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We are now going to read a very
sad story about David. There
was a man named Uriah, who had a wife named Bathsheba. Bathsheba was
very beautiful; and David loved her very much, and wanted to marry her;
but he knew he must not, because she was Uriah's wife. God says,
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife;" and it was very
wicked of David to do what God had commanded him not to do. But
David did not then ask God to help him resist sin, and, therefore, he soon
became more wicked still. He wished Uriah were dead. He could
not put him to death; but he sent him to fight, and hoped he would be
killed in the battle. The
Israelites were then fighting with the Ammonites, and Joab was captain of
David's soldiers; so David wrote a letter to Joab, and said, "Set
Uriah in the battle; let him stand in the front, and do not help him; but
leave him alone, that he may be smitten and die." Then David
sent for Uriah, and pretended to be very kind to him; and gave him the
letter, and sent him to Joab. When Joab had finished reading the
letter, he called Uriah, and told him to stand in the front of the battle,
in a very dangerous place. Uriah did not know why he was to stand
there; but he did as Joab commanded; and very soon he was slain by his
enemies, and fell down dead. Then Joab sent and told David. Was
David sorry? No, he was glad; because he could now do as he wished,
and marry Bathsheba. Satan was tempting David, and David was not
trying to resist the temptation. He did not ask help from God; so
God turned away from David, and left him to himself. Bathsheba
mourned for her husband some time; and when the mourning was past, David
sent for her, and married her, and she became his wife. David
had his wish now; but had he God's blessing? No, he had made God
angry. God's eye had seen all his wickedness; his secret sins; he
could not hide them from God. But David did not yet feel his sin,
nor ask for forgiveness. One
day, Nathan the prophet, came to see David. Nathan did not now bring
a message of love from God, he had something very sad to say to David; but
he did not at once tell him about his wickedness, for God wanted David
himself to feel and confess his sin. Nathan began by telling this
story to David. He said, "There were two men living in a city;
one was rich and had great possessions; sheep, and oxen, and cattle.
The other man was very poor; he had only one little lamb. He loved
this lamb very much; it ate out of his hand; drank out of his cup, and lay
in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. One day, a friend came
to see the rich man, and to eat with him. But the rich man would not
kill his own sheep; he went to the poor man's house, and took away the
little lamb, and killed it, and dressed it for his friend."
When Nathan had finished the story, David said angrily, "The man who
has done this, shall surely die, because he had no pity." Then
Nathan looked at David, and said, "Thou art the man. God gave
thee riches and possessions; many, many things. But what hast thou
done? Thou hast killed Uriah with the sword, and taken away his wife
to be thy wife. And now God must punish thee, the sword shall never
depart from thy house. Thou hast sinned secretly; but God saw the
sin, and He will punish it openly." David
now felt his wickedness; he felt how sad it is to displease God. He
did not try to deny, nor excuse his sin; but he confessed humbly at once,
"I have sinned against the Lord." Could God forgive
David? Yes; God is always willing to forgive the greatest
sinners. He only wants them to repent, and to turn to Him and ask
for pardon, and then He is ready to forgive. Nathan said to David,
"God has taken away thy sin; thou shalt not die." But God
punished David, although He forgave him. He did not strike David
dead, but He smote his little child, and it was very sick. David
felt sad when he saw his poor child suffering, and remembered that his sin
made it suffer. He humbled himself before God, and prayed for
pardon; he ate no food, and lay all night upon the ground, and asked God
to make his dear child well again. He offered up the prayer we read
in the fifty-first psalm; "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to
thy loving-kindness; blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly
from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away
from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." God
heard the prayer. He forgave David's sin; but He would not raise the
child. It must die: God must punish David. The poor babe
grew worse and worse; and at last, after seven days, it died.
David's servants were afraid at first to tell their master that the child
was dead. But David saw the servants whispering together, and
looking very sad: and he asked, "Is the child dead?"
And they said, "He is dead." Then David arose, and washed
away his tears, and went to the house of the Lord, and worshiped; and
afterwards, he came home to his own house, and ate bread. He felt
comforted now, because he knew that God had forgiven him. He was
sorry for his child; but he knew that it was gone to a better world, where
there is no pain nor sorrow, and where he would see it again when he
died: he said, "I shall go to him; but he shall not return to
me." Then David went and comforted Bathsheba; and soon, God in
His mercy, gave them another child. They called it Solomon, and God
loved and blessed it; and He blessed too His penitent humble servant
David.
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