David, Who Despised Yahweh’s Word

This passage deals with David killing Uriah through Joab and taking his wife Bathsheba. When God sends the prophet Nathan to tell him a parable of a rich man and a poor man, David sees what the rich man has done and sentences him to death. But Nathan declares firmly that the rich man is David himself, and rebukes him: although God gave him the throne and wives, how could he despise God and do evil?

David displayed a double standard, judging only other people's wrongs while failing to see his own sin. God feels deep compassion and sorrow over David's betrayal, and announces judgment: because of his sin the sword will never depart from his house, and his wives will be taken by his neighbour. This is because, although God hates sin, he also loves David and wants him to repent. Believers must always rely on the Holy Spirit so that they do not sin by failing to overcome their own lusts, and must discern Satan's temptations.

The word in which God said he would judge in person shows how heavy that judgment is. That David, after his son's death, did not fast and pray but kept his composure means he had already accepted the fruit of his sin. We need to realise why it is so important to share the gospel with people while they are still living, giving them the chance to enter the kingdom of heaven. What attitude should we have in order to live with a mature faith that worships and loves God and resolutely rejects Satan's temptations?