David saw her, sent for her, sinned with her. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12).
Joab knew that the strategy used to kill Uriah was foolhardy. Concerned that David would criticize him in front of the messenger, he schemed, “If it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought?’…then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also’” (2 Sam 11:20-21). Good news? Evidently, for David responded, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another’” (v 25). Life is random; no one’s to blame. But it wasn’t an errant arrow that killed Uriah. Jehovah described the guilty archer: “‘Like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil” ( Jer 9:3). Yes, from evil to evil. From lusting to adultery; from lying to murder. But the story continues. Bathsheba mourns Uriah. David takes her as his wife. The baby is born. Everything is going as planned. But the chapter ends like the tolling of a great bell: “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Sam 11:27). So time passes. Why didn’t God send Nathan immediately? Psalms 32 and 51 reveal the Lord’s inner workings in bringing David to repentance. Nathan tells a parable about a wealthy sheep owner who, in providing a meal for a guest, steals the one little lamb owned by a poor neighbor. David is incensed! “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb,…because he had no pity” (12:5-6). “You are the man!” (v 7), said Nathan. And the sword used to kill Uriah will be at work in your family all your days. Fourfold? Four of David’s sons would predecease him, as he said. Yes, “sin…brings forth death” (Jas 1:15).