In this chapter, we read about how the prophet Nathan confronts David for his sin concerning Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. We read about God’s condemnation of David’s actions and motives, whilst at the same time reading about God’s love and mercy towards him.
This chapter begins by telling us that the Lord sent Nathan to confront David about his actions, 2 Samuel 12:1 / 1 Chronicles 20:1-3. We can imagine how apprehensive he would have been about approaching David, the king of Israel, with such a condemning message.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Nathan came to David as if to ask his judicial decision on the case about to be submitted to him, 2 Samuel 14:2-11 / 1 Kings 20:35-41. The circumstances of the story are exquisitely contrived to heighten the pity of David for the oppressed, and his indignation against the oppressor, 1 Samuel 25:13 / 1 Samuel 25:22.’
When Nathan met David, he told him a parable which would result in David condemning himself as king. The parable speaks about a sin which was committed against a poor man by a rich man.
Nathan’s parable begins by telling us about two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor, 2 Samuel 12:1. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought, 2 Samuel 12:2-3.
The poor man raised the ewe lamb; it grew up with him and his children, and it shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him, 2 Samuel 12:3.
A traveller comes to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveller who had come to him, and so, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him, 2 Samuel 12:4.
David’s reaction to the deed of the ruthless rich man was immediate and according to justice, 2 Samuel 12:5. This tells us that David knew the law of God regarding adultery and murder, Exodus 20:13-14.
David says that the rich man must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity, 2 Samuel 12:5 / Proverbs 6:31. This judgment of the king was exactly in keeping with the Law of God, Exodus 22:1.
When Nathan told David that he was that man, 2 Samuel 12:7, we can imagine that David would have paused and become stunned. After reminding David of everything God has done for him, 2 Samuel 12:7-8, Nathan tells him God would have given him even more, 2 Samuel 12:8. It appears that David hasn’t been counting his blessings but taking them for granted.
When he committed adultery with Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11:3-5, and ordered the murder of her husband Uriah, which also led to many of his own men dying, 2 Samuel 11:14-21, he forgot about his role as king; he forgot that it was God who anointed him as king of Israel.
Notice that God tell David he despises Him because of his sinful actions with Uriah and Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 12:9. This makes it clear that David’s sins were sins committed against God Himself, Uriah’s enemies may have been killed on the battlefront, but God held David personally responsible because he was the one who gave the orders in the first place, 2 Samuel 11:14.
God tells David that the sword will never depart from his house, 2 Samuel 12:10. This was to become a reality very soon; we know that three of his sons would be murdered: Amnon by Absalom, 2 Samuel 13:23-38, Absalom by Joab, 2 Samuel 18:14-15, and Adonijah by Solomon, 1 Kings 2:23-25. Sadly, even as the generations pass, the bloodshed of David’s family doesn’t end but continues, 2 Kings 11:1.
God also tells David that He would take all of his wives, 2 Samuel 12:11. This is simply because David took Uriah’s wife. God also tells David, in broad daylight, in front of his very eyes, He will take his wives and give them to someone else close to him and they will sleep with them, 2 Samuel 12:11.
This is a reference to Absalom, David’s son, when Absalom tried to take his father’s reign, one of the first things he did was publicly sleep, that is sexually, with David’s concubines, 2 Samuel 16:21-22.
Because David thought what he did with Bathsheba and Uriah was a secret, God tells him he is going to be punished publicly, 2 Samuel 12:12, that is, his family will be punished, and everyone will know why they were being punished.
David was well aware of what God was telling him; he was going to reap what he sowed and was going to carry this burden and grief for the rest of his life. We all must learn that when we sin, our sin not only affects us as individuals, but it can have serious consequences for others, especially those close to us.
David’s response is immediate and sincere; he openly confesses that he has sinned, 2 Samuel 12:13 / Psalm 51 / Psalms 32:1-11. He now knows that he can’t hide his sin from God, Psalm 69:5 / Psalm 90:8 / Jeremiah 16:17-18.
Notice Nathan’s reply to David, The Lord has taken away your sin, 2 Samuel 12:13. God, in His mercy, forgave David. This clearly tells us that sins were forgiven even in the Old Testament period, Leviticus 4:26 / Leviticus 4:31 / Leviticus 4:35 / Leviticus 5:10 / Leviticus 5:13 / Leviticus 5:16 / Numbers 14:18.
David obviously thought that he was going to die as a result of his sinful behaviour and deserved to die because of his sins, Leviticus 20:10, but Nathan tells him he’s not going to die, 2 Samuel 12:13.
God was going to show him grace and mercy, which in turn he would learn to show grace and mercy to others. Although David wasn’t going to die, the child he had with Bathsheba was going to, 2 Samuel 12:14.
It’s probably been around a year since David slept with Bathsheba and Nathan confronted him, and he probably thought he was getting away with his sinful actions, but his sin finally caught up with him, and judgment was going to be done. Once again, we’re reminded that the innocent may get caught up in our sinful behaviour; here, it was to be his son.
After Nathan returns home, the Lord struck David’s child with an illness, 2 Samuel 12:15. David is clearly devastated, and so he fasts and mourns, 2 Samuel 12:16. The elders try to encourage him, but he refuses to get up or eat, 2 Samuel 12:17.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The death of the infant child of one of the numerous harem of an Oriental monarch would, in general, be a matter of little moment to the father. The deep feeling shown by David on this occasion is both an indication of his affectionate and tender nature, and also a proof of the strength of his passion for Bathsheba. He went into his most private chamber, his closet, Matthew 6:6, and ‘lay upon the earth,’ 2 Samuel 13:31, rather ‘the ground,’ meaning the floor of his chamber as opposed to his couch.’
Although David pleads with the Lord, this is one prayer which won’t be answered. The child dies, which meant that God’s judgment upon David didn’t change.
David’s attendants were scared to tell David the child was dead, 2 Samuel 12:18, but when David noticed they were whispering amongst themselves, he knew inside himself that his child was dead, 2 Samuel 12:19.
He asks them if the child is dead, and when they told him, he was dead, David goes head and eats, 2 Samuel 12:19-20, which confuses everyone present, 2 Samuel 12:21.
They thought he would mourn the death of his child but David was demonstrating that he had fully accepted God’s judgment and had to move on, 2 Samuel 12:22.
Notice that David says, ‘I will go to him, but he will not return to me’, 2 Samuel 12:23. This tells us that David knew that one day, he too would die and join his child in the grave.
Concerning life after death, we should remember that, even if Solomon was the wisest man of his day, Solomon was not omniscient. There were things which even he didn’t know because God hadn’t yet revealed them.
When he wrote, ‘for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing,’ Ecclesiastes 9:5, Solomon was merely expressing the view of death commonly held among his people in his day.
But, when we examine the Old Testament Scriptures, it becomes clear that, even among God’s ancient chosen people, Israel, there was no clear understanding of, or belief in, life after death. A clear teaching about life after death came when Christ came, 2 Timothy 1:10.
Although it’s difficult to understand why an innocent child had to pay the consequences of David and Bathsheba’s sinful behaviour, we can have confidence because of what Jesus brought concerning life and immortality that this child will be in heaven with the Lord, Mark 10:13-15. And although David didn’t know about the afterlife at this point, we can be assured that both he and his child are now together in heaven.
After mourning the loss of his child, David goes to his wife Bathsheba and comforts her, 2 Samuel 12:24.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘His extraordinary attachment to this beautiful woman was the cause of all his misfortunes.’
David, after committing Bathsheba, sleeps with her, and they have another child and call him Solomon, 2 Samuel 12:24 / 1 Chronicles 20:1-3. They both had no idea that God would bring this child into the world, and he would become the most prominent king in Israel’s history. They both had no idea that this child would continue to fulfil the seed-line promise which God had begun in Genesis, Genesis 3:15 / Genesis 12:1-3.
David names the child Solomon, which means ‘peaceable’, but the name God gave him through Nathan was Jedidiah, 2 Samuel 12:25, which means ‘beloved of the Lord’. Although the Lord took away their first child as a means of punishment, the Lord now blesses them with a second child, Romans 8:28.
As Joab was fighting against Rabbah of the Ammonites, he sent word back to David about what he had achieved, 2 Samuel 12:26. He had taken the city’s water supply, 2 Samuel 12:27, which meant the city couldn’t function without it. The city of waters was the name of the fortification built to protect the fountain that still flows in Amman the capital of Jordan.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The lower town of Rabbah (the modern Amman), so called from a stream which rises within it and flows through it. The upper town with the citadel lay on a hill to the north of the stream, and was probably not tenable for any length of time after the supply of water was cut off.’
Joab’s loyalty to David is very evident here because he could have easily taken the city himself, but he wanted David to get involved so that David could receive the glory for taking the city, 2 Samuel 12:28.
David proceeds to take the crown from the king’s head, 2 Samuel 12:29-30. The word ‘king’ used here has a footnote in most Bibles which informs us it was taken from ‘Milcom’s’ head, which was also the name of the national idol of the Ammonites, Jeremiah 49:1 / Jeremiah 49:3 / Amos 1:15 / Zephaniah 1:5.
Because of the precious stones inlaid on it, the crown itself weighed around seventy-five pounds, 2 Samuel 12:30, which is quite heavy, and I don’t believe we are to think that David was going to wear this permanently on his head.
After defeating all the Ammonite towns, David took the spoils of war and then made them slaves and put them to work, whilst he and his men returned to Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 12:30-31 / 1 Chronicles 20:3.