Broken Record (2 Samuel 12)
(Samuel 12)
One of the most tragic stories in the Bible is that of David’s sin against Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. David has used is authority as king to compel Bathsheba to sleep with him and as a result, gets her pregnant. In order to hide his sin, he conspires against his friend Uriah, to have him killed in battle. He feels no remorse about it until he is confronted by Nathan the prophet with a story.
Nathan says, “There is a wealthy man with plenty of sheep and cattle and a poor man who has only one little ewe lamb that he loves as his own children. A traveler passes through and stops at the wealthy man’s house. But instead of killing one of his own sheep to feed the traveler, he takes the beloved ewe lamb of the poor man to feed the travel.” David, of course is outraged and proclaims the man will surely die and will make four-fold restitution. Nathan replies, “You are the man! And here’s what God says, ‘I’ve given you everything. I’ve made you wealthy and powerful. I’ve given you the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and if that had not been enough, I would have given you more. But because you’ve despised the word of the Lord, you’ve killed Uriah and taken his wife and for that, the sword will never depart from your family.’” David recognizes weight of his guilt and confesses, without equivocation, that he has sinned. Nathan responds by saying, “Your sins have been forgiven, but the weight of God’s justice remains and the child will die.” Everything that Nathan says will happen, happens. The child dies within seven days and the rest of David’s life will be marked by turmoil, conflict and great pain.
Through the seven days, David is fasting, mourning and laying on the ground, so much so that his attendants are concerned about him. David is not eating or sleeping and they begin to whisper amongst themselves, “If he didn’t listen to us while the child was alive, how will he listen now that the child is dead.” David hears them, and knowing that the baby has died surprises everyone be getting up, clothing and cleaning himself, getting something to eat and going to the tabernacle to worship. They ask David, “Why the sudden change?” David responds, “I can’t do anything about what I’ve done. One day I will be with my child, but he will never come back to me.” David yields to God’s judgement and gets back to the work of being king. He consoles his wife, Bathsheba, makes love to her and they have a son who named Solomon, who will be the hope of Israel and the next king. He also returns to battle, defeating the Ammonites and restoring Israel’s north-eastern border.
The story teaches us a lot about the abuse of power and the kind of kingdom that God is building. But David’s response also teaches us how we should respond when confronted with sin. David repents and confesses his sin, he mourns his sin, he submits to the judgment of God, he experiences the forgiveness of God and does what he can to make restitution. Perhaps most importantly, he moves on in obedience to the call that God has on his life.
We’ve all done things that we regret – things that have cause pain to people we love, our families and even our children. Sometimes the thoughts of that behavior can repeat and repeat like a broken record, paralyzing us. So if you find yourself plummeting into an endless cycle of shame, we need to learn from David – confess, repent, submit to God’s judgment, make restitution wherever possible, experience God’s forgiveness and forgive others, and then move on in obedience to what God has called us to do and to be. Turn to Jesus and experience his love, grace and the peace promised in his word.
You’ll be glad you did.