This morning I read through 2Sm 11 & 12 which provides the details of what the Bible calls the exception. "David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord … all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite" (1Kg 15:3-5). This is God's grace-filled summary of David's life. As I studied the exception, I felt God underlining to me afresh the lessons we need to learn from it. One of the greatest understatements about it must be "The Lord was no pleased with what David had done" (1Sm 11:27). These chapters reveal both the horrors and seriousness of our sin and our total dependence on God's lavish and amazing grace. We could never earn it and we certainly do not deserve it.

David saw a beautiful woman, made enquiries about her and was told she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's 30 mighty men of great renown. So David knew precisely what he was choosing to do before it began. Still, he had her brought to the palace and slept with her. (Any serious sin, left unconfessed, is likely to lead to others that are equally serious, or even worse.) When she told him she was pregnant, he tried to hide his adultery, and when that failed, he arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. Then, as soon as her time of mourning was over, David brought her to the palace and she became his wife. It was at this point that God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him and called this last sin outright theft.

"[After all that I have given you], why have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You (1) had Uriah killed in battle [because you (2) were unable to cover up your adultery with Bathsheba], and then you (3) stole his wife! … you have disobeyed me … because you have shown such contempt for me, your child will die." (It should be noted that David expected to be reunited with his son in heaven (2Sm 12:23).)

"I have sinned against the Lord," David said. Nathan replied, "The Lord forgives you; you will not die." The Law required the death penalty for both adultery and murder, but the Lord spared him. God's amazing grace is seen in his total forgiveness of David, his non-insistence that he forfeit his life and in his immediate acceptance of his worship (2Sm 12:20). But it didn't end there. He legitimized his marriage to Bathsheba and blessed them with another son: Solomon who was to become Israel's next king.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn 1:9). But this does not necessarily mean there will be no consequences in this life. There were many for David. Their first child died. There would be more deaths in future generations and one of his own sons would rebel against him and humiliate him publically. But don't let yourself believe that this would be unfair to those people, that God has an arbitrary side to his nature and would act unjustly. He will always do what is right. What he warned David would happen as a consequence of his sin, would not impinge on the freewill and personal responsibility and accountability of those concerned.