The book of 2 Samuel tells the story of King David and his rise to power, as well as his reign, the good and the bad. The focus here will be on 2 Samuel, chapters eleven through thirteen, which describe some of the darkest periods of David's reign. The theme of these three chapters is the divine modeling of King David. This theme develops throughout the three chapters with David's disobedience and punishment. God creates laws for His children not because He wants to restrict us, but because He desires a relationship with us so that we can grow closer to Him. He also gives us laws to protect us from the harmful repercussions of sin. Therefore, if David had followed God's laws, he would not have faced such troubles towards the end of his kingship. Before becoming king, David depends solely on God. However, after realizing that kingship comes with many powers, David begins to rely on his will to dominate his judgment and knowledge of God and His will. Although it may seem that David's sin begins the moment he lays eyes on the beautiful Bathsheba bathing on the roof, his sins actually begin several nights before, when he makes decisions that distract his attention from the will of God towards the will of self. So David's first sin of focusing on his own will, rather than God's, leads to one sin after another, which eventually brings a curse upon David's house. When David commits the sin of adultery with Bathsheba and gets her pregnant, then kills her. her husband Uriah, he does not realize that what he did was wrong. Therefore, God sends Nathan to David, who uses the parable of the rich man stealing the poor man's sheep to make David aware of his own sin. David responds to the parable by condemning...... middle of paper ......t his punishments. He knows that to be respected, he must follow his words and teach lessons. God made David a better leader, a better man, and a better example through punishment and forgiveness. The theological themes that emerge from this story are God's willingness to forgive after David's repentance and his need for punishment. If David had not repented, God would have no reason to forgive him, but he repented and God forgave him. If God had not forgiven David for his wrongdoings, David would have walked away from him. At the same time, if God had not punished David, David would have taken everything into his own hands and taken God for granted. The cycle of punishment, repentance, and forgiveness is something we see very often in this section of the Bible, as well as other parts. Without this cycle, God would not be the same God we know today.