The Sin of King David

When Saul died, David became king. He was 30 years old. After he had been king for some years, one night from the rooftop of his palace, he saw a beautiful woman. David found out that her name was Bath-sheba and that she was married to a soldier named Uriah. David had Bath-sheba come to his palace. They had sexual relations, and she became pregnant. David tried to hide what he had done. He told his general to put Uriah on the front lines of the battle and then to retreat from behind him. After Uriah was killed in battle, David married Bath-sheba.

But Jehovah saw all the bad things that had happened. What would he do? Jehovah sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan said: ‘A rich man had many sheep, and a poor man had only one small lamb that he loved very much. The rich man took the poor man’s only lamb.’ David was angry and said: ‘That rich man deserves to die!’ Nathan then told David: ‘You are that rich man!’ David was heartbroken, and he admitted to Nathan: ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ This sin brought a lot of trouble on David and his family. Jehovah punished David but allowed him to live because he was honest and humble.

David wanted to build a temple for Jehovah, but Jehovah chose David’s son Solomon to build the temple. David started to get things ready for Solomon and said: ‘Jehovah’s temple must be magnificent. Solomon is still young, but I will help him by getting things ready.’ David donated a lot of his own money for the building work. He found skilled workers. He collected gold and silver, and he had cedars brought from Tyre and Sidon. Near the end of his life, David gave Solomon the plans for building the temple. He said: ‘Jehovah had me write these things down for you. Jehovah will help you. Don’t be afraid. Be strong and get to work.’