TW: Sexual Assault
Read 2 Samuel 11, 12.1-14
God’s people wanted a king. And so he granted them one in Saul, who started well and then went astray. So, God selected a new king, David, a man who he judged to have a good heart. David led the people well and is often talked about as Israel’s greatest king. But, like Abraham, he was a long, long way from perfect. We read here of his darkest moment when, choosing to stay home rather than fight with his men, his attention is caught by a local woman bathing.
Rather than ignoring this sight as he should, he sends a servant to find out about her and discovers she is married.
Rather than ending the matter there given that she is another man’s wife, he sends for her, knowing the intention he has in sending for her and that it is wrong.
Rather than meeting her and then sending her away, he sleeps with her, something that she cannot refuse given the power imbalance between them. Then comes the news that she is pregnant.
Rather than confessing his wrong, he sends for her husband to return from the front line in the hope of passing the child off as his. Which fails, since her husband refuses to go home to his wife whilst his peers continue to fight.
Rather than facing what has happened, he enlists the help of others to have her husband killed, leaving them with blood on their hands as well.
It is a vile run of events which David had the power to stop at so many points. And yet he placed his own desire, and then protecting his reputation, above all else. He may have led God’s people well before this, but how can God stand by and watch this incredible abuse of power by the man he has chosen to lead his deeply beloved people?
He cannot and he does not. The glimmer of light that God sends is of the tough love variety. A trusted friend, Nathan, comes to call and tells David his own story framed as the injustice committed by another man. As soon as David becomes angered by this fictitious man’s wrongdoing, Nathan reveals the truth. You, David, are that man. You are the one who behaved atrociously. You offended God and hurt his people. And there will be consequences. Awful, unthinkable consequences which you have entirely brought on your own head.
Tough love is exactly that – tough. Nobody enjoys having their faults pointed out to them. But what an incredible gift of love it is when someone does this for us with kindness. Not in a nasty, fault picking way, but in gentleness out of a genuine desire for our flourishing and for us to avoid the awful consequences of our own actions. God does this for us as we read the Bible and have a figurative mirror held up to our own inner darkness; our secret motivations, our words behind others’ backs, and our actions when we think nobody else is looking. And he places us in community, for the church is not to be a place where everybody is on their best behaviour, but a place of honesty and loving friendships where things unspoken elsewhere are expressed lovingly.
God restores David from this, his darkest point. And he’ll do the same for anyone who thinks they’ve fallen far past the point of redemption.
Reflect
Where did David go wrong? How do you feel about God restoring him?
Do you have honest relationships where friends call your behaviour into question when needed?
Where do you need redemption?
Susie lives in NE Fife and works in ministry. She loves being with friends, feeding people and half finished creative projects.
