August 3, 2003
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Today’s lesson from Second Samuel is part of a tawdry chapter in the life of King David, but even here, there is good news. We cannot sink so low, even by our own arrogant behavior that God cannot or will not lift us up. All we have to do is acknowledge our sinfulness, our act of separating ourselves from the will of God, and God will act to make us whole again. If you do not believe me, think back to some low moments in your own life, when you know without a doubt, that all that saved you was the loving hand of God, and you will know what I am talking about. We
began the story began last week when David saw a woman bathing on a rooftop. He
finds out who she is – she is the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, a foreign
officer in Israel’s army. He has her brought to him, he is intimate with her,
though we do not know how willing she was, and a child is conceived. When
David finds out that fatherhood is a few months away, he conspires with his aide
Joab first to give Uriah a leave from battle, hoping he will have a conjugal
visit with his wife, and eventually be thought of as the father of her child.
When that doesn’t work, David conspires with Joab to place Uriah, a loyal
soldier and a decent man on the front line of the battle so that he will be
killed, and so he is. As
we join the story today, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah has sat Shiva, she has
mourned and lamented for thirty days. On the thirty-first day, David sends for
her, adds her to his list of wives and in God’s time their son, whose name we
never know is born. A
hint of things to come is given to us in the way Bathsheba is described. Walter
Brueggemann points out that: “remarkably Bathsheba is not called by her own
name, even in this royal wedding announcement. She is called by her right name,
only identified by reference to Uriah to whom she is married. She is ‘the wife
of Uriah.’ That is who she will always be; David’s daring, ruthless act will
not alter that fact. Even in the royal genealogy of Matthew (ch.1), in which
Tamar (v.3), Rahab, Ruth (v.5), and Mary (v.16) have their own names, Bathsheba
remains ‘the wife of Uriah’” (Interpretation
series. I and II Samuel Walter Brueggemann. Louisville. John Knox Press,
1990 p. 278). But
David is not concerned with how Bathsheba will be listed in the genealogy of
Jesus. He is content to say to himself “it’s good to be the king”. He had
soldiers at his command, he brought the ark of the covenant, Israel’s most
sacred religious symbol to Jerusalem. He had the authority and the ability to have it all. David
could have what he wanted, when he wanted no matter what anyone said. He was the
king, master of all he surveyed, and ruler of his universe. David does not know
it, but he is in a low place, and only the hand of God will lift him from the
consequences of his actions. But
even kings must answer to a higher authority. They may think of themselves as
monarchs and little gods, but only God is God, and the God of all Israel and of
David is heartbroken over the thing David has done. There
will be consequences for David and there are consequences for us when we break
faith with God. The consequence of forgetting that God has given us gifts to be
used for the whole community is that like David, we can become arrogant,
egotistical, and we forget that with power comes great responsibility, not
permission to do whatever we want. David forgot and God sent someone to remind
him. Do
you have people in your life who help you stay focused and accountable? Several
of my friends and I are talking together about how we are working with trainers
and coaches who are helping us take responsibility for our physical health. We
talk to each other to encourage each other and to keep each other accountable. I
have prayer partners who talk to God on my behalf, and I talk to God on theirs.
We pray for each other. We help each other stay focused spiritually. Like many
of you I have good friends who know that a consequence of having friends and of
being a friend is that we can hold each other accountable. That is what Nathan
did for David. And
so he begins by describing a wealthy man in the city who had flocks of sheep,
and then Nathan describes a poor man who had a single little female lamb, who
was like a member of his family rather, than a potential source of food or
income. One day the rich man took the poor man’s lamb, killed it and served it
for dinner to a guest. As
he hears the story, David is outraged and declares that not only is this man who
would steal the only lamb from a man deserving of death, but the poor man must
be compensated four-fold. David gets it. He understands that power has been
abused just because it was possible to do so. He senses the violation of the
poor man by the rich one, he understands that a wrong has been committed and
that it must be put right. He gets it, but like so many of us, David does not
see the bigger picture, he has no insight. He does not get that Nathan has just
indicted him. Walter
Brueggemann makes the comparison between David and the rich man in Nathan’s
story clear: “The word calls attention to itself: ‘he took’. David took
Bathsheba. The rich man took the lamb and ate it for dinner. He took what was
not his and treated it as if it were his own”
(Brueggemann, p. 280). Understand
that what Nathan has done is potentially dangerous for the prophet. But there
comes a time when the truth must be spoken to power. Kings and queens,
presidents and prime ministers need to hear from time to time that doing the
wrong thing can do harm to the people and can hurt the heart of God. Nathan
spoke truth to David’s power, and David speaks a word of judgment and
announces punishment for the rich man’s abuse of the poor man. But Nathan has
one more thing to say. He looks David in the eye, and says to him, "In the
story of the rich man with much who
took from the poor man with little, you are the man. You are the king, you have
many wives, (such things were allowable then).
Uriah, a loyal soldier of yours, though not even a citizen of your
country had one wife, just one, and you just had to have her for yourself. You
are the man who took the lamb of another. It was you.” Indeed
David has been held accountable because he has violated three of the ten
commandments. He has killed, though he used the Ammonite army to do so. He has
committed adultery, and he has coveted and taken one who was not his to take.
Worst of all, he has violated God’s trust. He believes that he is above the
law, but he is not. We
live in a time when politicians and business leaders and some religious leaders
behave as if they are accountable to no one. They act as if they are autonomous,
a word that means a law unto oneself, doing as they wish with no consequences.
They are wrong. They are not above the law, they are subject to the laws of God
and the rules of ethics just as we are. Some sometimes forget what their real
purpose is, and when they do, they must bear the consequences of their amnesia.
David forgot that his purpose was to lead the people. Nathan reminds him. Nathan
speaks in God’s voice to depict the violation. God says, “David, don’t you
remember how I have been with you? Remember when Samuel came to your little
village and anointed you king even though you were the youngest in your family,
and still working as a shepherd? That was me. I rescued you from Saul more than
once. I gave you Saul’s house and all that was in it. I gave you Israel and
Judah, the two Hebrew kingdoms and I gave you what you needed to united them?
Why then did you do this evil thing?” There
is a price to pay. David will consume the consequences of his action like bitter
bread. There will be violence in his life and trouble in his house. This first
child born to David and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah will die in infancy. One
son will assault his half sister, and other sons will rebel against David. He
will lose his wives. There will be consequences for David. And
there are consequences for us when we violate the trust of God by treating
people unjustly, or as ours to do with as we please. So what do we do when we
have broken right relationships with people and are called to account for our
actions? How do you respond when you have done wrong and are indicted for your
actions? We
can react in several ways. We can deny that we have done anything out of order,
we can blame others, we can make excuses. Or we can remember and do as others
have done. Every
now and then, we can step up, and bow ourselves before those we have wronged,
and before God. We can confess. We can own up to what we have done and
acknowledge that we have violated God’s trust and the trust of others. The
one we know as the Prodigal Son said, “Father I have
sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your
son” (Lk.15.21). When he
was confronted with the sin of over taxing people, Zaccheus said to Jesus, “Look,
half my possessions I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of
anything, I will pay them back four times” (Lk. 19. 8). And there are
examples of political, religious, and business leaders saying “I was wrong,
the fault was mine, I am responsible”. The prodigal was welcomed home,
Zaccheus was assured that salvation was his. David remained on the throne, and
while he knew pain, he also, always knew the love of God. He was a man after
God’s own heart, and God’s heart was moved to offer David forgiveness and
healing. Leaders can be restored to the community. David got that too. After Nathan and God
spoke, David looked up to heaven and said, “I have sinned against the Lord”,
and he received the forgiveness of God. God
will do the same for us. Brothers and sisters when we are broken by our own
actions, we can do as David did and remember what God has done for us, and how
we came close to throwing it all away. We can remember that God’s love for us
endures forever. God’s love for us does not mean that we avoid responsibility,
or that as a result of what we have done, we will not have to face some tough
consequences. Even so, this one thing remains true, “nothing
in all creation will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our
Lord” (Romans 8.39). Because
our steadfast conviction is that God loves us without question or condition, we
can set our face and our souls before our creator and acknowledge that, God who
is worthy to judge us is a gracious, merciful, and listening God. When we plead
for mercy, God has promised to give us what we need to lead lives worthy of
God’s call in our lives. God will lift us up from our low places. The Psalm for today is Psalm 51, whose
headline says, “A psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he
had gone into Bathsheba” His psalm of confession can and ought to be ours when
we reach our own self-inflicted low place. The
Psalm says in part:
“Have
mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to you abundant
mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before
me.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit
within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy
spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a
willing spirit” (1-3; 10-13). Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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