No one is expecting 2 Samuel 11! David, after all, is hand-picked by God to be king because he is a man after God’s own heart. However, David sins horribly! 2 Samuel 11 details David’s fall. He takes another’s man wife and commits adultery. Bathsheba was Uriah’s wife, and Uriah was one of David’s most loyal men, which makes the betrayal even worse. He attempted to deceive Uriah twice so that Bathsheba’s pregnancy would appear to be Uriah’s child, but the plan failed. It is then he hatches his most devious actions yet. He creates a situation whereby Uriah will certainly be killed in battle. Even though this cost more lives than Uriah’s, David takes comfort that his sin is now covered. Then Nathan, the prophet, shows up!
Nathan confronts David head-on and wakes him out of his sinful stupor. David realizes how evil and wicked he has been and conviction, confession, and repentance flow from his heart. David acknowledges that his dark sins are foremost against the Lord. Nathan announces, “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die” (12:13). Through confession, repentance, and the coming work of Christ on his behalf, David is forgiven.
However, forgiveness does not remove consequence! We often fail to recognize this truth in our own day. Forgiveness from God does remove the guilt of sin and the punishment for that sin because that sin has been punished in Christ’s body and removed by the shedding of Christ’s blood. However, forgiveness does not remove the consequence of sin. David’s child dies, and David’s son Absalom will bring him years of grief and anguish! God graciously removes the guilt of sin, but he also graciously allows us to live with the consequence to remind us of how dangerous sin is and how good he is!
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