2 Samuel 11-12 | 1 Chronicles 20:1-3 | Psalm 51

Here is the tragic story of David’s sin against God with Bathsheba, and his murder of her husband Uriah. It’s an interesting thing to consider the indictment that God made against David through the prophet Nathan. Even though David was guilty of a horrible sin against Bathsheba and Uriah, the Lord’s first and greatest complaint was against David’s disregard for all that God had given him.

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!
- 2 Samuel 12:7-8 NKJV

David immediately understood that his primary sin was against God, which he declared in his prayer of Psalm 51. In the mercy that could only come through the (future) sacrifice of Jesus, God sets aside David’s sin, even though he was guilty of intentionally breaking the law of God, for which there was no sacrifice available. Even though David’s sin was forgiven, he would experience great troubles for much of the rest of his life.