2 Samuel 11
Today's Passage: 2 Samuel 11
If we’re not careful, as we study Scripture and learn about the heroes of the faith, we elevate beyond normal humanity. Jesus was fully God fully man—emptying himself to show us how to live a life fully dependent on the Spirit. He was sinless. Everybody else in Scripture ain’t Jesus.
We can learn a tremendous amount about Christ, God’s heart for humanity, and God’s promise of a Messiah through David. However, David wasn’t perfect. He was human. We’ve seen him make several mistakes in our walk through first and second Samuel. As we step into chapter 11, none of David’s previous mistakes compare.
Chapter 11 begins with David in the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead of leading his army, David remained in Jerusalem. Seeing Bathsheba, David used the power of his position to take her for himself—abusing the authority God had granted him. When his sin resulted in a pregnancy, rather than facing the consequences, David sought to cover it up by bringing Uriah home from war.
The author does an incredible job of mirroring God’s anointed King, with the King’s faithful servant. Uriah’s steadfast loyalty provides a foil for David’s scheming. Notice also that Uriah was a Hittite, not an Israelite. He expressed more covenant loyalty than the King, though not even from the tribe of Israel. So, David had him killed.
In summary of all these events, we see the Lord’s perspective in the final sentence of the chapter, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” Thankfully, in tomorrow’s passage, which corresponds to Psalm 51, David repented when confronted. He loved the Lord, but he made mistakes. We shouldn’t be surprised that he sinned. However, from now until the end of his life, he must deal with the consequences of his sin.
2 Samuel 11 marks a turning point in David’s story. So far, it’s been a heroic and meteoric rise—from shepherd, unclean in a field, to warrior, to anointed King receiving God’s great Covenant. In the days ahead, David will suffer incredible tragedy and heartache.
This chapter is a helpful reminder that all of us are only a decision or two away from severe disobedience. A couple small compromises could set us on a trajectory to overwhelming temptation. We shouldn’t think, “I would never…”—I would never have that affair. I would never cover it up, much less have someone killed. Or sometime later, I would have never been amongst the crowd in Jesus’ day saying, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him…”
Simply put, we never sin when we have the correct perspective. Sin begins with lies planted in our hearts. When those lies are fed, we are all capable of anything. Uriah provides a real-life example of the biblical principle of alertness. We should maintain a vigilant awareness. We do not need to live in fear, but we should also maintain humility to understand that any sin we read in the pages of Scripture or history could be me. Nothing, not even our sin, can separate of from the love of God in Christ Jesus. However, as 1 Peter 5:8-9 reminds us, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”
Written By: Tyler Short
If we’re not careful, as we study Scripture and learn about the heroes of the faith, we elevate beyond normal humanity. Jesus was fully God fully man—emptying himself to show us how to live a life fully dependent on the Spirit. He was sinless. Everybody else in Scripture ain’t Jesus.
We can learn a tremendous amount about Christ, God’s heart for humanity, and God’s promise of a Messiah through David. However, David wasn’t perfect. He was human. We’ve seen him make several mistakes in our walk through first and second Samuel. As we step into chapter 11, none of David’s previous mistakes compare.
Chapter 11 begins with David in the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead of leading his army, David remained in Jerusalem. Seeing Bathsheba, David used the power of his position to take her for himself—abusing the authority God had granted him. When his sin resulted in a pregnancy, rather than facing the consequences, David sought to cover it up by bringing Uriah home from war.
The author does an incredible job of mirroring God’s anointed King, with the King’s faithful servant. Uriah’s steadfast loyalty provides a foil for David’s scheming. Notice also that Uriah was a Hittite, not an Israelite. He expressed more covenant loyalty than the King, though not even from the tribe of Israel. So, David had him killed.
In summary of all these events, we see the Lord’s perspective in the final sentence of the chapter, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” Thankfully, in tomorrow’s passage, which corresponds to Psalm 51, David repented when confronted. He loved the Lord, but he made mistakes. We shouldn’t be surprised that he sinned. However, from now until the end of his life, he must deal with the consequences of his sin.
2 Samuel 11 marks a turning point in David’s story. So far, it’s been a heroic and meteoric rise—from shepherd, unclean in a field, to warrior, to anointed King receiving God’s great Covenant. In the days ahead, David will suffer incredible tragedy and heartache.
This chapter is a helpful reminder that all of us are only a decision or two away from severe disobedience. A couple small compromises could set us on a trajectory to overwhelming temptation. We shouldn’t think, “I would never…”—I would never have that affair. I would never cover it up, much less have someone killed. Or sometime later, I would have never been amongst the crowd in Jesus’ day saying, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him…”
Simply put, we never sin when we have the correct perspective. Sin begins with lies planted in our hearts. When those lies are fed, we are all capable of anything. Uriah provides a real-life example of the biblical principle of alertness. We should maintain a vigilant awareness. We do not need to live in fear, but we should also maintain humility to understand that any sin we read in the pages of Scripture or history could be me. Nothing, not even our sin, can separate of from the love of God in Christ Jesus. However, as 1 Peter 5:8-9 reminds us, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”
Written By: Tyler Short
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