II Samuel Chapter 11
Please read: II Samuel 11 –
The sin that we read about in the life of David in this chapter does not seem so out of character after reading about the previous choices David had made in his life. David had not practiced self-control when it came to lust for women. We know that David had several wives. We don’t know how he justified this in his own mind. Perhaps he thought that because he was a king and many other kings have more than one wife that he should be permitted also. We know that women were often obtained as spoils of war or obtained in trade negotiations. The choices he made in the past to not constrain his lust led him down a dark path where he purposefully took another man’s wife and slept with her. If only he had averted his eyes when he saw Bathsheba on the rooftop bathing, he could have easily avoided the catastrophes that followed.
Let's Reflect
1. The first verse tells us that the armies of David led by Joab resumed fighting now that the winter months were over. They were fighting to take out the remainder of the Ammonites. The previous great victories of Israel were battles led by David himself. Where was David at this time?
2. David looked from his rooftop to another man’s house where his wife was bathing on their rooftop. Obviously, Bathsheba had not made a wise choice bathing on her rooftop. Verse 4 tells us an important fact that she was bathing to purify herself after her menstrual cycle. Still the rooftop was not the best place to take a bath. What did David learn about who this beautiful woman was when he inquired?
3. David sent for Bathsheba with the full knowledge that she was a married woman (and he a married man) and asked her to come to him. Do you read about her speaking up in resistance to this request?
4. What news did Bathsheba have for David soon after they had slept together?
5. David’s next bad choice was to try to cover up his sin by sending for her husband to come home and allowing him time to sleep with his wife. What lie did David tell Uriah why he had sent for him to come home?
6. Why didn’t Uriah go into his house and sleep with his wife? (I wonder if Bathsheba even knew that her husband had come home?)
7. David’s next plan to cover up his sin was to send Uriah to the front lines of battle where he would be killed. How did he get word to Joab to put Uriah on the front lines?
8. Sadly, his plan worked, Uriah was killed in action. After the proper amount of time of mourning, Bathsheba became another one of David’s wives. But what does the last verse say about all of David’s actions?
