God Redeems: Part 1

Written and Media by Bradley Stubbs.


People today are still living with the guilt and shame of a sin they committed years ago and they have no idea how to move on or how any good can come from it. Below is the story of how God redeemed David, a man after God’s own heart, after he fell into some deep sin.  We’re going to see how we end up falling into deep sin but also how God redeems sin and the hope that gives us. 

The text where David falls into sin is found in 2 Samuel 11:1-5.

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, ‘She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant.’”

David got to this point by being born into the house of Jesse. Samuel was told by God to go to the house of Jesse and find the next king of Israel. Samuel went to the house of Jesse and asked Jesse to bring his sons because one of them would be the next king of Israel. Jesse presented seven sons and Samuel went through each one and said that God was not telling him to choose any of these. He asked Jesse if he had any more sons and Jesse said that he had one more son who was a young shepherd currently out with the sheep. Samuel asked Jesse to bring his son to him to see if he was the one God chose, and immediately when he saw David he knew that was the next king of Israel. The reason God chose David was that God does not look at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart, and David was a man after God’s own heart.

After being told he would be the next king of Israel, David defeated Goliath and brought great glory for his people. He went on to win many battles, and the fact that he thought he made it probably made David grow complacent. In life a lot of times we think that we’ve made it, but the truth is that you can never “make” it. We’re not perfect and we’re always growing in our relationship with Christ. When you think you “made” it, that’s when you stop growing and you get lazy. Laziness leads to sin.

We can always improve in life and grow in Christ; if you think you know it all then have a lot more growing to do. Source: Google Images

Because David was lazy he sent Joab out to battle instead of going out there with his troops. In this time period, it was common for the king to go into battle with his troops, but David was winning every battle and probably thought they would be fine without him. Since he stayed at his palace he had an abundance of free time.

In his free time, David walked on his roof one day. This was common at this time, and the king’s home was probably the tallest building in the palace, so when David walked out on his roof he could see the whole palace and could admire all he accomplished. He then saw a woman bathing on another roof. You may think that’s odd, but in this time people didn’t have showers or sinks. They put troughs to catch water on their roofs, so when it rained they would catch the rainwater. They would then go on their roofs to bathe. David saw this woman, Bathsheba, bathing and found her really attractive so he asked someone about her. They told him that she was married to Uriah, one of David’s soldiers out at battle where David should be.

When David heard this, he should have just left her alone, but instead he called her to his palace. David set himself up to fail. He knew he was attracted to this woman and that she was married, but he called her in. In life, we cannot put ourselves in situations to fail. If you know you’re easily tempted to have sex with your girlfriend/boyfriend then it is a bad idea to hang out in your room alone with the door shut. You may not do anything, but you’re putting yourself in a situation to fail. Instead, put yourself in a situation to succeed. Go to a park or the mall where there are other people around and you can remove that temptation at least somewhat. David set himself up to fail and he did.

Going to a park or another public place takes away some temptation in a dating relationship and sets you up to succeed. Source: Google Images

The next thing to be aware of is that one “small” sin left unrepented leads to “greater” sin. David started out by lusting after this woman, and that’s where he sinned, but if he would have asked for forgiveness and repented after that, the rest of this story would not have happened. Instead, just like in life today, we like to think what we did was not really bad and we never ask forgiveness or repent from our sins; because of that, we keep going deeper and deeper into sin. David fell into sin and then had sex with this woman. After he had sex with her, the story got worse for David. The next day Bathsheba told David that she was pregnant.

David tried to cover up the sins he has committed by sending word to Joab, who was leading the troops in battle, to send Uriah home for the night so he could sleep with his wife and take a break from battle. David’s goal was for Uriah to have sex with Bathsheba so it looked like it was their baby. Uriah came home and slept outside because, he told David, that his men were sleeping in tents while at battle, so he could not sleep with his wife while that was happening. This ruined David’s plans, so he sent a letter with Uriah to give to Joab. The letter said to put Uriah on the front of the fiercest fighting and then retreat from him so he surely would die. Joab did this and Uriah died at battle. At this point, David had committed lust, adultery, and murder.

Look for God Redeems: Part 2 to see how God redeemed David’s sins!

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