God sent the prophet Nathan to talk to David. When Nathan got there, he told David, "There was this poor man who had a little lamb. This little lamb had been his since he was a child. The lamb played with his children. He loved the lamb so much, it was like a part of his family, and even slept in the same bed with this man, and ate from the same table. This lamb was all this man owned in the world.
And, there was this rich man. He had everything. One day, a visitor came to see him and he wanted to make dinner for the visitor. But, the rich man didn't want to spend his own money or take from his own pantry to fix dinner. To save money, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it and cooked it for the visitor."
This story made David angry and he said, "That was wrong! That rich man should die for what he did! He should pay back the poor man four times what he took because he had no pity for the man!"
Nathan said, "David, you did the same thing. And, God said to tell you this: I gave you the Kingdom of Israel. I delivered you from Saul. I gave you everything that was his, and a beautiful home in Judah. If that wasn't enough for you, I would have given you even more! But you took an innocent man and killed him to hide your sin, and took his most precious possession and made it your own.
Because you have done this, I will take your wives and give them to your neighbor. The sword shall never depart from out of your house. What you did in secret to Uriah, I will do to you in front of all of Israel."
And David said to Nathan, "I have sinned. I deserve that."
Nathan said, "And God knows that you repent of your sin, and because of that, He will not kill you. But, he will not let the child of this union live, because what you have done is made Him look bad to your enemies."
The baby that Bathsheba had became very ill. David went and wept before God, and pleaded for the baby's life. His servants became concerned and tried to get David to eat, and to get up from his depression, but David refused. He was so heartbroken, that they worried when the baby died, and wondered if it would be the right thing to tell David at that point, because of the state of mind he was already in.
When David saw them whispering, he figured the baby had died. So he asked them point blank, "Is the baby dead?" They answered him,confirming his suspicion.
So David got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, then went to comfort his wife. He was in a much better state of mind. His servants did not understand this, and asked him why. He said, "I knew the baby was going to die. I figured if he was still alive, there might be a chance God would change His mind. But, He didn't, and there is nothing I can do about it but accept it. One day, I will see him again, but he will never be here again."
He and Bathsheba had another son, named Solomon. God loved Solomon.
In the meanwhile, Joab defeated the Ammonites and gained the city of Rabbah. He told David, "I have won you this city. If you don't come and take control of it, I am going to control it myself, and make myself king in it." So, David went and imprisoned all of the people, and took the crown off their king's head and put it on his own.
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The lesson I got from this is that when you sin, there is a consequence to be paid. You can do nothing but accept the responsibility for having sinned, and deal with the consequence. If you don't, things can get a lot worse. God won't let you get by with your sin, but He can make your punishment lighter, and He will if you are willing to accept it.
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