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From Eternity Past
The anger of the king was aroused. “As the Lord liveth, the man
that hath done this thing is worthy to die. And he shall restore the
lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
Nathan fixed his eyes upon the king, then solemnly declared, “Thou
art the man... . Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the
Lord, to do evil in His sight?” The guilty may attempt, as David had
done, to conceal their crime from men, to bury the evil deed forever
from human sight, but “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes
of Him with whom we have to do.”
Hebrews 4:13
.
Nathan declared: “Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword
and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the
sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never
depart from thine house... . Behold, I will raise up evil against thee
out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes,
and give them unto thy neighbor... . For thou didst it secretly; but I
will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”
[524]
The prophet’s rebuke touched the heart of David; conscience was
aroused; his guilt appeared in all its enormity. With trembling lips he
said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” David had committed a grievous
sin, toward both Uriah and Bathsheba, but infinitely greater was his
sin against God.
David Punished for His Sin
David trembled, lest, guilty and unforgiven, he should be cut down
by the swift judgment of God. But the message was sent him by the
prophet, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”
Yet justice must be maintained. The sentence of death was transferred
from David to the child of his sin. Thus the king was given opportunity
for repentance, while the suffering and death of the child, as a part
of his punishment, was far more bitter than his own death could have
been.
When his child was stricken, David, with fasting and deep humili-
ation, pleaded for its life. Night after night he lay in heartbroken grief
interceding for the innocent one suffering for his guilt. Upon hearing
that the child was dead, he quietly submitted to the decree of God. The
first stroke had fallen of that retribution which he himself had declared
just.