It was while his army was away attacking Ammon (2 Sam 11:1) that David committed perhaps the most famous act of adultery of all ancient history, if not of all time. The question comes -- was the sin of David an act of impetuosity, a "random act" of mayhem, or was it the outbreak of a chronic character flaw?  And how is one to know this after 3000 years?  Up to this point in his life, David had had a flawless record of courage, humility, zeal for God, and justice. Towards foreigners, however, he was less than honest (feigning madness to Achish (1 Sam 21:13), lying about his raids to Achish (1 Sam 27:10-12), pretending loyalty to him (1 Sam 29:8), killing all the villagers whose towns he raided (1 Sam 27:11), massacring the Moabites (2 Sam 8:2).  And there are indications in the text that David's sin was part of a deeper problem with women.

         

It may be unfair, but can we not also see in David's sons the echoes of his own attitudes? Amnon, Absalom and Solomon -- all had their own sexual sins: rape, incest, and Solomon's incredible record-setting tally of 1000 wives and concubines, many of them non-Israelites (1 Kings 11).  David may have brought the worship of Yahweh to the center of political and national life, but he failed miserably to model and inculcate God's plan for the family. And this cost him and the nation dearly in the long run.