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David or Ahab: What's The Difference?

Introduction:

A. David coveted Uriah’s wife.

B. Ahab coveted Naboth’s vineyard.

C. If we just take a look back through history, we may not think much about David and his connection to Ahab. However, when we put them side by side we see that these two characters have a lot in common. So much so, that when we notice how differently God dealt with them, we are pressed to ask, “What’s the difference?” We can learn some important lessons from comparing and contrasting these two men.

I. Comparing David and Ahab.

A. Both David and Ahab coveted what belonged to another

II Samuel 11:2,3

2
And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

3
And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?



I Kings 21:1-6

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And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

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And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

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And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

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And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

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But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?

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And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.
 

B. Both saw what they coveted from their palace

II Samuel 11:2

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And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

I Kings 21:1

1
And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

C. Both already had what they were coveting

I Chronicles 3:1-3,9

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Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron; the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess:

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The third, Absalom the son of Maachah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur: the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith:

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The fifth, Shephatiah of Abital: the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife.

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These were all the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister.

I Kings 21:2

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And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

D. Both killed in order to have what they coveted

II Samuel 11:14-17

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And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

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And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

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And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.

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And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

I Kings 21:8-16, 19

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So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.

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And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

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And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.

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And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

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They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

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And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

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Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

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And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

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And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

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And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

E. A prophet was sent to both

II Samuel 12:1

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And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

I Kings 21:17

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And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

F. A punishment is decreed upon the house of both:

II Samuel 12:10-12

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Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

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Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

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For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

I Kings 21:21-24

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Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

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And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

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And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

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Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

G. Both repented of their sins:

II Samuel 12:13

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And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

I Kings 21:27-29

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And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

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And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

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Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

H. Yet, on the judgment day which one of these two do you want to be? I want to be David. I don’t want to be Ahab. From the general Bible picture of these two men, it will go well with David in judgment, but not so for Ahab. The question we ask is, with so many similarities regarding these sins, “What’s the difference?”

II. David was affected permanently by his repentance, Ahab was not:

A. There is no doubt that David’s experience affected him permanently:

1. We see how David handled the death of Bathsheba’s first son in II Samuel 12:15-23

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And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

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David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

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And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

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And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

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But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

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Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

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Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

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And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

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But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

David was willing to submit to the consequences of his sin.

2. But even beyond this, years later when David received the further punishment promised in

 II Samuel 12:10-12

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Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

11
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

12
For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

David also accepted this humbly still leaning on God. When Absalom rebelled and nearly stole the kingdom from David, we see a telling experience in David’s life. In II Samuel 16:5-13

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And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.

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And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

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And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

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The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

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Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.

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And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?

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And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.

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It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.

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And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.

B. Ahab, however, was not affected permanently:

1. Ahab’s great sin was idolatry

I Kings 16:29-33

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And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.

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And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.

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And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

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And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

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And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

I Kings 22:4-7

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And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

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And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

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Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

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And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might inquire of him?

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And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

2. There is no doubt Ahab’s repentance was true in I Kings 21:27-29

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And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

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And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

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Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

God testifies to its sincerity. However, it was limited in scope. In time, Ahab returned to his rebellious ways.

C. Which one represents us: David or Ahab? Many people find themselves in the shoes of these two men, having committed a sin and face to face with the drastic consequences. The weight of their guilt comes crashing down on them. They humble themselves before God and seek forgiveness. However, after a time they have not developed a relationship with God. Therefore they return to rebellion. We must humble ourselves completely before God, developing a relationship with Him, devoting ourselves to prayer and His word as the Christians in Acts 2:42

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And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

III. David’s sin was an incident in his life, Ahab’s was a habit:

A. God told Samuel that David was a man after His own heart in

I Samuel 13:14

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But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

Additionally, we see the life of David from the time he demonstrated his faith in God with Goliath to the time he demonstrated his faith in God when Saul tried to kill him to the time he demonstrated faith in God when Absalom rebelled. David’s life was filled with service to God. Yet, David, like all men, was not perfect. He sinned. The sin with Bathsheba and Uriah is a regrettable example. However, David’s habit was to serve God; this sin was the exception.

B. Ahab on the other hand was a sinner from the word go. The sin with Naboth was simply a part of his habit. The story of Ahab begins by saying he did more evil than all those kings who went before him in I Kings 16:30

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And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him

This is repeated in I Kings 21:25,26

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But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

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And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

C. We should not allow sin to master us

 Romans 6:10-18

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For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

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Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

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Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

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For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

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What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

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Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

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But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

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Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Yes, Ahab did some things right, as all people do. His repentance after Elijah rebuked him is an example of this. However, Ahab’s habit was to sin, this righteousness in repentance was the exception.

Conclusion:

a. In their similarities, we are often like David and Ahab. We too have sinned. We too have faced the consequences of our sins.

b. The question is, in their differences who will we be like: David or Ahab?

II Peter 1:5-8

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And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

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And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

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And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

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For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.