Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, David’s devoted soldier, and granddaughter of Ahithophel, David’s trusted counsellor. David had bunked his presence on the battlefield and stayed back home while his army was waging war. He was loitering on his terrace when he saw this beautiful lady bathing in a quarter close by. He was tempted and immediately summoned her. She became a victim of “power rape”. Once David knew that she was pregnant with a child, he devised a cunning escape plan – he summoned Uriah her husband, and sent him home with a special leave. When that did not work out because of Uriah's loyalty, he took a gory next step of slaying him in battle in a subtle manner. Uriah died on the battlefront.

Adultery is a crime that does not arrive alone. It brings along more vices and would drag the “weak man” towards murder (and suicide!). It leads to heartbreak and destruction of the family unit. Adultery is sin in plain terms irrespective of what the top court of a country rules. It drives a wedge between the husband and the wife, and the cordial relationship can never be reinstated, nor the trust revived. One of the past POTUS is proof of this.

Satan had succeeded in murdering the dignity, self-respect, and character of the very person who would be the crucial link in the believing lineage! Now the devil had a great opportunity to blaspheme.
God had His man in Nathan, the prophet. Nathan confronted King David about his sin and rebuked him for his meanness in usurping the wife of a loyal soldier and later, murdering him in cold blood.

David repented of his sin. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord”. Psalm 51 is a detailed account of David repenting of his sinful act of adultery, treachery, and murder. This one incident was the darkest patch in the grand tapestry of King David’s brilliant life.

Though God pardoned him, the consequences that this sin brought were inevitable. The child that Bathsheba gave birth to, died. The sword never departed from his house. Evil (Absalom and Adonijah) rose against him in his own house. His own wives were given unto another person (Absalom) who laid with them in the open.

David took Bathsheba as his wife and she bore him Solomon who would succeed David as King of Israel.
How could a holy God testify of David as “a man after mine own heart” despite his abominable and bloody act of adultery and murder? God knows that man is a sinner right from his fall. Man’s sin would enslave him until it is given a death-blow by His Son at Calvary. God is also gracious. He wants the sinner to approach him with a repentant heart, seeking forgiveness so that he would accept the sinner with open arms. David’s disgraceful episode is a demonstration of the love of God towards a repentant heart. Millions of sinners in the believing line have returned to the Lord based on the truth expressed in Psalm 51. God forgives!

What seemed a sure strike on the target for Satan turned out to be a boomerang that hit him hard. He could not speak ill of God’s mercy and grace to a sinner that comes back to him for forgiveness.

Would one of David’s own sons be instrumental in bringing an end to the believing line and subsequently, the Seed of the woman? Satan thought one could come to his aid.