Beauty in the Broken: Bathsheba

2023-12-17

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

2 Samuel 11:1-5 (CSB) In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. 3 So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hethite?” 4 David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”

So what are some lessons from Bathsheba’s experience which reflect how God brings beauty from our brokenness?

1. Resilience

2 Samuel 12:14b -15 …because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.” 15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became deathly ill.

  • David was confronted by Nathan for his sin against Bathsheba and his sin against Uriah
  • Bathsheba endured unimaginable pain as a result of David’s sin. She lost her husband and she lost her son.
  • Bathsheba remained steadfast through all of this and God gave her comfort

2. Restoration

2 Samuel 12:24-25 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon., The Lord loved him, 25 and he sent a message through the prophet Nathan, who named him Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

  • Solomon (šĕlōmô) means ,“His [Yahweh’s] Restoration/Peace”[1]
  • Jedidiah (ydidyah) means “beloved of Yahweh”
  • Solomon (šĕlōmô) means ,“His [Yahweh’s] Restoration/Peace”[1]
  • Jedidiah (ydidyah) means “beloved of Yahweh”
  • God confirmed through Nathan that He loved this child and this child would carry out God’s plan
  • While the son born of sin had died, God gave another son

Warren Wiersbe says, “It was God who caused the conception to occur and who saw to it that the baby would have the “genetic structure” that he would need to accomplish God’s will (Ps. 139:13–16)… Every time David and Bathsheba looked at Solomon, his very presence reminded them that God had forgiven their past and guaranteed their plans for the future.”[2]

[1] Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 376.

[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Restored, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2002), 76.

 

3. Determination

1 Kings 1:11-13 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king and our lord David does not know it? 12 Now please come and let me advise you. Save your life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go, approach King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to your servant: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne? So why has Adonijah become king?’

  • Nathan, the prophet of God, reminded Bathsheba of God’s declaration over Solomon and David’s statement he would be king
  • While David was now very old and close to death. The passage hints that David had basically let go of the reigns of leadership and his fourth born son, Adonijah, usurped David’s throne.
  • Bathsheba went to the king and reminded him of God’s plan and David’s promise

1 Kings 1:28-30 King David responded by saying, “Call in Bathsheba for me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. 29 The king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every difficulty, 30 just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne in my place, that is exactly what I will do this very day.”

 

4. Discernment

1 Kings 2:13-25 Now Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come peacefully?” “Peacefully,” he replied, 14 and then asked, “May I talk with you?”  “Go ahead,” she answered. 15 “You know the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected me to be king, but then the kingship was turned over to my brother, for the Lord gave it to him. 16 So now I have just one request of you; don’t turn me down.” She said to him, “Go on.” 17 He replied, “Please speak to King Solomon since he won’t turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” 18 “Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.” 19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king’s mother. So she sat down at his right hand. 20 Then she said, “I have just one small request of you. Don’t turn me down.” “Go ahead and ask, mother,” the king replied, “for I won’t turn you down.” 21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.” 22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my elder brother, you might as well ask the kingship for him, for the priest Abiathar, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”, 23 Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord: “May God punish me and do so severely if Adonijah has not made this request at the cost of his life. 24 And now, as the Lord lives—the one who established me, seated me on the throne of my father David, and made me a dynasty as he promised—I swear Adonijah will be put to death today!” 25 Then King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

  • It is unlikely that Bathsheba was unaware of the consequences of giving Adonijah David’s last concubine. It is more likely she was very aware of Adonijah’s plan to challenge Solomon’s authority by having David’s wife as his own.
  • Thus, it is likely Bathsheba clearly discerned Adonijah’s power play and sought to put it down to protect her son, the rightful king
  • Bathsheba rose from the wife of an infantryman to become the wife of the king, and later the queen mother, who lived in the palace and helped protect the line which would lead to the Messiah.

Application:

  1. Never forget that today’s tragedies can lead to tomorrow’s victories
  2. The harm others cause you should not define your future, that’s God’s job
  3. Stay forever focused on God’s plans and promises for you

[1] Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 376.

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