DAVID'S SIN 



AND ITS PUNISHMENT.



DAVID did one thing that displeased the Lord greatly. Uriah was a faithful soldier in David's army, and David told Joab, the captain of the host, to put him in the front of the battle, that he might be slain. This he did because he wanted Uriah's wife, who was a very beautiful woman.

"And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up; and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man; and he spared to take of his own flock, and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 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; and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 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 thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 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. 

Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife."

"And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan told David that the Lord would forgive him, and permit him to live. This shows that David must have truly repented of his great sin, or the Lord would not have forgiven him. The bad influence of it, however, could not be prevented. 

Nathan refers to this when he says, "Howbeit, by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme." The trouble which David afterward had with his son Absalom must have led him to think of his own sins, and to see how great they had been.