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Why was the Lord’s chastisement of David so seemingly harsh? Why did He choose to strike him in a way that would be more painful than if he himself had died? Why did the Lord pour out judgment on an innocent baby, who had neither done wrong nor right, yet was simply a victim of circumstance? Was this “an eye for an eye,” or was there an ulterior motive working in the heart of God? In the Lord’s mercy, He struck David’s firstborn of Bathsheba with sickness to kill him. The Lord makes this clear enough to David through His actions for him to repent and turn in unapologetic repentance once the issue is addressed.
The Lord begins His rebuke of David with this statement, saying, “It is I who anointed you king over Israel…” David was mandated to lead the people of Israel into righteousness and love in a corporate agreement with the heart of God. According to the word spoken through Nathan, David had committed a multidimensional sin: (1) he did not trust the Lord’s leadership, and stretched out his hand to satisfy his appetites instead of leaning into the Lord, (2) he lashed out in rebellion against the word of the Lord and the very identity of God, (3) he released a spirit of murder upon his house, the line chosen to carry the seed of promise, (4) and he gave opportunity to those who had accusations toward the Lord to lay blame on His ways. Because he was the king chosen by the Lord to rule over His people, all of these sins would have long-lasting repercussions that affected the entire nation. David was the appointed shepherd over these people, and he was beginning to lead them into a wrong avenue. The issue of David’s sin did not only affect his own personal life with the Lord, but it affected the entire nation he had been given authority by the Lord to govern.
The sin of David was terribly grievous, but why would the Lord pour out His vengeance upon an innocent baby? As God would not allow David to establish his kingdom upon bloodshed, the way He would insure this was by shaking him to the core with a full-on encounter the brutality of the death of the innocent. The Lord wanted David to understand how He feels about bloodshed in order that the root of violence in him would be cut off. The Lord had to show him what kind of an impact his sin had on those under him. David understood the Lord’s heart to show mercy, and this is why he fasted so ardently to turn the tide, and worshiped the Lord after the baby died. This judgment was a pre-emptive strike against the spirit of murder running rampant through the land because of the leadership of David. It was the least severe means God could have used in order to produce the kind of response He was requiring from David. How could this be?
David was directly scorning the Lord in his heart posture, not simply in the moment of passion. He was a man who was in the presence of the Lord continually, yet he was yielding to a wrong spirit, and because of the revelation placed on him, his heart was becoming more and more calloused. The sin was not addressed for at least nine months, and when it was addressed, Nathan was calling David to finish camping out in that spirit. He had not only given himself to licentiousness and lust, but in that, he was coming to a stance before the Lord that worshiped Him outwardly while inwardly agreeing with hatred of His ways.
David was essentially moving toward the attitude that might say, “Your Word is too heavy of a burden to walk out fully, and in my youthful zeal, I was able to walk in your ways, but it is simply impossible now. All the responsibility and expectation placed on me in this life would overwhelm me if I were also expected to operate in that kind blamelessness at the same time. Your grace is not sufficient for me in my weakness to walk out what You desire of me. Therefore, either You do not require full obedience of me, or Your leadership is not perfect.” David was acting presumptuously toward the Lord’s mercy, leaning on grace in an unrighteous manner. He was using it as an excuse for his sin instead of an empowering force to walk in His Law. If the Lord had not stepped in, David would have ended up with leading the nation into such gross inward searing of their conscience, and no one can even imagine the effects of such a notable demarcation in the people’s history.
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