The Heart of the Bible—The Book of Psalms · Pastor Adam Wood · Psalm 51; 2 Samuel 11–12 · December 3, 2025

Transcript:
Alright, Psalm number 51 tonight. You wanna go ahead and get ahead of the game? You can go to 2 Samuel chapter 11 as well. Psalm number 51. We're gonna go ahead and read the Psalm, and then we're gonna go to 2 Samuel. We're gonna spend a fair amount of time tonight reading, which is not something we often do, but sometimes when you're studying a passage of scripture, the context calls for a certain familiarity with the surrounding events so that you can get a better understanding of what is happening in the text before you. So that's where we're at in Psalm 51. The subtitle here says, "'To the chief musician, a Psalm of David, "'when Nathan the prophet came unto him "'after he had gone into Bathsheba.'" Verse one. "'Have mercy upon me, O God, "'according to thy loving kindness, "'according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, "'blot out my transgressions. "'Wash me throughly from mine iniquity "'and cleanse me from my sin. "'For I acknowledge my transgressions "'and my sin is ever before me. "'Against thee, thee only have I sinned "'and done this evil in thy sight, "'that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest "'and be clear when thou judgest. "'Behold, I was shapen in iniquity "'and in sin did my mother conceive me. "'Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts "'and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. "'Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. "'Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. "'Make me to hear joy and gladness "'that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. "'Hide thy face from my sins "'and blot out all mine iniquities. "'Create in me a clean heart, O God, "'and renew a right spirit within me. "'Cast me not away from thy presence "'and take not thy holy spirit from me. "'Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation "'and uphold me with thy free spirit. "'Then will I teach transgressors thy ways "'and sinners shall be converted unto thee. "'Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God. "'Thou God of my salvation and my tongue "'shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. "'O Lord, open thou my lips "'and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. "'For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. "'Thou delightest not in burnt offering. "'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, "'a broken and a contrite heart, O God, "'thou wilt not despise. "'Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. "'Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. "'Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices "'of righteousness with burnt offering "'and whole burnt offering. "'Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.'" Would you pray with me? Our Father, thank you for Psalm 51, how it has been useful to us and profitable to us so many times in our Christian lives. And Lord, as we study these things and the surrounding events that have led to Psalm 51, please give us understanding and wisdom. Speak to us, teach us, help us to see the scriptures and the truths and principles found therein in a way that we can apply to ourselves. Lord, guide me and help me to say what you have me to say in our short study here tonight. And Lord, give your people, give us all hearts that are open and receptive and inclined to receive the word in Jesus' name, amen. Now, as I said, we're gonna go back to 2 Samuel chapter 11. So if you'll turn back to 2 Samuel chapter 11, we're gonna go back to 2 Samuel chapter 11. Now, the reason we're gonna read these two together, Psalm 51 and 2 Samuel 11, is because 2 Samuel 11 and 12 give us the narrative of David's sin and surrounding issues or surrounding events with Bathsheba. Psalm 51 gives us David, the inner working of David's heart during those events or shortly after those events. And by comparing the two, we get a rare insight both into what God is doing in David's heart and in how David is responding to his sin. And there are so many, this particular Psalm is just full of truth, full of truth that will help us. And I want to point out those things to you, but in order to do that, you have to understand the narrative. You have to understand what brings David to Psalm 51 and what, because a lot of Psalm 51 is hinges on these events. And you compare the two and you can learn a great deal. And it's a good principle in Bible study when you try to get the context. You can do this also with the book of Acts and the epistles. You can compare one is a personal letter, one is the narrative of those events, the history of those events. And by comparing them, you can draw, you can get insight. So chapter 11 of 2 Samuel says this, and it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him in all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabba, but David carried still at Jerusalem. The first warning is you will stay, I will stay out of sin by doing your duty. That has nothing to do with sin. By doing the things and occupying yourself in the good duties that you have, you reduce the opportunities to be involved or to be tempted that otherwise you would not be tempted with. David should be out at battle. In other words, he should be at work, but he's not, he's sitting at home. David has duties before him, but he's shirking his responsibility. That's the first danger. Verse 2, and it came to pass in the evening tide that David arose up from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. Some people have criticized Bathsheba. What is Bathsheba doing, bathing on top of a roof? Well number one, in this time roofs, roofs, somebody help me, Ms. Lynn is it roofs or roofs? Well you say roofs and roofs. She was going to give a nuanced, a nuanced. Roofs yeah, who's from Michigan? Did you say roofs? Does your mom say roofs? She's probably going to text right now. So some people criticize Bathsheba because she's on the roof. Well number one, the roofs were flat. Number two, and you think well she's bathing, well it's in all likelihood the lady is clothed. Because did you know in places where they don't have indoor plumbing, they would wear something while they bathe. That's the true thing in Cambodia. A lot of places they do that. So you can't look at well what is Bathsheba doing out, no what is David doing out there lusting after a woman he had no business lusting after. Don't blame the woman, it ain't her fault. She's just, that's probably where she took a bath. It's probably the most private place in her house to truth be told. Anyway I'm going to get on there. I don't give them on a hobby horse here. Everybody in this room knows that there's something behind what I'm saying that's kind of the force behind it but it kind of annoys me when people blame women in cases like this. And I've heard it personally and it's, anyway. All right. And David verse three sent and inquired after the woman and one said, Is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her. And she came in unto him and he lay with her for she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned unto her house and the woman conceived and sent unto David and said, I am with child. And David sent to Joab saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when David was coming to him Joab demanded of him how Joab did. David demanded of him how Joab did and how the people did and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet and Uriah departed out of the king's house and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. You might say, well why is he trying to get him to go home? He's trying to cover his tracks. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord and went not down to his house. And when ...