Catching up? David is king of all Israel now, ruling from Jerusalem. The Ammonites humiliated his envoys, and it’s turned into a war. It’s spring, the time of year kings go out to fight. David sends Joab and the whole army of Israel. They’re besieging Rabbah, the Ammonite capital. David stays in Jerusalem.
2 SAMUEL 5:3–4; 2 SAMUEL 10:2–7; 2 SAMUEL 11:1 · BSB
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites, the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?” So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away. When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.” When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob. On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men. In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
Camped round Rabbah. Tents as far as you can see, and the ark of God is out here in a tent with us. Joab’s in charge. We’re not going anywhere till the city falls.
2 SAMUEL 11:1; 2 SAMUEL 11:11 · BSB
In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”
The army’s marched out to Rabbah again. Uriah’s gone with them.
2 SAMUEL 11:1; 2 SAMUEL 11:3; 2 SAMUEL 11:6 · BSB
In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.
In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
He sends someone to find out who she is. Word comes back: Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam. Wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s own soldiers, away at Rabbah with the army.
2 SAMUEL 11:3; 2 SAMUEL 11:6 · BSB
So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.
David sends messengers to fetch her to the palace, and he sleeps with her. Then she goes back home.
2 SAMUEL 11:4 · BSB
Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.
Back in Jerusalem. Called in to see the king himself. He wanted to know how Joab is, how the men are, how the war’s going.
2 SAMUEL 11:6–7 · BSB
At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going.
In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going.
The king asked me why I didn’t go home. The ark of God is in a tent. Israel and Judah are in tents. Joab and the men are camped out in the open field. And I’m meant to go home, eat, drink and be with my wife? I swear on the king’s life, I won’t do it.
2 SAMUEL 11:10–11 · BSB
And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”
Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”
Another night on the step, then. I’ll save him a spot.
2 SAMUEL 11:12–13 · BSB
“Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
Uriah ate at the king’s table tonight. The king kept his cup full until he was drunk.
2 SAMUEL 11:13 · BSB
Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
And he still didn’t go home. He’s out here again on his cot, next to the rest of us.
2 SAMUEL 11:13 · BSB
Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”
Bad day. The men of Rabbah came out of the city and attacked. We drove them back to the gate, right up close under the wall. Then their archers opened fire on us from the top. We lost men.
2 SAMUEL 11:17; 2 SAMUEL 11:23–24 · BSB
And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.”
Joab’s given me my lines. Tell the king how the battle went. If he loses his temper and asks why we went so close to the wall, and brings up Abimelech, the one a woman killed by dropping a millstone off a wall, I’m to add one thing. Uriah the Hittite is dead too.
and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king a full account of the battle, if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall? Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”
Told the king everything, just like Joab said. The fighting at the gate, the archers on the wall, the men we lost. And that his servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.
2 SAMUEL 11:22–24 · BSB
So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say. The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.”
I was ready for him to explode. He didn’t. Message back for Joab: don’t let this get to you. War takes one man as easily as the next. Push the attack and take the city. Tell him that, and cheer him up.
2 SAMUEL 11:25 · BSB
Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.”
Uriah the Hittite has been killed at Rabbah. He was here in the city only a few days ago.
2 SAMUEL 11:17; 2 SAMUEL 11:12 · BSB
And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. “Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.
I slept next to him on this step. Every night he was here.
2 SAMUEL 11:9; 2 SAMUEL 11:13 · BSB
But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house. Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
When the time of mourning is over, David has Bathsheba brought to the palace. She becomes his wife.
2 SAMUEL 11:27 · BSB
And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
But the LORD saw what David had done, and it was evil.
2 SAMUEL 11:27 · BSB
And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My loving devotion will never be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”
Here’s a story. Two men in one town, one rich, one poor. The rich man has loads of sheep and cattle. The poor man has one little ewe lamb he’d bought. It grew up with his children. It ate off his plate, drank from his cup, and slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
2 SAMUEL 12:1–3 · BSB
Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.
Then a traveller comes to stay with the rich man. He doesn’t want to use one of his own animals to feed his guest. So he takes the poor man’s lamb, and cooks that instead.
2 SAMUEL 12:4 · BSB
Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.”
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”
Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
Then I told him what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. I made you king over Israel. I rescued you from Saul. I gave you his house, all of Israel and Judah, and if that wasn’t enough I’d have given you more. So why have you shown such contempt for what I said, and done this evil thing? You had Uriah the Hittite killed by the swords of the Ammonites, and you took his wife.
2 SAMUEL 12:7–9 · BSB
Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.
And the LORD says, because of this, violence will never leave your family. Trouble is coming against you from inside your own house. You did this in secret. What comes will happen in broad daylight, in front of all Israel.
2 SAMUEL 12:10–12 · BSB
Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
God, have mercy on me. You love me and you don’t let go, so be kind to me now. Wipe out what I’ve done. Wash me clean of it.
PSALM 51:1–2 · BSB
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Rescue me from the guilt of blood, God, the God who saves me. Open my lips, Lord, and I’ll sing how good you are.
PSALM 51:14–15 · BSB
Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
You don’t want a sacrifice. I’d bring one if you did. What you want is a broken spirit. God, you won’t turn away a heart that’s broken and sorry.
PSALM 51:16–17 · BSB
For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”
None of us can bring ourselves to tell the king. While the baby was alive we talked to him and he wouldn’t listen. How do we tell him the child is dead? He might do something to himself.
2 SAMUEL 12:18 · BSB
On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”
On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”
On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”
He saw us whispering to each other, and he knew. He asked, is the child dead? We said yes. He’s dead.
2 SAMUEL 12:19 · BSB
When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied.
Now the king has got up off the ground. He’s washed, put oil on his skin, changed his clothes, and gone to worship at the LORD’s tent. Now he’s back home and asked for food. They’ve put it in front of him and he’s eating.
2 SAMUEL 12:20 · BSB
Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.
Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child
Much later, Matthew starts his book about Jesus with a family tree. This line is in it: David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife. Uriah’s name stays in.
One of David’s envoys to Ammon
A woman of Thebez
Matthew