Lesson 1.15: David Repents

Loved one, WORK AT YOUR OWN PACE, and please be patient as you study. Reply with ONLY the 11 answers to the exam. The next lesson will then be sent with your corrected exam answers. A beautiful completion certificate will be sent to your email upon completion of all 36 lessons.

Pray for wisdom and understanding as you absorb this Spirit filled, faith building, knowledgeable material (John 8:32). If you would like to comment or ask a Bible question, please do. Lord willing, a Bible answer to your question will be provided.

To the good God of Heaven and Earth be the Glory as His Will is done (1 Corinthians 10:31). We love you with the love of the Lord (John 13:34-35; Ephesians 4:15). The Liberty NW church of Christ, meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572427827731

Lesson 1.15: David Repents

Loved one, someone said, “right is right, and wrong is wrong; and nobody has a right to do wrong.” This old proverb has been challenged in modern times. Philosophers today are saying that truth is relative—that there is no absolute standard of right and wrong. According to them, something can be wrong for you and right for me, and vice-versa. They say that each of us must decide what is right and wrong depending on the circumstances. This way of thinking has been called "Situation Ethics."

The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that truth is absolute. Truth can be stated in words. While praying for His followers, Jesus said, "Father, … make them ready for your service through your truth. Your teaching is truth" (John 17:17).

If God's teaching is truth, then we do not have the right to decide what is right and what is wrong. That has been decided for us. God has declared that certain things are right, and certain things are wrong. He is God, and His word is final. Therefore, "right is right, and wrong is wrong; and nobody ever has a right to do wrong."

When we do something wrong, God wants us to change our hearts and lives. This change of heart and life is called "repentance."

David's Sin

About 1,000 B.C., King David sent his generals and their armies out to fight against the Ammonites. But David stayed in Jerusalem.

One evening, David got out of bed and walked around on the roof of his house. While he was walking on the roof, he saw a woman taking a bath. She was very beautiful. David sent for his officers and asked them, "Who is that woman?" One of the officers replied, "That is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite" (2 Samuel 11:3).

This information should have stopped David from taking further action. Bathsheba was a married woman, and David knew it was wrong for him to take another man's wife. But David's desires (lust) took control of him. In a moment of weakness, he yielded to Satan's temptation. Instead of listening to his conscience, David listened to his desires.

David sent messengers to Bathsheba and asked her to come to him. So Bathsheba came to David, and he had sexual relations with her. Then, she washed herself and returned to her home.

David's Cover-up

Later, Bathsheba sent word to David saying, "I am pregnant" (2 Samuel 11:5).

David was a good man who loved God; but David tried to cover up his sin. He decided to bring Uriah home from the battlefield and allow him to sleep with his wife, Bathsheba. So David sent a message to Joab (his chief general) saying, "Send Uriah the Hittite to me."

When Uriah came to David, David talked with him about the war. He asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go home and relax" (2 Samuel 11:8).

But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept outside the door of the king's house. When David learned that Uriah had not gone home, he said to Uriah, "You came from a long trip. Why did you not go home?" (2 Samuel 11:10).

Uriah replied, "The Holy Box [in which the law was kept] and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My lord Joab, and my lord's [King David's] officers are camping out in the field. So it is not right for me to go home to drink and sleep with my wife" (2 Samuel 11:11).

David said, "Stay here today. Tomorrow I will send you back to the battle" (2 Samuel 11:12).

The next day, David called Uriah to come and see him. David ate and drank with Uriah and made him drunk. But Uriah still did not go home to his wife.

The next morning, David wrote a letter and asked Uriah to take it to Joab. In the letter, David wrote, "Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is the hardest. Then leave him there alone, and let him be killed in battle" (2 Samuel 11:14-15).

Notice how one sin led to another. David's desire for Bathsheba led to adultery. His adultery led to a cover-up. His desire to cover up his sin led to deception, trickery, and finally to murder.

Following Uriah's death on the battlefield, David took Bathsheba to be his wife.

Nathan's Rebuke

But God sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan told David a story about two men who lived in the city. One was rich, and the other was poor. The rich man had many sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb. The lamb grew up with the poor man's children. The lamb ate from the poor man's hand, drank from his cup, and slept on his chest. The lamb was like a member of his family.

Then a traveler came to the rich man's home, and the rich man wanted to give him some food. But he did not want to kill any of his own sheep or cattle, so he took the poor man's lamb, killed it, and cooked it for the traveler.

When David heard this, he became very angry. He said, "As the Lord lives, surely the man who did this should die" (2 Samuel 12:5).

Nathan said to David, "You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says, 'I chose you to be the king of Israel and I saved you from Saul, and I made you king of Israel and Judah. So why did you ignore my command? Why did you do what I say is wrong?'" (2 Samuel 12:7-9).

David's Change Of Heart And Life (Repentance)

David could have put Nathan to death for saying these things. David was the king of Israel, and in those days, a king had absolute power over his subjects.

But when Nathan finished speaking, David said to him, "I have sinned against the Lord" (2 Samuel 12:13). David realized that his sins had separated him from God (Isaiah 59:2). He was very sorry for the wrong things he had done, and he wanted to get right with God. Later, David opened his heart to God by writing a song. In that song, David cried out:

"God, be merciful to me, because of your faithful love. Because of your great compassion, erase all the wrongs I have done. Scrub away my guilt. Wash me clean from my sin. I know I have done wrong. I remember that sin all the time. I did what you say is wrong. … Don't look at my sins. Erase them all! God, create a pure heart in me and make my spirit strong again! Don't push me away or take your Holy Spirit away from me. Your help made me so happy! Give me that joy again. Make my spirit strong and ready to obey you. I will teach the guilty how you want them to live, and the sinners will come back to you" (Psalm 51:1-4, 9-13).

These are the words of a man whose heart was broken—a man who was terribly disappointed with himself. David's sense of guilt made him very sad. David's godly sorrow caused him to repent; that is, turn away from sin and to turn his face toward God (2 Corinthians 7:10).

When David repented, his whole life changed direction. He became a great servant of God. Later, he was called "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22). This shows that even adultery and murder can be forgiven when a person changes his heart and life.

Repentance Is The Lesson For Us Today

David's change of heart and life is an example that we should follow. Not everyone has committed adultery and murder, but all of us have committed sin (Romans 3:23). We have all been hurt by our sins, and we have hurt others. Therefore, we need to change our hearts and lives as David did. Jesus went through Galilee preaching, "Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News" (Mark 1:14-15).

On the day of Pentecost, Peter said, "Change your hearts and lives and be baptized" (Acts 2:38).

The apostle Paul said to the men of Athens, "In the past, people did not understand God, and he overlooked this. But now, he is telling everyone in the world to change and turn to him" (Acts 17:30).

Look at your own life. Have you ever done anything wrong? Have you ever told a lie, cheated on a test, or stolen something that belonged to another person? Have you ever gotten drunk, hurt a friend, or been involved in sexual sin?

Paul said, "All have sinned and are not good enough to share God's divine greatness" (Romans 3:23). All of us have said and done things that are wrong. Therefore, in order to be right with God, we must REPENT; i.e., change our hearts and lives and turn to God.

God Is Patient

God loves us and wants to save us from the power of evil. He wants us to spend eternity with Him in heaven. He is very patient, and He gives us many opportunities to turn away from evil and to follow Him. But His patience has limits. The apostle Paul said to people in Rome:

"God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don't understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives. But you are so stubborn! You refuse to change. So you are making your own punishment greater and greater" (Romans 2:4-5).

Conclusion

God is holy, and sin leads us away from Him. The more we sin, the farther away from God we get. In order to get back to God, we must change our hearts and lives and surrender to Him in faith. That is what God wants. He is waiting patiently for us to change – to repent.