2 Samuel 12 Commentary
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely! We have seen it in David!
Lust, adultery, treachery, murder, manipulation, pretense, and arrogance. Abuse of authority. Greediness.
Read chapters 11 and 12 again, and you will see more! And this is our hero, David! Probably not so heroic this time!
By the time the LORD sends Nathan to confront David over his sin, months have passed. Bathsheba has given birth to David’s son, and life is flowing normally. David’s plan has worked.
We know he had swiftly moved in to marry Bathsheba to conceal his sin. Of course, thinking of the Creator God as dumb, blind, and unholy – He won’t find out. How wrong! It’s a moment of great foolishness for the king!
Convinced of his status, David is completely oblivious to the parable. David’s response to the parable gives you an impression of a man who is back to his usual Mr. Righteous Man. This kind of wickedness should not happen anywhere in his kingdom, he says. The man in the story must die. So David pronounces his own sentence. He is the wicked man of the parable.
David repents. But his sin leaves behind a trail of damage. The first casualty is the son born from the illegal union. We cannot answer the question why the innocent child suffers because of his parents’ mistakes, any more than we can understand why the sinner goes to heaven on account of another’s righteousness – that is, Jesus’ righteousness.
“I’m sorry.” This appears to be David’s response to the Bathsheba scandal. And we are not impressed!
But in Psalms 51, we read of intense repentance and a detailed introspection. And that makes a huge difference. David is broken and pours his life before the LORD. Saul, on the other hand, lay prostrate on the floor at a spiritist’s house.
A broken David cannot hide anymore. The prayer in Psalm 51 is a personal petition, probably recorded and preserved at David’s request, to help others. As he puts it in Psalms 51, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.”
Indeed, it is the purpose of these lines that we, the transgressors of today, can turn back to the LORD. We want to read Psalms 51 again and again to learn more. It is an invitation to examine oneself.
David’s prayer for a clean heart and a loyal spirit is always needed!
“Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” We have a direct reference to Genesis when the LORD cast man out of his presence, out of the Garden of Peace and Tranquility.
Or more recently, the thought is directly connected with Saul’s loss of God’s presence when the Spirit left him. David is aware of what happened, as he was the man tasked with conducting deliverance sessions for Saul through his music.
From the mouth of David, we learn that the LORD doesn’t delight in sacrifice. Indeed, the greatest sacrifice the LORD wants is a broken spirit. He will gladly accept a heart that is broken because of sadness over sin.
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