Why did David take Bathsheba even after repenting of his sin?

IF DAVID WAS REPENTANT FOR URIAH'S DEATH AND FOR STEALING HIS WIFE WHY DID HE CONTINUE TO BE WITH BATHSHEBA?

By Ezekiel Kimosop

[This article was originally posted on e-bible.com on 16/11/2013 in response to a question by a forum participant]

2 Sam 11 carries the account of David's temptation and adultery and his subsequent cover-up attempt by instructing Joab his commander to place Uriah the Hittite in harm’s way as a surest guarantee for his death.

Everything went according to his script until God burst in through Nathan the prophet and made it clear to David that he deserved no mercy for the royal disgrace and sin. Mosaic Law was resolute that both David and Bathsheba were to be stoned to death on account of the sin and David was on a double sin because of murder (Lev 20:10)

David was spared by God's grace and partly perhaps because of the royal authority that he bore. First God determined to take the life of the child from the illicit affair as one way of dealing with David's sin.

Secondly David's royal authority was not business as usual. He would be humiliated by the palace coup mounted by one of his sons. His Kingdom was divided after Solomon.

Turning to the question on why David took Bathsheba after the death of Uriah, my reading of scripture shows that Uriah was a Hittite (2 Sam 11:3). David drew some of his elite officers from persons of non Israelite descent perhaps due to their bravery and exceptional military distinction. The fact that Uriah's family lived within the precincts of the royal palace suggests that Uriah may have been a member of the elite royal guard that guarded the King and his family.

The Jewish culture and law provided that when a man died his brother or nearest male relative took his wife. It is not clear if this rule applied to the Hittite migrants living among the Jews but even then, Bathsheba was free to remarry after her husband's death. There is no evidence that she had children by Uriah, suggesting that she was newlywed.

David also took over other women such as Abigael the wife of Nabal, the wicked sheep owner who arrogantly dismissed his request for the customary payment for security during his days as a fugitive of Saul.

David had also been promised Saul's daughter in marriage though Saul went back on his promise and David was only able to take her much later. Polygamy was a culturally accepted norm but it was certainly not God's idea. It was a reflection of the fallenness of the human race since the Genesis generation.

I do not agree with the view that David may have been sparing Bathsheba the disgrace of moving around with other men following the death of Uriah. There is evidence from Scripture that David loved this woman and she was perhaps his favorite above all his other wives. The fact that he made a promise to her that her son would reign after him is evidence that she touched the king's heart by her conduct.

Adonijah the son of Haggith made his shortlived rebellion as he attempted to take the throne from his aged father but David stuck to his promise to Bathsheba even in his sunset years. She reminds the King in 1 Kings 1:17 saying "My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne."

I believe that God by His sovereign grace permitted David's marriage to Bathsheba and through His divine wisdom made Solomon her second son to be King. Though God forgave David, he and his sons paid for the consequences of his imprudence and sin. Besides the death of Bathsheba's first son, David lost three sons namely Ammon Absalom and Adonijah, the latter two having died under separate palace coups.

David's story with Bathsheba should remind us that God uses the tragedies of our lives to create a future. We need not lie down in sin and defeat but we must rise up (Psalm 34:19). It also shows the mystery of God's grace in that God uses the most unusual of people to advance the course of his divine will. Our election or choice of God as believers is also an act of grace because none of us deserved it but in His mercy God chose us to His children.

God chose Ephraim in the place of Manassas; Jacob in the place of Esau; Isaac in the place of Ismael; David instead of Eliab his eldest brother (1 Sam 16:6). He has also extended his grace to us Gentiles who were not originally the children of promise.

This God is a loving, merciful, gracious, and just God. May His name be glorified!



© Ezekiel Kimosop Teaching Series 2019