailing over high principle
danger of the “natural man” usurping
the place of the “spiritual man
” danger of a fall. So it was with David. The
height of his success and the splendour of his triumph may have thrown him off
his guard. He was a strong man with a passionate nature
and through his
passions he fell. It was a true instance of St. James’s awful statement. He was
“drawn away of his lust
and enticed;” and when lust had conceived it brought
forth sin; and sin
when it was finished
brought forth death. One deliberate
sin has this terrible property about it
that
unless checked at once
by
honest confession and return to God
it is sure to lead on to other sins. Such
was the case with David. He tried to cover up the crime he had committed by
various efforts to deceive Uriah
and make it impossible for the dark secret to
be known.
2. A year had passed away since David’s fall. He had returned to Jerusalem
in triumph. The dead Uriah was probably forgotten. The child of guilt was burn
and loved by David with a passionate tenderness. The dreadful story
however
was not
we maybe quite certain
all forgotten by the king himself. However
much the commission of the crimes of adultery and murder had injured or blinded
his conscience--as wilful sin always does--still
“the man after God’s own
heart
” the man who had shown through many temptations “an honest and good
heart
” the man who had loved and trusted God so faithfully
could not have
rested quite at his ease under the terrible memory that he had allowed base
passion to conquer his better self.
3. God was looking in mercy upon His servant
and Nathan was sent to
him to bring him to the fulness of a sincere repentance
and to restore trim to
peace with God. Nathan did his duty fearlessly and completely. Whatever sorrows
there are and must be to penitents who have deeply fallen
still “God is the
God of comfort
” and He comforted David. Bathsheba was now his wife. Another
child was born to them and David--with the sense of restored peace with
God--called him Solomon
“the peaceful.” (W. J. Knox Little
M. A.)
David’s downfall
This chapter holds out the history of David’s soul downfall from
the very pinnacle of the highest prosperity to which God raised him. David’s
downfall was double
into two sins (without repentance)
namely
the sin of
adultery and the sin of murder.
I. Remarks upon
the concomitant circumstances Are:--
1. The time of David’s adultery. This has a three-fold description
as
2. The place of David’s sin: it was his own palace where he was
indulging himself to ease and pleasure
when he should have been fighting the
Lord’s battles in the field with his army against the Ammonites. While he kept
abroad in the wars in his own person he was safe enough. It was at evening tide
when David should have been at his devotion
as had been his custom (Psalms 55:17)
seeing he would not be in
the field to fight.
3. Upon the third circumstance
the person
the sight whereof was the
occasion of David’s soul fall. She is described here divers ways:
II. Let us turn
aside with Moses to take a little prospect of this
a great wonder
1. As to David
“A man after God’s own heart
” yet his unbridled lust
had metamorphosed him into a beast
He might now well say in the words of
Asaph
“So foolish was I and ignorant
and even as a beast before Thee.” (Psalms 73:23.) This teacheth us
that the
best of men are but men at the best; and who art thou
O man
that thinkst thou
art safe and secure enough from acts Of sin? “Surely thou knowest not the
plague of thine own heart” (1 Kings 8:38.)
2. As to Bathsheba
some do say she was not free from faultiness upon
several accounts.
III. David’s adding
murder to his adultery
instead of repenting for his sin.
1. First
David’s contrivement to congeal his sin from the eyes of
men
in the meantime not regarding the all-seeing eye of God
etc.
2. The last
but worst link of that doleful chain of David’s lust: So
far was David still from repenting of his sin that
seeing his craft (for
concealing his adultery he failed him in all the other fair means he contrived
now) resolveth upon cruelty in the use of foul methods to get this good Uriah
cut off insensibly
and so to cover his adultery with murder
that so he might
not live to accuse the adulteress.
Susceptibility to sin
Professor George Lincoln Goodale
speaking of the cultivation of
plants
said: “It is impossible for us to ignore the fact that there appear to
be occasions in the life of a species when it seems to be peculiarly
susceptible to the influences of its surroundings. A species
like a carefully
laden ship
represents a balancing of forces within and without. Disturbances
may come through variation from within
as from a shifting cargo
or in some
cases from without. We may suppose both forces to be active in producing
variation
a change in the internal condition rendering the plant more
susceptible to any change in its surroundings. “Under the influence of any
marked disturbance a state of unstable equilibrium may be brought about
at
which times the species as such is easily acted upon by very slight agencies.”
Analogous to the learned scientist’s observation of growing plants is the
experience of every growing human life. We cannot pass over its ever-repeated
evidence that there are occasions when character
to use Dr. Goodale’s phrase
“seems to be peculiarly susceptible to
the influence of its surroundings;” and
disturbances
whether from within or without
produce such a state of “unstable
equilibrium
” that the character is “easily acted upon by any very slight
agencies.” Then is it that
by the merest little only
life’s important steps
are taken
and lead to either success or failure. (Homiletic Review.)
A man’s weak hours
A man is weak
not by the power that assails
but by the want of
defensive power. It made no difference where the assault was made at Gettysburg
on the third day
by the adversary that attempted to pierce the centre of the
lines; and it made no difference that they came after a perfect whirlwind of
cannonading; for the resisting power was greater than the attacking power. That
is an hour of weakness when the resisting power is weak. Now
nothing is weaker
than the conscience when it is paralysed by the touch of avarice. There is such
an appetite in some natures for gold that
although at times they are manly and
good in a thousand respects
at other times
when avarice dominates
their
moral sentiments are paralysed by it; and those are their weak hours. There are
some men whose weak hour is connected with their passions. There are some men
whose weak hour is in the lower grade of pleasures. There are some men whose
weak hour is in eating. There are other men whose weak hour is in drinking. Oh
how many noble men have been girdled
how many men of genius have been utterly
destroyed
how many persons of hope and promise have been completely
overthrown
by intemperance! (H. W. Beecher.)
Watchfulness against riotous appetites imperative
The fleshly passions are like mutinous sailors
to be kept below
deck. “Never allow your lower nature anything better than a steerage passage.
Let watchfulness wall: the decks as an armed sentinel and shoot down with great
promptness anything like a mutiny of riotous appetites.” Says the apostle:
“Mortify--literally
kill your members which are upon the earth.” (E. P.
Thwing.)
Sin
a malicious guest;
“Sin is an ill guest
” says Manton
“for it always sets its
lodgings on fire.” Entertained within the human breast
and cherished and
fondled
it makes its host no return but an evil one. It places the burning
coals of evil desire within the soul with evident intent to fire the whole man
with fierce passions. Let these passions be suffered to rage
and the flame
will burn even to the lowest hell. Who would not shut his door on such a guest?
Or
if he be known to be lurking within
who would not drag him out? How
foolish are these who find delight in such an enemy
and treat him with more
care than their best friend. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Looking at a wrong thing perilous
Weak dallying with forbidden desires is sure to end in wicked
clutching at them. Young men
take care! You stand upon the beetling edge of a
great precipice
when you look over
from your fancied security
at a wrong
thing; and to strain too far
and to look too friendly
leads to a perilous
danger of toppling over and being lost. If you know that a thing cannot be won
without transgression do not tamper with hankering for it. Keep away from the
edge
and shut your eyes from beholding vanity. (A. Maclaren
D.D.)
Satan ever near the idle
David’s giving himself to ease and pleasure was the root of all
his wretchedness. Standing waters gather filth. Flies settle upon the sweetest
perfumes when cold
and corrupt them. As the crab-fish seizeth upon the oyster
gaping
so doth Satan upon the idle. No moss sticketh to the rolling stone:
which if it lay still would be overgrown. The rankest weeds grow out of the
fattest soil. The water that hath been heated soonest freezeth; the most active
spirit soonest tireth with slacking. The earth standeth still
and is all
dregs; the heavens ever move and are pure. Beware of ease and idleness: here
began David’s downfall. Say not of this
as Lot did of Zoar
“Is it not a
little one?” The parvity of a sin taketh not away the pravity of it: and a less
maketh way for a greater
as wedges do in wood-cleaving. Pompey desired that
all his soldiers might come into a certain city; when that was denied he said
“Let nay weak and wounded soldiers come in;” they did
and then soon opened the
gates to all the army. (J. Trapp.)
Verse 13
And when David had called him he made him drunk.
The sinfulness of causing drunkenness
It is a very wicked thing
under any design whatsoever
to make a
person drunk. Woe to him that does so (Habakkuk 2:15-16.) God will put a cup of
trembling into the hands of those who put into the hands of others the cup of
drunkenness. Robbing a man of Ins reason is worse than robbing him of his
money
and drawing him into sin worse than drawing him into any trouble
whatsoever. (M. Henry.)
Verse 14
David wrote a letter to Joab.
--So in the Greek story
Proetus sent Bellerophon to Jobates with his own death
warrant. (Cp. Hom. II. 6:168
169.) “Slay him he would not
that his soul
abhorred; but to the father of his wife
the King of Lycia
sent him forth
with tokens charged of dire import
on folded tablets traced
poisoning
the
monarch’s mind to work his death.” (A. F. Kirkpatrick
M. A.)
Verse 27
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
The universal insecurity of religious perseverance
The transaction is recorded at length in the chapter which
contains the text; and the conclusions which we may draw from a review of it are
numerous.
1. The first
and by no means the least important of these
is the
proof which hence arises that none of us can lay claim to any constraining
grace
which
in despite of ourselves
shall compel us to holiness and to
salvation. That David enjoyed the grace of God in a very especial degree
is
what no Christian can deny: and few
it is to be expected
Will suppose
themselves to be more highly favoured than he was in this particular. Yet here
we have a melancholy
but still a most positive and salutary proof that no
portion of the grace of God
however considerable
will protect man from the
most fearful enormities
unless he will employ it when given him. Our faith is
not to be confidence that we shall be saved
but confidence that
if we obey. God
to the best of our power
we shall be saved: and our hope must be that we may
render that obedience which may be accepted through Christ; while our lives
must be such as are worthy of such an hope; we must prove that we have this
hope in us
by purifying ourselves
even as He is pure.
2. The next consideration which forces itself on our attention is the
difference of David’s circumstances at the time of his fall from those in which
he is placed
when he had the best of all testimonies
that “the Lord was with
him.” We now see that
however prosperity and leisure are in themselves
desirable
they have dangers
which to resist
requires all the strength which
God has put at our disposal. David was not a novice to their blandishments. For
ten years he had been in undisputed possession of the splendour and luxuries of
the kingdom of all Israel. All this period had been as remarkable as the
darkest days of his adversity for the most religious fulfilment of the two
great comprehensive duties
the love of God and the love of his neighbour.
Offensive
therefore
as the thought may be to him who feels himself secure in
his own righteousness
or who imagines himself to be so firmly in the hand of
the Lord that nothing can pluck him thence
it is
nevertheless
the inevitable
conclusion from the melancholy truth now under consideration that no man
whatever his real holiness
or whatever his opinion concerning the decision of
his future fate
is secure from the stains of even the most deadly sins. David
it appears
had hitherto been as holy in prosperity as in distress; and
it
might be supposed
was now so intimate with grandeur and power as to have
nothing to fear from their influence
especially when it is considered that it
was by habitual religion that he had supported himself inviolate amidst the
trials of persecution and the temptations of luxury. But at this crisis there
was one remarkable circumstance. He had already done all that was required of
him in active life
and there Seemed nothing now remaining but to turn his
thoughts towards the interests and good government of his kingdom. When his
pillow was the rock and his curtain the cave; when his sword
under Providence
procured him his daily bread from the foes of his country
and the means of
existence formed the object and pursuit of life--he was pious and immovable; he
must have been active
or he must have resigned his life. But now the case was
widely different; he had not only all the necessities
but all the luxuries
which the most refined voluptuousness could devise
attending in profusion
round him: he had certainly the duty of his charge
to impress its importance
on his mind; but then he had the opportunity of neglecting it; and even David
it appears
was not proof against the solicitations of this opportunity! To all
of us is this example fraught with materials for the most serious personal
application. The flesh itself works along with us so long as we toil for its
support; but when we have once accomplished this it ungratefully turns upon us
and endeavours to enslave us to its dominion. Where the necessities of life do
not compel him to labour there is great danger
even to the confirmed
Christian
lest the value of time and the necessity of improving it
should not
be always present to his mind; while the temptations arising from the very
nature of his situation are such as at all times require the very closest and
most diligent circumspection. And when the unguarded moment and the temptation
coincide
as they are wont to do
the example before us is a terrible
demonstration of the ruin which must follow. The crime of Bathsheba cannot be
long concealed: the punishment was death; either
therefore
Bathsheba must be
sacrificed to the law
or her husband removed in time to allow her to become
the wife of David before suspicion could arise. David no longer hesitates: the
fatal order is deliberately sealed
and put into the hands of the generous
unsuspecting victim
who immediately is placed by his commander in the post
most congenial to his feelings
the forefront of the hottest battle
and
betrayed by his cowardly companions into the hands of an unsparing enemy. Such
is the natural uniform progress of sin
wherever it takes root
though the soil
be the heart of David. (H. Thompson
M. A.)
Two aspects of David
1. This chapter reveals the character of David in its most
distressing aspects. From end to end it is a production worthy only of the very
genius of perdition
His very greatness becomes the measure of his sin. All his
senses are set on fire of hell. The spirit of generosity is dead within him.
The spirit of justice is exiled from his nature. How is the star of the morning
dashed from heaven l How is the fine gold become dimmed! How are the mighty
fallen! It is almost impossible to believe that this is human nature at all.
Let us not seek to excuse David. We injure the Bible
and the whole purpose of
the inspired volume
if we speak so much as one word in defence of a series of
actions which might have been conceived by Satan and executed within the darkness
of perdition.
2. The all-important sentence is the last: “But the thing that David
had done displeased the Lord.” Without that sentence the chapter would have
been intolerable. From this time forth David must bear the judgment of the
Lord. Do not let it be supposed that even king David could perform such a
series of wrongs and cruelties
and play as skilfully on his harp as ever
and
sing as jubilantly before Heaven as he ever did. David’s harp acquired a new
tone after this infamy. Psalms were written by David after this great
transgression which could not have been written before its commission. Years
were added to the life of the king; he was bent down under an invisible load;
his face was wrinkled with grief
and his eyes were dimmed by contrite tears.
3. We see now something of what human nature is when it is left to
show itself. We are bound to go to history as the one revelation of human
nature. It is in vain to invent and discuss theories of psychology; it is in
vain to look upon one aspect of human nature
and to judge the whole by the
part; it is in vain
too
to fix upon any given date in human history and to
judge men by that standard of civilisation. The one inquiry is what men have
done in their very worst moods. An answer to that inquiry will settle the whole
question respecting human depravity. We are bound to look at such a chapter as
the first in the epistle to the Romans
if we would see what human nature is in
its innermost and largest possibilities. Nor must we shrink from dwelling upon
the hideous spectacle
To speak of revolted sensibilities
highly excited
prejudices
and to declare that such instances are beyond the range of careful
study
is simply to deprive ourselves of some of the most solid lessons of human history. We must know
what sin is before we can have any adequate idea of the Divine relation to it.
Sin explains the cross
sin explains the atonement
sin explains Christ.
4. The Bible is to be judged by what God would have done
not by what
man would have done. Find a single sentence which approves of David’s guilt.
Happily
there is no such sentence in the whole record. The spirit of the
Bible
therefore
is not seen in what David did
but in the judgments which
followed him and darkened his day with tremendous thunder-clouds. “It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (J. Parker
D. D.)
The aggravation of David’s sin
As for David’s fall
let it not be once named among you
as
becometh saints. David’s fall was such as is not so much as named among the
Gentiles. But
past speaking about as David’s fall was
it was what followed
his fall that so displeased the Lord. In the words of Butler’s latest editor
“it is safer to be wicked in the ordinary way than from this corruption lying
at the root.” As Thomas Goodwin points out in his great treatise on the
“Aggravation of Sin
.” it was the “matter of Uriah
” even more than the matter
of Bathsheba
that awakened the anger of the Lord against David. That is to
say
it was David’s sin of deliberation and determination
rather than his sin
of sudden and intoxicating passion. It was both matters; it was both sins; but
it cannot be overlooked that it was after a twelvemonth of self-deceit
internal hypocrisy
and self-forgiving silence on David’s part that Nathan was
sent to David in such Divine indignation. How a man like David could have lived
all that time soaked to the eyes in adultery and murder and not go mad is
simply inconceivable: That is to say
it would be inconceivable if we had not
ourselves out of which to parallel and illustrate David
and make David both
possible and natural to us. (Alex. Whyte
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》