David Sins and Repents

The Bible in Art: David Sins and Repents  

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Verses for Consideration: 2 Samuel 11:2-5

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

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It is sometimes fascinating to learn the causes of major events in world history. 

For example, think about how the Reformation started.

A bolt of lightning struck so close to a young law student that out of terror of God’s judgment he entered a monastery. Luther tried to find peace there but couldn’t, thus paving the way for when God revealed to Luther the truth of the gospel. One solitary event altered Martin Luther’s life for the good, as well as for the good of many, many others.

But small events can also change the course of history for the worse. Just one glance at a naked woman unleashed a chain of passion and sin that almost destroyed David spiritually. Soldiers died in the ensuing cover-up, and the son born of adultery likewise died. Finally, violence was to plague David’s family for years, and many others would die as that violence played itself out.

Something wonderful, however, emerged from all this trouble. “I have sinned against the LORD ,” David confessed to Nathan. And the prophet replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin.” Yes, in special ways David would suffer for his sin, but God had put away that sin, had spared him from the sentence of physical death, and had wiped away completely the eternal punishment David’s sin deserved. In addition to this, God led David to write some of the most beautiful psalms in the Bible-psalms of repentance and faith, cherished by Christians throughout the world.

Out of evil God can bring good. The greatest example of this is that out of the evil of the cross, God won salvation for all people. His Son, Jesus Christ, suffered the consequences for all sin. Praise God for his promise to you; your sins are forgiven.

Prayer: I thank you, Father, for pardoning my sins for Jesus’ sake. Continue to work out all things for my good, even if I bring sorrow into my life through my sins. Amen.

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Title: David Hands the Letter to Uriah (1619)

Artist: Pieter Lastman