David Moves On

May 18, 2009

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 11-12 and Mark 11

I’m sure we all know the story of David and Bathsheba, and I suppose I could talk about how it is a cautionary tale of the fate of adulterers, and such. I think we have wondered what was David doing home in the palace “at the time when kings go off to war”. Was it his idleness that led to lustfulness?

Who knows? I don’t know why, but I’m always thinking of the unusual thing whenever I read stuff like this. For example, David’s plan to keep his affair under wraps. He did everything he could by making certain Uriah came home, and making certain that he slept with his wife. But that Hittite just wouldn’t indulge in his sex drive, not even with alcohol.

I couldn’t help but feel the frustration of David here. You know what, I really shouldn’t. If anything, I should pity him for his sick plan!

You may notice how much David is pleased after hearing that Uriah has been killed in battle. It’s funny that the story tells about the messenger, who Joab says: “the king might be displeased when you report the news”. And the messenger was probably surprised when David said: “don’t worry about it”.

Can you imagine if Uriah had lived? “Sir, Uriah the Hittite slaughtered everyone in his path.”

“Dang it! What is it going to take to kill this guy? I mean, that is good news.”

Of course, we know that David was found out, and he definitely paid a huge price. Interestingly enough, God tells him that the son Bathsheba is carrying will die, but David tries to prevent it with prayer and fasting. Sadly, it does not work in this case.

It is surprising to me how David bounces back from this incident. If my son had died in childbirth, the last thing I would feel like doing is worship. And yet, that is what he does. He then takes it a step further and makes Bathsheba pregnant again. Granted, I don’t know how long that took, but I might not have done that.

In fact, I might have seen the death of Bathsheba’s baby as a sign that I shouldn’t have been with her in the first place. However, David is very pragmatic and simply moves on.

In all honesty, I’m not certain if David does the wrong thing. I’m not talking about the adultery, because that is just plain stupid, but often times how we recover from a mistake shows who we are. After all, everyone makes mistakes, but if we let them make us, then we are made.

Yeah, that was quite a cliché, but I think you catch my drift. Life happens. It moves forward, and so do we.