Story Producer 153 - David and Bathsheba

Title Ideas: David sins with Bathsheba.Nathan confronts King David.God punishes sin and he also is kind [gracious].

[Normally, King David would lead his army when the Israelites were at war.] One time when Israel was at war with the Ammonites, King David sent his commander Joab to lead the Israelite army while he [David] stayed in Jerusalem.

One day, after taking an afternoon nap, David went up onto the palace’s flat roof. When he looked down into another house’s courtyard, he noticed [saw] a beautiful woman who was bathing.

The woman’s name was Bathsheba, and her husband’s name was Uriah [who was] a soldier in the Israelite army. David sent a messenger to invite Bathsheba to come to his [David’s] palace. Bathsheba went to David and they lay [had sex] together. Afterwards, she went home. A month later, she sent a message to David, saying, “I am pregnant with [carrying] your child!”

David sent an order to [his army commander] Joab, “Send Uriah to me at my palace!” When Uriah came [arrived], David said to him, “You may go home to your wife tonight!” But Uriah was a faithful [serious / loyal] soldier, so he slept on the ground near the palace. He would not go home while other soldiers were at war.

So David sent a written message to Joab [carried by Uriah], “Put Uriah in a fierce battle, and then leave him to fight alone, so that [the] enemies will kill him!” Joab did so, and Ammonite soldiers killed Uriah in a battle.

After David heard that Uriah was dead, he married Bathsheba. After a few months, she gave birth to a son. Now [But], the Lord was displeased [angry] with David, [because David had sinned with Bathsheba].

So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan recounted [told] a story [tale / parable] to David:

“A rich man and a poor man live in a certain town. The rich man has many sheep, while the poor man had one lamb [small female sheep]. The poor man loved his lamb as he did his own children. [He even used to let it drink from his own cup.]

“One day, a visitor [guest] came to see the rich man. But the rich man did not want to slay [kill] his own sheep to feed his guest. So he took [stole] the poor man’s lamb, killed it, cooked it and fed its meat to his guest.”

When David heard this story, he became angry at that rich man, and said, “That man deserves [ought] to die!”

Then Nathan pointed his finger at David and said, “You, David, you are that [rich] man! The Lord says to you: You are guilty! You have caused to murder Uriah, and you have stolen his wife!”

David then felt sorry [remorseful / repentant] and confessed his sins to Nathan, crying [saying loudly], “I have sinned against the Lord!”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has forgiven you, so you will not die. But the woman’s [Bathsheba’s] child will die, because you disregarded [disobeyed] the Lord’s law [will / way]!”

Soon the baby fell [became] sick. So David prayed to the Lord and fasted [ate no food] for the child to get well. He even lay every night on the [a] floor instead of a bed.

After a week, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him, but when they did tell him, he rose, bathed, and went to worship the Lord [at the tabernacle]. Afterwards, he came home, ate food, and comforted Bathsheba.

Next year, Bathsheba bore another son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon, and would later make [help] him become a wise king.