Lesson for May 14, 2025
The Life of David
Lesson 2
Failures in David’s Life
(II Samuel 1:1-5; II Samuel 2:8; II Samuel 4:5-7; II Samuel 5:1-5)
Upon Saul’s death, the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms, the northern and the southern. The northern kingdom remained Israel, and the southern kingdom was called Judah. David became the King of Judah. Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth became king of Israel. Eventually, Ish-Bosheth was murdered, and David became king of all Israel, reuniting the nation as one.
One of the first things David did as King of Israel was to return the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. It had been stored at the house of a Levite named Abinadab, for 20 years. David had plans to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and place the Ark within it. However, God never allowed David to build the Temple, but David’s son Solomon did build it.
David and Bathsheba
(II Samuel 11:1-27)
David continued to be a leader of armies and defeated Israel’s enemies throughout the region where they lived. One of David’s commanders was named Uriah, who had a beautiful wife named Bathsheba. One evening, David was walking on the roof when he saw a beautiful woman bathing. Once David saw her beauty, he began to lust after her and finally had her brought to him and she became pregnant by him.
In an attempt to cover his sin, David attempted to persuade Uriah to go home and sleep with Bathsheba, hoping he would think she became pregnant by Uriah. But Uriah proved to be a loyal soldier and would not sleep with his wife, while his fellow soldiers were fighting a battle.
David added another sin by plotting Uriah’s death, so he could have Bathsheba. He commanded Joab, the Commander of the Army, to put Uriah in the heat of battle and then order him to retreat, leaving him at the mercy of the charging Ammonites. Uriah was killed in the battle, as David had planned. When news of Uriah’s death reached David, after a time of mourning for Uriah, he took Bathsheba as his wife. Shortly thereafter, Bathsheba had a son.
(II Samuel 12:1-19)
God did not overlook David’s sins. He sent Nathan the prophet to David, to confront him about his sin. David’s response was the confession of his sins. (Psalm 51) Even though God forgave David when he confessed his sins, there were still consequences of those sins that David had to deal with. David was told that his sins had brought death to his house. Later, the child that had been born to David and Bathsheba died. David declared that he would see his child again when he made this statement in I Samuel 12:23, “I am going to him, but he will not return to me.” This statement by David confirms what the Bible clearly teaches that when someone dies before they reach God consciousness, they go to Heaven. This includes babies and those mentally handicapped.
War ceased and peace finally settled over the land, and David began to give attention to other matters. It was at this time that David desired to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. However, David did not heed the Mosaic Law’s instruction for moving the Ark (not to touch it), and this resulted in the death of one of the men who was moving it.
Eventually, the Ark was brought to Jerusalem by the proper means and a great celebration began. David composed a Psalm of Praise for the occasion. (Psalm 132) Rules were then made for the care of the Ark. (II Samuel 6:1-7:29; II Chronicles 13:1-17:27).
David was not content with the Ark remaining in a tent. He wanted to build a permanent structure. However, the Lord would not permit David to do this, and through Nathan, God told David that one of his sons would build the Temple, not David himself. (II Samuel 7:1-29)
From this time forward, David’s sins of the past began to be seen in his own family. One of his sons, Amnon, violated his half-sister, Tamar. David knew of this evil but failed to discipline Amnon. Absalom, the full brother of Tamar, seeing Amnon go unpunished, plotted revenge. After two years, he had Amnon killed. David did nothing!
Absalom began to distrust David and began to plot his overthrow. He told the people how much better he would run the kingdom if he were ruler. It worked to a degree, and he was able to “sow seeds” of rebellion. (II Samuel 15:1-6). After about four years, Absalom was able to get enough of a following to try to take the kingdom for himself. He went to his hometown, Hebron, and there he was acclaimed as king by his followers.
When David heard the news of Absalom, he fled Jerusalem with a small following. Absalom pursued them with a few men, to attack his father. When the battle was fought, David pled for his troops to spare Absalom’s life. Absalom was fleeing on a mule, and his hair got caught in a tree and he was hanging there, but still alive. When Joab and his men found Absalom, Joab decided to ignore David’s plea, and they killed Absalom with their spears. When David received news of the victory, he was grieved by Absalom’s death. Trouble, in the form of divine discipline, continued to plague David’s family because of his previous disobedient acts.
The Census
(II Samuel 24:1-9)
David decided to take a census to find out how many men he had to fight with him against his enemies, instead of depending on the Lord to fight his battles. God allowed David to take a census of the people, even though it was not God’s desire for David to take it. Therefore, David sinned against God in this matter. God sent his prophet, Gad, to confront David and give him a choice of divine disciplines. The three choices were either seven years of famine, three months of war, or three days of a plague upon the people. He chose the latter and seventy thousand people lost their lives.
God, once again, sent Gad, the prophet, to instruct David to buy land on which to build an altar. The sacrifice on the altar would be David’s way of confessing his sin to God. God, in His mercy, forgave David and stopped the plague. This would be the future site of Solomon’s Temple. Before his death, David made preparations for building the Temple. He gave Solomon specific instructions. (I Chronicles 22:1-19) David established the order for the Temple services and appointed chiefs of the tribes to oversee the Temple treasury. He announced to the people that Solomon was to be his successor. On the closing day of the ceremony, David offered prayers of thanksgiving and sacrifices.
In David’s last days, he was not spared trouble. Adonijah, his son, attempted to take over the kingdom. Adonijah succeeded in getting both Joab and Abiathar, the priest, to follow him, but Zadok and Nathan refused to follow him. Nathan and Bathsheba told David of the plot. David immediately ordered Solomon brought to him and had him publicly acclaimed king of Israel. The plan worked and all those following Adonijah fled, fearing David’s wrath. David then charged Solomon to be strong and keep the Law of God. After forty years as king, seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem, David died and was buried in Jerusalem. (I Chronicles 29:22b-30)
David faithfully served God the majority of his life. Therefore, he is seen as an example of the integrity God demanded of all the kings of Israel. God, on numerous occasions, declared that David lived with integrity in his heart. Despite David’s many failures, He continually confessed his sins and stayed in fellowship with God a maximum amount of time. He carried out all that God commanded and kept God’s ordinances the majority of his life. (I Kings 9:4-5) David is called “a man after God’s own heart” in I Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22.
God showed great love to David for his spiritual walk, despite David’s many failures. Respect for the name of David was continued after his death. Solomon showed his respect for his father in sparing the life of Abiathar, though he had taken part in Adonijah’s attempt to take the kingdom from Solomon. The respect for David extended far beyond the person and time of Solomon. Even David’s enemies respected him.
The great application for us is that God uses faithful people, not “perfect” people. We all fail God from time to time, but God’s grace is greater than our sin. God always restores a believer when they follow the correct procedures for forgiveness and restoration, called the Rebound Technique. (I John 1:9)