David - Cost of Sin II Samuel 12

II Samuel 12:9 "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon."

It's tough to write about David in his worst time. Here is a great warrior and a great king who shows kindness to his people. He has yielded to temptation and sinned against God. He realized and accepted the truth when Nathan, the prophet, came to him with the story of a man who only had one lamb. A rich man, who had many, took the one lamb from the man. David was angry at this point.

v5 "And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:"

Then Nathan drops the bombshell:

v7 "And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel and I delivered the out of the hand of Saul:"

He goes on to tell David of the good things God had done for him and of the cost of David's sin. David is heartbroken and repented.

v13 "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die."

David did not die then but lived to be an old man, as we will see. But there was still the cost of sin to be paid. There is an old saying that 'God says what he means and means what he says.' Too many people look upon God like they would look upon a leader of a country. They can do as they please and dare them to catch them. They can ignore commands and think there is no consequence.

The LORD is the maker of the universe. He is the one who raises up kings and leaders for nations. He is also the one who removes them as he did Saul when Saul disobeyed. I believe in the lovingkindness of God. I also believe that obeying him is not optional. A too small view of God is dangerous. He is not a playmate on the playground of life. He will be a friend but he is always God and in control.

David sinned with Bathsheba and the result of that sin is taken away from them in the form of the death of the child.

v14 "Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."

The child became sick and died in seven days. David fasted and mourned but the decision was not reversed. Even kings must obey the LORD.

David took Bathsheba as his wife after this and they were blessed with another child. His name was Solomon.

The balance of the chapter is David going off to war with Joab and defeating the Ammons.

We learn from this chapter that sin does not pay. We also learn that God's commands are not to be ignored. We also learned that sin gives occasion to the enemies of the LORD.

Psalm 6:6 "I am weary with my groaning: all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears."

Keywords: Old Old Story, Bible study, Old Testament, Samuel, David, Bathsheba, Ammon, Milton Southerland. David finds that sin has a cost.