The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 129: David Commits Adultery (2025)

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

Fr. Mike breaks down David's tragic downfall as he commits adultery with Bathsheba and kills her husband, Uriah the Hittite. We learn that David's road to grave sin began with small acts of disobedience and selfishness. Today's readings are 2 Samuel 11, 1 Chronicles 14-15, and Psalm 32. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today, it is day 129. Man, oh man, this is so good. We're reading second Samuel chapter 11. So up to this point, David has been a solid, solid guy and second

Samuel chapter 11, we're going to see a descent. And then in first Chronicles chapters 14 and 15, as well as we're praying Psalm 32, as you all probably already know the translation of the Bible that we are reading from is the revised standard version second Catholic edition I am using the great adventure Bible from ascension to download your own Bible in a year reading plan You can visit ascension press comm slash Bible in a year And if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast You can just click on subscribe and then you'll be subscribed and you can follow along every single day and it will find you You don't have to find it that's great as I said today is day 129 reading second Samuel chapter 7 first chronicles both

chapters 14 and 15 and we are praying Psalm 32 the second book of Samuel chapter 11 David commits adultery with Bathsheba in the spring of the year the time when Kings go forth to battle David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Raba. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman, a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Aliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. Now she was purifying herself from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I am with child. So, David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.

Then David said to Uriah, go down to your house and wash your feet. And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house? Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in

booths, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.' Then David said to Uriah, remain here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.' So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his Lord, but he did not go down to his house.

David has Yoriah killed. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down and die. And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell.

Uriah the Hittite was slain also. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting, and he instructed the messenger, When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech, the son of Drubasheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall, so that he died at Thebes? Why did you go so near the wall? Then you shall say,

Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, The men gained an advantage over us, and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. David said to the messenger, Thus shall you say to Joab, Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another.

Strengthen your attack upon the city, and overthrow it, and encourage him. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband, and when the morning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. The First Book of Chronicles, Chapter 14. David established in Jerusalem. And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also masons and carpenters,

to build a house for him. And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over David, and cedar trees, also masons and carpenters, to build a house for him. And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel. And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David begot more sons and daughters. These are the names of the children whom he had in Jerusalem. Shemua Shobab Nathan Solomon Ibhar Elishua, Elpelet, Noga, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Biliada,

and Eliphelet. Defeat of the Philistines When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David, and David heard of it, and went out against them. Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of God, Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand? And the Lord said to him, Go up, and I will give them into your hand.

And he went up to Baal-Perezim, and David defeated them there. And David said, God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a bursting flood. Therefore the name of that place is called Baal Perizem. And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned. And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley, and when David again inquired of God, God said to him, You shall not go up after them, go around, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out

to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines. And David did as God commanded him, and they struck the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations. Chapter 15 the ark brought to Jerusalem David built houses for himself in the city of David and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it Then David said No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord, and to minister to him forever.

And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites, the sons of Kohath, Uriel, the chief, with a hundred and twenty of his brethren, and the sons of Morari, Asiah, the chief, with two hundred and twenty of his brethren, of the sons of Gersham, Joel the chief with 130 of his brethren, of the sons of Elizabethan, Shemaah the chief with 200 of his brethren, of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief with 80 of his brethren, of the sons of Uziel, Amenadab the chief with 112 of his brethren.

Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiatharar and the Levites Uriel, Asiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amenadab, and he said to them, You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke forth upon us because we did not care for it in the way that is ordained." So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

And the Levites carried the Ark of God upon their shoulders with the poles as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord. David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. So the Levites appointed Himam the son of Joel, and of his brethren Asaph the son of Barakaiah, and of the sons of Morari their brethren, Ethan the son of Cakhaya, and of the sons of Marari, their brethren, Ethan, the son of Koshaya, and with them their brethren of the second order, Zechariah, Jah Aziel, Shimei Ramoth,

Jahial, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maasaiah, Matatthiah, Eliphaelahu, and Micnaiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-Edom and Jeiel. The singers, Himaam, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze symbols. Zechariah, Aziel, Shemeremoth, Jehiel, Unni, Elieb, Maasaiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth. But Mattathiah, Eliphilehu, Meknaiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with liars,

according to the Shemeneh. Jenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. Berechiah and Elkenah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. Shebeniah, Josaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the Ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the Ark.

So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with rejoicing. And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bowls and seven rams. David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the Ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. So all Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, with shouting to the sound of

horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres. And as the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and making merry, and she despised him in her heart. Psalm 32. The Joy of Forgiveness. A Psalm of David. A Maskelle. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you and did not hide my iniquity. I said, I will

confess my transgressions to the Lord. Then you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you. At a time of distress in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be curmed with bit and bridle, else it will not keep with you. Many are the pangs of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,

and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. Father in heaven we give you praise and thank you. Thank you for this Psalm 32. Thank you for the fact that even in our sin we can call upon you and you hear our voice, you hear our prayer. Lord in our imperfection you meet us with your mercy. In our sins you meet us with your grace and so we're so grateful so grateful because we in so many ways are like David and we have so many ways turn away from what we know you're calling us to do and who we know you're calling us to be and so we ask you please renew your mercy in us as your mercies are renewed each morning renew them in us because we ask you please Renew your mercy in us as your mercies are renewed each morning Renew them in us because we need you and we need your mercy

We thank you and give you praise in Jesus name We pray Amen in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen So gosh, here's the first tragic word, right? It's second Samuel chapter 11 and that first tragic word is that here is David and it begins Poorly, but here's the interesting thing with David's sin It doesn't begin with an awful sin Well, how does it begin the very first lines of chapter 11 say at the turn of the year or in the spring of the year When Kings go out into battle

David sent out Joab and the rest of the army while he stayed back in Jerusalem. Remember in the ancient world, the job of the king was not simply to govern, wasn't simply to make decisions. The job of the king was to lead in battle. The job of the king was to fight for the people. And here is David who has done this a bunch. But here he is in chapter 11

and he sends someone else out to do his task. And this is, again, he is in chapter 11, and he sends someone else out to do his task. And this is, again, this is how it starts. This is how almost all of our big sins that we fall into, we look up from our sins and think, oh my gosh, how did I get to this place? They begin what? They begin by us not doing our daily duty,

by not doing the task the Lord has set in front of us. And that's how it goes for David. And then what happens He says then David one evening one afternoon. He arose from his siesta. So you can imagine David saying I'm really busy I've got to be here in Jerusalem. I've got a country to run I can't afford to be out in the field fighting so he's staying back home, but here he is rising from his siesta So the second piece is not only is he not doing the task that God has called him to to fight for his people But he's also giving into this comfort and this is again nothing wrong with taking a nap

Nothing wrong with rising from a siesta. But here is the people David's army David's mighty men Who are sleeping in the open field and risking their life and limb? Every single day and here's David who's comforting himself and that comfort it's not again it's not evil but it can dull our senses we can start down this slope of okay I'm not doing what I should be doing and now not only am I not doing what I should be doing I'm also giving into comfort then what does he see he sees a young woman bathing now this is the moment where it's like okay alarm bells look away and what I was a kid at we used to have a thing my parents would if something was on the screen or on in

a movie or on a TV show that was inappropriate for us to look at my parents would say ceiling scene and we had a look up at the ceiling this is a moment where David should have okay ceiling scene where he's on his roof and he can see from his roof some woman bathing. She's very beautiful. He should have just gone back in taking a cold shower and moved on with his life. But what did he do? He stared and made inquiries made of her finds out and gets worse. Finds out, Oh yeah, that is she's married. Not only is she married, but we already heard the name of her husband.

He was one of David's 30 mighty men, Uriah the Hittite. He finds out that she's a married woman and that if nothing else at this point, that should be the moment where he just stops, doesn't about face and goes the other direction. But what does he do? He keeps down on this slope. It started with him not doing his daily duty. Then it started with him indulging his comfort. Then it went to the place where he's looking where he shouldn't be looking and inquiring

where he shouldn't be inquiring. And now he knows that woman is married to a man that you've trusted with your life. A man who's placed his life on the line for you and for the people of Israel. What does he do? He sends for her and takes her. You know, for years, a little side point, for years, the story can be of David's unfaithfulness, you know, that he's committing adultery. But we also recognize in this day and age

that here's David who's abusing his power. So imagine that Bathsheba wasn't necessarily, again, for lack of a better phrase, wasn't necessarily quote unquote into it, but here is the king. And he says, hey, come over here. What can she do? here is the king. And he says, Hey, come over here. What can she do? He's the king.

And you can see this massive, massive abuse of power. The Lord God had anointed David to be the King of Israel, to fight for his people, to lead his people, to guide and govern his people. And now here he is using that anointing, using that power, not only to betray Uriah, but also to violate this woman. The crazy thing is it realized it gets worse. She says I'm with child and so what does David do? He decides I need to cover this up.

And so this is the contrast in chapter 11 of the nobility of Uriah and the lack of nobility in this moment in David. Because he calls Uriah and the lack of nobility in this moment in David because he calls Uriah from the field and sends them home. Go back to your wife and Uriah. No, he sleeps the gates of the city. He sleeps that in fact, the doorway of the King's house. David finds out and says, no, no, no.

Get some drunk the next night. Go down to your wife. He says, how, how would I possibly possibly ever sleep with my wife when my brethren, my brothers in arms are out in battle? And you see this contrast. Here's David, he started how? He started by not doing his daily duty. Gave into comfort, gave into all his base instincts

and then betrayed and took advantage of this woman. Now he's becoming a murderer. Contrast with Uriah, who is doing his daily duty. He's doing exactly what he's called to do and is not giving into that comfort, not giving into those base instincts, but instead choosing character and choosing nobility and choosing the right thing.

And David ends up being a murderer, conspiring to murder this man who, again, has laid his life on the line for David and for Israel many times. I say it's so interesting because it ends with David being an adulterer, even worse, right? Maybe, use our word, right?

Maybe even taking advantage, and sexually taking sexual advantage of this woman very possibly against her will, and then becoming a murderer. These three things that we recognize are so evil, adultery, rape, murder. These three things that are so evil, done by a man who in other contexts,

in other places, is so good. Keep this in mind, he doesn't start there, he ends up there. Where does he start? He starts simply by not doing what he knew he was called to do. He starts simply by giving into his comfort. He starts simply by living off mission.

And when we live off mission, where it leads is it leads to a dark, dark place. Now you and I might never become adulterers or rapists or murderers, but we all know that that's where it could end. When we start living off the mission that God has given to us we don't know where it's gonna end. What we're gonna find tomorrow is that God has to step in has to step in and convict David of what he's done and he does which is great it's one of the reasons why tomorrow we're gonna be reading Psalm 51 it's

David's prayer of repentance but But today we read Psalm 32, which is another prayer of repentance from David. And we give God praise for the fact that, yeah, God, I can sometimes find myself in a place where like I did not ever, ever dream. I would end up here. I never imagined that I would end up in this place being an adulterer, being a rapist, being a murderer, being whatever the thing is, right? Being a someone who is doing what I'm doing right now,

or someone who's in the place where I am right now. But it started somewhere. So I go back to where it started and say, God, forgive me for that, and forgive me for this. It's so dark, but it's also the story of our own hearts. And so we not only see the story of David, but we also learn from the story of our own hearts. And so we not only see the story of David, but we also learn from the story of David. And so, yeah, we just pray for each other

because we know that could be any one of us. And that could be any one of us ending up being a murderer when we just decided to live off mission. That was all it was. But it ends up killing someone that trusted us with everything, whether that's killing them physically or killing them spiritually.

That's what betrayal does, betrayal kills someone spiritually, fraud kills someone spiritually. That's why we need prayers, I need prayers, I know that you need prayers and we need to pray for each other, because it's not the end. Even the worst sin is not the end, this is not the end of David's story, thanks be to God, this is not the end of David's story. Now David in your eyes might be someone

that you can no longer ever respect. Yet and yet, in his eyes he's also someone who he probably can no longer respect, no longer look at his reflection. But God knows David's heart and he keeps calling David's heart back to him. And that's what he does for you And that's what he does for you. And that's what he does for me.

The question is not will we sin? We have sinned. The question is, what do we do when we've sinned? And we're gonna see that tomorrow. Until then, please, we're all broken. We are all broken. So let's pray for each other. I am praying for you.

As I said, I know you're praying for me. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.