David’s Sin with Bathsheba

Scripture Reference:
2 Samuel chapters 11- 12

Suggested Emphasis:
When we see a friend do something wrong, we should talk to him/her and help them be good.

Memory Verse: “If your brother sins, tell him he is wrong. But if he is sorry and stops sinning, forgive him.” Luke 17:3, ICB

Story Overview:

Although David was a good king, there came a time when he did not choose to follow the Lord. When he looked across from the roof of his palace, he saw a beautiful woman, Bathsheba, bathing. This led David to commit adultery with Bathsheba. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David arranged to have her husband murdered so that he could marry her. The prophet, Nathan, confronted David with his sin. David’s heart was such that he repented his sin and asked the Lord to forgive him.

Background Study:

Things were going well in Israel. David was a good king. He was still the man Samuel had described to Saul as a “man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). David had a large family, lived in a magnificent palace, and held sole possession of power in Israel. The following story is a harsh reminder that no one is immune to temptation.

David’s army was out of Jerusalem, fighting a battle with the Ammonites. For some reason, David decided not to go with them. Perhaps he was being lazy or giving himself a vacation. Whatever the reason, it proved disastrous for David to skip the usual spring military expedition. Instead, David ended up at the palace in Jerusalem with a lot of time on his hands. In his leisure, David saw an attractive married woman, Bathsheba, as she was bathing on the roof of her house. Bathsheba’s husband was away fighting the Ammonites, so she was alone. Ignoring God’s law against adultery, David had her brought to the palace and slept with her.

When she became pregnant, David said that Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite, would be sent home from battle (supposedly to come and give the king a report). David hoped that Uriah would sleep with his wife and would think that the baby was his. Instead, Uriah turned out to be a more honourable man than David. After reporting to the king, he refused to sleep with his wife because he felt he could not do that while all his comrades were still in battle. David even tried getting him drunk, but Uriah still did not sleep with Bathsheba.

David then sent Uriah back to the battle and arranged for him to be killed. To everyone else, it just seemed like another casualty of war. David’s secret seemed safe, so he married Bathsheba.

In the months that passed between his twin sins of adultery and murder and the birth of his son by Bathsheba, David was able to keep the lid on his conscience. But God knew there was unfinished business between Him and the guilty king. So He sent the prophet Nathan to David. The prophet’s parable awakened David’s sense of justice. And when David learned that he was the rich man, Uriah was the poor man, and Bathsheba was the ewe lamb, it went straight to his heart. He knew he could not hide his sins from the Lord; he had to own up.

But even confessed sin has consequences. In David’s case, the consequences did not include the sinner’s own death. But Nathan said, “The sword will never depart from your house” – a prophecy that began to be fulfilled when three of David’s sons died violently. Furthermore, David would be humiliated in public, and his son by Bathsheba would die of an illness.

Even so, the next king of Israel, Solomon, was later born to David and Bathsheba.

This is not a straightforward story to tell to children, and it is important not to tell it in a way that is too mature for their understanding. In other words, you can talk to younger children about David “treating Bathsheba like she was his wife instead of Uriah’s wife”. You’ll know your situation best. If unsure, ask a parent to help you with this lesson.

However you choose to handle it, remember that even the youngest children can know that we should ALL obey God. Even a king who loves God can make mistakes and commit sin.

Way to Introduce the Story:

Show some wedding photos and talk about our promises at weddings. Discuss how we promise to stay faithful only to our mate. We promise never to have another girlfriend or boyfriend other than the person we marry. “In today’s story we are going to learn about a time when someone did not keep their marriage promises.”
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The Story:

David was a good king. He loved God, and he tried to be kind to people. David tried to do the things that God said. But he was not always good. In today’s story, we will learn about one time when King David did something very wrong.

During the springtime of the year, the army of Israel went off to fight a battle with their enemies, the Ammonites. Usually, King David went along with the army, but this time, he decided to stay home at his palace in Jerusalem.

One night, David could not sleep, so he decided to take a walk. The roof of his palace was nice and cool. It was flat, and it was a good place to walk. David began to stroll around on the flat roof. While he was there, David saw something moving on the roof of another house. He looked more closely and realized it was a woman bathing.

The woman’s name was Bathsheba. Bathsheba already had a husband, and his name was Uriah the Hittite. But Uriah was not at home with Bathsheba. He was a soldier and was away fighting battles with King David’s army. Bathsheba was alone.

King David knew that Bathsheba was married, but he told his servant to go and tell her to come to his palace. He knew God’s law said that he should not be with another man’s wife, but King David disobeyed God’s law. He slept with Bathsheba like a husband sleeps with a wife. That is called adultery, and it is a sin.

Not long after this, Bathsheba found out that she was pregnant. When she told King David, he became very afraid. When Bathsheba had a baby, everyone would know that he had slept with her and committed a sin.

King David made a plan to trick everyone. If Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, came home from fighting battles, he could be together with Bathsheba again. Then, everyone would think that Bathsheba’s baby belonged to Uriah. They would never know David was the father.

To ensure no one would know what he did, David sent a message to his army general. He asked the army general to send Uriah home to Bathsheba. That way, everyone would see Bathsheba and her husband together, and they would never guess that she and David had done anything wrong.

So King David sent word for Uriah to come home. But Uriah was a good soldier and worried about the other men he left behind. Uriah did not even go home to see his wife, Bathsheba. Uriah thought it would not be fair if he got to see his wife, but none of the other soldiers got to see their wives. David even tried to trick Uriah into going to see Bathsheba. He got him drunk, but Uriah would still not see Bathsheba.

That plan did not work, so David did another terrible thing. He wrote a letter to his army general. He told the general to order Uriah to fight in the next battle. The general should tell the other soldiers to step back and stop helping Uriah fight when the fighting got tough. The general did just as David asked, and Uriah was killed in the battle.

When David heard the news, he sent for Bathsheba and married her. Now, when Bathsheba had her baby, David thought no one would ever find out what he had done.

But God knew what David had done.

Nathan was a prophet of the Lord. He followed God, and he taught others how to be good. God told Nathan to go and see King David. The Lord wanted Nathan to tell the king what he was doing was wrong. Sometimes, other people must help us notice when we are not doing what we should.

David thought no one knew his secret, so he was happy to see Nathan. He did not think Nathan knew what he and Bathsheba had done, so he acted like everything was alright.

But Nathan did know David’s secret. He knew because God had told him. But instead of saying it right away, Nathan told David a story. Here is the story…

Once, two men lived in a town. One of the men was rich. He had lots of sheep and cattle. The other man was very poor. All he had was one little ewe lamb that he had bought. The lamb was a pet. He and his children loved the little lamb. It ate food from the man’s table and even slept in the same bed as the man.

One day, the rich man had a very hungry visitor. The rich man had many sheep of his own but decided to go and steal the little pet lamb from his neighbour’s house. He stole the lamb and then killed it and cooked it for the visitor to eat.

When David heard this, he was very angry. He told Nathan that the rich man was very bad. What he did was wrong, and he should be punished.

Then Nathan looked straight at David and said, “YOU are the man! The Lord has told me to tell you that you are just as bad as that rich man in the story. You had all of the riches of the kingdom and Uriah was poor and only had his wife that he loved. You took his wife away and you had him killed. Because of your sin bad things will now happen to you. Your family will always fight and your child will die.”

The bad things did happen to David. The baby that Bathsheba had just had died. David’s other sons began to dislike him, and there was always fighting in David’s house.

Finally, David realised what he had done. He realised that he had sinned against God. David was very sorry for what he had done. He prayed to the Lord and asked him to forgive him for his sins.

The Lord knew what was in David’s heart. He did not just SAY he was sorry; David was sorry for what he had done. The Lord forgave David of his sin.

But now David and Bathsheba were married. Not long after this, David and Bathsheba had another son. His name was Solomon.
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Ways to Tell the Story:

This story can be told using a variety of methods. Always remain true to the facts found in the Bible but help children connect to its meaning by using drama, visual aids, voice inflection, student interaction and emotion.
Click here for visual aids and story-telling methods.

Click here to download these illustrations and slideshow. Be selective. Each teacher is unique, so only use the illustrations that best relate to how YOU tell the story in THIS lesson. Too many illustrations can be confusing, so eliminate any that cover other stories or details you do not wish to emphasise in this lesson.

Review Questions:

What was Bathsheba doing when David first saw her? Taking a bath on her roof
Why was it wrong for Bathsheba to be David’s girlfriend? She was married to Uriah, the Hittite.
How did Uriah die? David ordered his general to put him in a battle and then leave him alone so that he would be killed.
What prophet told David a story about a little lamb? Nathan
After their first baby died, what was the name of David and Bathsheba’s second baby? Solomon

Song Suggestions:

Oh Be Careful Song
Shake the Devil Off Song
Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day Song
Refer to the Song Page on this website for more options.

Learning Activities and Crafts:

(How to choose the best learning activities for my teaching situation)

Activities:

Look up the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14) and discuss it. Younger children can understand adultery to mean having a boyfriend or girlfriend other than your husband or wife.
Discuss situations when a friend pointed out something you were doing wrong. Did they tell you nicely? Were you embarrassed? Did you stop doing the wrong thing? Are you still friends?
Name people who help us be good: police, teachers, principals, preachers, doctors, etc.
Older children can discuss the differences between criticizing (pointing out faults without suggestions to be better) and rebuking like Nathan did (pointing out a fault and helping someone be better)
Choose a confident student to help you with this idea. Ask the student a question about the story and then let them answer (they can answer correctly or incorrectly – their choice). Once they have answered, tell everyone who agrees to stand up. Everyone who disagrees should sit on the floor. Then, tell them to tell you the correct answer. Ask several questions this way. Usually, children love this one.

Crafts:

Make a heart craft and talk about how David’s heart was hard and then turned soft when Nathan rebuked him.
Make any lamb craft and discuss Nathan’s parable.
Print bookmarks, trading cards or timelines (printable pages).
Visit the Teaching Ideas page for additional activities and crafts.