This is what the LORD says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family:  I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly. You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’ ”     2 Samuel 12:11-12 HCSB

In 1 Samuel 13:14 God had referred to David as a man after His own heart. David had been given the supernatural ability to kill the giant Goliath before the entire Israelite army. God had grown him from a little shepherd boy to a mighty warrior and gave him great victories over the Philistines. God had made him king after Saul.

David might have been a man after God’s own heart, but he was still just a man. He might have been a man God had anointed to do great things, but still, he was just a man. Like all of us, he was a human being with flaws. He was a human being subject to temptation.

David had an issue with the ladies, he had many wives. Even though he had all these wives, he saw Bathsheba and wanted her. She was the wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah. Bathsheba became pregnant with David’s child. David tried to cover his sin of adultery by murdering Uriah. He had his commander put Uriah on the front line of battle and allow him to be killed by the Ammonites.

David thought because he covered up his sin, all was well. We can’t hide our sins from God. God spoke to David through the prophet Nathan. God assured David that his sin would be punished. This sin was a turning point for David. David had killed many Philistines. He had been victorious in many wars. He had been pursued by Saul. But now David would face danger from those in his household.

His children would turn against each other. His young son he had with Bathsheba would die as a baby. His son would rape his daughter. Another son would kill that son. Another son would plot to kill him. There would be fighting over which son was going to succeed him in taking over his throne.

Sin has consequences and David was going to suffer these consequences for the rest of his days. It’s one thing to suffer at the hands of your enemy. It’s a whole other thing when that enemy is a family member. David’s family was fighting within. This was unlike the many wars and battles he had fought on won on the battlefield. These wars were being fought within his family, within his home.

When David admitted to Nathan that he had sinned. Nathan responded, “The LORD has taken away your sin; you will not die. However, because you treated the LORD with contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.” God allowed David to live but took the life of his young son.

Many may read this and think this was a very cruel thing for God to do. The Bible warns us, however, over and over that sin does not go unpunished. David’s baby boy would not live to see all the fighting within his family, but he would go on up to heaven as a baby. This baby was conceived in sin and David knew that his life was taken because of it.

As human beings, we sin. It’s just what we do, but we must try not to. We must pray each day for God’s strength to deliver us from temptation and protect us from evil. We are just human beings. We are fallible. We make mistakes. Romans 3:23 tells us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

But there is hope. David knew this. He wrote many beautiful Psalms about God’s protection and God’s deliverance and forgiveness of sins. David knew he would suffer the rest of his days here on earth, but he knew God would bring him to a heavenly home to spend eternity. David repented, he did the best he could do from that day forward to please God and do what was right.

We are all just humans trying to make it in this world. We will sin and we will be punished. What’s important is that we learn from our mistakes. Repent of your sin and ask God to strengthen you and help you to do better. Trust in Him and obey Him. Accept your punishment knowing God is there to walk you through it. Learn from your mistakes.

Have a great day!