THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD FOR THE SIN OF DAVID.
The sin of David has given great occasion for the adversaries of the Lord to mock at everything sacred. Yet if these persons were men of candor, instead of being mere scoffers, they would never utter one word of derision and mocking over this great transgression. The guilt of David was very great. His repentance was manifestly deep and genuine. But the God of Heaven, against whom David had so grievously sinned, could not, if he vindicated his own honor, do otherwise than visit David with such calamities as should show to all mankind his utter abhorrence of his wicked acts. Nathan, by his parable, led David to pronounce sentence of death upon himself. When David humbly acknowledged his guilt, Nathan replied that he should not die at once, though in accordance with his own decision, he could be justly cut down by the angel of God for his transgression. But for the remainder of his life, he must expect trouble and anguish for his portion. Surely, none but a scoffer can say of this case, that God passed lightly over the sin of David.37 1. The child born to David was smitten with disease; and though David did most earnestly seek God to spare the life of the child, his prayer was refused. 2 Sam. xii. 2. Next occurred the grievous crime of his son Amnon in the case of his own sister Tamar. 2 Sam. xiii, 1–21. Doubtless, though Amnon was very wicked, the providence of God would, for David’s sake, have interfered to prevent the consummation of this crime, had not David, by his own transgression, broken down that wall which God places around every good man. Job i, 10. 3. And next, in revenge for this, came the murder of Amnon by Absalom, the brother of Tamar. 2 Sam. xiii, 22–29. 4. Then a false report came to the king that Absalom had slain all the king’s sons. But Absalom fled for his life to Talmai, the king of Geshur, his grandfather. And David mourned the murder of Amnon, and the absence of Absalom. 2 Sam. xiii, 30–39. 5. Then, in a brief time from this, the rebellion of Absalom occurred. And David, not knowing whom to trust, and sensible that it had been suffered in punishment of his own guilt, fled from his royal city, Jerusalem, for life. He would not suffer the ark to go forth with him; but he said, with deep penitence, “Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation: but if he thus say, I have no delight in thee, behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.” 2 Sam. xv, 25, 26. “And as David ascended the Mount of Olives, he wept as he went up, and he had his head covered, and went barefoot.” Verse 30. When he reached Bahurim, Shimei came forth, and bitterly cursed David and his party, and threw stones and cast dust at them. When Abishai desired to take Shimei’s life, David said, “Let him curse, because the Lord hath bidden him curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?” 2 Sam. xvi, 10. David acknowledged this as a judgment from God for his own transgression. And now to show men that with what measure they mete it shall be measured to them again, Absalom is suffered to inflict upon David, his father, the same outrage which David had committed upon Uriah. The sin of David was secret. The sin of Absalom was in the sight of all Israel, and of the sun. And there were many things connected with this that showed the avenging hand of God. 2 Sam. xvi, 21, 22, compared with chap. xii, 11, 12. And now David flees across the Jordan for life. Had not the counsel of Hushai defeated that of Ahithophel, David and his companions had been destroyed at once. But Absalom, though used by Providence as a scourge for the wicked acts of David, must himself now be punished. His own measure of crime was full, and with his ruin comes still more of bitterness to David’s cup. When the decisive battle is fought between the forces of David and of Absalom, the tenderness of the father’s heart awoke in David, and he charged all his captains to deal gently with the young man, Absalom. 2 Sam. xviii, 5. But Absalom was utterly defeated in the battle, and, falling into the hands of cruel Joab, was stabbed to the heart while he hung by the head in the oak tree. When the tidings of the battle were borne to David, his first inquiry expressed the great anxiety of his heart, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” When he learned that this wicked son was dead, then a sense of his own sins that had caused the providence of God to suffer this great rebellion, and a sense of Absalom’s lost condition, greatly moved the king, and he cried out in words expressive of the utmost distress, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 6. But the troubles of David were not yet ended. On the suppression of Absalom’s revolt, a quarrel breaks out between the men of Judah and the men of Israel. And this quarrel gives occasion for the revolt of Sheba, the son of Bichri, which threatened to prove a very serious thing. 2 Sam. xx. 7. Even the last days of David were disturbed by an event that proved the death of another of his sons. Adonijah attempted, in the old age and feebleness of David, his father, to seize his throne, and it is not unlikely that, had he succeeded, the lives of David and of Solomon would have been sacrificed. The plot was defeated by the wisdom of Nathan, but it proved the words of Nathan true, that the sword should never depart from his house. The plot of Adonijah ended in his own overthrow and death. 1 Kings i; ii. Here is a list of calamities, every one of which is directly traceable to the sin of David in the case of Uriah. Let the reader review this list, and then decide whether it pays to sin against God. David repented of his sin with the deepest humiliation. Yet the chastening hand of God was upon him all his life long. For one moment of sinful pleasure, he suffered inexpressible anguish of spirit during many long years. Surely there is no profit in sin. And those who dare to test this statement will, one day, acknowledge its truth.